Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The World Bank (WB) has shown desire to provide 188 million US dollars to fund the upcoming Ecosystem Restoration Initiative to implement Ten Billion Tree Tsunami and Recharge Pakistan. The $188 million fund will be placed under the already existing National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF), as it already has a framework and mechanism in place for quick and efficient disbursement of the money.
NDRMF is already financing projects through funding from the Asian Development Bank, said a press release issued here on Sunday.
The Ecosystem Restoration Initiative will finance afforestation projects such as the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami and also focus on Recharge Pakistan, E-Vehicles, Marine Life and Blue Economy, Biodiversity and Land Degradation, provision of early warning radars and Eco-Tourism. The TBTT project is an up scaled version of the project implemented by the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa between 2013 and 2018. This will come as pleasant news for the current government as it shows confidence of international financial institutions in the objectives of the prime minister. As the Ecosystem Restoration Initiatives will provide money to provincial governments and other implementation partners through grant financing, it will free up necessary space in budget allocations for the government. World Bank has already held consultations with federal government departments, provincial governments and non-governmental organizations in the last few weeks to finalize the restructuring proposal of its Hydro-Met Project.
Instead, the World Bank will now use funds of the Hydro-Met project to finance the Ecosystem Restoration Initiative.
It is also evidence that public sector organizations have been able to build credibility in the eyes of lending organizations so that they are being used to channel funding worth millions of dollars.
