ISLAMABAD, Dec 7: Effective measures for poverty alleviation and provision of alternative fuel sources can help stop ongoing cutting of trees in the country.

This was stated by Federal Minister for Environment Maj (retired) Tahir Iqbal while talking to a delegation of Asian Development Bank (ADB), led by Principle Programme Specialist Tahir Qadri, here on Tuesday.

During the meeting, the minister informed the delegation that forest management and affore station programmes were being developed on the basis of actual data and potential of our forest sector to ensure effective implementation.

The minister said support and assistance from the ADB would be welcomed for giving a boost to the forest and environment programmes, as the forestry wing of the ministry had greatly benefited from the earlier support from the bank.

He said the Ministry of Environment had recently conducted a "Satellite Imagery Project" to assess the conditions of forest areas and develop a baseline for future projects. Mr Iqbal said education and awareness component would be included in all the future projects, adding that financial aid from the ADB was required to materialize these schemes.