* The trees and forests illegally encroached by feudal lords should be freed immediately.
* For the protection and beauty of the Land and the environment, every citizen should question about the status of plantation from the relevant agencies.
The 14th webinar of the talk series started by Ramesh Raja and Manzoor Ujjan amid the social distances and movement restrictions of corona epidemic, was on the theme “Trees are the need of lfe and beauty of land”. Participant from all over the world discussed on Among the topics discussed global warming, environmental pollution, climate change, importance of forests and green engineering.
In his inaugural address, Engr Ramesh Raja said that oxygen is the foremost need of all lives and trees are its main source. In Pakistan the forest were spread over the 5% area of land up to 1980, which is now only less than 3%. Under international law, forests should cover 25% of land area. According to the Global Climate Risk Index, Pakistan is on the 10th number of fastest climate changing countries in the world, which is highly worrying situation for all of us.
Ramesh Raja further said that Sindh comprises of Kacha, Pakka and coastal forests; accumulating 2.3% of the land area. More than 50% of the trees have been cut down illegally in the last thirty years. Here even the trees and forests are the slaves of the feudal lords like bonded labours which are under brutally killing (Cutting) for their petty purposes. Such illegal activities should be stopped and forests need to be freed soon.
To reach the desired need of forests, he suggested “Block plantation” on government lands and Trees will have to be planted on both sides of highways, railways and canals in always available right of ways, which shall reduce air and voice pollution and erosion control in case of canals. Strict laws will have to be enacted against cut down of trees.
Dr. Khushal Kalani from USA said that instead of anti-environtment foriegn trees, the native trees like Shisham, Neem, Peepal, Barr, Bair, Tamarind, Olive, Mulberry, Desi Bubble, Kandi, Mango, Moringa, Lemon, Bombax, Guava, Jaman, Cheekoo, Lesora, Coconut etc can be planted to deal with global warming and seasonal disasters.
Engineer Nadim Ahmer Memon; on the tree plantation in cities and towns, said that at least as many trees as family members should be planted inside the houses. According to the world’s green building theory, it is mandatory to plant and place trees and plants on roof-tops and balconies. There must be trees on both sides of city streets and roads and Local bodies should not approve maps of residential schemes without planting trees and must ensure enough plantation in parks and playgrounds in cities. Trees should be planted in cemeteries in the name of their loved ones. Unfortunately, the cities of Sindh are free from tree planting.
Anis Noor Memon, dealing with Tree Plantation in Bahrain, said that in Sindh, under various pretexts, forests are being cut down and valuable timber is being extracted and sold. The land is being cleared of forests and made both ways money; selling timber and using land for crops.
He suggested spraying of seeds in Kacha Area of Sindh during flood and rain seasons and banks of canals are always moist to tree plantation. Sindh is observing significant temperature rise, which ultimately shall cause firstly climate change and then a disaster.
Dodo Khan Khatian, a literature lover from Dubai, that trees are a symbol of life and so it is difficult to live without trees. The trees are also a sign of hope and hence a tree planter can never commit suicide. He said poets, columnists and writers should mention tree planting in their works.
In the end, the host of the program Manzoor Ujjan said that every conscious citizen should play his role in enhancing the beauty of the land by planting at least one indigenous tree with his own hands so that future generations will be proud of us to see the land green and lush. We have to plant trees for oxygen and we have to campaign for them. By planting trees we can make this earth a paradise. Besides above, Dara Shahid from USA, Jawad Haider from Hungary, Aslam Arain from Netherlands, Zeeshan Jatoi from Russia, Ali Hassan Rind from Cuba, Kaka Singh from Germany, Manzoor Sethar from Bahrain, Santosh Katari from Saudi Arabia and from different cities of Pakistan, Prof. Suresh Kumar Wadhwani, Dr. Shehzad Sheikh, Haji Khan Bozdar, Saeed Chana, Rauf Paras Dayu, Abdul Wahid, Amjad Shar, Sarang Warar, Shakeel Ahmed Sheikh, Abdul Jabbar Chang, Abdul Ghaffar Indhar and others took full part in the online discussion and promised to plant his own trees during the ongoing rains and shall take active part in the campaign of tree plantation.
