• Court regrets rapid deforestation, suggesting complicity or negligence of forest dept
• Incomplete, undated report signed by Mardan official irks bench

ISLAMABAD: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has informed the Supreme Court that the forest department allowed cutting of six million cubic feet of timber and confiscated a total of 130,255 cubic feet of timber, which was illegally chopped off during the last five years.

However, the report remained a mystery for the court as it was undated, did not carry names of the officials who prepared and signed it, and did not explain whether the statistics were specific to one division of Mardan or the entire province of KP.

A three-page judgement released by the SC recently recalled how the KP government had been directed to submit a five-year report outlining KP forest department’s annual budget, number of employees, timber permitted to be cut, the quantity of timber illegally cut, total forest cover of the KP province, reforestation and money spent on it and how it was determined.

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However, Additional Advocate-General Shah Faisal Ilyas submitted the report, signed by the ‘Division Forest Officer, Mardan Forest Division, Mardan’.

The judgement noted it was not understandable why DFO, whose name was mentioned in the report, submitted it when the information that had been sought was in respect of the entire province.

The court that also comprised Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan stated every document filed in court must have name of the person who submits it, recalling that it was categorically stated in the 2022 Province of Sindh versus Shahzad Hussain Talpur that the designation and name of the person must always be disclosed as it affixes responsibility.

The SC verdict also referred to the 26th Amendment that added a new Article 9A to the constitution highlighting, “Every person shall be entitled to clean and healthy sustainable environment.”

It noted that raising the status of the environment to that of a fundamental right shows its importance, even though before the legislation, courts had been interpreting Article 9 (right to life) expansively as life worth living is one having a sustainable environment.

It is, however, commendable that the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment was specifically incorporated into the Constitution to preserve flora and fauna as well as the natural environment.

Flooding, landslides

Ex-CJP Isa, in the judgement, observed that the forest cover in Pakistan had been rapidly decreasing, suggesting complicity or negligence of the forest department, which was supposed to protect forests.

He emphasised that the forests were natural rainfall catchment areas as they ensure against flooding and avalanches.

According to the decision, rainwater flowing into the streams and rivers must not be polluted. Deforestation results in unprecedented landslides and flooding and the diminishing forest cover is not sufficient to enable the sequestering of the greenhouse gas emissions caused by burning fossils fuels, which exacerbates the effect of climate change, the consequences of which are suffered by the people. Pakistan is amongst the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, the judgement said.

However, it is regrettable that the forest department appeared to view forests as a resource to be exploited that was a policy of the former colonizers.

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The judgement mentioned the effects of deforestation and pollution outlast lives, therefore, the trees were equally important in sequestering greenhouse gases released by burning fossil fuels.

The future of the people of Pakistan depends on having adequate forest cover. The existing dwindling forests must be preserved, and efforts should be made to stop deforestation, the court ruled.

The matter, however, was disposed of when the AAG during the hearing promised that the KP government would “encourage and implement best sustainable environmental practices”.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2024