Tree Plantation: Tobacco firm to plant 0.1m trees

ISLAMABAD: A multinational tobacco company plans to plant 0.1m trees during current spring plantation campaign at 641-acre Zoo Cum Botanical Garden along Simly Dam Road in Bani Gala area under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.  The claim has faced some controversy as the sources of the Zoological Survey of Pakistan told the Express Tribune that after the passing of more than two and a half years Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC) had managed a bare minimum of their promised goal and most of the tree saplings were brought into the nursery during last three days before inauguration of plantation launched on Friday. However, PTC public relation manager Qazi Abid said that the establishment of the nursery was a big achievement adding that more 26,000 trees had been planted inside the garden so far Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Mushahidullah Khan inaugurated spring plantation drive beside the honeybee farm on Friday.  He said plantation was the only solution to resolve issues related to environment including environmental imbalances and threat to biodiversity. “We are depended upon plants for our food, clothes, medicines and air,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2018.