Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the government has launched urban forestry on the lines of Japanese Miyawaki technique to fight pollution.
In a tweet on Saturday, the Prime Minister said that 50 sites have been chosen in Lahore for this purpose. He noted that Miyawaki technique helps grow trees ten times faster and thirty times denser.
He said the first experiment of Miyawaki was done at Liberty Roundabout Lahore last year.
The PM tweeted a day after he launched a countrywide spring tree plantation drive in the Miyawaki Urban Forest at Jilani Park in Lahore.
The Miyawaki technique was developed by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki and it helps in building dense forests. The approach is supposed to ensure that plant growth is 10 times faster and the resulting plantation is 30 times denser than usual.
It involves planting dozens of native species in the same area, and becomes maintenance-free after the first three years. The technique is alternatively known as the potted seedling method. The method helps ensure a lowering of temperature, makes soil nutritious, supports local wildlife and sequestration of carbon.
The Miyawaki technique is used firstly by carrying out a soil survey. The survey helps in determining the soil texture in which plants should be planted. Under the method, there is also a need to identify all native species in the area and saplings with the highest height between 60–80 centimeters.
To ensure it is a success tree species are selected as per the three layers like shrub layer, Subtree layer, tree layer, and canopy layer. It is also pertinent to mention that the same species are not to be placed next to each other. Once the soil has been prepared and the trees are planted using the Miyawaki methodology the forest will be required to be monitored for three years. After three years the forest becomes self-sufficient.
Condolence
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday offered condolences to the families of brave soldiers who embraced martyrdom in Makeen area of South Waziristan on Friday.
The Prime Minister said, “My condolences and prayers go to the families of our four brave soldiers martyred in Makeen, South Waziristan fighting a terrorist attack.”
At least four soldiers embraced martyrdom when terrorists attacked their post in South Waziristan. The troops responded promptly to the overnight attack and killed four of the attackers during the raid in Makeen, a border town in tribal district South Waziristan.
The martyrs were identified as Lance Naik Imran Ali, Sepoy Atif Jahangir, Sepoy Anees ur Rehman and Sepoy Aziz. A clearance operation in the area is in progress, said the military’s media wing. It gave no further details, saying only that troops were still searching the area.
A day earlier on Thursday, a five-year-old child embraced martyrdom while seven other minors received injuries after terrorists fired five rockets from inside Afghanistan at Bajaur.
