RAWALPINDI: Punjab Forest Department (Extension) Rawalpindi Division is growing forests by planting saplings on thousands of acres of barren and uncultivated privately owned lands under Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ‘Ten Billion Tree Tsunami’ project.
Only in Chakwal District of Rawalpindi Division, over 5000 kanals of such land has so far been turned into dense forests, said District Range Forest officer of Punjab Forest Department Rawalpindi (Extention) Sher Afzal Raja.
Sher Afzal said that district office of Range Forest Chakwal was distributing saplings among the farmers.
He urged the farmers and cultivators to resettle their barren lands through afforestation and informed that the forest department was providing them saplings at the rate of Rs 2 per seedling.
They were planting these saplings in their barren lands and forest department was also providing them help to grow these saplings in a proper way, he said adding, millions of these plants would be given to farmers in all districts and tehsils of the division.
He further said that practical measures had also been taken to expand the forests on the lands owned by the department and to protect the existing forests, which has led to a massive increase in the forest area for the first time.
“Along with these practical and solid steps, we are also raising public awareness to highlight the need and importance of trees for which a massive publicity campaign has been launched,” he added.
He said,”We have to give a safe environment to our future generations for which every citizen should take full part in tree plantation.”
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