COVID-19 lockdown renders thousands of laborers unemployed, Pakistan hires them for planting trees
As the government of Pakistan imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 23 to help the country fight the COVID-19 outbreak, thousands of daily wage workers were rendered jobless. Most of them had just two options before them – either to beg on streets or let their family go hungry.
But the government has now given them a better option – plant billions of trees across the country to deal with climate change threats. These laborers have been given new jobs as “jungle workers”, planting saplings as part of the country’s 10 Billion Tree Tsunami program.
Such “green stimulus” efforts are an example of how funds that aim to help families and keep the economy running during pandemic shutdowns could also help nations prepare for the next big threat: climate change.