(Karachi) Prime Minister Imran Khan has inaugurated the Miyawaki Urban Forest at Jilani Park, Lahore on Friday.

Addressing the participants, Imran said: "You have chosen 50 sites to implement the Miyawaki concept whereby a jungle that grew in 50 years previously will now grow in 10 or 20 years. So this is an excellent first step."

He added that these 50 sites and what is planned for them must be shared with the people because they have a great interest in seeing the declining green cover restored. He maintained barren areas have been transformed into lush, green areas in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa where the government undertook the Billion Tree Tsunami initiative.

The prime minister said that in the last 12 to13 years the city has lost 70 percent of its tree cover.

Counting the lingering effects of smog due to the lost green cover, the premier said that six to 11 years of a person's lifespan are reduced. He said the adverse affects are so many they "cannot be quantified".

Pioneered by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, it is a unique technique that helps build native forests 10 times faster and 30 times denser.

Under the approach, dozens of native species are planted in the same area, close to each other, which ensures that the plants receive sunlight only from the top, and grow upwards than sideways.