Green Pakistan Turns To Trees As Natural Defense Against Floods

SWAT, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Aug, 2025) As the sun rises over the battered valley of Barikot in Swat district, the land still bears scars from the devastating floods, signifying an adverse impact of deforestation especially on environment, agriculture and human life.

The fertile fields of Malakand division that once fed communties now lie bruised as River Swat and watersreams in Buner chipped away precious land, showing no mercy or regard to to living creatures.

The large-scale destruction of agriculture lands, washing of expansive hotels, roads and bridges in Malakand division have caused unprecedented loses to the Govt kitty and private sector, signifying the negative effects of construction in riverbeds and water steams.

The illegal construction in riverbeds and water streams and large scale deforestation by population explosion in Swat, Buner, Dir, Shangla, Chitral and Kohistan necessitated whopping afforestration to reduce velocity of floodwater and mitigate effects of climate change.

The large-scale devastation to the green gold during 2010, 2022 and now 2025 floods have forced communities in Swat and Buner to allocate a piece of lands for plantation to protect their lands from natural calamities.

Like others, Samad Khan, a 58-year-old progressive farmer of Barikot Swat with weathered hands and resolute eyes, has turned floods tragedy into profitability.

“These floods swept away not only our fertile lands, peach orchards and homes, but also our dreams,” he says, gently pressing a chirpine sapling into the moist earth. “We can’t wait for Govt help forever. Protection of land from floods is our responsibility.”

With support from his neighbours and the Federal Government’s Green Pakistan initiative, Samad Khan has reserved five acres of his farmland to afforestation. This monsoon season, he and three hired laborers have planted 10,000 native saplings such as Chir pine, Deodar, and others hoping to shield his land from future floods.

“Swat is highly vulnerable to nature calamities including floods, as we saw in 2010, 2022, and now again in 2025,” he says, pausing to wipe his brow. “We have to act now on self help basis. Trees are our only armor.”

Samad’s grassroots efforts are part of a growing trend across flood-prone regions in Pakistan, where communities are mobilizing under the Upscaling Green Pakistan Program to fight the threats of climate change, floods and environmental degradation.

In nearby Buner and Shangla, local landowners have begun allocating barren plots for plantation, encouraged by both the alarming flood patterns and the promise of long-term benefits including restored soil, cooler microclimates, and increased biodiversity.

" I have dedicated five kanal barran land for afforestration to mitigate floods," said Rehman Shah, a resident of Sowari Buner while talking to APP.

“Watering young saplings in these mountainous terrains is a major challenge,” Rehman reiterated. “If the provincial government supports us with irrigation tools, we can save thousands of plants from dying.”

According to former forest conservator Tauheed Khan, Pakistan’s geography and rising population put immense pressure on its natural resources, especially forests, bees population and wildlife resources, creating challenges of food security.

“The Green Pakistan program is a landmark step to counteract the consequences of climate change and protect our biodiversity in KP,” he says.

Since 2019, over 2.22 billion saplings have been planted nationwide under the Green Pakistan, achieving 68% of the total goal of 3.29 billion by 2028, officials in KP Forest Department told APP.

Sindh leads the way with 856 million saplings, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with over 713 million, and Punjab with nearly 365 million. Meanwhile, AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Balochistan have collectively planted over 295 million trees.

But the need remains urgent in the wake of Pakistan's vulnerability to climate change and desertification. As revealed in the National Forest Policy, only 5% of Pakistan's land is covered by forests which is well below the international standard.

And every year, about 27,000 hectares of forest are lost, much of it from communal and privately-owned land in KP Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, says the forest policy.

To protect the forests and ensure foster economic growth, the federal government has rolled out multiple structural and policy interventions include formation of an interprovincial coordination committee to curb illegal logging, development of SOPs for forest fire management, installation of early warning systems in vulnerable valleys and reviving the Federal Forestry board besides introduction of updated forest policies and laws across all provinces and regions.

In an extraordinary feat, even Pakistan’s mangrove forests that was often the last line of defense along the coast have expanded by 300% since the 1990s, setting the country apart as a regional success story.

Despite the policy-level achievements, the true change lies in the hands of farmers like Rehman and Samad. Standing beside a row of newly planted saplings, they gazes toward the river and water streams that often roared through their fields.

“These trees are more than wood,” they says softly. “They’re protection, they’re promise and they’re our future.”As the monsoon rains likely to continue to fall this month, there is a quiet resolve taking root in the hills of Swat and Buner that through green action, a better future can still grow.

APP/fam