Many nations across the world have shut down due to coronavirus concerns. While this protects the people, it certainly doesn't make it easy for the people who lost their jobs due to such a lockdown. Pakistan, however, is approaching this unemployment problem with a creative and eco-friendly solution: hiring fired employees to plant trees all across the country.
New jobs by the government called “jungle workers,” were given to people who were recently fired during the outbreak. These employees work throughout the day planting billions of trees across the country. Authorities are hoping that this will help to deal with the impending climate change that is already taking a toll on Pakistan. KNown as a green stimulus, this financial kick will help people while also helping the planet.
Introduced by Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2018, the program could last up to five years. Their belief is that they will counter the high temperatures, flooding, droughts, and other extreme weather conditions that have become normal during the last few decades. Pakistan is ranked fifth on a long list of countries most detrimentally affected by climate increasing over the last two decades.
This initiative created jobs for 63,600 people. The chief conservator of forests for Rawalpindi district, Abdul Muqeet Khan, informed the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the tree project has hit “full swing”. The trees are mostly being planted on an allotted 15,000 acres near the state capital, but there are other locations all across the country. While there is a lot of terrible things happening right now, this might be one of the silver linings.