Protection of country’s environment top priority for govt, says PM Imran

Pakistan

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said that the protection of the country’s environment is a top priority of his government.

Addressing the 7th Asian Regional Conservation Forum of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Islamabad, the prime minister highlighted the natural diversity of Pakistan.

According to Radio Pakistan, he said that the country has twelve ecological zones from deserts to Himalayan forests which are rare in the world. However, he noted that population growth and a lack of interest in the protection of environment in the past had devastated wildlife and forests in the country.

Prime Minister Imran said the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the first to deal with climate change by launching the Billion Tree Tsunami project. He credited the local population for the success of the initiative as well as action against timber mafia in the province.

He said the federal government has now embarked on an ambitious plan of planting 10 billion trees. He announced that the government will now launch massive tree plantation drives across the country as the necessary planning has been done and infrastructure including nurseries developed in the first year.

The youth will drive this massive campaign, the prime minister said, announcing that environmental protection will also be made part of school curriculum.

The premier said the government has also decided to resort to vertical expansion of cities. He said the town planners need to be more conscious of environment protection. He regretted that Lahore’s 70 per cent trees were cut off in the past 10 years.

Talking about the global efforts to tackle climate change, the premier regretted the United States’ decision to pull out of the Paris accord.

Speaking on the occasion, the IUCN president hailed the government for launching ten billion tree tsunami project. He said he is also impressed with the forestation that took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over the last five years. He appreciated the mission and passion of Prime Minister Imran to address the issue of climate change.

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