PESHAWAR: The forest department on Friday dropped over 125,000 seed balls in three locations of Malakand and Hazara divisions to mark the Pakistan Defence Day.

A statement issued here said that seed balls were dropped by paragliders and forest officials on higher altitudes.

In Malakand division, more than 80,000 seed balls were thrown on 300 acres of Laram Top, a tourist spot in Lower Dir district. Various paragliders, drone operators and officials of the district’s forest division participated in the event.

In addition to seed balls, regular planting was also done at the tourist spot, and a large number of seeds of diverse species, including deodar, Chir, Phulai, Sanatha and Robinia were planted to rejuvenate the region’s flora.

In Hazara division, 20,560 seed balls were thrown at 11 locations of Abbottabad tourist spot in Galiyat and 25,840 seed balls at 11 locations in Khanpur.

Various paragliders, drone operators and officers and personnel of the Hazara forest division participated in the planting and throwing of seed balls event.

According to the statement, Project Director Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Project, Mohammad Junaid Dayar said that the success rate of seed balls plantation was up to 80 per cent compared to regular planting.

He said that seed balls consisted of seeds that were rolled inside a ball of soil and other substances were added to support them, and were dropped from high altitudes over vacant plots as a form of guerilla gardening.

Secretary climate change, forests, environment and wildlife Shahid Zaman said that planting seed balls was part of the monsoon plantation drive.

He said plantations had been done successfully in Chitral forest division through seed balls before, while the forest department had extended its scope to remote and other high-altitude areas where mountains had no or very few trees.

Besides, he said that monsoon plantation was also going on across the province, in which a target of planting more than six million different types of trees had been set.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2024