BEIJING,  Oct. 29 (INP): China could help Pakistan to combat desertification and shortage of fuelwood by exchanging the new technology.

This was stated by Nowsherwan Zarif, who used to be a public servant in Pakistan Forest Institute in Peshawar and now is on a 4-year study leave in Harbin, China, according to China Economic Net (CEN).

“I am doing a Ph.D. at Northeast Forestry University since 2017. As a researcher, my duty is to plant different forest species. I have to plant,” he said .

My basic aim is to enhance my expertise in the field of forestry and learn modern techniques which can help Pakistan in the future,  he said in an interview to CEN.

According to Nowsherwan, there are a lot of disciplines in which China can help Pakistan improve. “With the increasing population in Pakistan, the fuelwood demand boosted as well.

China's advanced forest genetics and tree breeding technology can be useful in Pakistan. Fast-growing species and other forest species can also be introduced to Pakistan to satisfy the demand.

In the recent few decades, China has done commendable jobs in enhancing the forest coverage rate. Now, the government of Pakistan is also taking a keen interest in plantations to make Pakistan green.

A planting project is launched to plant 10 billion trees all over Pakistan within 5 years. We have already achieved 1 billion plantations 5 years back, it is a good initiative for the Pakistan government. ” Nowsherwan was also impressed by China’s experience in combating desertification.

He said, he saw a documentary about how China convert desert into oasis or forest. Pakistan can learn the related technologies and introduce drought resistance species from China.”

Nowsherwan’s wife is also doing a Ph.D. at the same university. Her major is Forest Resource Economic Management.

“Last winter she went back to Pakistan for the collection of research data, which is related to the impacts of large dam on riparian vegetation in Pakistan, while I had to stay here because I need to finish my lab works before March.” he said.

During the epidemic period, Nowsherwan stayed in China and his wife stayed in Pakistan.

“Our school deputed one teacher to every student to care for their physical and mental health. They provided us every facility like masks, hand sanitizer, floor cleaner, etc. They kept in touch with us 24/7 during the whole epidemic so we may not get panic and depressed, " he added.

INP/javed