Capital to have 350-acre Model Forestry Park:

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Park to have 150,000 indigenous saplings
* Teachers, schoolchildren, politicians and leading social figures will be invited to participate in the tree plantation campaign

ISLAMABAD: Capital Development Authority (CDA) has planned to develop a Model Forestry Park to preserve the natural beauty of the capital and provide a healthy natural environment to its residents.
According to a senior CDA official, the authority had allocated 350 acres near Rawal Lake in Malpur Village to develop the park. The work on the project would start after short-listing of firms.
The official said that the park was a Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) project and would be funded by the federal government. He said an amount of Rs 150 million had been earmarked for the project.
The official said that around 150,000 indigenous saplings would be planted in the park and schoolchildren, teachers, politicians and leading social figures would be invited to take part in the tree plantation campaign.
“This will be the first ever forestry park in the country. The project will be completed in five years and work is likely to initiate in August this year,” said the official.
The park would be equipped with all facilities including horse and jeep tracks, enclosure of local birds and animals, camping sites, picnic spots, shelters, huts and jeep safari.
The official said that a specific area would be allocated for the nursery of indigenous species adding that the plantation would start in the upcoming monsoon season.
He said the short-listed firm would also be responsible for launching an awareness drive of plantation and environment protection of the federal capital. The official said as the area fell within the National Park area, it would not cost much to the authority to develop the land for the purpose rather it would simply require demarcation. app

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