Improving forest cover ‘need of the hour’

South Punjab Forest Company, WWF sign agreement to promote forestry

LAHORE: Strategically placed trees in cities can cool the air up to eight degrees Celsius in urban centres. Since Pakistan is among the top 10 countries worldwide vulnerable to climate change, it is imperative to improve forest cover so that its vulnerability to extreme weather events can be reduced.

This was shared by South Punjab Forest Company (SPFC) CEO Tahir Rasheed while speaking at the signing ceremony of an agreement with World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan).

Data estimates by the World Bank suggest Pakistan’s forest cover in 1990 was 3.3% that reduced to 1.9% in 2015. The pact aims to achieve the goal of enhancing forest cover in Punjab by promoting commercial and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives with respect to forestry in southern Punjab.





WWF-Pakistan Director-General Hammad Naqi Khan signed the Memorandum of Understanding in relation to the International Day of Forests marked on March 21 every year.

“A plan of action will be prepared to involve the corporate sector in forest conservation and promote the concept of ‘Adopt a Forest’ campaign in collaboration with multinational companies and other corporations for restoring indigenous flora and protecting natural regeneration of forests,” said Hammad.



Tahir hoped the collaboration would bring about sustainable forest management and improve the value and yield of forests. “We will work closely to build relationships, which capacitate investors to plant, harvest and market their crops in environmentally sensitive ways,” he said.

The heads of both organisations pledged to play their role in improving forest cover in assigned riverine, arid and irrigated areas of South Punjab, promote forestry by engaging multinational companies and protect natural tree cover.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2017.