Special Assistant to PM on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam on Sunday emphasised unprecedented importance of civil society organisations’ role in boosting country’s tree cover and climate-resilience through enhanced contribution towards government’s pursuit of sustainable management of forests on national and sub-national levels.
“When forests are managed sustainably, they can grow healthy, productive can be resilient and renewable ecosystems, which can thrive while at the same time providing essential goods and services to people worldwide”, he said.
Addressing a tree plantation event organised here in upscale locality in collaboration with a civil society organisation, the PM’s aide Malik Amin said further that the significance of forests could not to be underestimated or exaggerated.
“We rely on forests for our survival right from the air we breathe to the wood we use. Besides being backbone of natural ecosystems and habitats for animals and source of livelihoods for humans, forests also offer watershed protection, prevent soil erosion, fight environmental degradation, air pollution, improve human health and address devastating fallouts of global climate crisis,” he explained.
Malik Amin stressed that it was, thus, imperative that all forces and segments of the civil society play their part in increasing the country’s forest cover to make Pakistan clean, green and climate-resilient.
He also urged the civil society organisations, particularly educational institutions, to join the incumbent government’s largest-ever afforestation initiative Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme (TBTTP) launched under Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision for clean and green Pakistan.
He said that there are so far many success stories, which have emerged as a result of the implementation of TBTTP. For instance, the afforestation programme has help raise Pakistan’s importance and drawn global appreciation for it as a serious and committed country in fighting the adverse impacts of climate change on human society and the natural ecosystems, SAPM Malik Amin added.
He recalled that during his recent meeting with John Kerry, former U.S. presidential candidate and U.S. President Joe Biden’s climate envoy last month in London ended up in his appreciation for the Prime Minister Imran Khan for demonstration of being top global climate leader for his unwavering struggle to place Pakistan in safe climate zone by launching various climate-resilience enhancing afforestation, renewable energy, e-vehicle, environmental sustainability-related and other many green and clean programmes and projects.
Malik Amin Aslam said that Saudi Government has also approached Pakistan, seeking Pakistan’s technical support and intending to learn from the country’s experience of successfully implementing ongoing Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme.
“Having been impressed with Pakistan’s unwavering pursuit of green agenda under PM Imran Khan’s vision for clean green Pakistan, Saudi government has approached us through their diplomatic channels, seeking the country’s support in emulating the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Programme in Saudi Arabia, promote exchange of knowledge and technical know-how and viable mechanisms for replicating Pakistan’s green programmes and projects,” the PM’s aide recalled.
As a part of TBTTP, historic one-minute world record was set on August 12 in Gujranwala by planting over 50,000 trees in less than one minute, he recalled, which again drew global appreciations and Pakistan’s proactive role in pursuing UN’s environmental sustainable development goals.
The PM’s aide Malik Amin explained that under the Prime Minister Imran Khan’s 10 Billion Tree Tusnami programme, around 12,500 students with teachers in Gujranwala had planted 52,040 saplings in 40 seconds, braking India’s record of planting 37,000 saplings in one minute.
SAPM Aslam said that the vision of the prime minister was to turn the country green as planting trees is as per the teaching of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) and so was the need of Pakistan, which is ranked among the top 10 most affected and climate-vulnerable countries of the world.
“This is change and this is the new Pakistan, where the incumbent government’s pursuing of green agenda as a part of the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals, which has earned global recognition of Pakistan and the PM Imran Khan for leading the country towards the climate-safest country,” he informed the event participants.
He highlighted during his post event media talk that that we’re planting trees for future generations on a massive scale not seen before, while certain people mired into political ignorance seem to be ignorant of this great national task.”
An example of such political ignorance is the statement from certain ignorant political elements that large-scale tree planting inside the cities would lead to security woes, while during their nearly a decade-long rule, such nefarious elements removed 70 percent of the green belt and trees from Lahore, Malik Amin recalled.
“Now, it is another internal challenge of political ignorance that we are poised to overcome,” he vowed.
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