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Tree Plantation in Pakistan

Exotic species outnumber native trees along city’s streets
Faiza Ilyas

December 29, 2019

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Amaltas, popular for its medicinal properties, presents a spectacular view, and (right) a shady section of the Karachi Zoo.—Fahim Siddiqi / White Star
KARACHI: The exotic Conocarpus heavily dominates streets of Karachi, which exhibits extremely low flora diversity with exotic species outnumbering native ones. Several major streets do not have any trees at all while countless trees have been uprooted for redevelopment of urban infrastructure over the years, says a Karachi University (KU) study recently published in an international journal.

Titled Town socio-economic status and road width determine street tree density, the study is published in the Urban Forestry and Urban Greening.

Led by their research supervisor, Dr Zafar Iqbal Shams, six students of the Institute of Environmental Studies collected the data during 2016-17. They were: Mubah Shahid, Zara Nadeem, Shafaq Naz, Dania Raheel, Darakshan Aftab, Tayyab Raza Fraz and Muhammad Sohaib Roomi.

An important initiative in recent years, the research based on the data collected from 18 (defunct) towns of Karachi provides detailed information about the species planted along streets, its relation with the socio-economic status of residents, as well as gaps in the government approach towards city’s plantation.

According to the study, there is a lack of appreciation and dearth of knowledge regarding street trees in Karachi despite growing importance and understanding about urban forestry.

Of the total 62 species found here, 54 have less than one per cent presence

“Karachi exhibits low species diversity mainly due to repeated planting of one or few species on its streets over the years. Overreliance on a few species could be a potential threat of their complete elimination from the streets due to diseases, pests or environmental changes.”

Overall, the study recorded 62 species (30 native and 32 exotic) along city’s streets. Of them, the proportion of 54 species, many of which were native, was less than one per cent.

The street tree community, according to the study, had 62 per cent plants of Conocarpus, demonstrating its dominance on the streets.

Top five species recorded were; Conocarpus, lignum, neem, white fig and eucalyptus.

The study also found that the towns of high-income residents demonstrated high tree density compared to those of low-income residents.

The study attributed this pattern to high land value, better infrastructure of roads and sidewalks in high-income areas and lack of interest by relevant civic agency in plantation in low-income areas.

Some towns of low-income residents, Orangi, Baldia and Korangi, however, were found to have greater species richness.

“The civic agency generally removes all the trees, while planting one or two species of its choice. For that reason, Orangi Town had the highest species diversity and one of the lowest tree densities.

“Lyari, a town of lowest-income residents, had the lowest tree density and one of the lowest species diversities, which shows lack of appreciation of street trees by both the agency and local residents.

“Moreover, the town lacks wide verges and spacious median on its streets, which could be one of the reasons of low tree planting.”

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Amaltas, popular for its medicinal properties, presents a spectacular view, and (right) a shady section of the Karachi Zoo.—Fahim Siddiqi / White Star


Some affluent towns demonstrated very low species diversity, mainly due to monoculture planting on their streets. For instance, Gulshan-i- Iqbal demonstrated low species diversity.

“The town accounted for 75 per cent trees of Conocarpus in its street tree community. Low species diversity in street tree community is one of the most serious management issues that show its over-reliance on merely a few species,” the study says.

The study found that species’ diversity on the streets of Karachi is lower than that of 22 US cities and the towns of Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Highlighting the strong presence of exotic species on Karachi’s streets, the study refers to some other researches and states that these species are less suitable for planting in an urban area compared to native species, which support significantly greater diversity and density of avifauna than those of exotic species.

The exotic species listed by the study include curtain fig, rusty fig, prosopis juliflora (keekar), Leucaena leucocephala (jantar), royal palm, cassia tree, jelly bean tree, copper pod, rubber plant Pithecellobium dulce (jangle jalebi), Delonix regia (gul mohar), tamarind (imli) and Morus nigra (shahtoot).

The native species include date palm, pink siris, peepal, bamboo, coconut, banyan tree, moringa, barn, amaltas and jangli badam.

Don’t kill Conocarpus

Asked how city’s street tree cover could be improved, Dr Shams recommended an end to monoculture plantation — a very common trend for the last few decades on Karachi’s streets.

“Decades ago lignum was monocultured on the streets followed by eucalyptus and then conocarpus from 2005 to 2015. The recent study shows that 62 per cent of street trees are of conocarpus species, which is an over-representation of a single species,” he said.

However, Dr Shams strongly rejected the idea of uprooting a single tree of Conocarpus, arguing that there were a lot of vacant spaces, particularly in low-income areas of the city, where trees of other species could be planted.

“As the study shows that the proportion of some 54 species was less than one per cent, we should try to grow more of these plants after carrying out soil survey, consultation with some ecologists and community engagement to ensure their long-term wellbeing,” he said.

The number of these species, he pointed out, should be increased which would naturally decrease the proportion of Conocarpus, which is not an invasive species,” he suggested.

According to Dr Shams, the city cannot afford to remove all the exotic species as its tree cover is already very thin.

“In the urban forestry nowadays, exotic species are not an issue but rather the invasive species — the ones which spread and replace other species without human assistance and are extremely dangerous for local flora. For instance, keekar and jantar,” he said, adding that all exotic species were not invasive.

The Conocarpus like eucalyptus improve soil conditions in waterlogged areas and could be planted after a thorough land survey, he said.
 
The year Pakistan started its fight to be greener

January 1, 2020

ISLAMABAD: With the country seeing even more rapid and severe manifestations of climate change, the past year saw the government finally start to fight back against these changes.

