The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 March the International Day of Forests (IDF) in 2012. The Day celebrates and raises awareness of the importance of all types of forests. The theme for 2018 is Forests and Sustainable Cities.
To mark the International Forest Day, FAO Pakistan participated in a seminar that discussed ‘Urban Forestry is a need of the hour to make cities sustainable/livable’ and was organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) with the partnership of Ministry of Climate Change.
Dr. Faiz-ul Bari, Natural Resource Management Advisor at FAO said that urban forestry is key for making our cities greener, healthier and happier places to live. He also said that forests in and around urban areas helped to regulate and filter water, contributed to high quality fresh water supplies for hundreds of millions of people and protected watersheds.
Speaking at the occasion, Ms Romina Khursheed Alam, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Climate Change said “We are trying to engage more youth in our green activities and forestation campaigns.”
She also called for careful use of water in households to conserve and maintain the ecosystem of the cities. “We should take ownership and take responsibility to preserve our nature and protect our cities”.
Members of civil society, parliamentarians, students and representatives of INGOs attended the seminar.