KARACHI - Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Sharmila Farooqui said on Sunday that systematic deforestation in Pakistan during last three decades had caused mass migration and rise in poverty, which needed to be overcome. “The federal government needs to plant huge quantity of trees in all provinces to safegaurd human beings and wildlife as half of oxygen in the world is created by trees while other half is generated by the oceans,” she said in a statement. 

Sharmila said Pakistan has only 5.7 percent of land under forest cover as compared to global standard of 25 percent land cover needed for any country. The country’s deforestation rate is second highest in Asia after Afghanistan.

She said that three decades ago, 70 percent of our livelihood came from forests which used to provide us firewood, vegetables and fodder for cattle, which ultimately provided us milk, curd and cooking oil. She said that the forest cover in Sindh had also reduced to an alarming level of less than 2 percent, forcing an estimated one million people to migrate to other areas in the Sindh province in last 30 years.

  “The coastal mangrove ecosystems in Pakistan had also been seriously degraded over the last 50 years as a result of freshwater diversion for agriculture and industrial purposes. Pakistan’s forest cover has declined due to land grabbing, illegal timber trade and logging of trees by local people. As a result, 80 per cent wood for furniture and other needs is imported from foreign countries,” Sharmila said.

Environmental degradation, for which deforestation is a major contributor, costs an annual loss of approximately Rs 700 billion ($6.64 billion) to Pakistan, she said while referring to a report.

Deforestation has also added to the already grinding poverty in forest neighbouring communities in recent decades. About 70 percent Sindh’s land is presently dry, and if deforestation continues with this pace, there will be more rise in poverty in katcha areas.

She said massive deforestation in Sindh has also contributed to climate change in Pakistan. The temperature in the Sindh province, particularly in Karachi, has risen significantly due to deforestation in last three decades.

She said that the temperature in Karachi during last five years has increased by 5 degrees centigrade and deforestation is one of its contributors. Due to deforestation, the climate is rapidly changing and becoming hotter and dryer the country.

“To restore forest cover, the Federal government should initiate more and more trees. The solution to deforestation is to implement the laws, ensure strict punishment to the accused and initiate more tree plantations like Green Pakistan Programme,” Sharmila observed.