Plant a tree, win a prize

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Environment Hameedullah Jan Afridi announced awards for planting maximum trees by organizations and individuals during the Monsoon Tree Plantation kicking off on August 10.

Addressing a news conference on Monday, the Minister also launched the official website for registering tree plantation data and awarding those planting the maximum number of trees during the campaign.

The Ministry of Environment has also set the target to plant 45.5million trees during monsoon campaign, one of the two launched every year to enhance forest cover to the extent agreed to meet Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Afridi also announced National Tree Plantation Day is to be held on August 10 instead of Aug 18 due to Ramazan and called upon all stakeholders, individuals and organizations to plant maximum trees on the day as well as during the campaign.

"Everybody planting a sapling shall register himself or the organization on the website and those planting maximum trees shall be given certificates and awards," he said.

"There is a provision to register city wise, province wise and area wise and those registering shall mention their name, CNIC number and category of species planted, with the evidence of a person to avoid fake registration," he elaborated.

Independent observers will verify the details sent to the website, the minister said while replying to a question.

The minister also mentioned plans of the government to set a new Guinness World Record by an individual as well as a new overall record (300 planters) in September this year in Punjab.

"I invite a vibrant role of media for monitoring and propagating the cause of environment to take all stakeholders onboard for making the projects a success," Afridi said.