Pakistan Navy launched Mangroves Plantation Campaign 2018

ISLAMABAD, May 3 (APP):Pakistan Navy has launched “Pakistan Navy – Mangroves Plantation Campaign 2018” in line with the government’s vision of “Green Pakistan”.
It is the third campaign of this series which entails an effort to plant about two million mangroves in the coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan provinces during next one year.
Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi was the chief guest and inaugurated Pakistan Navy Mangroves Plantation Campaign at Shah Bandar, a message received here Thursday said.
It said that mangroves were vital for coastal ecosystem, prevention of sea intrusion and sustaining marine life while these gifts of nature were diminishing in the face of economic development and demands for domestic needs. Pakistan Navy (PN) being a major stakeholder of the maritime domain realized the importance of mangroves for marine life and took a major initiative to revive Mangrove forests all along the coast. Apart from mangroves plantation, Pakistan Navy had also launched maritime economy awareness campaign, it added.
Addressing the ceremony, chief of the naval staff stressed that deforestation of mangroves had not only affected biodiversity of our coastal areas but also livelihoods of coastal communities. This situation essentially necessitates focused attention and coordinated efforts from all walks of the society.
In this context Pakistan Navy – Mangroves Plantation Campaign is an initiative to plant additional mangroves as well as to create awareness among the masses about the significance of mangroves to support the nature. He highlighted that since 2016, PN has planted more than two million mangroves along the coast from Shah Bandar to Jiwani.
He urged all stakeholders including federal and provincial departments and civil society to play their due role and join hands with Pakistan Navy in noble cause of protecting marine ecology.
Speaking on the occasion, Country Head of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Mahmood Akhtar Cheema said the role of Pakistan Navy in plantation of mangroves forests is unprecedented.
Later, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mehmood Abbasi visited forward bases of Pakistan Navy in creek areas and interacted with the officers and men.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by a large number of senior military and civil officials including federal and provincial parliamentarians, representatives from business community, World Wildlife Fund, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), fishery folk society and officials from Forest Department, Sindh.