Sindh government’s urban forestry drive to start from Karachi

The Sindh government will start implementing its project to carry out urban forestry in the province within a month, and Karachi is going to be the first city where a massive plantation drive will be conducted.

Forest & Wildlife Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah made the announcement on Wednesday while speaking as the chief guest of a dialogue on corporate social responsibility (CSR) at the Karachi Gymkhana. He urged philanthropists, NGOs and the corporate sector to come forward and actively participate in the urban forestry drive.

He said the forest department has identified the sites in the city where tree plantation will be carried out to promote urban forestry, adding that places along the banks of the Malir and Lyari rivers and major storm-water drains will be the most suitable.

The minister said that mostly plants and trees of native species will be used in the campaign, adding that the drive has been designed for conserving the environment of Sindh’s main cities and to reverse the effects of pollution.

He said that last week he had convened a meeting of stakeholders, including the local government minister and the Karachi mayor, to consult them on the forestry initiative. The programme will gradually be expanded to other divisional headquarters of the province, he added. Shah said the forest department has also been carrying out a drive to reclaim the forest land under illegal occupation across the province. He has issued orders that tree plantation should become a compulsory component of development projects related to new roads.

Ambulances

Speaking on the occasion, Aman Health Care Services CEO Shazina Masud said the Aman Foundation started working in 2008, and excelled in the fields of emergency medical services and community mobilisation for family planning.

She said the Aman Foundation will expand its fleet of modern ambulances in Karachi from 60 to 200 in collaboration with the Sindh government, adding that the two have already been operating the Sindh Peoples Ambulance Service for Thatta and Sujawal districts.

Shazina said community mobilisation for promoting the concept of family planning is being carried out to especially target the low-income population that otherwise cannot be reached for disseminating the information about this important campaign.

CSR

Al-Shifa Trust President Mohammad Shoaib said that although the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) had in 2013 issued voluntary guidelines for the corporate entities to carry out CSR-related work, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had fully adopted them.

He said that despite the PIA’s financial crisis, the national flag carrier has been sticking to all its CSR-related initiatives it launched back when it was a prosperous organisation.

Social problems

Former Aman Foundation CEO Malik Ahmed Jalal said NGOs, charities and the private sector cannot on their own overcome massive social problems like hunger, poverty and population growth, as ultimately it is the domain of the government to effectively resolve them.

He said that charitable organisations should provide health, education, shelter, skill development, food, water and other similar social services with a uniform standard so that the same services can be replicated for the people of the affluent class.

Philanthropy

Make-A-Wish Foundation President Mirza Ishtiaq Baig said the SECP guidelines for CSR should make it binding on companies to spend at least one or two per cent of their annual profits on corporate philanthropy.

He said that a similar law in India has been very helpful in furthering charitable work there, adding that Pakistan ranks among the top countries in terms of massive show of generosity of its people to do individual spending for charitable causes. Baig said Pakistan will also be among the top-ranking countries doing organisational spending for charitable causes if a law is enacted to reserve a fixed percentage of annual profits of every company for CSR-related work.

Noble people

K-Electric Chief Communication & Marketing Officer Syed Fakhar Ahmed said Pakistanis should be proud of their noble people like the late Abdul Sattar Edhi, who had dedicated his entire life for charitable work. He said the Edhi Foundation has been running the world’s biggest services of emergency ambulance fleet and shelter facility for destitute women and children.