Webinar on need for trees held

SUKKUR: A webinar was held on “Trees are Need for Life and Beauty of the Land” stressing the authorities to recover all the forest land immediately, which was illegally encroached upon by the local feudal lords throughout Sindh.The webinar was for the protection and beauty of the land and the environment, asking every citizen to question the relevant agencies regarding plantation of trees. The participants from all over the world discussed different issues, including global warming, environmental pollution, climate change, importance of forests and greenery. In his inaugural address, Engineer Ramesh Raja said trees were the ultimate source of oxygen, which is the foremost need of lives. In Pakistan, the forest outspread over 5 per cent of the land till 1980, which was now reduced to less than 3 per cent.Ramesh Raja said under the international law, forests should cover at least 25 per cent of the land area. He said according to the Global Climate Risk Index, Pakistan is ranked 10th among the countries rapidly affected by the climate change. He said Sindh comprised Kacha, Pakka and coastal forests, accumulating 2.3 per cent of the total land, while more than 50 per cent trees had already been cut down illegally in the last 30 years. Dara Shahid from USA, Jawwad Haider from Hungary, Aslam Arain from the Netherlands, Zeeshan Jatoi from Russia, Ali Hassan Rind from Cuba, Kaka Singh from Germany, Manzoor Sethar from Bahrain, Santosh Katari from Saudi Arabia and the participants from Pakistan, including Prof Suresh Kumar Wadhwani, Dr Shehzad Sheikh, Haji Khan Bozdar, Saeed Channa, Rauf Paras Dayu, Abdul Wahid, Amjad Shar, Sarang Warar, Shakeel Ahmed Sheikh, Abdul Jabbar Chang, Abdul Ghaffar Indhar and others also participated in the discussion.