Prime Minister Imran Khan took part in the campaign by planting a sapling in Haripur as part of the government's billion tree Tsunami drive. He was accompanied by KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan. One-day plantation campaign 'Plant for Pakistan' commenced on Sunday aiming to plant an approximate of 1.5 million trees around the country.
The 1.5 million saplings planted today would go under the belt of the 10 million trees plantation that is expected to unfold in the next five years of the Pakistan Terheek-e-Insaf government. To rejuvenate the zest of nature and encourage communities to save the planet, around 190 distribution points have been set up across the country that will be handing out free saplings to the public.
PM Khan's adviser on Climate Change, Amin Aslam has stated the programme initiated by ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Green Pakistan Programme (GPP), will be assimilated into the billion tree Tsunami project. "Now we have to extend this programme to the whole country," he added.
Climate change is one of the main issues that PM Imran's government aims to tackle through initiatives like tree plantation. The country-wide tree plantation drive comes after the PTI-led provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa executed a large-scale tree-planting project during its previous tenures.
According to experts, Pakistan is facing enormous environmental challenges. A survey conducted by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute ahead of the 2018 poll found that respondents prioritized three key environmental issues: rising temperatures, water shortages, and air pollution.