Founders Note

Hermis Haridas & Nisha Purushothaman

Positive news from Pakistan on the environmental front. It came as a surprise when the news broke that Pakistan attained its one billion tree goal for the Bonn Challenge* by August of 2017, months ahead of schedule. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan has added 350,000 hectares of trees to restore the forest cover and combat climate change. Pakistan has less than 5% forest cover, which is way less than the UN recommendation of 12%.

The Bonn challenge aims at obtaining pledges from countries and regions to restore 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested land worldwide by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the first Bonn Challenge pledge to reach its restoration goal. A big Thank you from PT Explorers for making the earth a better place. We sincerely hope that you will not rest on your laurels and will soldier on, turning the entire country of Pakistan into a green haven. It is important to ensure that this is a lasting move, by providing protection to the saplings and building awareness amongst the local population, which is the only way to ensure that the tree cover survives for decades and become self-sustaining.

It is good for other countries and regions, participants of Bonn challenge or not, to take note and step up their commitment to mother nature. What we have on earth is precious and unique, found no where else on the universe. We are blessed with beautiful co-inhabitants, our animal brethren. It is our moral duty to protect and cherish them and pass on a pristine earth as as our children’s inheritance.

At PT explorers we consider it our sworn duty to bring the beauty of these creatures to you, for you to marvel at, learn about them and accept them as brethren. Our latest exhibition “The Big Cat Trails” brought the beauty of the magnificent felines to the shores of Dubai. We are heartened by the curiosity and interest that people show and hope it converts to long term admiration and nurtures the spirit of conservation. Our duty will be done when the terms “conservationist” and “naturalist” become irrelevant and there are only ‘people’, with each one madly in love with nature and a default protector of all resources and beings on mother earth.

www.pawstrails.com

Hermis Haridas & Nisha Purushothaman
Founders – PT Explorers