ISLAMABAD: AsPakistan’s cricketing hero turned politician Imran Khanconsiders a run for prime minister, his party’s record in hishome province – especially the success of a widely toutedreforestation initiative – is raising speculation that he mightturn green advances into political advantage.
Pakistan is set to choose a new prime minister in electionsdue next year.
Environmental issues remain far from the top ofthe list of concerns for most voters, despite worseningclimate-related heat, drought, floods and other pressures.
But the record of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)party, in his home province of Khyber Pukhtunkwa, is graduallybringing him a bigger national political profile – and newpossibilities.
After winning enough seats in 2013 to form a government inthe province, in the country’s north, Khan’s party introduced agreen growth initiative to tackle deforestation, build moresmall-scale hydroelectric projects and overhaul national parks.
It has promised a Billion Tree Tsunami of tree planting –and last month became the first government body in the world tomeet its pledge under the Bonn Challenge of restoring more than350,000 hectares (865,000 acres) of degraded forests.
The Bonn Challenge is a global effort to restore 150 millionhectares of the world’s deforested and degraded land by 2020,and 350 million hectares by 2030.
“I have trekked all over Pakistan’s mountainous north and italarmed me to see all the cutting of forests,” Khan told ThomsonReuters Foundation in an interview.
By replanting forests, Khyber Pukhtunkwa province “has takenimportant steps to save future generations from the dangerouseffects of environmental changes,” he said.
The aim is to increase the area covered by forests in theprovince from 22 percent in 2013 to as much as 27 percent by2018 through the Billion Tree Tsunami and the creation of newnational parks in forested areas, he said.
More than 40 percentof Pakistan’s natural forests are found within the province.
‘GREEN GAUNTLET’
In a speech in August, during Pakistan’s Independence Daycelebrations, Khan threw down a “green gauntlet” to otherpolitical parties, highlighting the challenge of climate changeand the need to adapt to changing conditions.
Khan’s party has announced that environmental conservationwill be one of the four pillars of its electoral agenda, alongwith reducing poverty, the introduction of a merit-based systemfor governance, and more government accountability.
Political campaigning and rallies by all the major politicalparties have begun across the country in preparation for theelections, which are expected next June.
A share of political pundits predict that the recent SupremeCourt dismissal of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on corruptionallegations offers Khan his best opportunity yet to win nationalpower.
“Imran Khan is certainly in the run for the prime minister’soffice,” said Adil Najam, a climate change expert and dean of the Frederick S.Pardee School of Global Studies at BostonUniversity.
“But in all fairness whether he gains it or not will havevery little to do with the Billion Tree Tsunami.
There is noevidence that planting trees can give a politician that type ofelectoral mileage,” said Najam, who is also a popular blogger onPakistan issues.
However, he added that the momentum and attention that thetree campaign has gained has raised awareness of green issues,
at least among followers of Khan’s party.
Malik Amin Aslam, chair of Khyber Pukhtunkwa province’sgreen growth initiate and a key backer of the tree plantingeffort, agrees.
“There has been a political shift.Imran Khan is integratingenvironmental issues into the public narrative,” he said in aninterview.
FOLLOWING SUIT
In a move widely seen as a response to the green efforts inKhyber Pukhtunkwa, Pakistan’s federal government has in turnstarted its own Green Pakistan programme.
It aims to strengthen institutions, train people and createpolicy reforms in the country’s forestry and wildlifedepartments, with plans to plant 100 million trees, according tothe former head of the programme, Syed Rizwan Mehboob.
Mehboob has criticised the Billion Tree Tsunami forincluding natural regrowth of trees in protected forests in itsnumbers, and says he believes the actual number of trees plantedas part of the Billion Tree Tsunami is around 200 million.
But Aslam said the tsunami effort has met over 90 percent ofits target of adding one billion trees through planting ornatural regrowth, and has surpassed its initial target ofboosting forested areas in the province by 2 percentage points.
The achievement has been recognised by the InternationalUnion for Conservation of Nature and verified by WWF-International as an independent monitor.
Nature has “bounced back beyond expectations,” he said,noting that “assisted natural generation” is globally acceptedas one of the lowest-cost methods of forest and biodiversityrestoration.
It has also brought over half a million new jobs tocommunities in the province, he said, including in treenurseries and as forest guards established as part of theeffort.
That, in particular, has changed peoples’ attitudes towardgreen issues, he said – something he believes will translateinto votes.
GREEN GETS VOTES?
But veteran journalist and television host Murtaza Solangidoubts that the Khyber Pukhtunkwa government’s environmentalachievements will automatically lead to gains at the polls forKhan’s party next year.
“The level of green awareness in Pakistan, even in urbanareas, is so low that it is minuscule.
Even those who are awareof the impacts of climate change belong to a class that shiesaway from the electoral process,” Solangi said in an interview.
“Environmental politics in Pakistan has a long way to go.For the average voter, social (services) delivery (and) familialor tribal loyalty is the driving force,” he said.
Rafay Alam, an environmental lawyer and former lecturer atthe Lahore University of Management Sciences, said that voters
appear most worried about corruption, energy shortages andinfrastructure woes, and Pakistani politicians have not yetbrought environmental issues into the political mainstream.
“The Billion Tree Tsunami is a remarkable initiative andeveryone involved in it should be appreciated.
But I´ve neverseen a green initiative return a politician (with) a majorityvote – yet,” he said.