Islamic seminary sets new trend to tackle climate change in Pakistan

KARACHI – A seminary in southeaster Pakistan has adopted a unique approach of planting fruit tree on large swathes of land to tackle the growing impact of the climate change and ensure its economic independence.

Jamia-Tul-Uloom-il-Islamia, located in Hala village of Sindh’s Matiari district, has introduced new trends for religious schools in South Asian country as they mostly rely on donations to run their educational activities.

The seminary has also been leading the edge with its emphasis on receiving modern-day education and enrolment of female students.

Umar Farooq, who supervises the religious school’s agricultural farms, told Arab News that the institute had opted scientific methods to build its own orchards after previously cultivating various crops on 300 acres of land.

“What’s happening due to climate change makes it essential for us to plant more and more trees to stop its adverse effects,” he said while highlighting the scorching heatwaves and massive deluges faced by country last year.

Pakistan, which is among the top ten countries most vulnerable to the climate change despite less than 1% contribution in carbon emission, suffered from massive floods that sinking one third part of the country underwater last year. More than 2 million houses have been damaged or destroyed while deluges overall affected 33 million in the South Asian country.

The deluges also swept away the cotton crop cultivated by the seminary, though the institute has been dependent for its revenue on mangoes and other fruit plantations in recent years.

Farooq revealed the seminary raised 8,500 mango trees in the last four years, adding that the lemon and date orchards are collectively spread over 20 acres of land.

Another official said a religious scholar Shafi Muhammad Nizamani had donated the land to the seminary in 1950 to grow crops and generate revenue to run its affairs. However, the senior faculty recently decided to turn towards the plantation of fruit tree.

The religious school is also motivating its students to play their role in plantation of new tree in order to effectively tackle the impact of the climate change.