Lahore: A geographical laboratory has been established for maintaining digital records of the forest area in Punjab, a news source has reported. An area of 750,000 acres has already been digitally mapped in the initial phase.
Using the satellite imagery in the Geographical Information System (GIS) Lab on Ravi Road, the record of forests spanning an area of 500,000 acres has also been retrieved. This advanced technology will allow to measure the number and area of forests in the province. A mobile application will also facilitate the general public to get access to information on forests.
The number and types of trees planted in these forests and other information will be uploaded on the website of Punjab Forest Department. For this purpose, services of Punjab Information Technology Board will be employed. The web portal and mobile application will be ready by June 2019.
The social forestry program of Punjab Forest Department will also help in retrieving record of tree planting on private sites through website and GIS Lab. The same program will promote the planting of trees over 11,850 acres of land. Trees will be planted in several districts of Punjab. Also, 20 million saplings will be grown in the nurseries by March 2019.
