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ISLAMABAD, Aug 23 (APP): Pakistan has successfully achieved 68 percent of its tree plantation target under the government’s flagship initiative, the “Upscaling Green Pakistan Program” which aims at combating climate change, enhancing forest cover and restoring degraded ecosystems across the country.
According to official documents available with Wealth Pakistan, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, in collaboration with provincial governments, planted more than 2.22974 billion saplings between 2019 and December 2024, against the overall target of 3.29 billion saplings by 2028.
Sindh emerged as the top-performing province by planting 856.01 million saplings, achieving 85 percent of its set target. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) followed with 713.25 million plantations, while Punjab contributed 364.79 million, achieving 77 percent of its goal. Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) planted 177.05 million, and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) accounted for 94.10 million plantations. In Balochistan, 24.55 million saplings were planted during the review period.
The program’s annual progress breakdown includes 492.03 million saplings in 2019, 595.37 million in 2020, 766.50 million in 2021, 233.41 million in 2022, and 125.99 million in 2023.
A senior Ministry official told Wealth Pakistan that Pakistan loses nearly 11,000 hectares of forest land annually due to wildfires, climate change, and land conversion. To address this alarming trend, the government has coupled plantation drives with several structural and policy interventions.
An interprovincial coordination committee was constituted to curb illegal logging and regulate inter-provincial timber movement. The committee regularly highlights challenges faced by the forestry sector and issues recommendations for compliance.
In line with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s directives, the Ministry has also developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on forest fire management in coordination with all provinces, AJK, and GB. Forest fire monitoring data is now systematically collected and reviewed at the national level. Additionally, an early warning system prototype has been installed in two valleys of KP and is currently in the testing phase.
The Federal Forestry Board has also been revived to address deforestation challenges and ensure alignment with the National Forest Policy 2017. Moreover, provinces have updated their forestry-related laws and policies, including the Punjab Forestry Policy 2019, Sindh Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Policy 2023 (Amended), KP Forest Ordinance 2002, KP Protected Forest Management Rules 2005, Balochistan Forest Act 2022, GB Forest Act 2019, GB Forest Force Rules 2020, GB Wildlife Biodiversity Areas Act 2021 and AJK Forest Regulations (Amendment) Act 2017.
In addition to inland plantation, the country has recorded remarkable progress in mangrove restoration. Since the early 1990s, mangrove cover along Pakistan’s coastal areas has increased by 300 percent, making Pakistan the only country in the region with an expanding mangrove forest cover.