Green Promise

24 August 2024

Published in: Daily Times

In the past few years, dozens of tree-planting initiatives have taken root around Pakistan aimed at combating deforestation and promoting environmental sustainability. Though commendable, many of these initiatives, such as the much-talked-about Billion Tree Tsunami have been marred by hollow promises and inadequate planning, raising concerns about their long-term impact.

Perhaps, learning from these mistakes, the government has set its eyes on another green revolution, the Green Pakistan Initiative, under the umbrella of SIFC, which presents a promising opportunity to address these challenges and usher in a sustainable future for the nation. As a part of the broader monsoon tree plantation, the Punjab Forest Department recently initiated an enormous seed-dispersing campaign in the hilly areas of Chakwal district and Murree division, planting three million trees in one day.

At the heart of the GPI is said to be a concerted effort to revolutionise the country’s agricultural sector and mitigate its heavy reliance on imports. With a focus on utilising modern technology and integrating land survey data with satellite imagery, the initiative claims to identify and cultivate millions of acres of barren land, offering a potential solution to Pakistan’s agricultural shortcomings. While all this sounds like a pristine solution, it is crucial for the authorities to ensure that they remain committed to establishing corporate farming while also empowering local farmers.

The urgency of these initiatives cannot be overstated, as Pakistan’s agricultural sector faces significant inadequacies, with a wide gap between domestic production and the nation’s food demands. However, previous failed experiments did not adequately address the staggering scale of agricultural imports. Even if the GPI holds the potential to bridge this gap, it must offer lasting solutions against troubling food insecurity. The focus on the Cholistan Desert, for instance, could be instrumental in implementing smart farming techniques to improve agricultural wasteland for the cultivation of crops like wheat, thereby turning it into a food basket. How early it can be done will depend on how serious we are to bring this dream into reality.