Pakistan is a forest poor country where less than 6 per cent of total area is under forests. Since most of area falls in arid and semi-arid region, low precipitation naturally deters the growth of forests.

Every year thousands of hectares of forest is destroyed, making way for various human activities. In areas where the forest remains, its richness and health is declining.

Population boom coupled with poverty and lack of awareness has led to illegal and unsustainable logging, overharvesting of wood for fuel and charcoal, and increased small-scale farming that continues to reduce the forest cover of Pakistan.  

Forest fires, natural hazards along with pests and diseases further contribute to the declining rate. All this threatens the survival of countless species, fuels climate change, jeopardizes people’s livelihoods and undermines the vital services that forests provide.

Forest is a complex ecosystem, a biological system with distinct and myriad interrelationships with the living and nonliving parts of the environment.

Along with providing timber, fuelwood and fodder, it also provides ecosystem services, which are essentially goods and services that are vital to human health and livelihood. Many of these services like scenic landscape, soil conservation, carbon sequestration, watershed services, and wildlife habitat are viewed as public goods that provide free benefits to the society.

However, unsustainable utilization of these public goods and services causes loss of forests and environmental degradation.

With better protection, management and planning we can continue to benefit from forests, without damaging the environment. We can even go further, by replanting and restoring forests that have been destroyed or degraded, which can help combat climate, extend and reconnect wildlife habitats, and reduce problems like flooding and erosion.