LAHORE   -    Tree plantation campaigns would be headed by environmentalists and experts instead of officials or bureaucrats in future for better performance. This was stated by a senior official of the Punjab Forest Department while talking to APP, here on Friday. He said the Punjab government was continuously pur­suing its ambitious plan of planting over trees across the province. The government would work on another plan to clear the river banks to en­sure smooth flow of water and natu­ral growth of trees, whose survival rate would be much more than those trees planted in isolation in differ­ent parts of the province. Giving details of a recent review meeting on the tree plantation campaigns, he revealed that billions of rupees had been spent on such campaigns. The official said that the relevant authorities ignored conducting an empirical study in past about avail­ability of water for growth of trees, and later on groundwater had to be extracted for such plants, putting strain on already depleting reserves. The incumbent government has no­ticed that the previous government only focused on plantation of trees without giving attention to some im­portant factors that were necessary for survival of the plants including water, light, nutrients and tempera­ture. He said it is necessary to plant right tree at the right place and en­sure quality over quantity.

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