Pakistan Needs Nationwide Urban Forestation

Solution of Metropolitan Temperature Raise: Urban Forestation

Pakistan has unfortunately suffered a lot due to lack of planning and no consistent policy given by any government so far to keep our country clean and green. As industrialization has peaked around the world in the twentieth-century century and global warming is the agenda of the twenty-first century, all developed nations and big economies of the world are trying to make policies that are consistent with climate change and its effects on the world environment.

It’s time for us to behave like a civilized nation though we are among the developing nations, we must think positively as climate change is a matter of global risk. It was the outcome of economic boom and industrial development that was taking place at lightning speed at the end of twentieth century by the first-world countries, but now all the first-world is on rapid fire telling rest of the world to stop right there knowingly it was started by the west but now the west and wants us to do the repair work with the world. We are among the most severely affected countries that have seen the worst effects of global warming, smog, pollution and steady rise in temperature in urban populated cities as a result of climate change in our region.

Every developed nation and country from the civilized world are trying their best to contribute towards this global shift and want to save the environment by all means, all initiatives, methodologies that might be needed will be initiated to contribute towards a clean environment. Human life and its future is dependent on what we do today and how we would like to see our future that we live in and for our future generations as well.

The sooner we make this shift and change our broad-based policy for every industrial sector and do our part of the job with a pragmatic approach of making our world a better place to live. Before we make a long-term plan to help and mitigate all threats that are directly affecting the global warming, we must also work on keeping the environment green and clean as it’s a natural way of preserving the environment by adding more trees and if we cover most of the urban populated areas with green plantation it will be a great initiative for straightening the linear curve. The trees and green plantations are saviors of the environment as plants absorb Co2 all day long and make oxygen that we breathe and it’s needed for clean fresh air that we breathe, hence improving the air quality, preservation of soil and conservation of water. We also must look into all factors like calculating the Co2 emissions and damage done by all greenhouse gases and its effects that had caused the damage and its effects and how we can save our future by planning today that will save the environment.

If we will not plan ahead and think positively for making our environment clean and green and will keep on adding to pollution contribution made by each one of us with the increasing percentage without thinking where it will take us in future then our generations will suffer from food shortage, shortage of clean air and water and they all are key factors for existence and survival of human life on earth. We have to stop right now and take all necessary steps at individual level, at community level and at government level. We all must do our part in our capacity rather than waiting for the government to take steps as the problem is too serious and the government is not to be blamed or put responsible as we all have to act in our capacity to save our future generations.

Enough damage is already done to the ozone layer and the climate change is a result of our previous actions taken without analyzing the repercussions of the damage we are doing to the environment.

There is a change in global economic policy or you may call it a shift from all nations to mitigate risk that may be caused due to global warming, it’s the top most agenda for the world economic forum since 2010. All initiatives taken in this regard are for slowing down the damage and making every effort to bend the linear curve. The more fuel is burnt and more cars are on the road it will add further pollution and therefore we have to make a shift towards eco-friendly products and all manufacturing must be done keeping in mind recycling keeping in mind we have to add more and more trees to the environment to close the gap.

One acre of forest will absorb almost six tons of carbon dioxide and will provide four tons of oxygen to the environment, this is enough oxygen that will fulfil the needs of 18 people. All types of shrubs, turf and trees will work as a filter of air and will remove any dust in the air and will absorb maximum pollutants including nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide. The trees absorb all unhealthy particles in the air and the rain will bring them down to the soil.

The trees also control climate by minimizing the effects of the sun radiation, rain and wind factor and as a result decrease in temperature. Leaves will use the energy that is coming from the sun and all radiation that comes to earth will cool down the weather. Trees work as a shield and preserve warmth coming from the sun and at the same time cools the wind. It also affects the wind speed and its direction and as a result the downfall of rain, hail and also sleet. Trees also bring down the air temperature and will reduce heat significantly and due to the greenhouse effect, it keeps carbon dioxide to the minimum.

For this reason, the present government from the day one had a vision to be part of the global community and therefore this desire was translated in the form of 10-billion tree tsunami project a game changer initiative and one of the key projects that will change the perception of Pakistan in the South East Asia and rest of the world. With clean and green Pakistan, it will also help us in reducing smog and environmental pollution and quality of life for our future generations.

Another project initiated that is the dire need of Pakistan and is focused towards urban cities of Pakistan is the Miyawaki project. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends improving relationships with local communities, involving municipalities and authorities at all levels and by social engagement of the general public by giving ownership to them and covering all green spaces is the key to urban forestation.

As Pakistan is having the world’s highest deforestation rate, the citizens are facing a reduction in green spaces, parks, plantations and urban gardens in the name of development. Some of the worst affected figures indicate that during the year 2010 – 2017 in Lahore the total number of trees fell by almost 75 per cent. The Miyawaki method is the replication of a natural forest with a specific type of trees that will survive in the local climate.

Miyawaki forests make 30 times more surface area of lawns and parks and it creates a forest 30 times denser than normal plantation. It’s a best cost-efficient model to protect the environment against water source protection and disaster prevention. Lahore will grow Asia’s largest Miyawaki urban forest as per the new policy given by govt of Punjab it will cover an area of 100 Kanal with 112,500 trees in China park. The same forests will be developed in another 15 places across the city and over 292,500 indigenous trees will be planted for this project inside Lahore.

Tags: environment, forest, green pakistan, Health, lahore, lifestyle, metropolis, technology, urban jungle

Category: Lifestyle, Socio Political