Lahore: A draft of the urban and peri-urban forest policy prepared by the Urban Unit of the Planning & Development Department has been shared with several members of the civil society, according to a news report.
The policy proposes, among other things, that owners of 12 acres or more should reserve one acre of their lands for forestation purposes. Those owning less than 12 acres should grow at least 10 trees per acre.
According to officials, various steps have also been proposed for increasing the forest cover in the province from its present three-percent ceiling. The policy has further set a tree canopy target of 5pc for streets, 10pc for urban areas, and 15pc for peri-urban areas.
The ‘one tree per 10 metres’ rule has also been proposed for city streets, along roads, in housing societies – and for other public and private sector facilities.
Similarly, the policy instructs every existing and new housing society to reserve 2.5% of its 7% mandatory open-space area for plantation purposes.