During 2019, the government embarked on a host of projects to mitigate the effects of climate change. This included a five-point agenda such as the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami (TBTT) project, the Electric Vehicle Policy, Plastic-Free Islamabad, Recharge Pakistan Programme, Clean Green Index and Green Initiative and the Green Finance Initiative.

The Rs125 billion TBTT project will see some five billion saplings being planted across the country in the first phase. To be completed over the next five years, the project aims to add trees and cover area equivalent to a percentage of the total forest area in Pakistan.

In this regard, he told The Express Tribune that the government’s entire focus was on the five-point agenda.

The federal and the provincial governments will equally share the project’s cost while the governments of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) will be exempted from the share and the entire cost of the project in both regions will be borne by the federal government, said Adviser to Prime Minister’s on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam.

According to the project concept (PC)-I, Punjab will plant 0.53 billion saplings for Rs58 per sapling — for a total of Rs3074 billion. Similarly, Sindh will plant 2 billion saplings at a cost of Rs5 per sapling for a total of Rs10 billion, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) will plant a billion saplings for Rs27 billion, Balochistan will plant 0.25 billion saplings for Rs16 billion, G-B will plant 0.17 billion trees at a cost of Rs6.97 billion. Similarly, AJK will plant 0.7 billion saplings at a cost of Rs20 billion and the National Highway Authority (NHA) will plant 1.4 million saplings at a cost of Rs2.34 billion.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, he said that of the Rs7.5 billion allocated for the first phase of the project Rs3.75 billion has been released so far in the fiscal year 2019-20.

Plastic ban

Even as it pushes for a greener character of the country, the government has started efforts to counter pollutants in the country as well.

As an initial step, it imposed a ban on usage of non-biodegradable polythene bags in the federal capital from August 14, 2019.

As some government lawmakers described the date as ‘independence from plastic day’, the district administration imposed with relative success the ban on sale, purchase, retail, manufacturing, distribution, and import of plastic bags in the federal capital.

Some residents welcomed the move while others grumbled at the inconvenience it caused. However, since the ban on plastic was not universal, many goods continued to be found wrapped in the substance.

Moreover, the government allowed conditional use of polythene bags in industries, including primary industrial, municipal, hospital waste and hazardous waste packaging. Companies could continue the use of these bags if they obtained permission from the competent authority by meeting specific conditions and paying an annual fee worth Rs10,000.

Clean and Green Pakistan Index

Another initiative which has the potential to act as a catalyst for improving cleanliness in cities and improve their green character with the ‘Clean and Green Pakistan Index (CGPI).

Cities participating in the programme — a competition of sorts between different cities and regions with additional funds the prize — will take environment-friendly steps and gain points on the index.

In the first phase of the programme, as many as 19 cities across Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) will be pitted against one another.

They will compete on subjects such as the provision of basic facilities to citizens, including safe drinking water, solid waste management, liquid waste management, city beautification, cleanliness of streets, the usability of parks, tree plantation, sanitation and community participation.

The CGPI, the government hopes, will serve as a barometer of how clean and environment-friendly cities are. Their performance will be gauged over six months on five parameters: including tree plantation, safe water, safe sanitation, hygiene as well as liquid and solid waste management.

Electric vehicle policy

Another policy aimed at improving the environment was the electrical vehicle policy introduced by the government. The policy aims to convert around 30 per cent of vehicles across the country to the more environment–friendly technology by 2030.
 
We should start ownership scheme for plantation of fruit trees. Those who don't have land and want to grow fruit trees govt should allow them on state's land, upto ten trees per family unit. So when there's season they'll have fruits and overall increased production for the country.
 
Billion Tree Project Employed More Than 66,000 Workers After Lockdown

The Billion Trees Afforestation Project (BTAP) has provided an opportunity to the jobless laborers and daily wagers to earn better livelihoods for their families during the testing times of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Approximately, 66,291 jobless workers were provided jobs in 10 BTAP after they were out of jobs due to the closure of industrial units, public transport, hotels, SMEs, tourism, mines, mineral, construction, and other sectors during the nearly two months lockdown in the country.

According to the details, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, around 22,000 jobs were provided to laborers and daily wagers, 17,391 in Punjab, 3,500 in Balochistan, 11,900 in Sindh, 3,000 in Gilgit Baltistan and 8500 in Azad Kashmir

 
Billion Tree Project Employed More Than 66,000 Workers After Lockdown

The Billion Trees Afforestation Project (BTAP) has provided an opportunity to the jobless laborers and daily wagers to earn better livelihoods for their families during the testing times of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Approximately, 66,291 jobless workers were provided jobs in 10 BTAP after they were out of jobs due to the closure of industrial units, public transport, hotels, SMEs, tourism, mines, mineral, construction, and other sectors during the nearly two months lockdown in the country.

According to the details, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, around 22,000 jobs were provided to laborers and daily wagers, 17,391 in Punjab, 3,500 in Balochistan, 11,900 in Sindh, 3,000 in Gilgit Baltistan and 8500 in Azad Kashmir

 
PM Imran to kick off Monsoon Tree Plantation Campaign today




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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will start the Monsoon Tree Plantation Campaign 2020 in Kahuta today (Friday) under the umbrella of his government's "Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme".

A press release from the Prime Minister's Office said that all segments of the society will participate in the “Plant for Pakistan Day”, which would be celebrated across the country.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) acknowledged in a report three years ago that the Billion Tree Tsunami project, launched by the Khyber Pahtunkhwa government, added 350,000 hectares of trees both by planting and natural regeneration.

Natural disasters and deforestation has proven to be disastrous for Pakistan's green cover.

Pakistan is among the six countries that will be most affected by global warming.

PM Imran has, on several occasions, highlighted the importance of preserving national parks, forests and the green cover to ward off the dangers of global warming and climate change.
 

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