Caritas Pakistan promote interfaith with environment protection

Caritas Pakistan teams celebrated World Environment Day by visiting an orchard of 200 plants grown together by Muslim farmers and Catholic charity.

Mr. Amjad Gulzar Executive Director Caritas Pakistan joined Father Rafhan Fayyaz Executive Secretary Caritas Pakistan Lahore CPL and diocesan staff in visiting the Guava orchard on June 5 at Hanjli Mehtab Pur village in Pasrur District of Punjab province. The village is located at the bank of Nullah (rivulet) Deg, which over floods almost every year destroying crops in surrounding villages.

Under its Green Entrepreneurship Micro Project, CPL has planned to grow five orchards with partnership of Disaster Management Committees in rural communities.

“We provided them Guava seeds this May in three villages and the plants are already more than two feet high. As per agreement, the fruit retailers will take care of the plants and use the profit to grow more orchards. Two more orchards will be grown this year,” said Fr. Rafhan.

Mr. Amjad highlighted the need of similar partnerships. “The benefits of Green Entrepreneurship are manifold. It will benefit the environment, provide an alternate source of income to villagers, promote interfaith harmony and complement our One Million Tree Campaign. We have already planted 8 lakh plants since December 2016.”

World Environment Day, introduced by the United Nations Environment Program, is observed every year on June 5 to take positive environmental action to protect nature and planet Earth.