By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Sunday that the Billion Tree Tsunami (BTT) campaign was yielding incredible results as he posted a short video of the ‘barren hills in Swat turning green’.
“Matta in Swat – Barren hills turning green. Incredible results from our Billion Tree Tsunami campaign in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa,” the premier said on Twitter
“InshaAllah we will leave a clean and green Pakistan for future generations,” he added. On June 27, the premier urged the nation to gear up for “the biggest tree planting campaign in our history”.
“I want all Pakistanis, esp our youth, to gear up for the biggest tree planting campaign in our history. We have a lot of catching up to do,” the premier said on Twitter. “And we will be gearing up this monsoon season for our plantation drive – the biggest in Pakistan’s history,” he added.
On June 3, PM Imran said Pakistan must achieve the target of planting 10 billion trees to protect future generations and play its due role in mitigating global warming. “Pakistan is among the 10 most vulnerable countries with regard to global warming,” he added.
“The country must play its part in saving the world from global warming,” the PM said, urging to grow more national forests, increasing the number of trees and investing in urban forestry. Citing the example of China and Indonesia, he observed that Pakistan could learn a lot from these countries in terms of green innovations.
“Pakistan’s future lies in these efforts! We have taken our natural resources for granted, but now is the time [to care for them],” he remarked.
The premier termed the growth of mangrove forests a good omen for the country. “No other forests witnessed such growth,” he said.
“We started the billion tree initiative in 2013, now we have to raise awareness about it,” he added.
“Pakistan will take the lead in tackling the challenges of global warming and carbon emissions”.
He warned that if the green cause was ignored today the country will reach a point of no return.
In August last year, the premier launched the largest tree plantation drive in the history of Pakistan as the ruling party commemorated the ‘Tiger Force Day’.
