First-ever forest monitoring system starts

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam has said that monitoring of forest resources was pivotal for containing deforestation and forest land degradation and taming global warming-caused climate change.

Addressing the “Launch of the National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS)” event held here on Monday. he said there had been large-scale deforestation and land degradation due to absence of effective forest monitoring system in the country.

The monitoring system would be based on Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) functions, deployment of which would help produce high-quality, reliable data on forests, including forest-carbon estimates, that are critical to the battle against the climate change.

He said: “The forest monitoring system would be a great help for the country regarding conservation, sustainable management of forests, enhancement of forest carbon stocks, monitor changes in the forest land use and detect its degradation in the country.”

Malik Amin Aslam said that Pakistan lost forests over 27,000 hectares annually, which led to massive environmental degradation and contamination of air quality, causing various serious public health hazards.

He told the participants that launch of first-ever national forest monitoring system was part of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision for clean and green Pakistan to check unlawful deforestation and forest land degradation activities across the country.

He said the monitoring, reporting and verification of forest resources would employ Satellite Land Monitoring Systems (SLMS), adding, “The forest monitoring system would also identify and collect activity data for their relevant land use.”

He noted that Pakistan was a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which had recognised deforestation as one of the main sources of carbon emission, resulting in global warming.