Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Minister for Environment, Forests, and Wildlife, Syed Ishtiaq Urmar, has said that 4 million students will plant 40 million trees across the province on 20 February 2020.
In an unprecedented event, students from kindergarten to Ph.D. will take part in a one-day spring afforestation campaign which is a part of a much bigger program called the 10 Billion Trees Afforestation Program (10-BTAP).
10-BTAP originated after the success of the Billion Tree Afforestation Program (BTAP). Under the BTAP, the KP government had planted more than 1.20 billion trees stretching over 2,30,000 hectares from 2014-17.
As a result, the forest cover of KP jumped 6% to 26.3% in 2018 in comparison to 20.3% in 2013. KP government aims to complete 10-BTAP by 2023.
Students of both public and private institutes from Chitral to D.I. Khan and South Waziristan to Kohistan will participate in afforestation drive. Each of the 4 million students will be handed over 10 saplings that they will plant on 20 February.
While briefing the media on the February 20 campaign, Syed Ishtiaq Urmar said:
Global warming and climate change pose serious threats to developing countries like Pakistan in terms of food insecurity, environmental degradation, health, renewable energy, and water resources. In this regard, the KP government has decided to plant 40 million saplings in the spring season by engaging 4 million students of schools, colleges, and universities on February 20.
Via: Pakistan Observer
