ISLAMABAD: Leading experts, policymakers and civil society actors on Monday raised the alarm over Pakistan’s deepening deforestation crisis, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and warned it would directly impact climate insecurity.

They demanded that reforms be brought in legal, policy and governance to reverse the ecological loss.

A national consultation, “From Challenges to Action: Safeguarding Pakistan’s Natural Wealth for Climate Security and Sustainable Prosperity” was jointly hosted by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and the Sustainable Conservation Network (SCN).

Chairman of SDPI’s Board of Governors and former diplomat Ambassador Shafqat Kakakhel warned of the increasingly catastrophic impacts of climate change in Pakistan, especially the recurrent and devastating floods that have plagued the country since 2010.

He stressed that there is a direct correlation between the declining forest cover and the worsening flood impacts, particularly pointing to the alarming depletion of forest reserves in KP, which, he warned, is pushing the province’s fragile ecosystem to the brink of collapse.

Dr Tariq Banuri, former Chairman of the Higher Education Commission and founding Executive Director of SDPI, reflected on how deforestation has remained a persistent and unresolved challenge despite three decades of national and provincial interventions.

“We are still grappling with the same problems we raised when SDPI was first established,” he said. “The failure lies not in legislation but in institutional weakness. Forest departments lack autonomy and professional integrity, and unless these institutions are protected and strengthened, no law will be effective.”

Shahid Zaman, Secretary KP Forests and Wildlife Department, acknowledged the recent environmental destruction caused by weeks of torrential rains and floods. He linked this devastation to unchecked habitat loss and environmental degradation in upstream watershed areas.

Mr Zaman stressed the need for a “whole-of-society” approach to meet the challenge, warning that erratic weather patterns will continue to disrupt agriculture and food security.

He highlighted several key government-led initiatives, including the Billion Tree Tsunami (2014) and the ongoing Ten Billion Tree Tsunami/Green Pakistan Upscale project. He said that while these programmes have had successes, there is now a greater focus on managing standing forests, ensuring community-based range management, and monitoring timber harvesting with transparency and accountability.

He said 30 per cent of KP’s remaining forest cover is under intense pressure from illegal logging operations, and steps have been taken to hold forest officers accountable.

“We have political backing, civil society support, and the endorsement of the chief minister,” Mr Zaman said. He added that firefighting equipment and modern monitoring technology had been introduced, ecological sensitive areas were being declared, and Rs5.4 billion had been allocated for land procurement to develop wetlands, particularly in KP’s southern districts. He also confirmed that agricultural land conversions for commercial use have now been banned in the province.

Former Wapda chairman and governance expert Shakeel Durrani emphasised the failure of government systems to function during natural disasters. He cited the floods in Buner, Mingora and Kalam as examples where no district management system operated effectively.

Another parliamentarian, Dr Shazia Sobia Aslam Soomro, criticised the lack of implementation of forest-related legislation. She reported that the most severe reports of timber mafia activities come from KP, AJK and GB. “Laws alone are not enough,” she said, adding: “We need a whole-of-society approach for enforcement.”

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2025