ISLAMABAD:Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam Thursday apprised that efforts of the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Plantation Project (TBTTP) Forestry Department teams had resulted in becoming the global success story on environment as global climate leaders at COP-26 Glasgow acknowledged the success of this green initiative.
He was addressing the three-day National Workshop on MIS/Log-frame of the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme concluded here, said a news release.
The workshop was jointly organized by the Ministry of Climate Change of the Government of Pakistan, KfW and the Third Party Monitoring Consortium: IUCN Pakistan, FAO Pakistan and WWF-Pakistan with the financial assistance of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the
participation of the Forestry Departments of all provinces, AJK and GB.
Amin said that the world knew that “Pakistan is planting trees” which reflects the global recognition of this green initiative.”
He said that the TBTTP was the flagship programme of the Ministry of Climate Change that was up-scaled from the successful implementation of the Billion Tree Afforestation Project in KP Province.
“The TBTTP has now become a global brand for Pakistan, a great recognition. Afforestation and Forest Protection at mega scale is targeted all over the four provinces, AJK and GB.The international development partners have shown high interest in supporting the activities scheduled under this programme,” he added.
He appreciated the work done by the project management unit with the support of the provincial teams and field
staff in moving at a fast pace for achieving the set targets. He highlighted that the strength of the programme lied in its transparency that had been its most important virtue since BTAP.
“Now with the Independent Third Party Monitoring conducted by the Consortium of IUCN, FAO and WWF, it is going to an even higher level of transparency with the latest tools, methodologies and use of drones to monitor the work being done under the programme for making Pakistan green,” he added.
He thanked the German Government for their continued support for development and cooperation, especially for clean energy and nature based projects.
In his remarks, Mahmood Akhtar Cheema, Country Representative IUCN Pakistan, said that the consortium comprising of FAO, WWF and IUCN would independently monitor the programme activities using the methodologies and tools developed during the pilot monitoring phase.
The findings of the pilot monitoring were given due weight by the MoCC and the report of the pilot monitoring was presented to SAPM Malik Amin Aslam Khan and Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Cheema thanked the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) for its financial support in supporting the consortium in the planning phase as well as for undertaking the fully fledged monitoring process.
He also appreciated the technical role of KfW during the planning phase and the finalization of the Log-frame as well as the MIS development to include the independent third party monitoring of the TBTTP.
Country Director KfW Pakistan Sebastian Jacobi highlighted the contribution of Germany for the climate partnerships. The Government of Germany's Climate Change and Energy portfolio is valued 300 million euros. The Government of Germany through the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has pledged another 2.5 million euros for conducting the Third party monitoring of TBTTP through the Independent Consortium.