41.7m saplings to be planted

Islamabad : Under the Up-Scaling of Green Pakistan Programme, the government has planned to plant 41.7 million saplings in all four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Under the campaign, 12.870 million saplings will be planted in Punjab, 10 million in Sindh, 2.633 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2.062 million in Balochistan, 10.147 million in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and four million in Gilgit-Baltistan.

The main species to be planted include kikar, jand, amaltas, shisham, sukh chain, phulai, chir, kail, deodar, peepal, neem, beri, jamun, tamarind and chilgoza. The plantation will be carried out through around 2,047 events to be held across the country to plant 41.7 million saplings compared 40.526 million during the last year's monsoon tree plantation campaign.

Meanwhile, the 2025 Spring Tree Plantation Drive was launched by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif here as part of the Up-Scaling of Green Pakistan Programme. After planting a chir pine sapling on the lawn of the Prime Minister's House, he urged people to actively participate in the drive to prevent climate change impacts and diseases.

He said the tree plantation would be made across the country from all four provinces to GB and AJK regions.

The prime minister said that considering the benefits of the plantation drive in all aspects, the entire nation, especially the youth and farmers, should play their part.

"It will significantly contribute to the betterment of the environment besides helping effectively address diseases," he said. He said that the impacts of climate change, in recent years, had also necessitated huge efforts for tree plantations.