Islamabad, July 20 (TNS): Pakistan has lost a considerable chunk of its forests during last couple of decades due to illegal and ruthless tree cutting, ill-planned development as well as expansion of farmland, fuel in far flung areas and for the impacts of climate change. Thus, the country has not only lost its forest but habitat of various species that was crucial for our ecosystems and to keep the biodiversity intact.
The experts said this during the training workshop of Journalists on Reducing Emission through Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) held by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in collaboration with Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC). The training workshop was attended by a large number of journalists representing mainstream national print and electronic media.
Kamran Hussain, National Forest Inventory (NFI) Expert, Ministry of Climate Change while presenting a detailed outlook of the situation of forests in Pakistan. He explained the country requirements to acquire result based REDD+ funding for Pakistan.
He informed the participants that a new mechanism has been initiated that involved paying cash credit to developing countries that protect forests and the carbon stored within them. He said that Pakistan can earn billions of rupees every year simply by saving forests.
He said that protecting forests was not only important for being responsible member of global community but also to maintain and protect our ecosystem. He said that forests play a key role in preventing flash floods by preventing landslides and by keeping the water tables in check during heavy monsoons.
Shafqat Munir, Senior Policy Advisor SDPI earlier highlighted various dimensions of climate change, environmental challenges and the consequences of deforestation in Pakistan. He said that role of media in raising awareness issue was quite important and therefore, journalists needed to explore various dimensions of environmental reporting and hence, they could raise voice for effective policy actions.
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