CHITRAL: Chitral District Nazim Maghfirat Shah has said tree plantation can effectively check the environmental degradation and reduce the frequency of natural disasters in the district.

Addressing a function organised by the forest department to launch tree plantation campaign in the district, he said efforts were afoot to mobilise the local community in the mass plantation in the vast tracts of barren land in Chitral.

He said population growth coupled with unchecked cutting of oak forest during past four to five decades had led to depletion of the natural wealth.

Mr Shah said success story of social forestry in other regions should be replicated in Chitral to achieve the desired results in shortest possible time. He expressed satisfaction over the billion tree tsunami project launched by the PTI government and said involvement of community through the local support organisations at the union council level was a must to make the drive a success.

He urged the provincial government to provide more resources to the forest department in Chitral to extend the project to every nook and corner of the district.

The district nazim urged the forest department to select the species of plants which could survive and grow in the local environment. —Correspondent