Displacement under Mitigation: Spatial Politics and Urban Ecologies of Trees in Pakistan

Keywords: urban ecology, mass afforestation, climate change mitigation
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 13

Abstract

Launched in 2011, the Bonn Challenge is a worldwide program to restore deforested landscapes and degraded forests towards a sustainable planetary future. Mass afforestation drives have centered trees as a panacea to mitigate the effects of climate change and enhance urban environments, premised on their properties to sequester excess carbon and their aesthetic properties as part of nature. In Pakistan, the call for tree plantations has been shaped under the Plant4Pakistan project whereby the state aims to plant ten billion trees in five years. In cities, this has come through the increasing number of urban forests in public sites. However, what are the political, ecological and spatial implications when saplings are planted in one site against mass destruction of trees and natural vegetation in another for infrastructure and real estate? How do greening campaigns for urban forests displace the rights of citizens to urban public spaces? In this paper, I analyze the politics of urban forests through the narratives of state and citizens shared on media sources from the past year. I bring forward insights from an archive of contemporary reports and campaigns that have highlighted the contentious nature of climate change mitigation.