Written by: Abeera Akhtar
Posted on: June 12, 2018 | 
The Urban Forest in it's planning stage (Source, Urban Forest)
When we got in touch with Shahzad Qureshi, he informed us that a park was the location for the urban forest he was creating behind Emerald Towers. As our Careem drew nearer, we saw a manicured lawn with swings and benches to our left, and an area that was clearly a work in progress with evident plantations to our right.
Pakistan’s largest cosmopolitan city, Karachi is famous for being a buzzing sea port and a commercial hub, which provides economic opportunities for a diverse and ever growing populace (14.9 million in 2017). This commercial and industrial activity means that Karachi has become a concrete jungle devoid of any plantations and in this hazardous environment, Qureshi’s initiative is a literal breath of fresh air. If you’re a Pakistani who is active on social media, it is hard to ignore the excitement around Shahzad Qureshi’s urban forest.
Qureshi is an entrepreneur with a number of initiatives to his name, including the website tohfay.com and the well-known Raintree Spa. His latest venture is an urban forest in Clifton, Karachi. The last few years have been particularly tough on Karachi, with pollution levels reaching an all-time high, and thousands of citizens losing their life due to heat waves. With the provincial and federal government’s failure to fix the situation, civic activism came to the rescue in the form of Shahzed Qureshi.
Qureshi wants to create Pakistan’s first urban forest, which will employ the Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki’s method of planting trees. Within this method, different types of trees are planted close together in a small pit, which allows them to grow ten times faster than usual. Qureshi talks with nostalgia about the native parrots he used to see while growing up, which have almost disappeared due to deforestation. He laments that kids today have no knowledge of our native tree species, or any awareness about the problems of our over populated city. He calls Central Park the lungs of the bustling metropolitan of New York City, and insists that our city needs lungs too.
Plantation in the urban forest began in 2015, and what now stands in front of us in this 400 square meters of land, are the beginnings of dense foliage. The trees which are currently planted include neem, peepal, kanair, keekar, gulmohar, sheesham, pomegranate, fig, almond and guavas trees. Qureshi wants to ensure the presence of 50 native species within the next three years. By using sewage water pumped from a nearby drain that is then treated via a wetland channel, he is also recycling the water. Within three years, the urban forest will become self-sustaining with no help required for its growth. It will be an ecosystem that will run itself, while giving back to our city in a way only nature can. As we sit under the dense trees that have already formed a canopy, the shade gives relief from the heat outside. This is the effect Qureshi wants.
As he shares a video of the intended model for the entire urban park, everyone is blown away. With over 1.2 kilometers of natural walkways, vegetable gardens, community composting, a butterfly garden and even a sky walk, it will truly be a sight to behold. By involving government and civil society in the project, Qureshi has acquired the permissions needed for the project. The concept was always intriguing, but he is also getting support from the media now, since the forest has begun taking shape. He reminds us that each park is a public amenity, and this area is as much his, as of anyone reading this article. For 950 PKR, an individual can donate towards planting a tree, and he has been receiving donations from across the world.
By advocating the forest across forums, from talking to students at schools, businessmen at corporations and bureaucrats in the government, Qureshi intends to involve people at all levels of society. Students of the Lahore University of Management Sciences are already working with him, and he has given them complete autonomy, with just one goal in mind; to document the process and create awareness.
This is just the beginning for Qureshi, since the first urban forest is a pilot project. He wants to select other parks across the city, and apply the same methodology to create a wave of change. And no one can dispute the fact that this change is direly needed. As we leave the park, an old couple walks in with their daughter, searching for Qureshi. After inquiring if he is the one leading this project, they thank him for it; their city needed this.
Since a fresh heat wave coincided with the holy month of Ramadan, the situation has become much worse in Karachi. This urban forest is the effort of one individual to bring about change, and through his persistence other individuals are rising up to help his cause. Yet, individual actions can only go so far. The seeds have been sown and now it is up to the civil society and the government to work towards making it sustainable.
Imagine a decade from now, when we can have a number of urban forests, lower temperatures, and a lot to write home about. Now that would be a Karachi I would be proud of!
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