ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The federal government will spend about Rs seven billion for plantation and environment protection during the next five years, the Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid said on Thursday.
While briefing media representative in Islamabad about Green Pakistan initiative, the minister said that the federal and provincial governments would share the cost on fifty-fifty basis.
The minister said that apart from tree plantation, the programme envisaged wildlife conservation and surveys of zoological gardens.
Zahid Hamid said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced that February 9 every year would be observed as National Green Day.
The Climate Change Minister said that for the first time, local species were being planted in different areas as per needs and requirements of the regions. He said that these included plantation of mangroves on coastal belts of Sindh and Balochistan.
Furthermore, the minister told that more than 100 universities were taking part in the plantation campaign.
Earlier in the day, the prime minister inaugurated the National Green Programme by planting a tree along with special children at the Prime Minister Secretariat.
In his remarks, the prime minister said that February 9 would be celebrated each year as Green Pakistan Day, and around 100 million indigenous species saplings were being planted today in collaboration with all provinces.
