BUNER, Nov 23 (APP):As a biting coldwave swept across flood hit Malakand division, temperatures plunged sharply, sending affected residents scrambling for warmth especially through the long, frigid nights.
But while the cold has left many households struggling in flood hit Buner district, it has brought an unexpected windfall for firewood sellers whose dwindling businesses suddenly burst into brisk trade.
Firewood stalls at Daggar that once stood quiet now bustle with activity. Vendors wrapped in shawls huddle around their stacks of timber, busy weighing, chopping, and tying bundles as customers line up in the chill.
“Bood Business is booming as temperature dropped significantly,” says Muhammad Imran, a firewood vendor in Daggar bazzar. “Last week, I hardly made a sale. Since the coldwave hit Buner, I have been selling out faster than I can stock up, bringing happiness on faces of wood sellers.”
With gas outages worsening and electricity costs climbing, families across fMalakand division hit by floods in August last are turning back to firewood, which once a seasonal necessity, now a winter mainstay.
For many rural households, it remains the most reliable and affordable heating option in Buner, Swat, Shangla, Malakand, Chitral and Dir.
“It’s a bit expensive, but we have no other choice as prices of LPG also rises,” says Aziz Buner, a local journalist.
“Gas pressure drops every evening and unavailable for breakfast. With this cold, firewood is our only dependable option for survival.”
The children and elderly citizens are being warmed by using firewood from which families gather around and exchanged views on day to day life at night.
He urging KP Govt to regulate prices of firewood and launch crackdown against timber mafia.
The enthusiasm of NGO engaged in flood relief activities become decreased and flood victims are desperately looking for KP Govt assistance especially in reconstruction of their houses damaged by floods.
That surge in demand has pushed up it prices in flood hit Malakand. Sellers report that bundles now fetch significantly higher rates as households, tandoors, hotels, and marriage halls rush to stock supplies for November and January that coldest period of the year.
At Pirbaba-Daggar Road, Asmat Shah works against time to fulfill an avalanche of winter orders. Surrounded by nearly two acres of logs and trunks of shisham, kikar, poplar, neem, ber, pulai, amaltas, soru, and jaman, he and his five laborers cut timber into pieces to fulfill the customers orders.
“A mound of firewood costs Rs800 to Rs1000 depending on timber quality,” he explains.
“Demand skyrockets in winter because gas is short and LPG is too expensive. Big buyers like tandoors, marriages halls and hotels get preference due to higher profit margins,” he said.
His labourers help sort and bundle the wood, much of it purchased cheaply from farmers in Mardan, Swat, Nowshera, Charsadda, Peshawar, and upper Buner before being transported to his sailing depot.
While the bustling business brings relief to firewood sellers, it also exposes a deeper concern of deforestation in Malakand division.
A drive along the Daggar Road reveals yards overflowing with cut logs and uprooted tree trunks that is a stark reminder of the fast-shrinking forests of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pakistan’s National Forest Policy 2015 estimates that the country’s forest cover is already a meagre five percent and shrinking by 27,000 hectares each year, largely from private and community-owned lands of Khyber Pakthunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan.
“Globally, around 10 million hectares of forest disappear every year,” says Gulzar Rehman, former Conservator Forests. “But KP is losing its green gold even faster due to population pressure, poverty, climate change and unregulated logging.”
Pakistan’s population rose from 37 million in 1947 to 223 million in 2022, and could surge to over 330 million by 2050. This explosive growth, coupled with energy shortages, has increased dependence on forests — with 68 percent of the country’s wood being used as firewood.
Gulzar also referred to the decades-long impact of Afghan refugee influx in KP and erstwhile FATA, where even tree roots were dug up for survival. Despite this strain, he says, the global community “made no significant investment in restoring forestry resources in these areas.”
Experts warned that relentless deforestation threatens not only wildlife and biodiversity but agriculture and water systems as well. In watershed regions, tree loss has reduced crop yields and lowered downstream water flows.
In coastal areas, especially Sindh and Balochistan, deforestation has intensified floods and accelerated seawater intrusion disasters seen in the catastrophic 2010, 2022 and 2025 floods.
“If we don’t switch to alternative energy sources like solar, wind, hydro, and biomass, we may lose our remaining forests in the coming decades,” Gulzar cautions. He calls for a nationwide green emergency and bilateral agreementz to curb timber smuggling.
Former Environment Minister Wajid Ali Khan criticizes past political leadership for failing to crack down on the timber mafia, alleging that even saplings from the billion-tree afforestation initiative were prematurely cut in KP.
Forest Department officials, however, point to stringent measures under the KP Forest Ordinance 2002, which grants the Forest Force police-like powers including arrest, search, and seizure rights, and even the ability to shoot in self-defense during operations against timber smugglers.
The force has expanded its jurisdiction into merged districts and set up check-posts along major roads.
Experts continued to push for specialized forest courts, upgraded communication systems, more vehicles, and better-equipped lockups to ensure rapid action against illegal logging. They also stress the need for the COP29 UN Fund to become operational to support climate-vulnerable countries like Pakistan.
For now, the firewood sellers of KP continue to enjoy their busiest season in years, their yards echoing with the rhythmic thud of axes and saws.
But behind every crackling fire that warms a home or bakes a naan lies a stark reminder of the forests shrinking in the background.
As winter deepens its grip, Malakand residents weigh the immediate need for warmth against the long-term cost to the environment which is a dilemma growing more urgent with every passing year.
