KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Information, Local Government and Forests Syed Nasir Hussain Shah on Monday said that all leases granted under Forest Policy 2005-2006 had been cancelled.

He said that thousands of acres of forest land had been retrieved. He said this while presiding over a meeting on Forest, according to a communique. He said that New Year 2021 would be the year of trees and they would try to plant more and more trees in the province.

The minister said that on the special directives of PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari several projects had been launched to make the province green. The forest project was divided into three parts. These included Urban Forest, Sarsabz Sindh and Green Pakistan Project.

"We are planting environment friendly local trees whereas in the past trees that were harmful to the environment were planted," he stated. The Sindh Forest Minister added that eco-friendly tree planting programme has been chalked out for the banks of canals and along the main highways of the province. Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that a satellite survey had been conducted under GIS to create a real database of forests.