PESHAWAR: Sarhad Conservation Nature (SCN), a non-governmental organization, in partnership with International Rescue Committee & other civil society organisations, has planned organising an autumn plantation drive to play its part in mitigating the impact of heatwave and climate change on the population of the provincial capital.
The drive titled “Adopt a Tree Campaign” will start after August 14, 2023, with the participation of several organisations and people.
The decision in this regard was taken during an online meeting moderated by SCN Convener Dr Adil Zareef, wherein people from various walks of life, including experts in forestry, botanists, environmentalists, and media representatives, gave their inputs for making the drive successful.
The meeting discussed how and where to execute the plantation drive, suitable species, number of saplings needed, sources and links on how to acquire these on time, as well as logistics of carrying on the plantation exercise in selected clusters with the support of local communities.
After the discussion, a number of participants pledged to take part in the plantation drive, besides donating thousands of indigenous trees, mostly Chir Pine and Sukh Chain species.
Shamsa of IRC apprised the participants of the online meeting that IRC would hold on August 10 on the logistics of the drive in three districts, including Peshawar. She said community stakeholders and religious leaders would also be involved for future environmental interventions.
Dr Asad Ullah, director Botanical Garden at Azakhel, University of Peshawar, volunteered to donate 50 Sukh Chain plants and 10 indigenous Chir Pine trees. He suggested a task force for the autumn plantation drive. Also, the Botanical Garden vehicle will be available to transport saplings from nursery to selected locations.
Other speakers also addressed the meeting and gave their suggestions to make the most of the coming plantation drive.
The meeting decided to plant the saplings of indigenous plants, including Chir Pine, Chinar, Simal, Sheesham, Neem, Jaman, mulbery, Sreekh, Kachnar and others.
