KP has 194.31 million tones of carbon reserves: Abid Majeed

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Secretary Forest Environment and Wildlife, Muhammad Abid Majeed said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has 45% of Pakistan's forests and 51% carbon reserves of the country.

He was addressing a meeting of the "Voluntary Carbon Market Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Working Group" on Thursday. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has 194.31 million tonnes of carbon reserves which include 67.60 million tonnes of carbon in Hazara division, 73.25 million tones in the Malakand division, 3.87 million tones in the southern belt of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 49.60 million tones in the newly merged tribal districts.

He said 2012, 4 million tons of carbon dioxide per year was emitted which has been reduced by 50%, resulting in a reduction of 2 million tons per year. Majeed said, due to various government initiatives, forests cover increased from 10% to 15.6%, which has led to a positive effect on reducing carbon emissions."

The official said that because of forestation and protection, forests provide about 8 million tons of carbon dioxide reserves each year. "Large scale afforestation projects have been implemented under Billion Tree Tsunami and 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Project which will result in 5 million tons of carbon deposits," Abid Majeed said during his address.

The Forest Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has set up a satellite land monitoring system in collaboration with SPARCO to continuously monitor forest changes. The Department also aims to create a gateway for (carbon) offset buyers and a gateway for national and international investors to finance the growing demand for carbon asset projects. "The forest department is increasing the registration of voluntary carbon market projects, focusing on restoring the ecosystem," The official said. He added that the Forest Department is also looking for alternative sources of sustainable energy and opportunities for the people of the province to generate non-timber forest products and other potential economic and revenue generating activities.

Abid Majeed added that surveys are needed to map carbon potential in KP and identify potential sources. "There is an urgnet need for carbon offset development framework and a preliminary review of carbon acquisition needs to verify the viability of each site for generating carbon offsets." He added the KP government encourages the private sector and investors to cooperate in bringimg funding from the national and international market for carbon offset production in the forest sector.