Forests get a whopping Rs2 billion in budget

The department plans to propagate and promote indigenous forest tree species.

LAHORE: The Punjab government has allocated a massive budget of Rs2 billion in FY2017-18 to maintain and maximise forest resources in a scientifically, socially, ecologically and environmentally sustainable manner.

However, the new budget was a decrease of 9.09 per cent in comparison to the Rs2.2 billion of last year.

A significant portion of the budget would go into sustaining ongoing schemes, while 14 new schemes and development programs were also on the cards.

According to the budget documents, the objective of the schemes were defined as achieving afforestation on compact and linear public forests, increasing farm trees from 18 to 28 per acre by 2025, increasing productivity of range lands, capacity building of human resources through in service training, addressing climate change, obliging international protocol agreement and providing recreational facilities to the public by improving forest parks.

The department also planned to propagate and promote indigenous forest tree species to conserve biodiversity and revive the Green Pakistan program.



The 14 new schemes included the establishment of a provincial REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest degradation in Developing countries) cell in Rawalpindi on a budget of Rs15 million.

Rs50 million had been set aside to strengthen the Forest Services’ Academy in Ghoragali, Murree, while Rs25 million would go towards afforestation on resumed land transferred to the forest department in Chakwal Division.

Rs5 million was dedicated to the establishment of an orchid of endangered flower/[plant species in Punjab, whereas Rs10 million would go towards establishing a security system at the Forest Complex head office on Ravi Road in Lahore. Another Rs10 million were allocated for incomplete schemes.

Rs60 million was allotted in phase three of the Khadim-e-Punjab Rural Roads Project (KPRRP). Rs48 million had been set aside for improvement and rehabilitation of irrigated plantations in the Southern Zone which included Layyah, Khanewal and Shaiwal.

While Rs60 million would be spent on afforestation of blank reaches along important highways such as Mianwali, Sargodha, Bakkhar, Kasur, Khushab and Okara.

Rs20 million had been allotted for the protection of boundary of forest assigned to South Punjab Forest Company in DG khan.

At the same time, Rs48 million were dedicated towards the improvement and rehabilitation of forest parks in Punjab. An allocation of Rs116 million had been made for improvements and rehabilitations in northern  and central zones such Kasur, Okara, Bakkhar, Mianwali and Khushab.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2017.