The budget for 2023–24 includes significant funding for Green Pakistan, a major federal initiative to fight climate change, desertification, and reverse deforestation.
The budget for 2023–24 includes significant funding for Green Pakistan, a major federal initiative to fight climate change, desertification, and reverse deforestation. This funding is intended to strengthen the forestry and wildlife resources.
The government, through its Green Pakistan programme, has announced a number of important projects for the promotion of forestry, wildlife, environment, and biodiversity resources in all of Pakistan’s provinces for the benefit of its citizens.
These projects will be carried out through the Ministry of Climate Change Division with a significant allocation of Rs 4050 million under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) in the budget 2023–24.
The huge allocation of Rs4,050 million for various enormous projects of the climate change division for the upcoming fiscal year, which would make Pakistan green, is evidence that the budget is pro-forestry and agriculture, according to Gulzar Rehman, a former conservator of forests in KP, who was speaking to APP on Sunday. According to him, the massive budget allocated to the green sector will be crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
According to Pakistan’s National Forest Policy 2015, deforestation, wood demand, and socioeconomic imbalances cause the country to lose 27,000 hectares of forest each year.
This is particularly true in Khyber Pakthunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan’s communal and privately owned natural forests. Land degradation, water quality, floods, and biodiversity loss are all negatively impacted by deforestation.
Riparian, low-lying, and coastal areas are at risk of seawater intrusion due to deforestation and climate change. Flooding last year increased the salinity of the soil, making it unusable for farming. The economy, the way of life of the poor, and sustainable development are all negatively impacted by environmental degradation and climate change.
Gulzar asserts that the government’s Green Pakistan initiative, which was led by the division in charge of combating climate change, showed how important it was for the government to support the forestry sector in order to counteract the effects of environmental issues.
Tauheedul Haq, a former KP Forest Department Conservator, praised the federal budget and the Green Pakistan initiative and added that these programmes assisted in preserving the ground water table.
Pakistan is on the verge of becoming a country with a water shortage due to weather patterns brought on by climate change and a lack of dams.
The National Water Policy states that from 5,260 cubic metres annually in 1951 to about 1,000 cubic metres in 2016, the amount of surface water available per person has decreased.
In the Punjab and Sindh provinces, where one million tube wells are pumping 55 million acres feet (MAF) of underground water for irrigation, the country’s groundwater situation is predicted to deteriorate even more.
The government has set aside Rs 3,950 million for three ongoing programmes: Rs 26.5 million for capacity building on water quality and monitoring and SDG (6.1); Rs 20.95 million for a unit for climate-resilient urban human settlements; and Rs 3,902.55 million for a revised project for the Up-scaling of the Green Pakistan Program.
The Pakistan Bio-safety Clearing House (Pak-BCH) has received Rs 100 million from the Federal Budget 2023–24, along with Rs 2,800 million for a national programme for watercourses phase–II, Rs 900 million for improving the commend area in Pakistan’s Barani regions, and Rs 700 million for encouraging commercial olive farming.
The Ten Billion Trees Afforestation Project’s Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, the deputy project director, welcomed the initiative and said it would aid in the fight against environmental problems and climate change. According to him, the likelihood of heavy precipitation in the nation will increase, which could harm agricultural crops.
He added that water table is dropping as a result of excessive water use by car wash facilities and quick glacier melting, which can negatively impact wildlife and aquatic resources and increase agricultural runoff into lakes, oceans, and streams.
The Met Office spokesman stated that the nationwide rainfall totals for last month were abnormally high and above average, or plus 127 percent, and that they rank as the second wettest May rainfall in the previous 63 years, behind only the 34.30 mm rainfall total from 1987.
In its first phase, 1.20 billion saplings were planted in Khyber Pakthunkhwa as part of the Billion Trees Afforestation Project, which was started in 2014 to fight climate change and deforestation. This was a result of the May storms’ record-breaking rainfall and hail, as well as the storms that hit Bannu and Lakki Marwat yesterday.
In order to counteract the effects of climate change and deforestation, Pakistan’s 10 billion tree afforestation project was expanded to include all of its provinces in 2018.
By April 30, 2023, 690.16 million plants had been planted, including 352 million through 6081 enclosures and 337.06 million through farm forestry. Additionally implemented in the province were the 2016 range land policy, the REDD plus strategy, and the provincial climate change policy.