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PESHAWAR, Jan 15 (APP):Members of the Sustainable Conservation Network (SCN), a civil society platform comprising senior citizens, retired civil servants, environmental professionals, academics, and practitioners who have served in key public institutions, have expressed serious concern over recent developments within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Climate Change, Forestry, Environment and Wildlife (CCFEW) department.
The Network notes with deep apprehension that a continuing vacuum at the top tier of departmental leadership, marked by vacant or prolonged interim positions, has coincided with rising deforestation, weakened enforcement, and the apparent reversal of critical forest protection rules.
In a press statement issued here on Thursday, the SCN members warned that this combination poses a direct threat to the province’s environmental integrity and climate resilience.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hosts some of Pakistan’s most ecologically valuable forest landscapes, which underpin watershed protection, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity conservation, and the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities.
However, the absence of stable and empowered leadership within the CCFEW department has diluted strategic direction, weakened institutional coordination, and compromised effective oversight at a time when decisive governance is most needed.
Senior experts within the Sustainable Conservation Network, many of whom were involved in the design, implementation, and enforcement of forest and environmental policies over past decades, have expressed particular concern over recent administrative actions that indicate the rollback of forest rules and restrictions.
These measures were originally introduced to safeguard fragile ecosystems and curb unsustainable exploitation.
Their reversal, without transparent rationale, technical justification, or stakeholder consultation, risks undoing years of conservation progress, SCN added.
The Network further observes that governance uncertainty creates opportunities for illegal logging, forest land encroachment, and commercial exploitation, particularly in ecologically sensitive and high-risk areas. Communities living in and around forests are already experiencing heightened vulnerability to floods, landslides, and climate stress as forest cover continues to decline.
At a time when Khyber Pakhtunkhwa projects itself as a leader in climate action, green growth, and environmental stewardship, weakening forest governance sends a deeply contradictory message.
The Sustainable Conservation Network therefore calls for urgent corrective measures, including the immediate appointment of competent and experienced leadership within the CCFEW department, restoration and strict enforcement of forest protection rules, transparency in policy and administrative decisions, and meaningful engagement with communities and technical experts.
SCN members stress that forests are not expendable assets but a public trust.
Failure to act decisively risks irreversible ecological damage and long-term harm to the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.