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Timberland Pakistan honored Earth Day by carried out a thrilling and innovative ceremony here in Karachi; where five of the country’s top ecologists were honored along with special green awards being given to two individuals who are helping the environment through special inventiveness.

The first award was given to Mr. Shah Murad Aliani, country ambassador of the International Union of Conservation of Nature. IUCN is the world’s oldest and prevalent global environmental organization. IUCN is a leading authority on the environment and sustainable development.

Second, Parveen Saeed of Khaana Ghar was bestowed with an award . The tale of Khaana Ghar is truly heart breaking, in 2002 Parveen Saeed, a resident of Surjani Town, heard news of a lady who had killed her two children because she was incapable of feeding them and could not accept to watch them slowly starve to death. Afterwards, Parveen thought that surely there is enough food in Pakistan that no one needs to go hungry, so that gave birth to Khaana Ghar, a small dhaba in  Khuda ki Basti in Karachi.

The third award was presented to Nargis Latif of Gulbahao Trust. Gulbahao’s tag line is : Garbage is gold – Karachi’s girl to t he world. Gul bahao was for the last 15 years has silently been working on industrial and municipal waste in order to create a clean non-polluted surrounding as well as to make new discovers for improving the economy.

Mr. Shahid Khan from Indus Earth was given the fourth award. Indus Earth works to assist a movement to raise living standards by enhancing socio-economic conditions through an integrated development approach which incorporates reduced utilization of fossil fuels and encourages the exploration of free energy, while making sure flora, fauna and marine life stays protected.

The fifth award was given to Mr. Tahir Qureshi who is a senior advisor Coastal Ecosystem. One of his claims to fame is that he was the first forest officer to be kidnapped by an infamous group of dacoits belonging to the notorious Baloch Chandio Tribe. The 60 strong gang, armed with the latest weapons, were operating deep in the forest. This vivid incident changed the course of his life. Since then, he has been planting and rehabilitating mangrove forests. In Pakistan, Tahir is recognized as the ‘Father of Mangroves’. He has single-handedly changed the face of coastal areas in a country where mangroves were considered wasteland until the 1970s.

Special awards were given to Deepak Perwani for eco-friendly waste disposal and Zain Jafar of R Cube for his recycling efforts. Besides the award ceremony, the carousing included a tree plantation ceremony and green painting activities for children.