950807

Leghari, Benazir

call for mass

tree plantation

ISLAMABAD: President Farooq Leghari has called upon compatriots to contribute to the government's crash afforestation programme.

This was necessary to make Pakistan ecologically stable and environment-health place, the President said in a message on the occasion of the monsoon tree plantation campaign:

He said tree and forests are most essential for sustaining life support systems on the earth. In addition to satisfying numerous human needs, they help preserve the nature, protect the environment; provide habitat for wildlife, serve as a store house for genetic material and carbon sink. Planting of more trees and preservation of existing forests must, therefore, be accorded a very high priority in our socio-economic programme.

The government, he said has launched a crash afforestation programme. It is, therefore, incumbent on all of us to participate in this campaign, plant as many saplings as possible and protect them till they are fully established.

He appealed to the entire nation, men, women and children to support this initiative and make Pakistan an ecologically stable and environment healthy place for the present as well as for the future generations".

In her message on the occasion Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has appealed to all citizens to extend support to Pakistan Environmental Protection Council's tree plantation campaign.

She said that the government planned to increase afforestated area from five to ten percent and neither funds nor availability planting stock would be allowed to hamper this resolve.

She said the government is aware of the narrow forest resource base in the country. Which is under severe pressure of burgeoning population and widening gap between wood supply and demand which is increasing to threaten our socio-economic fabric and ecological stability. It is, therefore, imperative to increase woodland wealth on state lands as well as private farms.

The Premier said the Pakistan Environmental Protection Council has accepted the challenge and formulated a new strategy to increase forests area from 5 percent to 10 percent in the next two and half years.

She said let us join our hands together and make sincere individual and collective efforts to take advantage of the monsoon rains by planting maximum number of trees so that our country becomes greener, healthier and prosperous.-APP