A Green Covenant for Pakistan: Making Every Piece of Government Land a Garden, Orchard, Cropland and Forest

By Malik Tariq Abbas – Pakistan stands at a decisive moment in its environmental history. The country possesses vast stretches of public land which, if properly planned and productively utilised, can become a powerful instrument for environmental restoration, food security, rural prosperity and national beautification. Railway corridors, National Highway Authority lands, canal banks, highways, roads, government colonies, vacant departmental lands and the historic roads traditionally associated with Sher Shah Suri constitute an enormous but largely underutilised national asset.
It is therefore suggested that the Government of Pakistan, in collaboration with provincial and local administrations, should introduce a Compulsory Government Land Plantation and Productive Greenbelt Policy. Under this policy, every government department possessing land alongside roads, canals, railway tracks, offices, colonies or other public installations should be required to develop that land, wherever technically feasible, into plantations, fruit orchards, seasonal crops, medicinal gardens, timber forests or other productive green spaces.
The principle should be simple: not a single suitable piece of government land should remain barren when it can sustain a tree, a crop, a fruit plant or a forest.

From Barren Margins to Productive Corridors

The first stage should be a comprehensive survey of government-owned land. Every department, including Railways, NHA, Highways, Irrigation, Local Government, Forest, Auqaf, Education, Health, Agriculture and other public bodies, should identify its vacant and cultivable land. The survey should record the area, soil condition, availability of water, accessibility and the most suitable form of plantation.
Railway lines, for example, possess extensive strips of land on either side of their tracks. Subject to railway safety requirements, these areas could be transformed into carefully designed green corridors. Similarly, canal banks and irrigation department lands could support suitable trees, fruit orchards and vegetation, while highway and NHA corridors could be developed as shaded avenues and ecological belts.
The ancient routes historically associated with Sher Shah Suri, renowned for the development of roads, caravanserais and avenues of trees, may once again become symbols of a greener South Asia. The modern concept should preserve the spirit of those historic avenues while employing contemporary scientific methods of plantation and water management.

Government Should Not Merely Plant, It Should Create Custodians

The greatest weakness of many plantation campaigns is not the planting of trees but their subsequent neglect. Millions of saplings may be planted with ceremony, only to perish because there is no individual or institution responsible for their aftercare.
For this reason, the Government should adopt a system of public-private stewardship. Suitable parcels of government land may be allotted through transparent tenders to local farmers, growers, cooperatives, educational institutions, youth organisations and other competent local persons.
The allottee should not become the owner of the government land. Rather, they should become its custodian and productive user for a defined period, under a legally enforceable agreement. The agreement should specify the plantation target, permissible crops, irrigation responsibilities, protection measures and maintenance standards.

Incentives for Local People

Local participation will be the key to the success of such a programme. A person living near a piece of government land has a natural interest in protecting it if they receive a legitimate economic benefit from doing so.
The Government may therefore offer incentives such as concessional lease rates, permission to cultivate approved seasonal crops between trees, a defined share in fruit production, subsidised saplings, technical agricultural assistance and, where appropriate, partial irrigation support.
For example, a roadside parcel may be allotted for a fruit orchard. The local allottee would plant and maintain the orchard according to the prescribed plan. The Government would retain ownership of the land, while the grower would receive the lawful benefit of the produce for the duration of the agreement.
Such an arrangement would convert an unused or barren government asset into a source of employment, food and environmental protection.

One Land, Multiple Benefits

The policy should not be confined exclusively to timber trees. Different ecological zones require different plantation models.
In fertile areas, mango, citrus, guava, ber, pomegranate, date palm and other locally suitable fruit trees may be encouraged. Along canals and roads, appropriate shade and indigenous trees may be planted. In arid and semi-arid regions, drought-resistant species should receive priority. Where land is suitable for agriculture, seasonal crops may be grown between widely spaced trees.
In appropriate locations, medicinal and aromatic plants may also be introduced. Government land can thus serve simultaneously as a forest, orchard, agricultural field, employment source, carbon sink and landscape improvement project.

A National Greenbelt Authority or Coordinating Mechanism

A policy of such magnitude requires coordination. It is recommended that the federal and provincial governments establish a central monitoring mechanism, perhaps under an existing environmental, forestry or agriculture institution, rather than creating an unnecessarily large bureaucracy.
Each department should prepare annual plantation and land-utilisation plans. Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, satellite imagery and digital photographs may be used to identify the land, record plantation progress and monitor survival rates.
The success of an officer or department should not be measured merely by the number of saplings planted, but by the percentage surviving after one, three and five years. This distinction is fundamental. A plantation campaign that produces photographs but no surviving trees is an expenditure, not an achievement.

Protection Against Encroachment

A productive government-land programme would also help protect public property. Vacant government land frequently becomes vulnerable to encroachment, illegal construction and unauthorised cultivation. Once such land is properly demarcated, mapped, planted and placed under accountable stewardship, its protection becomes considerably easier.
Every allotted parcel should have clear boundaries, a digital record and an identifiable custodian. Encroachment, unauthorised cutting of trees and misuse of the land should invite strict penalties.

Schools and Government Institutions as Green Examples

Government schools, colleges, hospitals, offices and other public institutions should be included in the programme. Every institution possessing adequate land should have an institutional orchard, garden or plantation according to its circumstances.
Schools, in particular, could establish ‘One Student, One Tree’ initiatives, with students participating in plantation and environmental education. The purpose would not merely be to beautify school premises but to cultivate a sense of responsibility towards nature among the younger generation.

A Long-Term National Vision

The proposed programme should not be treated as another short-lived plantation campaign associated with a particular season or government. It should become a permanent national policy extending across successive administrations.
Pakistan needs trees for shade, forests for climate resilience, orchards for nutrition, crops for food security and green corridors for the beautification of its cities and countryside. At the same time, rural communities need employment and opportunities for lawful economic activity.

The genius of the proposal lies in bringing these objectives together.

If every department is compelled to identify its vacant land; if every suitable parcel is scientifically planned; if local people are invited through transparent tenders; if they receive reasonable incentives; if professional departments provide technical guidance; and if survival rather than ceremonial plantation becomes the principal measure of success, Pakistan can gradually transform its neglected public spaces into a vast network of productive greenbelts.

The nation does not need merely a Plantation Day. It needs a Plantation Culture.

The barren margins of our railways, highways, canals and public roads should no longer be regarded as useless strips of earth. They should be viewed as opportunities: opportunities to grow food, nurture forests, generate employment, protect the environment and leave a greener inheritance for future generations.
The time has come to make every suitable piece of government land serve the nation twice: first as public property, and second as a living, productive asset for the people.