Usman Ashraf - Who could lose from planting billions of trees in Pakistan?

This month we were delighted to be joined by fellow University of Helsinki, Global Development Studies doctoral researcher, Usman Ashraf. Usman moved from the natural sciences to the social sciences and his research focuses on Chinese investment in Pakistan’s forestry sector. In particular we talked about the Billion Tree Tsunami Afforestation project and the subsequent 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Afforestation project. We touched on the landscape changes that attend this kind of project and the impacts that these projects have on the human and other than human beings in the affected areas. He gives us insight into how the implementation of the plantations this project has specifically impacted the herding families in the area and other landless families. Our conversation undercovers the political implications of this “environmental” project and how the current narratives/processes are historically connected.

Find and connect with Usman on Twitter @PEusman

Usman’s recommended reading The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis by Amitav Ghosh (University of Chicago Press)

Check out the IIED Country report Usman recently wrote on this project. Ashraf, U. (2022) 'Participation and Exclusion in Mega Tree-planting Projects: A Case Study of the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme, Pakistan,' London: IIED. https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/20.500.12413/17511

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