LAHORE: Pakistan Furniture Council (PFC) Executive Director Mian Kashif Ashfaq said comparing Pakistan’s deforestation rate with the world, nearly 10 million hectares of forests are deforested globally every year, which is equal to the size of Portugal.
Speaking at a seminar on “The Dangerous Impact of Increasing Deforestation in Pakistan”, he said that roughly half of this massive deforestation was offset by regrowth, meaning that half of the green gold was lost every year.
Stating that population, poverty and unnecessary logging were among the main causes of deforestation in developing countries including Pakistan, he said Pakistan had a population of only 37 million in 1947, which would jump to a record 241 million last year if it continues at this rate. it will lead to the extinction of green gold, wildlife and bee populations.
In such a grim scenario, food security issues for countries like Pakistan would worsen and people would be exposed to hunger and starvation.
He said about 60 percent of the country’s forests are used for firewood, 25 percent for furniture and 15 percent of trees are being lost to urbanization and community demands.
“Deforestation was a national challenge and a ‘green emergency’ was needed to preserve and protect the green gold by looking beyond party politics. He also proposed an agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan to control timber smuggling.
He said deforestation is the main reason for temperature rise and climate change.
He said that as per national policy, forest resources in all provinces especially in KPK and Gilgit Baltistan are under huge pressure from timber mafia especially in communal lands, shamalat, guzara and private forests.
Adversely affected by agricultural yields and the amount of water in runoff due to the rapid melting of glaciers due to rising temperatures, the policy said deforestation in catchment areas can trigger land degradation, loss of biodiversity and marine life, in addition to negative impacts on wildlife and water resources, he concluded .
