RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: The South Punjab Forest Company (SPFC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tahir Rasheed held a meeting with the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Abdul Basit to discuss the opportunities of private sector’s investment in forestry sector.

The meeting that was also attended by the company’s chief financial officer Salman Ahmad and director projects and operations Muhammad Awais was aimed to reduce deforestation in Punjab and to combine forest conservation with sustainable economic development.

According to Tahir Rasheed, the Punjab Forest Department following approval of the Punjab government has assigned a blank area of 134,995 acres to the company that mainly falls in DG Khan and Bahawalpur Divisions.

The company aims to reforest the designated blank areas of Punjab forestry, wildlife and fisheries departments, which will help to create new jobs in rural areas and providing sustained source of raw material to the industry, he said.

He said the company’s investment objective is to encourage investment in assets that could be established and managed on environmentally and socially sustainable basis, he added. In future, the SPFC will seek to invest in forestry projects that are or will be certified by a reputable forest management certification scheme, he added.

LCCI President Abdul Basit asked the SPFC officials to brief the Chamber’s members in next month so that the concept of sustainable forestry could be promoted. ‘There’s a need to educate people regarding this concept and media can play an important role by raising awareness regarding it,’ he added.