Climate Change Ministry, BISP Joins Hands To Boost Country’s Forest Cover

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Aug, 2024) Coordinator to Prime Minister on Climate Change Romina Khurshid Alam on Thursday said that engaging communities in tree plantation is vital for effective forest conservation and management, because their well-being is often intricately linked with the health of the forests they depend on, according to press statement issued here from the climate change & environmental coordination ministry.

The PM’s climate aide said further that since local communities often have traditional knowledge and practices that contribute to sustainable forest management, they can play an effective role in enforcing conservation, managing natural resources and protecting biodiversity.

“In fact, community-based forest management practices in many Asian countries have shown that communities, when strengthened with knowledge and ownership of resources act as the frontline defenders of forests against illegal activities like logging, poaching and land grabbing. Besides, they can also help monitor and report illegal activities and advocate for forest protection,” PM’s climate aide highlighted.

Given the effectiveness of community-based forest management in forest protection and conservation, the climate change & environmental coordination’s Upscaling Green Pakistan Programme (UGPP) has launched an ambitious tree plantation campaign in collaboration with the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) across all provinces, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan to enhance tree cover in the country.

Underlining the overarching aim of the partnership between the ministry and BISP, the PM’s climate change coordinator Romina Khurshid said that partnership would aim to utlise large-scale nationwide network of the BISP financial aid beneficiaries and engage them in various tree plantation activities across the country.

“Such a large-scale involvement of the BISP beneficiaries in the tree plantation activities would help foster environmental stewardship and contribute to a greener Pakistan. Below is an overview of the activities and plans in each province,” Ms Alam hoped.

She also said that a large number of women beneficiaries and their families were also pro-actively engaged in various tree plantation activities on the Plant for Pakistan day, which was celebrated on the 77th Independence Day of Pakistan across the country on Wednesday.

The PM’s climate aide said that a robust plan has been hammered out in consultation with BISP to ensure for enhanced collaboration between the forest and BISP officials in all provinces, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan for widespread participation of BISP aid beneficiaries and their families.

Romina Khurshid Alam also said that all provincial BISP headquarters have been connected with provincial chief forest conservators and officials of the Green Pakistan Programme of the climate change and environmental coordination ministry for the collection of tree saplings and their distribution among the BISP aid beneficiaries for planting in their communities and nearby forest areas.