Malik Amin Aslam urges provinces to step up efforts to boost forest cover

Islamabad : The 5th Meeting of the Federal Forestry Board took place today on June 25th at the Ministry of Climate Change in Islamabad under the Chairmanship of the Special Assistant to the PM on Climate Change, Malik Amin Aslam.

According to a press release issued here on Friday, the ministry spokesperson Muhammad Saleem Shaikh said this high-scale coordination meeting for implementation of the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Project (TBTTP) was attended by representatives of Forest and Wildlife Departments including provincial Forest Ministers from all the four provinces and territories of Pakistan, Secretaries and Project Directors of TBTTP, Chair IWMB and the country representative of IUCN.

Chairing the meeting Special Assistant to PM on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam highlighted, “The TBTTP is a national cause which requires a national effort and we are getting global recognition for meeting our targets”.

Because of the global significance of this ambitious project, Pakistan was given the opportunity to recently host the World Environment Day on June 5th, he added.

The PM's aide said further that through the green initiatives of the present government, there are now opportunities of green diplomacy and nature bonds from which the state of Pakistan is striving to get debt relief in the future.

Malik Amin Aslam told the participants, that the target of planting one billion trees has already been achieved under the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme.

Meanwhile, the he directed all the provinces/territories to enhance the overall target of planting/regenerating one more billion trees for the next year through plantations and by enhancing Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR). He also directed the provinces to encourage women to participate in nursery raising.

He also called upon provincial forest departments to compile and showcase the success stories of the best plantation practices and highlight how the livelihoods of the local communities have been improved through green jobs.

The SAPM directed all the provinces and field teams to ensure digital reporting of the forestry interventions into the dedicated dashboard.

He pointed out that funding for the planned plantation activities would be ensured to achieve the planned targets for next year.