Pakistan is losing 27,000 hectares of forests every year resulting into a substantial increase in temperature while causing adverse effects on human life, aquatic resources and agricultural productivity. Due to population growth, high demand of wood and unhealthy emissions, the country is highly susceptible to climatic changes that may lead to water scarcity, land erosion, untimely rains and floods.
Although tree cutting and deforestation is seen everywhere in the country, geographical placement of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan makes them more vulnerable than other regions. National Forest Policy 2015 has revealed that Pakistan has one of the lowest forest covers in the world where only five percent of its areas were under green gold due to rapid population growth, socioeconomic imbalance, encroachments and high demand for wood for domestic use and furniture industry.
The high deforestation has resulted into an increase of floods due to climate change vulnerability, severe heat-waves and fast melting of glaciers as well as Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) in Chitral and Gilgit Baltistan. “Respective governments introduced initiatives to cope with this challenge and Billions Tree Afforestration Project (10BTAP) is one of the initiatives in this series,” said Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, Deputy Project Director 10 BTAP.
Keeping cognizance of deforestation and climate change, the KPK Provincial Government launched a Green Growth Initiative (GGI) focusing on development of forestry resources, protected areas, national parks, clean energy, climate resilience, sanitation and water management for the well-being of people. Under GGI, billion trees afforestration project was launched in 2014 planting record 1.208 billion plants with an estimated cost of Rs14.364 billion, Ibrahim said. “Ten new jungles were raised including Ghari Chandan and Mathani Azakhel on 800 hactares in south of Peshawar with 3.2 million plants mostly achieved 20 to 25 feet height providing breeding ground for wildlife and migratory birds, wild bees and source of ecotourism.
During its execution, the KP’s total forest covered area was enhanced to 26.6 percent in 2018 against 20 percent in 2013 surpassing the 25 percent international forest standards for a country. To analyze the BTAP impact on environment and air quality, he said, SUPARCO was approached by the Forest Department that reported 85 percent positive change detection in BTAP’s forest cover areas in KP while WWF has reported 88 percent survival rate of the project’s plantations.
