Over 40 million trees planted across Punjab in FY2025-26

Lahore: Punjab Forest Department has exceeded its annual plantation target for the fiscal year 2025-26 by planting more than 40 million trees across the province, achieving 103 per cent of the target through its monsoon and spring plantation campaigns. According to a spokesperson on Sunday, over 21 million saplings were planted during the Monsoon Plantation Campaign 2025, while more than 19 million were planted under the Spring Plantation Campaign 2026. Plantation was carried out extensively along canals, rivers, railway tracks and in state-owned forests across Punjab. Kamalia Forest Division completed plantation on 1,750 acres, while the Mianwali and Rahim Yar Khan forest divisions covered 1,152 acres and 1,389 acres, respectively. In the Dera Ghazi Khan Forest Circle, plantation was undertaken on 5,826 acres, while 802 acres were covered in the Sahiwal Forest Division and Dal Waryam areas. The department also distributed more than 3.5 million saplings among defence institutions and various government depar
tments to support afforestation efforts. Under the rail and canal-side linear plantation programme, over 1.4 million saplings were planted along 3,085 avenue miles. In Bahawalpur, another 145,000 saplings were planted under an eco-tourism initiative aimed at enhancing green cover and promoting environmental sustainability. Director General Forests Azfar Ziya said all plantation sites had been geo-tagged to ensure transparency and effective monitoring. He said digital mapping would help maintain a verifiable record of plantation activities and facilitate future assessment of their performance. The DG said the department remained committed to expanding forest cover and advancing the provincial government’s Green Punjab vision through sustained afforestation and conservation initiatives.