Good forest cover needed for better future

Lahore

Every year,  the International Day of Forests is marked on March 21. The United Nations has linked this recognition to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This year, the theme is forests and energy. From planting trees in urban areas to reduce global warming to creating carbon stocks by increasing plantations, all activities are driven by this approach.

WWF-Pakistan on International Day of Forests, while recognising and promoting the many benefits that forests have, laid emphasis on the relationship between forests and humans and the importance of a good forest cover for the future generations of the country.

Hammad Naqi Khan, director general, WWF-Pakistan, in his message, stressed the growing need for cultivating forests. "The importance of forests cannot be underestimated. We depend on forests for our survival, from the air we breathe to the wood we use," he said, adding, "Besides providing habitats for animals and livelihoods for humans, forests also prevent soil erosion and mitigate climate change." According to a 2015 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation report, the forest cover of Pakistan have been reduced to under two percent of its land area — one of the lowest levels in the region.

According to WWF-Pakistan’s experts the growing market for wood could motivate good stewardship that safeguarded forests with a more sustainable plan to utilise the bounties of the forest. In this regard, the organisation and the Federal Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) through its Office of the Inspector General of Forests (OIGF) are implementing the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) Readiness Preparation Project. Major objectives of the project are to develop the national REDD+ strategy and its implementation framework, management and institutional arrangements for REDD+ implementation, development of baselines (forests reference emission levels/ reference levels), development of the national forest monitoring system, including measurement, reporting and verification systems, development of social and environmental safeguards and capacity building outreach and awareness raising.The organisation, alongside monitoring the Billion Tree Tsunami Project (BTTP) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is also providing expert opinion for successful implementation of the project.

Rab Nawaz, senior director programmes, WWF-Pakistan, believed that a precedent had been set for other provinces to follow. “The agriculture, forestry and land-use sectors account for about a quarter of all global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and are the largest sources after cars, trucks, trains, planes and ships combined. By reducing forest loss and increasing the forest cover, we can reduce carbon emissions and fight climate change. It's that simple,” he said. 

On the occasion of the International of Day of Forests, WWF-Pakistan also extended its expertise to South Punjab Forest Company (SPFC), government of Punjab and signed an MoU in order to promote forestry in Punjab. 

WWF on the global front advocates for a transformed forest sector to ensure that vulnerable forests will be protected from illegal logging, encroachment or conversion, and that there will be no more plantations that displace communities or take away their livelihoods.