PESHAWAR: Under the ‘Billion Tree Tsunami’ project, the Khyber Pakhtun­khwa government has so far planted 115 million saplings and sown seeds for 300m at a cost of Rs1,578m.

This was said during a briefing to KP Chief Minis­ter Pervez Khattak and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan at Makhniyal village of Haripur district on Saturday.

They were told that the number of planted saplings would reach 250m by March, according to a press release.

An amount of Rs9,826m has been allocated for phase II of the project which was launched last year and would conclude in 2018 with the targeted plantation of one billion saplings.

Mr Khan and Mr Khattak visited an area where plantation is being carried out by the environment and wildlife departments in collaboration with local communities.

Environment Secretary Syed Nazar Hussain Shah and representatives of the International Monitoring Organi­sation, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), briefed them about the activity.

Presenting findings of a monitoring report, the WWF officials said that they had scientifically monitored 50 per cent of the implemented target in 28 forests and 10 watershed divisions, where survival rate of the newly planted sapling was recorded at 82pc. They praised the initiative for growing 1bn trees and controlling deforestation.

Mr Khan and Mr Khattak viewed the pine tree plantation enclosure set up at a mountain near the village.

They met the son of a Negehban (volunteer forest guard) who was killed by timber mafia. The chief minister announced compensation for the family of the volunteer.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2016