Dr Zafar Khan Safdar
An op-ed on deforestation, cultural survival and environmental justice in Pakistan and beyond Pakistan’s forests are often discussed in terms of timber, climate change, floods and biodiversity. Far less attention is paid to the people whose lives are woven into them. For indigenous and forest-dependent communities, a forest is not simply a collection of trees. It is a source of food, fuel, medicine, income and shelter, as well as a repository of ancestral knowledge and cultural identity. When forests disappear, these communities lose much more than their natural surroundings. They lose the foundations of a way of life.
The consequences are particularly serious in Pakistan, where environmental degradation intersects with poverty, weak local governance and unequal access to natural resources. From the forests of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan to the mangroves of Sindh and Balochistan’s coastal belt, communities depend on ecosystems that are increasingly under pressure from commercial exploitation, agricultural expansion, infrastructure development, illegal logging and climate change. The destruction of these ecosystems is not merely an environmental problem. It is also a question of livelihoods, rights and social justice.
Globally, the scale of the crisis is alarming. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the world lost an estimated 420 million hectares of forest through deforestation between 1990 and 2020. Although the annual rate of deforestation has declined, it remains substantial. The FAO’s 2025 Global Forest Resources Assessment estimates that deforestation continues at approximately 10.9 million hectares annually in the 2015-2025 period. These figures reflect not only shrinking habitats but also the disruption of traditional livelihoods and the erosion of the ecological systems on which millions depend.
Indigenous peoples are especially vulnerable because their relationship with forests extends beyond commercial use. Forests sustain customary food systems, traditional medicine, spiritual practices and collective identities. The World Bank has estimated that forests provide livelihoods for around 1.6 billion people worldwide, including many of the world’s poorest communities. Indigenous peoples and local communities also play a vital role in conserving forests, often through traditional systems of stewardship that protect biodiversity more effectively than poorly enforced formal arrangements.
Yet these communities frequently bear the costs of decisions made without their meaningful participation. When forests are cleared for plantations, mining, roads, dams or commercial agriculture, the benefits may flow to investors and distant markets, while local residents lose access to land, water, grazing grounds and forest products. Even conservation policies can become unjust when they restrict traditional access without recognising customary rights or providing viable alternatives. Environmental protection that excludes the people who have protected the environment for generations risks turning conservation into another form of dispossession.
In Pakistan, the vulnerability of forest-dependent communities is compounded by the country’s limited forest cover. United Nations Sustainable Development Goal data show that forests accounted for just 4.1% of Pakistan’s land area in 2025, down from 4.5% in 1990. Although estimates vary according to definitions and measurement methods, the broader concern is unmistakable. A country exposed to floods, droughts, soil erosion and rising temperatures cannot afford to treat its remaining forests as expendable resources.
The consequences are visible across different regions. In the northern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including forested mountain communities, timber extraction and changing land use can undermine local livelihoods and increase pressure on fragile slopes. Forest degradation threatens the collection of fuelwood, medicinal plants, mushrooms and other non-timber products that supplement household incomes. When access to these resources declines, women, who often bear responsibility for gathering fuel and managing household needs, may face longer journeys and heavier workloads. Reduced forest cover can also accelerate erosion and increase the vulnerability of settlements to landslides and flash floods.
Along the Sindh coast, the degradation of mangroves presents a different but equally serious threat. Mangrove ecosystems provide breeding and nursery grounds for fish and shellfish, sustain fishing livelihoods and protect coastal settlements from waves and storm surges. Pakistan’s national reporting documents restoration initiatives covering approximately 75,000 hectares of degraded mangrove forests under the Indus Delta Blue Carbon initiative. Such efforts demonstrate that recovery is possible, but planting trees alone cannot compensate for inadequate freshwater flows, pollution or unsustainable resource use.
Pakistan’s experience also offers grounds for cautious optimism. The Billion Tree Afforestation Project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and subsequent restoration initiatives have demonstrated the potential of large-scale ecological investment. However, success should not be measured merely by the number of saplings planted. Survival rates, restoration of native species, protection of mature forests and improvements in local livelihoods are more meaningful indicators. A plantation of commercially valuable trees is not necessarily equivalent to a natural forest with diverse species, established habitats and generations of accumulated ecological knowledge.
The way forward requires a fundamental shift in forest governance. Indigenous and forest-dependent communities must be recognised as partners in conservation rather than treated as obstacles to development. Their customary rights, knowledge and participation should inform decisions about logging, mining, infrastructure and protected areas. Community forestry, transparent revenue-sharing, alternative energy, sustainable livelihood programmes and independent monitoring can reduce destructive exploitation while giving local people a direct stake in protecting their surroundings.
The global challenge is equally urgent. The Forest Declaration Assessment 2026 reports that more than seven million hectares were lost to deforestation worldwide in 2025, despite a 15 per cent decline from the previous year. The world remains far off track to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030. Governments, international institutions and businesses must ensure that economic growth does not depend on the displacement of vulnerable communities or the destruction of irreplaceable ecosystems.
Pakistan needs roads, energy and economic growth, but their value must also be measured against the livelihoods lost, the cultural heritage weakened and the ecosystems damaged in their name. Forests sustain communities and preserve knowledge passed down through generations. Their destruction can be measured in hectares, but the loss of a way of life cannot be so easily quantified. Protecting forests therefore requires more than planting trees. It requires recognising the rights of the people who depend on them and ensuring that development does not destroy the very communities and ecosystems it is meant to serve.
The writer is Ph.D in Political Science and visiting faculty at QAU Islamabad. His area of specialization is political development and social change. He can be reached at [email protected] and on X @zafarkhansafdar.
