Pakistan's Green Doomsday

 The cry of environmental doomsday

There are some things that we see every day but do not pay attention to. They become a part of our existence, to the point that when their existence is threatened, we do not realize how deep a chasm we ourselves are moving towards. The same is true of our environment. We see trees being cut down, mountains being stripped bare, but we do not think that this is not just a loss of wood, but a loss of our own lives. The dry tongue of environmental experts is now crying out that Pakistan is at a very dangerous juncture. This is not an exaggeration, but the bitter reality that we will definitely face tomorrow, if not today.

From 1992 to 2025, the area of ​​​​our country's forests has decreased by 18 percent.  Have we ever thought about how terrible it is for a country that is under the influence of natural disasters to have its first line of defense reduced in this way? This reduction is not just one or two percent, but the result of the ruthless cutting of millions of trees. The forests that were spread over 3.78 million hectares in 1992 are now only 3.09 million hectares. And the tragedy is that despite the government’s efforts, 11,000 hectares of forests are still being cut down annually. 

We have to understand that these figures are not just on paper, they are becoming a part of our destiny. The chain of deforestation does not stop here. Our pastures, which are the basis of our rural economy, are today able to produce only 20 to 30 percent of their potential production. This is opening a new door to poverty, unemployment and displacement.  Families who were once self-sufficient through their livestock are now a picture of helplessness. Now, as for the benefits of forests, they are so numerous that it is impossible to describe them in a single column. They protect us from flash floods by absorbing rainwater, which has been proven in recent years in the form of floods of 1992, 2010 and 2025. They protect the soil from erosion and recharge the groundwater. They balance the weather and reduce the temperature. 

Dr. Adil Zarif says that “bare hills become 5 to 8 degrees warmer than forest-covered areas, which leads to events like cloudbursts.” This is a scientific fact. From Chitral to Buner, Bajaur and Gilgit-Baltistan, a new story of destruction is emerging everywhere.  Be it a landslide in Battagram or a cloudburst in Bajaur, the only reason behind all of them is the wanton deforestation. When we are destroying our own protectors with our own hands, then what are the complaints? The solution to this problem is not just plantation campaigns. It is a good effort, but it cannot solve the entire crisis. 

Unless we take strict action against the timber mafia, unless we hold the officials involved accountable, then planting and protecting every tree will become a joke. We have to change our priorities. We have to leave a safe environment for our future generations, not a legacy of destruction. It is now our own responsibility to understand these threats and confront them.