20,000 saplings planted during week-long drive

Islamabad : The week-long ‘Green Pakistan’ campaign during which over 20,000 saplings of different species of trees planted at different locations of the federal capital concluded here at Parade Ground on Monday.

During the tree plantation drive sponsored by ‘The Centaurus’, the residents of Islamabad belonging to different walks of life planted sapling at Faisal Mosque, International Islamic University (IIU), Hill View Park, Faisal Mosque and Parade Avenue.

In his message at end of campaign, the ex Punjab Minister for Food and Agriculture Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan said it was responsibility of every citizen to safeguard the ecology of Pakistan.

He said Pakistan is among 10 countries of the world which suffered from climate change and the simplest way to address is to increase forest cover of the country. “ This is more important to increase area of forest through more and more plantation particularly when the country is losing 43,000 hectares of forests (equivalent to half of Islamabad) every year,” he said.

On last of drive President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Aamir Waheed Shaikh, President Al Maroof International Hospital and General Manager ‘The Centaurus’ were guests at concluding day of the tree plantation drive at Parade Ground. The tree plantation activity on the last day was participated by a large number college students.