Head of Environment Department visits Bamyan and launches sapling planting campaign

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Bamyan: The head of the country’s environmental protection department, during his visit to Bamyan on Wednesday, April 9, while inaugurating a sapling planting campaign, called on the officials and citizens of the province to cooperate in protecting and caring for the environment. Mati-ul-Haq Khalis stated that this department is trying to identify endangered places in Bamyan through coordination with partner institutions and turn them into protected areas.

 

Khalis emphasized that “preserving a clean environment is one of the serious and natural needs that must be considered. "The lack of environmental protection can lead to health problems in society, and environmental pollution will cause the spread of diseases."

 

He also considered wars and bombings in Afghanistan to be important factors in harming the country's environment, and said: "In the past years, the use of the most powerful types of weapons in Afghanistan, given the presence of the mother of bombs, has led to environmental pollution, and this has caused Afghanistan to be among the countries at risk of climate change. Our glaciers have melted by almost 20 percent and the climate has changed towards heat."

 

Khalis warned that due to environmental problems, about 149 species of birds are at risk of extinction and necessary measures must be taken to protect these species. He also announced that about 900 environmental projects have currently been stopped, but efforts to launch them are continuing.

 

The country's Director General of Environment has planned to work with all government departments to plant more than 100 million seedlings by 1410. He emphasized that according to the plan, 10 percent of the country's land should be planted with saplings to prevent air pollution and preserve the land.

 

He announced that about $20 billion in funding is needed by 2030 to combat environmental vulnerability.

 

During this visit, Mawlawi Abdullah Sarhadi, the governor of Bamyan, also considered environmental protection a religious commandment and emphasized: "In Islam, all creatures are considered and everything that is useful for humanity must be preserved. Planting saplings not only prevents environmental pollution but also has worldly and otherworldly benefits."

 

Mohammad Ibrahim Dadfar, head of the Bamyan provincial environment department, also emphasized the value of planting saplings and said that more than 3 million saplings are to be planted in Bamyan this year, which requires care. He called on all people to cooperate in creating a green environment.

 

Qurban Aliyar, a professor at Bamyan University, further emphasized the need to diagnose the environmental situation, saying that Bamyan is at risk due to overuse of resources. He suggested that alternative projects should be considered to compensate for the damage and help the local people.

 

The trip is said to be a sign of a widespread effort to preserve the environment in Bamyan and to draw public attention to the issue of protecting natural resources.