Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday launched monsoon tree plantation campaign, dedicating year 2009 to environment protection and greener Pakistan. He kicked off the plantation campaign by planting a sapling of araucaria in the lawns of Prime Minister's House. Talking to newsmen, he symbolised the freshly planted sapling with a tree of democracy which he said grew in the hands of Benazir Bhutto. He said forests covered five percent of the land and would be stretched over 6 percent by 2015. The Environment Ministry will oversee the tree plantation campaign. The prime minister appealed to the people, especially schoolchildren, to take part in campaign. He said the government was taking steps to keep environment clean. About 8000 CNG buses would be introduced in the country to reduce the level of pollution, he said. He instructed the environment minister to inform the people of government policies for protecting the environment. The government plans to plant 50 million saplings in the current monsoon campaign. app