LAHORE, Oct 24: The Muzaffarabad areas with low forest cover had maximum landslides during the Oct 8 earthquake.

The phenomena was observed by a team comprising experts of the United Nations, Care and WWF, which is currently in the quake-affected areas to assess damage to the environment. “It will complete a report in this regard in five weeks,” Amjad Aslam, a WWF coordinator, told Dawn on Monday.

The environmentalists have observed a marked difference in how the earthquake affected the forested and deforested parts of the district. They say that dense forest cover and vegetation help lessen the intensity of damage caused by floods, earthquake and landslides.

The WWF is of the view that had all the areas in Muzaffarabad been rich in forest cover, the level of destruction would have been low.

Like other parts of the country, Muzaffarabad was also under reckless construction activities of private builders engaged in housing and other projects.

The WWF says that deforestation is one of the major causes of landslides and floods. Pakistan has one of the lowest forest cover world wide - a meagre 5 per cent of the total land.

It says that 70 per cent of Muzaffarabad’s infrastructure has been destroyed. By gauging the intensity of the destruction caused by the earthquake, it is being estimated that it will take around five to ten years for rebuilding all this area.

Responding to the AJK prime minister’s statement that the new city of Muzaffarabad will be built by clearing forest, it says that it has stirred the country’s environmentalists and the WWF.

Over the years, environmentalists have been identifying the depleting forest cover in the country, the main reason for causing floods, salinity and landslides.

It says that in the name of development, a large part of the forested land was already encroached upon and cleared for building purposes. The place had already started losing its charm for tourists as it had been converted into a concrete city rather than the green valley once it used to be.

The timber mafia has been another persisting threat to the AJK’s rich and lush forests. The so-called developers have played havoc with the environment of this area, it adds.

“The need of the hour is not only to put a stop to further damage but also to make serious efforts to restore the environs to its natural state. For this purpose, both the public and private sectors will have to play their role. The political will as well as active participation of the people is required to save the natural resources of this God gifted place for its reforestation and introduction of sustainable measures for future protection and preservation”.