Women folk and children planted fruit plants in plantation drive at Biri Kalsh valley
By Gul Hamaad Farooqi.
CHITRAL: A unique tree planting campaign has been launched in Kailash Barir Valley. Two thousand fruit plants were distributed free of cost among the people in this beautiful valley and plantation campaign was started by sapling fruit plants, but this time instead of any important person, women and children of the area planted these sapling so that they could be adopted with these plants and to create ownership among them.
The campaign was kicked in collaboration with the Forest Department, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Chalgoza Project, 2,000 fruit trees were distributed free of cost to the people of Barir Valley to generate livelihood and reduce the burden on the forests.
In this regard, a function was also held at the Community Based School Birir in which Muslims as well as a large number of women and children belonging to the Kailash tribe also participated. Ejaz Ahmed, Provincial Coordinator, FAO Chalgoza Project, explained the technical method of planting and caring for the plants, how far they should be planted and what should be mixed in the soil at the time of planting so that the plants do not get damaged and grow quickly.
Expressing his views, Umair Nawaz, SDFO, Forest Department, said that the people here mostly use forest wood, so if they get fruit from these plants they can earn livelihood for themselves and their families. on the other hand, they can cut their branches and burn them, thus reducing the burden on the forest.
Ejaz Ahmed said that he arranges stove for them which consumes alternative energy instead of wood and it stays warm for a long time. Besides, we will compete with the people of the area for planting orchards. Those will be rewarded whose orchard is best in all aspects so that other people will be attracted to it.
Unat Baig Kailash, President, Chalgoza Forest Protection and Conservation Committee, of Birir valley , thanked the officials of Forest Department and Chalgoza Project for distributing fruit trees free of cost to the people of the area as the people here are very poor. And they can plant these sapling and sell the fruit in the bazaar, which will keep their hearth burning. Shamsul Rabi, the organisation’s general secretary, said the project would also change the fortunes of the people in the area, who would plant fruit trees and eat the fruit themselves, and sell it to cover their household expenses.
Some Kailash women also demanded that they mostly burn forest wood for cooking and heating purposes the federal and provincial governments should provide them with alternative sources of gas or cheap electricity so that they can use gas alternate source of energy and prevent deforestation.
At last 2,000 fruit plants were distributed free of cost among the people of the area, which they happily planted in their fields A large number of people attended the plantation event despite the cold weather.
