Forests are one of the natural assets which contribute the most to the environment. Forests are not just the oxygen providers but also habitats for many living organisms. They are energy transformers as well. Simply, they are life to earth. God has blessed the earth with abundant natural forests which covered the largest part of land, hills, and mountains. The natural forests are long in length, widen in width, and resistive to any season. The reach of the human race has lessened the quantity of natural forest and is now in trouble with climatic changes.
However, forests can be created through plantations. The standing example of the planted forest is Change Manga forest which is situated in Kasur district, 74 Km southwest of Lahore. This irrigated plantation has covered 12510 acres which is a vast field. And it is known to be as “one of the oldest hand-planted forests in the world”. It is mainly covered with a wide variety of flora and fauna. Flora is the plants and fauna are all the other living organisms. Flora and Fauna work in parallel and maintain the environment. Flora release oxygen whereas Fauna consume that oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide in return which is taken by the Floras and is used for photosynthesis.
Moreover, the artificial Changa Manga is home to 14 species of mammals, 50 species of birds, six species of reptiles, two species of amphibians, and 27 species of insects which is a good number. It is not the only habitat to these species but also timber provider to the local industry. In addition to all the benefits, it has added to the beauty of Lahore.
Prime Minister Imran Khan is a strong advocate of plantations and has planted many trees across the country. He has recently launched countrywide monsoon plantations. This campaign of plantation is named “10 Billion Tree Tsunami” which is Pakistan’s Largest-ever tree plantation drive.
Indeed plantation is good practice then why not join the mission of PM and why not contribute to greening Pakistan. In this way, we can plant hundreds of Changa Manga forests. We can cover our drylands into dense Changa Manga.
