In 2018, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the Billion Tree project, a lofty country-wide effort to plant 10 billion trees over a 5-year span. The project has already led to the planting of hundreds of thousands of trees, resulting in a huge boost in bee populations.
Apparently, that’s been a huge boost for the production of honey in Pakistan, with a reported increase of 70 percent since the tree-planting project began. Pakistan’s honey production is focused in the Changa Manga forest, a place that locals described as having undergone ruthless deforestation, as well as reduction in the green cover, which left little to no place for bees to make hives. But with trees being planted and a renewed focus on honey production, forest officers are reporting a remarkable increase in the number of bees—and subsequently more hives.
For Pakistan, which imports most of its honey, the hope is that the tree-planting project will cut its honey import bill while renewing its depleted forests.
