Ministry urges to grow native plants in all districts

Rawalpindi: The climate change ministry has issued district-wise lists of plant species for ongoing tree plantation drive to give a clear idea about which plant should be planted in which area of the country.

According to the details, the plant species that have been recommended for the Potohar Region included Phulahi (Acacia modesta), Dharek (Melia azedarach orchinaberry), Peepal (Ficus religiosa or sacred fig), Bair (Ziziphus mouritiana), Keekar (Acacia nilotica), Toot, (White mulberry or Morus alba), Amaltas (Cassia fistula), Banyan (Ficus benghalensis) and Tahli or Sheesham (Dalbergia sissoo).

It is pertinent to mention here that the local authorities used to plant alien species in the past instead of focusing on native trees that caused negative impacts on ecosystem.

The plant species such as ‘Bair’, ‘Peepal’ and ‘Bohar’ are considered slow-growing due to which the authorities showed little interest to plant them in tree plantation drives.

The record showed that there are also some other native plant species that were not planted in the last many years such as Lahora, Dhaak, Amla, Pilkan, Kangar, Bahira, Batangi, Phagwari, Dhaman, Kahu and Amlok.

The climate change ministry has also pointed out that there are 16 species of olive trees that are commercially productive and can be planted in the Potohar region. Some of these are better than those found in Italy and Spain in taste and oil production because the soil in the Potohar region is rich and climate suitable for olive cultivation.