LAHORE: The government on Monday inaugurated the work on developing a forest under Miaywaki method at Gulberg Liberty market U-shaped park, pledging to develop more such forests in various city spots under its tree-plantation drive.

“It is a matter of great pleasure for us to inaugurate the first ever small city forest under Miyawaki method in Lahore,” Minister for Housing Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed said at the inauguration of the work on Monday.

“I appreciate the LDA and its partners to promote such activities in the provincial capital.”

Launched under aegis of the LDA in collaboration with a private organisation (Restore), the project would have 5,600 new plants.

“It will take almost four days to plant these saplings that would grow fast under the Miyawaki method. And after few years it would turn into a dense forest,” LDA DG Usman Moazzam said.

Miyawaki is a technique pioneered by a Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, which helps build dense, native forests.

The approach is supposed to ensure that plant growth is 10 times faster and the resulting plantation is 30 times denser than usual.

It involves planting dozens of native species in the same area, and becomes maintenance-free after the first three years.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2019