PESHAWAR: Chief conservator Northern Forest Region-II Asghar Khan has said that the forest department has launched an intensive campaign against timber smugglers and seized 8,129 cubic feet of illegally harvested timber and 41,524 kilograms of fuel wood and arrested 45 offenders in the Hazara region.

Mr Khan shared this information while briefing a delegation of journalists from Peshawar on scientific forest management, forest conservation, afforestation initiatives, legal reforms, transparent timber management and the department’s anti-smuggling strategy.

He said that in the previous two months, the teams of the forest department had conducted 177 operations against the timber mafia involved in the illegal harvesting of the forest.

Over the past seven years, thousands of forest offence cases have been registered, hundreds of millions of rupees have been recovered in fines, hundreds of vehicles have been impounded and decisive action has been taken against illegal sawmills operating across the region.

The participants were also briefed on the department’s comprehensive forest fire management strategy. He said that majority of forest fires originate from human negligence including uncontrolled burning of crop residues, intentional burning of grazing lands and carelessly discarded cigarette butts, underscoring the indispensable role of public cooperation in protecting the province’s forests.

During the presentation, participants were informed that Northern Forest Region-II is among the most significant forest landscapes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, encompassing approximately 604,000 hectares of forests, representing nearly 35 per cent of the region’s total land area.

This invaluable natural asset is being safeguarded through internationally recognized scientific principles, approved working plans, and sustainable forest management practices to ensure the long-term conservation of natural resources for future generations.

Addressing the gathering, Asghar Khan said that the selection of dead, diseased, dry, wind-fallen, over-mature and malformed trees is undertaken on scientific grounds to enhance the overall health, productivity, and regenerative capacity of forest ecosystems.

The briefing further highlighted the remarkable achievements of the Billion Tree Afforestation Project (BTAP) and the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme (10BTTP).

Over the past several years, hundreds of millions of saplings have been planted, natural regeneration has been promoted across thousands of hectares, hundreds of nurseries have been established and forest cover has expanded significantly in numerous areas.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2026