Project to plant trees at 300 sites in Gilgit-Baltistan initiated

Islamabad: The climate change ministry is extending help to the Gilgit-Baltistan government to plant trees on its 300 sites with an aim to absorb carbon and stabilize soil in hazard-prone areas.

According to the details, the work on the 4-year mega project that was approved in October last year has now formally been initiated and the process of selection of sites to plant 50 million trees is underway in collaboration between the federal and the G-B government.

The G-B government will contribute 4.2 million dollar while it will receive $537,000 grant from the donor agencies to complete the project within the stipulated time period. The methodology to evaluate risk and vulnerability and identify hazard-prone and steep-slope sites will be used, which could benefit from the plantation for stabilization, particularly along roads and critical infrastructure.

The climate change ministry is also extending its help the G-B government to install more effective monitoring systems to prevent activities of timber mafia that is allegedly involved in illegal tree cutting in various locations of the northern region.

The work is also underway to introduce new legislation in the G-B Assembly to increase fines and punishment for illegal cutting of trees. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam has said the northern areas of Pakistan have a high significance in the efforts to combat the negative impacts of climate change.

“This region has large numbers of glaciers and any change in atmospheric temperature can have adverse impacts on them. The increase in tree cover will help maintain its temperature and avoid the emergence of glacial lakes,” he said.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed to introduce a package for the local people who are currently using firewood to meet their energy requirements, adding “The government will provide them with alternative sources of energy to reduce the use of firewood in the region.”