Illegal Logging in Nuristan Prompts Creation of 9 Local Councils
Amid growing concerns over the illegal and unchecked cutting of natural forests in Afghanistan’s eastern Nuristan province, local officials say nine official public councils have been established to protect forests and prevent timber smuggling in the province.
According to officials from Nuristan’s Department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, the councils are operating with formal authorisation and are tasked with monitoring forests and working with local authorities to prevent the unauthorised felling of trees. Ziauddin Jahani, head of natural resources management at the department, said anyone who cuts down a tree in violation of the local agreement will be fined one cow.
Local elders also say that under the agreement, no one has the right to cut trees without permission and violators will face penalties. They said that in cases where smugglers cut down forests, the relevant authorities detain them and pursue their cases.
Residents of Nuristan stress that protecting forests is not only the responsibility of local authorities and that the public must also play a role in the process. They have also called for new saplings to be planted in areas damaged by deforestation.
Local officials have also announced that 277,000 fruit-bearing and non-fruit-bearing saplings have recently been planted in different parts of the province, and that a “green unit” has also been activated to prevent illegal tree cutting and timber smuggling.
Nuristan is among Afghanistan’s eastern provinces with extensive natural forests, and in recent years concerns about the destruction of these natural resources and timber smuggling from the province have been raised repeatedly.
