According to a WWF's spokesman here on Monday, this proclamation has baffled the concerned quarters, as deforestation was one of the major causes of the landslides and floods.
Pakistan has one of the lowest forest cover world-wide, a meagre five-percent of the total land, which as it is already quite dismal. Over the years, environmentalists have identified less forest cover in the country the chief reason for causing floods, salinity and landslides.
The experts, who visited Muzaffarabad, observed a marked difference in how the earthquake affected the forested and deforested parts of the city. This finding supports the claim that increased forest cover and vegetation helps in lessening the intensity and or damage of floods, earthquake and landslide. It could be assumed that had all the areas in Muzaffarabad been rich in forest cover then the level of destruction would have been less.
Like other parts of the country, Muzaffarabad was not spared from the ever-growing influence of building private housing colonies and the trend continued. In the name of development, a large part of the forested land was encroached and cleared for building purpose.
ANOTHER THREAT: The place had already started losing its charm for tourists as it was metamorphosed into a concrete city rather than the natural beautiful valley it once was. Apart from this encroaching construction, timber mafia has been another persisting threat to AJK, depriving it from its rich and lush forests. Without ever giving a thought to the irreversible damage caused by their greed these so-called developers have played havoc with the environments of this area.
The need of the hour was not only to put a stop to further damage but also to make serious efforts to restore the environs as much possible to its natural state.
For this purpose, both the public and private sectors would have to play their role. The political will as well as active participation of the people is required in saving the natural resources of this God gifted place for its reforestation and introduction of sustainable measures for future protection and preservation.