The Sarhad Conservation Network, a non-governmental organization working for conservation of nature, has raised voice to sound alarm for halting the ongoing massive deforestation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which is posing a threat to glaciers and regional weather conditions
PESHAWAR, (5th Jun, 2024) The Sarhad Conservation Network (SCN), a non-governmental organization working for conservation of nature, has raised voice to sound alarm for halting the ongoing massive deforestation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which is posing a threat to glaciers and regional weather conditions.
The SCN, in a news release on Tuesday in connection with World Environment Day to be observed globally on June 5, said according to Global Forest Watch Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had lost in excess of 11,000 acres of tree cover in a period from 2001 to 2022 due to intensification of natural and man-made disasters.
According to authorities, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had the fastest rate of deforestation estimated at 1.5 per cent annually, it added.
“The plethora of social and mass media reports has been presenting undeniable evidence of massive deforestation in almost all districts and ensuing damages from natural disasters,” the SCN said.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and Gilgit Baltistan is home to over 7000 glaciers, being part of the Himalayan, Karakoram & Hindukush mountain range and is also referred to as “the third pole” after the Arctic and Antarctic poles which hold the largest reservoirs of glaciers of the world.
The SCN said,”As we know, these precious glaciers are being threatened by climate change & the extreme, unpredictable weather patterns. The unprecedented heat waves globally have also resulted in scalding hot weather across the subcontinent. The World Meteorological Organization WMO ascribes this to the “El Nino phenomenon” which began in 2023 and will last through 2024.
“Unregulated human activities have led to global warming, climate change, besides, massive deforestation that has irreversibly damaged ecological sustainability.
“One crucial fact often overlooked in the context of Pakistan’s struggle with climate crises is that natural disasters in the country occurred in concurrence with the biggest man-made disaster in recent history.”
The SCN said it was raising a red alert to urge the authorities concerned to immediately halt the illegal and ruthless cutting of forests in the KP to prevent future natural disasters like Glacier Lake Outburst floods (GLOF) which had become more frequent and intense over the last decade.
