Ufone Volunteer Group Marks ‘Plant a Tree’ campaign

Employees of Ufone recently took part in an eco-friendly activity in Damial in which they conducted ‘Plant a Tree’ campaign jointly with the 150 students of The Citizens Foundation (TCF) Primary School.

This campaign was conducted at the Gen. Fazal-e-Muqueem Khan Campus of TCF Primary School. Ufone, a socially responsible organization has always played a major role in helping the children of Pakistan. Under the umbrella of child health care the revamp of the PAEDS ward at the Policlinic is one such example where Ufone has provided state-of-the-art facilities for the children which is at par with any private hospital facility.

The Ufone Volunteer Group which has been created to help give back to the society, went to visit and spend some time to share the importance of a green and healthy environment. TCF Students were enthusiastic to plant as many trees as possible as each one of them wished to make a positive difference for their nation.

Mr. Akbar Khan Chief Marketing Officer Ufone said, “We, at Ufone are focused to bring a smile to all and with this activity our employees have helped do just that with our stakeholders”. “The children at the school visited are the future of our country and it is our social obligation to help educate and create a sense of patriotism within each one of the children of our country”, he added.

WWF rewards Pakistan for tree planting world record

Pakistan set the Guinness World Record for tree planting, beating India in a healthy and productive international competition contributing to preserving fragile and endangered forests.

With 541,176 young mangroves trees planted by 300 volunteers from the local fishermen communities just in one day, the country broke the previous 447,874 record held by historical rival India.

In response to the achievement WWF awarded Pakistan’s Environment Minister Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi the Leaders of the Planet title, an award recognizing individuals making a significant personal contribution to the conservation of the natural world and sustainable development.

"This is a wonderful example of partnership between government, local communities and the private sector for a common cause, for conservation,"said Richard Garstang, the head of WWF Pakistan Wetlands Programme.

"It is good to see a productive competition between Pakistan and India. We hope that tree planting competitions will become as popular as cricket matches,"he said.

The mangrove tree planting event was held in the vast wetland ecosystem of the Indus River Delta in the Southern Sindh Province, some 150 km south east from Karachi - a unique sanctuary of biodiversity designated in 2002 by the Government of Pakistan as a Ramsar Site (Wetland of International Importance), with support from WWF International Freshwater Programme.

Covered in mud and sweating, the 300 volunteers who have been trained to plant record numbers without using any mechanical equipment, worked all day in a temperature of up to 37° before breaking the score.
Their efforts were also a special contribution to the global fight against climate change.

Scientists say deforestation contributes to about 20 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions and that reducing deforestation is one of the quickest ways to fight rising temperatures. Forested Wetlands such as mangroves, flooded forests and many peatlands play a crucial role in this respect.

"Mangrove reestablishment strongly correlates with climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation and improving community livelihoods," said Anada Tiega, Secretary General of Secretary General of Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

A planting interval of just over 2 m was used in order to give the young Red Mangroves plenty of room to spread their canopies as they grow. Planting was confined to the mudflats of the inter-tidal zone - the area between the high and low tide marks. The trees are expected occupy approximately 325 ha of the island.

Mangroves are being cut in Pakistan and other countries for fodder, fuel and timber but their over- utilization has very damaging consequences. Apart from their crucial role in providing habitat for many organisms including fish, shrimps, lobsters, oysters and algae, mangroves also protect the coast from erosion, as well as hurricanes and tsunamis.

Forests of Pakistan

Deforestation taking Pakistan’s temperature up:

Deforestation is the main reason for the expansion of the heat-zone, reduction in the flow of the Indus and shrinkage of the Indus Delta, said PCSIR (Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) former director general Dr Mirza Arshad Ali Baig.

He was speaking at a seminar on “Challenges of Global Warming” Sunday. The seminar was organised by the Memon Professional Forum (MPF) in collaboration with the Institute of Engineers Pakistan (IEP), Karachi Centre, at the IEP Auditorium.

Baig went on to say that Pakistan is facing the extreme impact of climate variations in the form of changes in monsoon patterns, storms and cyclones, including cyclone O2A in May 1999 and floods in 2003 along the coastal belt of Badin and cyclone Guno and Yemyin in June 2007.

He was of the view that tectonic movement of earth-plates, which caused the massive earthquake disaster in October 2005, were also a consequence of global warming and anti-environment practices.

Calling deforestation a major cause of global warming, Mirza said forestry has been registering a negative growth for the last three years in the country. It was taking place at the rate of 800 sq. km., 0.2-0.5 percent per annum, which affects over 43 million acres of land annually. He added that three to four kilometers of glaciers have already retreated in the Eastern Himalayas, and the glaciers at its western end, the Pakistani side, were consolidating rather than melting.

NGO Shehri-CBE’s Sameer Dodhi pointed out that studies have proven that a 10 percent increase in green space may reduce the area’s temperature by four degrees centigrade and tree-lined streets also lessen the chances of asthma. Shehri is in the process of documenting all amenity and open spaces across Karachi’s 18 towns and cantonment areas to monitor whether these public spaces are being used as planned or not. The documentation is almost complete along with picture records and a report would be made public by the end of this year. Dodhi stressed that Shehri was not against development, but believed that the process should be for all segments of society and not be carried out at the cost of the environment.

Dodhi was also worried about the constant reduction in Mangroves along the coastal belt of Karachi as they act as a safety wall and purify the air. He also stressed the need to provide better public transport so that the ‘own-a-car’ culture is countered as it is one of the greatest sources of pollution.

MPF President Siddiq Essa said that greenhouse gases were at an all-time high at present, and Carbon Dioxide alone has registered a 28 percent growth in the last few decades. Deforestation and pollution are the major factors destabilizing the environment. online

TreeHa Pakistan