Afghan forests another victim of warTags: central asia conflict governance & corruption overuse local people companies
Kabul, Afghanistan - Environmentalists have warned that the illegal timber industry is threatening the future of Afghanistans woodlands, with large parts of the countrys forests already feared destroyed.
Mass logging has decimated huge areas across the lawless eastern provinces bordering Pakistan, increasing the risk of flooding and landslides while also enriching warlords.
The trade generates millions of dollars each year, but only a fraction of the money goes to locals whose habitat is being steadily wiped out.
Its a problem that is not measurable, said Hazrat Hussain Khawareen, director of forests at the ministry of agriculture and animal husbandry. Its too big.
In 2003, the United Nations reported some provinces had lost more than half their woodland in the previous 25 years. Insiders told The National that logging mafias have grown in strength since then, with the government unable and ' sometimes ' unwilling to intervene.
All this is illegal and its happening because of instability and war, Mr Khawareen said. Its happening because of those who have dollars, power and arms.
Scores of lorries bring illegal timber to Kabul every day, driving unchecked into the city. Asked how this was possible, Mr Khawareen simply rubbed his thumb and fingers together, indicating that bribery was rife.There are police, there are so many different forces, but still the wood keeps coming and all we can do is cry, he said.
However, most of the money is made from exports. Timber is regularly driven east across the border and taken to Pakistans port city of Karachi, before being shipped to the Gulf and Japan. According to one environmentalist with a long history in the field, more than 100 lorries transport wood illegally into Pakistan on a daily basis.
Yes, the problem has gotten worse, said Ghulam Mohammed Malikyar of Save the Environment ' Afghanistan.
The government has no control over the forests. Warlords and commanders are the main smugglers and there have been clashes between them and the government many times.
Areas throughout the country are affected, with everything from cedar to pistachio trees being cut for either timber or fuel.
But according to the UN report, many of the provinces hardest hit lie along the Pakistan border. Between 1977 and 2002, Nangarhar lost 71 per cent of its forest cover, Nuristan 53 per cent and Kunar 29 per cent.
While Afghanistans drugs industry is often used to fund the Taliban insurgency, the timber trade has no obvious political goal. Businessmen living outside Afghanistan usually pay local militia commanders in the country to seize control of the forests. The money made simply allows a small group of people to become very rich.
A Kunari man, when he cuts the trees and transports them to the collection point, will get only 10 Afghanis [Dh0.7] per cubic metre, Mr Malikyar said. The smugglers and the merchant mafia who take this from the Kunar side to the international market will get more than US$100 [Dh367] per cubic metre.
Opinions differ on whether villagers are fully aware of the damage being done. The ministry of agriculture wants to set up alternative livelihood projects for them, but the lack of security in the worst affected provinces makes that increasingly difficult.
In the meantime, some Afghans find themselves participating in the destruction of their own environment because they have no other way of earning the most meagre of livings.
The common people in rural areas just think of filling their stomachs, Mr Malikyar said. They even cut the trees around their houses and compounds because of poverty.
In west Kabul, wood can be seen piled up metres high by the river that snakes through the city. Haji Halim bought his in Paktia using Pakistani rupees and when he sells it to merchants here the deal will also be made in the same currency.
These are the rules, he said. There are thousands of people working in this business and none of them are thinking about the trees.
© The National (United Arab Emirates) -- 2008-06-03
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