PESHAWAR: The Climate Change, Forestry, Environment & Wildlife Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, will launch the Monsoon Plantation Campaign 2026 on Independence Day with a target of planting two million saplings of various species.
“We have made all preparations to plant 1.4 million saplings on Independence Day across the province,” Project Director Billion Tree Afforestation Support Project (BTASP) Mohammad Junaid Dayar told Dawn, adding that the remaining 0.6 million would be planted during the rest of the campaign.
Mr Dayar said that 44 sites have been identified for the plantation drive. The campaign will be implemented through ongoing initiatives, including the Up-scaling Green Pakistan Programme (10-Billion Tree Afforestation Programme), BTASP, Recharge Pakistan, and the Peshawar Revitalisation Programme.
He said in Forest Region-I, comprising Peshawar, Mardan, Nowshera, Charsadda, and the southern districts, 0.75 million saplings will be planted over 700 hectares. In Hazara Forest Region-II, 0.56 million saplings will be planted on 451 hectares, while 0.55 million saplings will be planted over 425 hectares in Malakand Forest Region-III.
Official says overall 2m saplings to be sown during monsoon plantation drive
“The forest department conducts two flagship plantation campaigns annually: the Spring Plantation Campaign and the Monsoon Plantation Campaign. These initiatives are central to the provincial strategy for expanding forest cover, mitigating climate change impacts, and promoting environmental sustainability,” he said.
The BTASP project director said that to ensure broad public participation and ownership, all MNAs, MPAs, and other public representatives have been formally invited through official letters to participate in plantation activities within their respective constituencies to mobilise public support and raise awareness about the importance of tree plantation.
Meanwhile, Latifur Rehman, spokesperson for Climate Change, Forestry, Environment & Wildlife Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told Dawn that all plantation sites have been identified, while GIS coordinates for each site have also been compiled and focal persons appointed.
“The plantation campaign has been designed with a strong focus on sustainability. All planted saplings will be protected, maintained, and monitored for four years to ensure their survival, healthy growth, and long-term environmental benefits,” he said.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Technology Board, in collaboration with the forest department, has upgraded the “Ehsaas-i-Shajar Mobile Application” and further developed a centralised web-based dashboard for the plantation campaign. The system enables real-time field data collection, visualisation, monitoring, and reporting of plantation activities across the province.
Through the mobile application, designated forest department focal persons will upload geo-tagged plantation data, including the number of saplings planted, photographs, videos, and GPS locations directly from the field, Mr Rehman said.
The centralised dashboard will provide live region-wise, division-wise, and district-wise progress, enabling senior management to monitor the campaign in real time and generate analytical reports.
A dedicated public participation module has also been incorporated into the application, enabling educational institutions, government departments, private organisations, NGOs, and individual citizens to register and upload details of plantation activities carried out on August 14, thereby ensuring comprehensive documentation and promoting community participation in the plantation drive.
Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2026
