NA panel for satellite checks on forest cover
ISLAMABAD:
The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination has urged the use of satellite imagery to verify official claims of improved forest cover in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), amid concerns that timber smuggling and unchecked deforestation remain serious threats.
Chaired by MNA Munaza Hassan, the committee met on Monday to review deforestation trends and the government’s response to timber mafia activities. While provincial officials presented an optimistic outlook, lawmakers questioned the accuracy of their reports and called for stronger monitoring and enforcement measures.
“The committee cannot rely solely on rosy figures. Independent verification through Suparco satellite imagery is necessary to confirm what is happening on the ground,” members observed during the meeting.
The K-P environment secretary informed the committee that the province’s forest cover had improved based on third-party assessments, noting the seizure of 2.3 million cubic feet of illegally harvested timber and more than 360 vehicles used in smuggling. However, members voiced concerns over the lack of a fire protection system and the continued activities of timber mafias in remote forest areas.
Officials from G-B acknowledged that while forest land has remained relatively stable in recent years, major degradation took place in the 1980s due to sectarian conflict and law-and-order breakdowns. They called for constitutional guarantees to protect forests and sought federal support for digital monitoring.
The committee also voiced concern over reports of hotel construction at Attabad Lake in violation of regulations. G-B officials assured lawmakers that such hotels were being shut down and a ban imposed on new construction.
The AJK Forest Department reported a 10 per cent rise in forest cover, citing International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) studies, and confirmed that all commercial logging had been banned. Lawmakers, however, warned that timber smugglingparticularly of Deodar and Fir woodwas still stripping the region’s mountains.
The climate change secretary told the panel that a national Geographic Information System (GIS) for forests would soon be launched to digitally track deforestation and illegal logging.