Staff Reporter
Peshawar
Whopping plantations under the PTI Government flagship “Plant for Pakistan” is imperative to tackle challenges of climate change and global warming, besides strengthening breeding grounds for conservation of wildlife in the country. Climate changes not only affecting human lives, but also leaving bad impacts on wildlife and the only solution to address the issue was through whopping plantation under Plant for Pakistan campaign, experts told on Sunday.
“Known as a home of coveted Snow Leopard and Markhor worldwide, Pakistan is a unique country with diverse geographical features, biodiversity and nine forests zones stretching from Himalayas Gilgit Baltistan to Arabian Sea at Karachi, making it most suitable for conservation of wildlife,” said Said Kamal Khan, Divisional Forest Officer Wildlife Department while talking to media.
The country is blessed with more than 786 species including 186 reptiles and 173 mammals including snow leopard found in Himalayan ranges in Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, national animal markhor in Chitral, Kohistan, Asiatic cobra snake in Murree, Swat, AJK and GB, muggar cocodile in rivers of Sindh and Balochistan, Krait snake & fishing cats in Sindh, dolphins, blue whales and sharks in coastal belt of Sindh and Balochistan, grey wolf in Cholistan, Tharparkar, Balochistan, wild sheep and goats in Punjab, AJK, GB, common leopard in Hazara, Malakand, black and brown bears in northern areas of the country.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) is a unique province of Pakistan bestowed with about 98 mammals, 456 birds and 43 reptiles largely dependent on 4500 plants, insects and weeds available in abundance in forests areas of the province, he said.
Wildlife’s flora has been enhanced in KP after plantation of 1.2billion plants including 600 million on 306,983hactares through forest enclosures, 200 million on 263,213 hectares man made and 200 million through farm forestry were achieved under Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf PTI) government flagship Billion Trees Afforestration Project (BTAP), said Muhammad Tehmasip Khan, Project Director BTAP while talking to media.
