Prime Minister Imran Khan's Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Program Boosts Environment-Friendly Entrepreneurship

Strategic Insights -

Prime Minister Imran Khan's ambitious Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Plantation (TBTTP) program has not only created a significant impact on the environment but has also promoted unique environment-friendly entrepreneurship for unemployed women and youth in rural areas. The program, which aimed to enhance climate change resilience and ensure sustainable growth and employment opportunities, has generated 85,000 green jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic, providing livelihoods to Covid-idled youth, including women. Through this initiative, the government has empowered individuals like Maryum, a teacher and nursery owner from Gilgit Baltistan, to develop their hobby of raising plants into a profitable business, providing employment to young females and contributing to the preservation of forest cover.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Plantation program has generated 85,000 green jobs, providing livelihoods to Covid-idled youth, including women.
  • The program has helped promote environment-friendly entrepreneurship for unemployed women and youth in rural areas, with 32,000 saplings planted by Maryum in her nursery in Gilgit Baltistan.
  • The initiative has also supported community development by providing technical assistance to individuals like Khalid Hussain, a laborer from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, who established a community nursery and provided daily waged employment opportunities.
  • The program has helped preserve the depleting forest cover in Gilgit Baltistan and developed sustainable sources of wood for building material, fuelwood, and furniture.
  • The Ministry of Climate Change has developed the National Programme for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
  • The REDD+ program has created a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions and invest in low-carbon sustainable development.

Statistics:

  • 85,000 green jobs have been generated through the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Plantation program.
  • 32,000 saplings have been planted by Maryum in her nursery in Gilgit Baltistan.
  • 25 years of unemployment was spent by Khalid Hussain before joining the TBTTP program.
  • 6-kanal area is used by Maryum to raise a nursery of local wild plant species.
  • Forest Department in District Ghizer has provided technical assistance and income opportunities to Maryum.

Sources:

  • Ministry of Climate Change officials.
  • Maryum, a teacher and nursery owner from Gilgit Baltistan.
  • Khalid Hussain, an unemployed laborer from Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
  • Ministry of Climate Change.