ISLAMABAD: A three-day National Workshop on the Ten Billion Trees Tsunami Programme (TBTTP) was concluded today in Islamabad. The workshop was jointly organized by the Ministry of Climate Change of the Government of Pakistan, KfW and the Third Party Monitoring Consortium: IUCN Pakistan, FAO Pakistan and WWF-Pakistan with the financial assistance of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the participation of the Forestry Departments of all provinces, AJK and GB.
The workshop currently focused on building the capacities of the stakeholders and the Third Party Monitoring Consortium in partnership with the MIS experts of KfW. The consortium has developed a logical framework, monitoring tools, methodologies and conducted preliminary assessments of the selected sites all over the country.
The Honorable Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Mr. Malik Amin Aslam Khan apprised the efforts of the TBTTP Forestry Department teams which have resulted in becoming the global success story on environment. Global climate leaders at COP-26 Glasgow have acknowledged the success of this green initiative. He quoted that the world knows that “Pakistan is planting trees” which reflects the global recognition of this green initiative. He said that the TBTTP is the flagship programme of the Ministry of Climate Change that was up-scaled from the successful implementation of the Billion Tree Afforestation Project in KP Province. TBTTP has now become a global brand for Pakistan, a great recognition. Afforestation and Forest Protection at mega scale is targeted all over the four provinces, AJK and GB. The international development partners have shown high interest in supporting the activities scheduled under this programme. He appreciated the work done by the project management unit with the support of the provincial teams and field staff in moving at a fast pace for achieving the set targets. He highlighted that the strength of the programme lies in its transparency that has been its most important virtue since BTAP. Now with the Independent Third Party Monitoring conducted by the Consortium of IUCN, FAO and WWF, it is going to an even higher level of transparency with the latest tools, methodologies and use of drones to monitor the work being done under the programme for making Pakistan green. He thanked the German Government for their continued support for development and cooperation, especially for clean energy and nature based projects.
In his remarks, Mr. Mahmood Akhtar Cheema, Country Representative IUCN Pakistan, said that the consortium comprising of FAO, WWF and IUCN will independently monitor the programme activities using the methodologies and tools developed during the pilot monitoring phase. The findings of the pilot monitoring were given due weight by the MoCC and the report of the pilot monitoring was presented to SAPM Mr. Malik Amin Aslam Khan and the Honorable Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr. Imran Khan. Mr. Cheema thanked the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) for its financial support in supporting the consortium in the planning phase as well as for undertaking the fully fledged monitoring process. He also appreciated the technical role of KfW during the planning phase and the finalization of the Log-frame as well as the MIS development to include the independent third party monitoring of the TBTTP.
Mr. Sebastian Jacobi, Country Director KfW Pakistan highlighted the contribution of Germany for the climate partnerships. The Government of Germany’s Climate Change and Energy portfolio is valued 300 million euros. The Government of Germany through the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has pledged another 2.5 million euros for conducting the Third party monitoring of TBTTP through the Independent Consortium.
Mr. Hassan Sukhera, National Project Manager, Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme (TBTTP) provided an overview of the TBTTP Programme and its Management Information System (MIS). In his remarks he said that technology is playing a key role in reporting and monitoring the project progress. He apprised that the data reporting and processing system will remain useful for decision makers.
Dr. Faiz-ul-Bari, NRM Advisor, FAO Pakistan acknowledged the efforts of the TBTTP national team and also highlighted that the FAO team will be using industry standard IT Tools for monitoring and evaluation of the TBTTP.
Mr. Hammad Naqi Khan, Director General WWF-Pakistan, mentioned that the WWF field teams are well equipped and they have vast experience of field sampling and monitoring in Pakistan, since their experience from the Third Party Monitoring of BTAP in KP. In third party monitoring of the TBTTP, he assured the support of field teams.
The TBTTP is the largest afforestation programme in the country which comprises of tree plantations/ assisted natural regeneration and also supports implementation of targets 15.1, 15.2, 15.5 and 15.7 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The programme targets will also help in mitigating the impact of climate change in the country. The increase in vegetative cover will prevent land degradation and will also help in soil stabilization.
IUCN will facilitate the Ministry of Climate Change for overall coordination, development of Logical Framework and in undertaking the Biodiversity Assessment. FAO will extend support for regular field data collection and periodic forest cover change assessment through remote sensing and provide technical support in the integrated watershed management and forest landscape restoration. WWF Pakistan will be responsible for the field sampling and monitoring.
The project is designed to foster and strengthen national and provincial climate change adaptation through field intensive activities and in meeting Pakistan’s global environmental commitments.
