Afghan's natural environment a victim of war, Islam,Terrorism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Afghan's natural environment a victim of war

‘The environmental loss was second to the human loss,’ said Ghulam Mohammad Malikyar, founder of Save the Environment Afghanistan, of the decades of war that started with the Soviet invasion of the late 1970s.

Before the conflict, three percent of the country was covered in natural forest, Malikyar said. This has been cut back to 1.5 percent through illegal logging and degradation including from people fleeing war.

‘When there was fighting, people migrated to hidden places,’ he said. ‘Smugglers and mafia cut trees and took them to neighbouring countries.’

The unlawful timber trade is continuing, with some reports of police involvement.

So is the smuggling of falcons with about 1,000 of the birds trapped in the country's deserts every year and smuggled into Pakistan en route to the United Arab Emirates where they can fetch 500 to 30,000 dollars each, Malikyar said.

http://newageislam.com/afghan-s-natural-environment-a-victim-of-war/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/80