KfW to provide Euro 13.5mn for BTAP, 566.85mn saplings planted in KP: Official
PESHAWAR: The KfW German Bank would provide Euro13.5 million for support of billion trees afforestration project (BTAP) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, Deputy Project Director, 10 billion trees afforstration project (10BTAP) told APP on Sunday that agreements with KfW German Bank have been completed that would provide Euro13.5million for billion trees afforestration support project (BTASP).
He said it was a six-year project (2022-28) focusing on development and sustainability of forestry projects initiated under BTAP.
Ibrahim Khan said KfW would help bringing improvement in communities’ life in natural forests areas in the 12 forest divisions of Pakistan including Peshawar in poverty alleviation and sustainable forest conservation.
Under the project, he said Management Information System (MIS) would be developed and all BTAP’s activities and records would be digitized.
He said about 566.58 million saplings of different species were planted under 10 billion trees afforstration project (10BTAP) in the province till April 30.
Out of these plants, around 131.60 million plants were planted through manmade plantation, 20.04 million through sowing, 277.61 million through forest enclosures and 137.33 million through farm forestry.
He said 10 new jungles were raised including Ghari Chandan and Mathani Azakhel near Peshawar with 3.2 million plants mostly achieved 20 to 25 feet height providing breeding ground for wildlife and migratory birds besides wild bees and source of ecotourism.
As a result of BTAP, he said KP’s total forest covered areas were enhanced to 26.6 percent in 2018 against 20 percent in 2013 surpassing the 25 percent international forest standards for a country.
To analyze BTAP impact on environment and air quality, he said SUPARCO was approached by the Forest Department that reported 85pc positive change detection in BTAP’s forest cover areas in KP while WWF recorded 88percent survival rate of the project’s plantations.
The project was later extended to the entire country including AJK and Gilgit Baltistan in 2018 after positive outcome of its first phase in Khyber Pakthunkhwa under which 10 billion saplings in Pakistan including additional one billion would be planted by 2023 in KP.
Ibrahim said KP’s share in 10-BTAP is Rs27 billion out of which Rs13.5 billion each would be contributed by Federal and KP governments.
He said that vast unproductive land of merged tribal districts was being utilized to achieve the set targets.
National Forest Policy 2015 has revealed that the country was losing 27,000 hectares of forests every year resulting in a substantial increase in temperature causing adverse effects on human life, aquatic resources and agricultural productivity.
According to the policy, Pakistan has one of the lowest forest cover in the world where only five percent of its areas were under green gold due to rapid population growth, socioeconomic imbalance, encroachment and high demand for wood for domestic use and furniture industry.
The policy disclosed that at national level, forests are being lost at rate of 27,000 per year mostly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan’s community owned and private lands due to rapid population growth, high demand for wood, poverty, encroachment and desertification.
Ibrahim Khan said that Pakistan was among 10 countries most vulnerable to climate change.
He said deforestation was one of the factor contributing to climate change resulting in an increase of floods, severe heat wave and fast melting of glaciers as well as Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) in Chitral and Gilgit Baltistan.
The negative effects of climate change could be witnessed from the recent massive GLOF at Hassanabad village in Hunza district, snowstorms in Murree that claimed lives of 22 persons last winter, 2010 floods and formation of glacial lakes in Chitral and GB.
Ibrahim said the previous provincial government had taken cognizance of the deforestation and climate change vulnerabilities and launched a green growth initiative (GGI) focusing on development of forestry resources, protected areas, national parks, clean energy, climate resilience, sanitation and water management for the well-being of people.
Under GGI, he said billion trees afforestration project was launched in 2014 in Khyber Pakthunkhwa under which a record 1.208 billion plants were raised with an estimated cost of Rs14.364 billion against the approved cost of Rs19.44 billion thus saving Rs5.077 billion for government kitty.(APP/fam)
