Sepa links issuance of NOCs for development projects to tree plantation

Karachi: The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) will not approve any Environmental Impact Assessment, Initial Environmental Examination and Environmental Management Plan of any project in the province unless they contain comprehensive planning for plantation at the project’s site, Sindh Secretary Environment and Coastal Development Baqaullah Unar has announced.

“NOCs will not be issued to organisations failing to include a comprehensive plan for carrying out plantation in and around sites of their projects. Cutting of trees for development projects will not be tolerated anymore,” Unar told a consultation meeting with environmental experts, representatives of NGOs and media persons regarding an upcoming tree plantation drive in the province.

The environmental watchdog has announced launching a province-wide tree plantation drive from July 15 and it is seeking cooperation from different segments of society, NGOs, the corporate sector and common people to come forward and help plant trees and take care of them.

Unnar said scores of plantation drives had been launched in the country since the creation of Pakistan, but he regretted that most the drives were, unfortunately, unsuccessful to yield the desired results. 

“Instead of an increase in the number of trees, we have in fact lost most of our trees and forests and now a vast lands in the province are turning into deserts due to lack of trees and vegetation. There is a dire need to plant new trees as even our agricultural fields lack trees and vegetation, let alone banks of canals and roads in main cities,” he deplored.

He maintained that people had forgotten the importance of having trees in their neighbourhoods and despite wishing to see greenery and trees in their localities people were not ready to plant trees.

He vowed to make this upcoming plantation drive successful by involving common people and adopting a participatory approach.

On the occasion, he announced imposing strict penalties on people and organisations chopping down trees and destroying vegetation in Karachi and rest of the province in the guise of development, saying no development could be carried out by cutting trees.

Unnar said people should realise that it was a much-needed campaign in view of the rising temperatures in Sindh. He urged people from all walks of life to join the cause to save earth from global warming.

“The purpose of this meeting at the Sepa head office is to seek experts’ opinion and to ascertain how this tree plantation campaign could be launched effectively and maximum number of saplings could be planted so that they could turn into fully grown trees,” he added.

Experts, who attended the meeting, including Taufiq Pasha, suggested that local and indigenous species of plants should be preferred during the plantation drive and vowed to assist the environment department in the plantation drive.

Among others, the meeting was attended by KPC Governing Body Member Hanif Akbar, KUJ-Dastoor Secretary Hamid-ur-Rehman, Deputy Director SEPA Mujtaba Baig, Mahmood Khalid, environmentalist Shahid Lutfi, WWF-Pakistan representative Umair Shahid, Naeem Qureshi and others.