ISLAMABAD: A National Assembly panel has expressed serious concern over deforestation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), allegedly at the hands of timber mafias, asking the respective governments to take urgent steps against these mafias.
The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination met on Monday to review the implementation status of its previous recommendations, with particular reference to the inquiries into deforestation in KP, AJK and GB.
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Committee Chairperson Munaza Hassan presided over the meeting.
KP’s Secretary Environment briefed the committee that forest cover in the province has improved. He said this has been verified by third-party assessments.
The Secretary briefed that monitoring of legal harvesting operations is under way, and seizures amounting to 2.3 million cubic feet of timber, and over 360 confiscations of vehicles were in line with government’s policy to protect the forests.
However, the committee members questioned the authenticity of what they described was the “rosy picture” presented to them by the Secretary.
The NA panel pointed to the continued absence of a fire protection system, and unchecked activity of timber mafias.
The Secretary responded that the KP government has put in place a comprehensive and effective plan to address these challenges, which, he said, is yielding positive results.
The officials of GB government informed the committee that while forest land was largely protected, historic degradation had occurred during the 1980s due to sectarian conflict, and law and order breakdown. They recommended constitutional cover for forest protection, and sought federal technical support, particularly in digital monitoring.
The federal Secretary of the Climate Change assured the panel that a national GIS (Geographic Information System) for forests would be established soon.
The panel noted with concern over the reports regarding hotel construction in contravention of regulations at Attabad Lake. The GB authorities informed that such hotels were being closed and new construction was banned.
The AJK officials briefed the NA panel that all commercial logging was banned and that forest cover had increased by 10 percent. But, the committee members observed that smuggling of timber— particularly Deodar and Firewood— remained widespread, “stripping mountains of their tree cover.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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