KARACHI: Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam inaugurated a Miyawaki urban forest, spread over one acre, at a ceremony held in Governor House on Sunday in connection with World Forest Day.

Speaking to journalists, Governor Ismail said that the forest had been planned under PM’s ‘10 billion trees tsunami programme’.

He said that in all, 30 different trees had been planted in the urban forest at Governor House out of which 12 trees were of fruits and 18 of other species.

He said that the Miyawaki method was a new technology through which many trees could be planted within a small area.

The governor lauded Malik Amin’s efforts in this regard and said that his contribution was being acclaimed at international level. He also appreciated Sindh forest department for its cooperation.

Mr Ismail said that mangroves plantation had been increased in Sindh and Balochistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan had a vision and dream to turn Karachi into a green city, he added.

The governor said the PIA, Port Qasim and other institutions had been asked to provide small spaces for tree plantation. Such a request was being made to the provincial government as well, he said.

He believed that Miyawaki urban forest would play a vital role in checking flooding in the city.

Malik Amin said that the metropolis needed urban forest to deal with heatwaves. “Miyawaki urban forest grows 10 per cent faster and stores more carbon dioxide; it plays an important role in biodiversity,” he said.

The PM’s aide informed the audience that 30,000 mangrove trees had already been planted in the country out of one billion, which were being planted additionally over 100,000 acres of land.

He said Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur had been chosen for the urban forest sites.

Livestock and dairy expo inaugurated

He said that when the prime minister talked about promoting dairy and poultry farming in the country, it was criticised and some people made fun of it. However, he added, PM’s vision was in line with the importance of the livestock and poultry sector around the world, the development of which could bring about great economic opportunities for Pakistan.

Separately, Governor Ismail inaugurated a three-day Dairy, Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Advanced-technology (DALFA) Livestock Show at Karachi Expo Centre.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, he said that livestock and dairy was one of the most important sectors in the world but Pakistan was utilising only 20 per cent of its production capacity.

“With the development of the livestock dairy sector, we can earn a lot of foreign exchange and the DALFA Livestock Show will play an important role in highlighting the potential of this sector,” he added.

The governor visited various stalls at the exhibition where companies had set up stalls of high-breed cattle, farm animals, birds and pets in special pavilions.

The show was attended by delegates from across the country.

The opening ceremony was attended by diplomats from Italy, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Oman and Qatar.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2021