Islamabad:
The Permanent Committee of the National Assembly on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination has urged the use of satellite images to verify the official statements for improved forest coverage in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Gilgit-Baltist (GB), and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Ajk), amids concerns that the moment of the morning of the morning and the defense moment marked are still serious defenses.
Chaired by MNA Munaza Hassan, the Committee met Monday to review the trends of deforestation and government response to the activities of the wood mafia. While provincial officials presented an optimistic perspective, legislators questioned the accuracy of their reports and requested stronger monitoring and compliance measures.
“The committee cannot only trust pink figures. Independent verification through satellite images of Supparco is necessary to confirm what is happening on the ground,” the members observed during the meeting.
KP’s Secretary of Environment informed the Committee that the forest coverage of the province had improved based on third -party evaluations, pointing out the seizure of 2.3 million cubic feet of illegally harvested wood and more than 360 vehicles used in smuggling. However, the members expressed concern about the lack of a fire protection system and the continuous activities of wood mafias in remote forest areas.
The GB authorities recognized that, although Forest Land has remained relatively stable in recent years, the important degradation took place in the 1980s due to sectarian conflicts and breakdown of laws and orders. They requested constitutional guarantees to protect forests and sought federal support for digital monitoring.
The committee also expressed concern about the reports of the hotel construction at Lake Attabad in violation of regulations. GB officials assured legislators that such hotels were being closed and a prohibition imposed on the new construction.
The AJK forest department reported a 10 percent increase in forest coverage, citing studies of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and confirmed that all commercial logging had been prohibited. The legislators, however, warned that wood smuggling, particularly deodar and Fir Wood, was still stripping the mountains of the region.
The Secretary of Climate Change told the Panel that a National Geographic Information System (SIG) would soon be launched for forests to digitally track deforestation and illegal felling.
