INP-WealthPk

Pak green project in wake of COVID-19 productive one: Report

April 08, 2020

BEIJING, April 8 ( INP): Chinese scholar Prof. Cheng Xizhong hoped Pakistan's government decision launching a three-month plantation campaign to create new jobs for daily income group affected by the countrywide lockdown will prove very productive. In an article carried by Gwadar Pro App on Thursday, he noted that the Forestry Department of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province was going to launch the campaign, employing thousands of daily income workers. He expressed his confidence that the campaign will achieve the effect of “one arrow aiming at three eagles”, which means doing one thing to achieve three goals at the same time. First, it will solve the livelihood problem of daily income workers who are unemployed due to the epidemic. It is noted that the federal government and provincial governments have formulated afforestation plans to plant 10 billion trees all over the country. Pakistan has a population of more than 200 million, which means an average of 50 trees per person. Therefore, this is a very big project. If other provinces all follow the example of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province and immediately launch the planting campaign, hundreds of thousands or even millions of jobs will be created. Second, there are a large number of poor daily income workers in big cities. A large-scale tree planting campaign will lead a large number of daily income workers to leave the big cities, which may not only help them solve the employment problem, but also reduce the population pressure in the cities. Population evacuation is also conducive to controlling the epidemic spreading. Third, he added the large-scale tree planting in Pakistan is a green project of strategic significance. Pakistan is a country with limited water resources. Planting trees helps to increase green coverage, avoid soil erosion and enhance the ability to cope with natural disasters such as mudslides and landslides. At the same time, planting trees can purify the air, beautify the environment, and create a better living environment for all the people. In addition, by planting trees we can have huge economic benefits, and enhance the export of fruits, herbs, rubber and other products, he added. INP/JAVED