By Abbas Nazil
Northern Pakistan is facing severe environmental and human crises as deforestation and unregulated mountain quarrying strip the land of natural protections.
Once thick forests that shielded hillsides and regulated rainfall have been cleared, leaving slopes exposed to catastrophic flash floods and landslides.
In August, torrential monsoon rains swept through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, killing more than 300 people, displacing hundreds of thousands, and destroying entire villages in Buner and Mansehra districts.
Muhammad Hanif, a community development officer at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Forest Department, attributes the destruction to widespread deforestation accelerated since 2017, weak law enforcement, rising fuelwood demand, and powerful timber mafias.
Pakistan now has only about 5.4 percent forest cover, losing roughly 11,000 hectares annually to logging, fire, and land conversion.
The absence of trees has removed natural barriers that absorb rainfall and prevent soil erosion, leaving communities more vulnerable to climate shocks.
Mountain and hill crushing for construction further destabilizes the landscape, destroying vegetation, topsoil, and increasing risks of landslides and flooding for millions living downstream.
Pakistan hosts over 13,000 glaciers, yet quarrying and stone crushing threaten these vital water sources and fragile ecosystems.
Air pollution from crushers and other human activities exacerbates public health risks, contributing to an estimated 128,000 premature deaths annually.
Environmental destruction has intensified mental health challenges, with flood survivors reporting post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and chronic fear of future disasters, according to Dr. Ahsan Naveed, a clinical psychiatrist working in affected regions.
Legal frameworks exist to regulate forests, mining, and climate action, but weak enforcement, corruption, political interference, and lack of local capacity render these protections ineffective.
Community leaders emphasize that enforcement is impossible without local participation, alternative livelihoods, and access to clean energy to reduce dependence on timber.
Experts advocate strict zoning laws, mandatory environmental impact assessments, green building techniques, satellite monitoring, and stronger penalties to protect forests and mountains.
Authorities report some improvements in forest coverage and ongoing monitoring, but extensive degradation persists, and the combined pressures of deforestation, quarrying, climate change, and air pollution continue to erode Pakistan’s ecological and human resilience.
Without decisive action, future disasters will strike faster, hit harder, and leave long-lasting scars on both the land and the people who depend on it.
