Reviving green spaces

Around the world, the impact of climate change is already materialising with an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change named Pakistan as one of the countries that will be worst affected by climate change, which has raised alarm because the country is already struggling with irregular weather patterns.

Much of Pakistan’s recent climaterelated disasters can be attributed to the absence of widespread green spaces. In recent years, Pakistan has managed to maintain a forest cover of nearly 5.45% after considerable nature protection efforts and awareness-raising initiatives. However, the rapidly increasing population coupled with poverty and lack of awareness has led to illegal and unsustainable logging. Sindh, particularly, is at a greater risk because it has already lost 50% of its forest cover with only 601.96 million trees planted under the Billion Tree Tsunami Programme. Rapid urbanisation and erasure of greenbelts to develop infrastructure projects are further causing environmental degradation. Across the country, many individuals have undertaken the initiative to plant saplings in urban centres to help cool down temperatures. Pakistan’s deteriorating air quality coupled with an increase in urban flooding calls for mass afforestation efforts to improve air quality and mitigate the risk of flooding. Reviving green spaces is crucial to attracting local wildlife and providing new sources of food. Besides facilitating individuals engaged in plantation efforts, the Climate Change Ministry must collaborate with non-governmental and civic organisations to speed up afforestation efforts to save the country from a bigger catastrophe.