ISLAMABAD, Feb 11: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has urged all citizens to join hands to protect and manage forests in Pakistan on a sustainable basis.

In a message on the occasion of Spring Tree Planting Campaign 2002, he said the scarcity of forests in Pakistan made it necessary that all citizens of Pakistan joined hands to protect and manage forests on a sustainable basis.

The Spring Tree Planting Campaign 2002 commences from Feb 12 and provides an opportunity to all citizens and stakeholders to participate actively in the national efforts to preserve and augment the country’s forest resources.

Underlining the importance of forests and trees, he said they were of vital importance for the creation of a favourable climate, enhancing fertility of the soil, saving land from erosion and maintaining ecological balance.

“While forests are a source of domestic energy and raw material for cottage and wood-based industries in Pakistan, their role in regulating water in rivers and reservoirs cannot be over emphasized,” he added.

The President said that the government was aware of the narrow forest resource base and its role of regulating water in dams and canals at a time when water had become a scarce commodity due to prolonged spells of drought, reduced rains and snowfalls.

The International year of mountains 2002, he said, was a major global event, which drew the attention of the world community to protect fragile mountain eco-systems and the livelihood of the communities dependent on this resource.

The President said: “We are facing immense problems of deforestation and environmental degradation all over the country.”

This situation, he said, could be improved if large scale planing was carried out in watershed areas in Hazara, Malakand, Azad Kashmir & Kashmir, Northern Areas and in plain areas of the Punjab, Sindh, the NWFP and Balochistan.—APP