WWF warns government development plans in Margalla Hills could cause ‘irreversible damage’

Pakistan’s World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on Friday expressed “serious and growing concern” over ongoing and proposed development activities in areas adjacent to the Margalla Hills National Park, warning that they could cause “potentially irreversible risks” to the capital’s fragile ecosystem.

In a detailed statement on

He said the Margalla Hills National Park and surrounding habitats represent a “critical ecological landscape”, serving as a “natural lung and water filter for the capital city”.

“Development activities in the vicinity of the park… pose serious and potentially irreversible risks, including habitat fragmentation, disruption of wildlife movement corridors, and degradation of essential ecosystem services,” the statement said.

WWF-Pakistan warned that ongoing road widening, land clearing and infrastructure works, including along the Margalla Enclave Link Road, had already caused “measurable ecological degradation”.

While he acknowledged that some clearing may involve the removal of invasive species, he said the scale and pattern of activity “clearly indicates broader development-driven impacts.”

The statement comes two days after the Ministry of Home Affairs said that in a meeting chaired by Home Minister Mohsin Naqvi at the Capital Development Authority (CDA) headquarters, it was decided to develop a new park spanning 1,000 acres in the foothills of Margalla Hills in Islamabad.

The meeting also discussed in detail the current and future development plans in the federal capital, such as five-star hotels, which would be built under joint ventures with internationally recognized companies, the ministry said in another publication.

The organization further expressed concern over reported plans for hotels, sports facilities and other infrastructure in the Margalla foothills, saying there was limited public disclosure of environmental impact assessments and insufficient consultation with stakeholders.

“WWF-Pakistan, together with other stakeholders, remains concerned about the limited availability of publicly disclosed environmental impact assessments,” it said.

The group urged authorities, including the CDA and the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, to designate strict “no-go zones” in and around the park where development would be prohibited.

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It also called for all proposed projects outside these zones to undergo “thorough, independently reviewed environmental impact assessments” with full public disclosure.

WWF-Pakistan further demanded immediate suspension of all proposed and ongoing development activities in sensitive foothill areas until a transparent environmental review is completed.

The organization said it remains committed to supporting an “environmentally responsible and science-based path forward” for the protection of the Margalla Hills.

On April 17, the CDA lawyer informed the Islamabad High Court that 12,800 paper mulberries had been removed from the F-9 park, citing health reasons, as paper mulberries have been a major cause of allergies and every year during spring, hospitals are filled with patients with respiratory problems.

However, the abrupt and large-scale nature of the cut has sparked public outrage, raising questions about whether the city’s natural heritage is being sacrificed in the name of public health.

Field inspections conducted between December 2025 and January 2026 highlighted massive clearance along H-8 Islamabad Expressway, Margalla Enclave Link Road and Shakarparian, leaving large expanses of exposed soil and incomplete restoration.

A WWF-Pakistan report last year exposed gaps in site-specific transparency, planning and monitoring, raising questions about the true intent behind the removals.