World Environment Day: Pakistan and its 'tree tsunami' project in the spotlight

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan inspecting the progress of the ‘10 Billion Tree Tsunami’ campaign in the Makhniyal area of Haripur district.— AFP

Ten billion trees planted by 2023. This is the ambitious project of the " Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme ," launched in 2019 by the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan. The first phase aims to plant 3.25 billion trees in the country, at an estimated cost of about 105 billion Pakistani rupees (about RM2.8bil). The programme also aims to preserve mangroves (an ecosystem of trees along the coastline), reforest cities and create more than 5,500 "green" jobs.

This reforestation project is part of a similar approach to the "Billion Tree Tsunami" launched in 2014 by the previous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, which aimed to plant one billion trees across the country.