SPONSORED
The Ministry of Environment on Wednesday scripted the Guinness World Record of tree plantation by planting 541,176 saplings in one day from sunrise to sunset, breaking the Indian record of 447,874 trees set on June 12-13 this year.The plantation was arranged by the Ministry of Environment as part of series of events being held to observe the National Year of Environment, also aimed at developing forest resources through international competitions.
The plantation, kicked off by sunrise was culminated by sunset as per requirement of Guinness Book of World Records, in which the ministry three hundred planters, wearing green jackets, planted local species at Keti Bandar, Tehsil Thatta, some 150 kilometres in the Southeast of Karachi.
The event was monitored by the IUCN representative Tahir Qureshi and independent monitor Marvi Memon, both also the nominees of GWR, of which a representative Adil Ahmed was also there to monitor the event.
After culmination of the plantation at sunset, the Minister for Environment Hamidullah Jan Afridi received a shield and certification of Guinness World Record in maximum tree plantation category from the representatives of the world body.
Through the plantation held at Keti Bandar, Tehsil Thatta, some 150 kilometres in the Southeast of Karachi, Pakistan broke Indian record of 4,47,874 trees that had beaten Mexico’s record of planting 3,48,493 trees on June 12-13 this year.
Three planters were selected from the local communities, who have been trained to plant maximum number of saplings in the daylight, but the planters acted beyond the expectations, breaking the previous Indian record by 1400 hours.
The federal environment minister, provincial ministers and officials of the concerned ministry were also present on the occasion.
The tree plantation drive is also in accordance with the government’s resolve to rehabilitate mangrove forests of Sindh by all means, in partnership with Sindh Forest Department, international and national NGOs and private sector.
In view of global significance of mangrove forests, particularly in the context of the tsunami of 2005, the event was planned in the Mangrove areas on the coastal island of Sindh, which are presently devoid of vegetation.
The Sindh Forest Department has taken the lead in organising this event arranging planting stock and carrying out plantation through its trained planters.
The awareness and motivation generated as a result of GWR event shall be geared towards holding another event on August 18, this year. The saplings planted under both these events will also be counted towards UN Environmental Programme (UNEP)’s Billion Trees Campaign.
