Pakistan is hiring unemployed to plant 10 billion trees

    In fact, Pakistan is hiring thousands unemployed due to the coronavirus for an ambitious reforestation project

    He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him

    Starting afresh from Nature to counter the economic crisis generated by the coronavirus. There is a lot of talk about it these days but someone is really taking steps in this direction. In fact, Pakistan is hiring thousands of unemployed in an ambitious reforestation project.





    In 2018, Pakistan pledged to plant 10 billion trees in an effort to slow climate change and replenish a landscape decimated by decades of deforestation, grazing and drought. This is an ambitious goal, a kind of “green awakening”.

    The ambitious five-year tree planting program, launched by Prime Minister Imran Khan two years ago, aims to tackle rising temperatures, floods, droughts and other extreme weather phenomena that scientists link to climate change.

    The program, whose name is Billion Tree Tsunami, it struggled to take off but recently received an unexpected infusion of help from the… coronavirus. Millions of people, in Pakistan as in the rest of the world, have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. Many found themselves unemployed practically overnight. Thus, the government provided them with a new opportunity: to participate in the tree planting project.

    They were transformed into "jungle workers", planting saplings for 500 rupees a day, about half of what a construction worker would normally earn. It is not much but it is a sufficient amount for sustenance.

    “Such efforts are an example of how funds that aim to help families and run the economy during pandemic closures could also help nations prepare for the next big threat: climate change,” explains the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

    “Due to the coronavirus, all cities have been closed and there is no work. Most people cannot earn a living, ”said Rahman, a resident of Rawalpindi district in Punjab province. "We all now have a way to earn daily wages again to feed our families."


    At the beginning of the pandemic, the planting campaign was interrupted to counter the spread of Covid19, which has infected over 13.900 people in Pakistan.


    Pakistan is hiring unemployed to plant 10 billion trees

    ©Trust

    But in April, the prime minister granted an exemption to allow the forestry agency to restart the program and build beyond 63.600 jobs.

    Today the project has restarted and is in full swing. Much of the work is taking place on 6.000 hectares of land near the capital Islamabad but also in other state-owned forest land across the country.

    This year the program will take triple the number of workers compared to the first year. Many of the new jobs have been created in rural areas, with a focus on hiring women and the unemployed.

    Pakistan is hiring unemployed to plant 10 billion trees

    ©Trust

    All workers were asked to wear masks and to keep the two meters away.

    "This tragic crisis has offered an opportunity and we have grabbed it," Aslam told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview.

    According to Germanwatch, Pakistan recorded over 150 extreme weather events between 1999 and 2018 - from floods to heat waves. Reforestation has long been seen as a powerful ally in preventing floods, absorbing carbon dioxide emissions and protecting biodiversity. According to the WWF, Pakistan is a "forest poor" country where trees cover less than 6% of the total area.

    Approximately 30 million indigenous saplings have already been planted in Punjab since the start of the program and this year it is hoped to reach 50 million.

    In addition to Nature, workers will also benefit from it. Not only will they be able to earn enough money to support their families in a difficult time, but they will be able to be outdoors, away from the potential contamination of more confined urban environments.



    Sources of reference: Trust

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