Media Update-2: United Nations Pakistan, 11 June 2021

FAO

PRESS RELEASE

Celebrating forest and landscape restoration:

Success stories and lessons from Pakistan for the Asia-Pacific region

June 11, 2021, Islamabad – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations held a webinar; celebrating forest and landscape restoration; success stories and lessons from Pakistan for the Asia-Pacific region today to mark the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration - a rallying call for the protection and revival of millions of hectares of ecosystems all around the world for the benefit of people and nature as Pakistan hosted the World Environment Day 2021. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Decade on Restoration - which runs from 2021 to 2030 - was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in a 2019 resolution.

 The webinar was attended by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change, Mr. Malik Amin Aslam, representatives from UNEP, FAO, CGIAR, academia, countries from the Asia-Pacific region and other stakeholders.

Welcoming the participants, FAO Representative a.i in Pakistan, Rebekah Bell stated that FAO is proud to be a partner of the government in the one billion tree tsunami, ten billion tree tsunami and other ecosystem restoration activities. The government’s ten billion tree tsunami initiative is being adapted by other countries as well. FAO currently has a Global Environment Facility funded program working to restore the highly degraded Chilgoza forest in the country by improving the forestry livelihoods of the local communities. We are also working  in southern Punjab to restore the rangeland based livelihoods of the communities. FAO along with IUCN, WWF are working together to provide monitoring support to the ten billion tree tsunami. FAO currently through the Global Climate Fund project is also introducing climate smart agriculture practices in the Indus basin in Sindh and Punjab, she added.  

Speaking at the event, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change, Mr. Malik Aslam said that “the restoration of lands and forests is central to the idea of ecosystem restoration and in Pakistan, the ten billion tree project is a flagship project for the ecosystem restoration in the country. We have taken up new challenge of restoring one billion hectares of forest. Taking the right direction on the Decade Action on ecosystem restoration and commitments of all the countries will put us on the right path to tackle climate change”, he said. 

The webinar highlighted regional strategy and action plans for forest and landscape ecosystem restoration and its relevance to Asia Pacific region through presentations and discussions from representatives of UNEP, FAO and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. The webinar concluded with question and answer sessions.

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