Stock of tree saplings rises up to 300m

Islamabad : The stock of saplings prepared in coordination between public and private sector nurseries has risen up to 300 million that would be utilised for Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme in the coming months.

According to the available data, the government has set a target of planting three billion trees till 2023 under this programme and it is negotiating with the four provincial governments and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government to identify lands for this purpose.

The data revealed that a total of 8.25 million acres of land is required to plant three billion trees because the conservators have recommended to plant 435 trees in one acre with each plant occupying 100 square feet space. The saplings planted so far have survival rate of up to 70 per cent and it is quite satisfactory. But the federal government is concentrating on those plant species that can survive even in odd conditions and help increase survival rate during the tree plantation campaign.

The data showed that the plantation of ‘Illaichi’ plants in Garhi Chandan Forest (Peshawar) has proved to be a success story as this plant species needs less amount of water and resists hard weather conditions.

It said that the cost of plantation of every pine tree runs between Rs100 and Rs150 and this is so far the most expensive as compared to other plant species.