Karachi: The Thar Foundation recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Sindh Forest Department to increase the urban forest cover and reduce the frequency of climate change hazards in Karachi, a news source reported. As per the foundation’s officials, the two authorities have agreed to collaborate to plant over 10,000 saplings across the city.
Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) and the Thar Foundation – the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) front for SECMC – have together taken the responsibility of providing the saplings to the forest department.
The collaboration is part of a larger initiative, titled ‘Thar Million Tree Programme’, helmed by the Thar Foundation. Under this initiative, the foundation hopes to plant one million trees in Thar by the end of 2019.
SECMC Director Site Operations Syed Azhar Murtaza Rizvi said that the foundation had voluntarily adopted the ‘Sustainable Development Goals Framework’ of the United Nations (UN). He added that these measures would help slow down climate change and create a greener environment.
Rizvi stated that the foundation’s collaboration with Urban Forestry was an extension of SECMC’s commitment to creating additional green public spaces and promoting environment stewardship in Karachi.
SECMC’s had also established Sindh’s largest private sector nursery spanning over 80 acres of land. This nursery has the capacity of nurturing 0.5 million saplings at a time – contributing saplings of various local plant species. This initiative of SECMC was aimed at cutting down carbon footprint, promoting greener & healthier environment, and combating desertification in Tharparkar.
