By Fakhar-e-Alam HARIPUR, Jun 17 (APP):As the first rays of dawn illuminate the towering pine and deodar forests of northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 65-year-old shepherd Abdul Rahman leads his flock along a narrow mountain trail toward a grazing pasture overlooking the mighty River Indus. After watering his goats and sheep from a pond fed by the river, Rahman pauses to gaze at the flowing waters that have sustained generations of his …
IWT violations by India put Pakistan’s alpine and mangrove forests under heightening threat
By Fakhar-e-Alam
HARIPUR, Jun 17 (APP):As the first rays of dawn illuminate the towering pine and deodar forests of northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 65-year-old shepherd Abdul Rahman leads his flock along a narrow mountain trail toward a grazing pasture overlooking the mighty River Indus.
After watering his goats and sheep from a pond fed by the river, Rahman pauses to gaze at the flowing waters that have sustained generations of his family.
“My father depended on the Indus River for his livestock for entire life, and now I do the same,” he told APP. “If the Indus flows, our lives continue. If it weakens, our future becomes very uncertain.”
For shepherds, farmers and fishing communities across Pakistan, concerns over India’s illegal suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) extended beyond diplomacy, touching many livelihoods, food security, livestock and the country’s ecosystems.
Environmental experts warned that any significant disruption to water flows in the western rivers allocated to Pakistan under the 1960 historic treaty, coupled with climate change and glacial retreat, could place increasing pressure on alpine forests in the north and mangrove ecosystems in the south of Pakistan.
Stretching across the mountainous regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and northern Punjab, Pakistan’s alpine and sub-alpine forests perform vital ecological functions and become a key source of food chain.
These forests regulate water cycles, boost chances of rains and snowfalls, stabilize slopes, store carbon and provide habitat to a wide range of wildlife.
According to Tauheed-ul-Haq, former Conservator of Forests, the health of mountain forests is closely linked with the continuity of river flows, snowfall patterns and controlled glacial melt.
“Mountain ecosystems survive on a delicate balance between rivers, glaciers and seasonal precipitation,” he said. “Any disruption in the hydrological system can affect forest health and ecological stability.”
The forests of northern Pakistan are home to iconic species including deodar, blue pine and fir trees, as well as wildlife such as the snow leopard, markhor, ibex, falcon and Himalayan monal.
Environmentalists feared that prolonged reductions in water availability could weaken forest resilience, increase vulnerability to pests and diseases, and elevate the risk of forest fires.
“These forests are not merely trees,” Tauheed-ul-Haq said. “They support local economies, tourism, biodiversity and cultural heritage. Their decline would affect millions of people, urging World Bank to step in and force fascist Modi Govt to restore IWT immediately.”
For 65-year-old farmer Ataullah Khan at Kalam Swat, the environmental transformation is already visible due to fast glaciers melt due to rising temperatures.
“When I was young, snow remained on the mountains of Kalam for months,” he recalled. “Today winters are shorter, glaciers are melting faster and water patterns have become unpredictable. We worry about what our grandchildren will inherit if IWT violations prolonged.”
Across northern Pakistan, local communities increasingly report changing snowfall and rains patterns, shrinking glaciers and irregular stream flows.
Young people in mountain villages also express concerns about environmental uncertainty amid IWT violations. Many feared that continued ecological degradation could eventually force future generations to leave ancestral lands in search of more secure livelihoods that will crumble civic services in cities.
Experts said popular destinations such as Kalam, Naran and Nathiagali depend heavily on scenic forests, rivers and mountain landscapes that attract visitors from across the country.
“If forests decline and rivers weaken, tourism will suffer along with thousands of jobs connected to it,” Tauheed-ul-Haq warned.
Environmental scientists emphasized that Pakistan’s forests, glaciers and rivers form a single interconnected ecological system.
Professor Dr. Salim-ur-Rehman, former Chairman of the Environmental Sciences Department at the University of Peshawar, said disturbances in one part of the system inevitably affect the others.
“The forests, glaciers and rivers are interconnected,” he explained. “When one component comes under stress, the consequences spread throughout the entire landscape.”
The experts reiterated that climate change, illegal logging, population pressures and changing precipitation patterns are already exerting pressure on mountain ecosystems.
However, maintaining healthy river systems throughout the Upper Indus Basin remains critical for preserving ecological balance and supporting food security.
While attention often focuses on northern Pakistan, experts cautioned that the ecological consequences could extend hundreds of kilometers downstream to the Indus Delta in Sindh.
The delta hosts one of the world’s largest arid-climate mangrove ecosystems, serving as a natural buffer against cyclones and coastal erosion while providing breeding grounds for fish, shrimp and other marine species.
Dr. Salim-ur-Rehman said mangrove forests depend on a delicate balance between freshwater flowing from the Indus and seawater from the Arabian Sea.
“When freshwater flows decrease, seawater intrusion increases,” he explained. “This raises salinity levels, accelerates desertification, reduces biodiversity and threatens fisheries that support thousands of families.”
Mangroves play a vital role in protecting coastal communities from storms while sustaining local fishing economies.
Environmental experts warned that reduced freshwater availability, combined with sea-level rise, coastal erosion and climate change, could accelerate degradation of the delta ecosystem.
“The health of the mangroves is directly linked to the health of the river,” Dr. Salim-ur-Rehman said. “When river flows weaken, the entire delta experiences the consequences.”
Experts argued that preserving river flows remains essential not only for agriculture and power generation but also for safeguarding Pakistan’s forests, wildlife and coastal ecosystems.
They stressed that environmental sustainability, climate resilience and biodiversity conservation depend heavily on maintaining healthy water systems throughout the Indus Basin.
As evening descends over Haripur and clouds gather above the Indus, Abdul Rahman watches the river continue its journey through mountains to plains of Khyber Pakthunkhwa and Punjab provinces.
Like countless others whose livelihoods depend on its waters, he hoped that the future of the river remains secure.
“We do not think about treaties every day,” he said quietly. “We think about water, trees and whether our children will be able to live here as we have.”
For now, northern Pakistan’s forests remain green and the rivers continue to flow. Yet for communities whose lives are intertwined with these natural systems, uncertainty lingers over a future increasingly shaped by environmental pressures and the fate of the waters that sustained them for centuries.
