While tropical forests around the world face extreme heat-related mortality, as highlighted in a recent Guardian report estimating over half a million deaths in the past two decades, Pakistan's subtropical, dry, and temperate forests are confronting their own severe challenges. Rapid urbanisation, industrial expansion, and indiscriminate tree cutting, particularly in Punjab, are intensifying heatwaves, localised flooding, and soil erosion. The consequences are already evident in cities such as Multan, Faisalabad, and Gujranwala, where disappearing green cover is putting residents at risk and creating cascading impacts on community health, agriculture, and economic resilience.
Pakistan loses approximately 11,000 hectares of forest each year, resulting in forest cover of only around five per cent of the total land area, according to a recent report from the World Wide Fund for Nature Pakistan. Punjab, the most populous and industrially active province, has emerged as a critical hotspot. The rapid development of housing societies, factories, and industrial zones is systematically depleting mature trees and urban green spaces. During my field research with my team in Multan, Faisalabad, and Gujranwala, we observed extensive tree cutting firsthand. Often, this occurred without enforcement, oversight, or accountability, highlighting systemic governance deficiencies.
Other provinces face similar threats. Sindh's riverine forests are silently disappearing as farmland pushes deeper into once-wooded fields. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, widespread timber and fuelwood extraction continue, often carried out illegally.
Unchecked tree cutting and urban expansion are endangering Pakistan's climate resilience, causing a ripple effect on health, agriculture, and the economy
As a consequence, communities that once depended on natural vegetation to shield them from floods or keep their lands fertile are now left susceptible to climate disruptions.
Trees are more than scenic elements; they regulate temperatures, retain rainfall, and preserve soil structure. Without them, heat accelerates quickly. During visits to Multan, Faisalabad, and Gujranwala, residents said the 'air feels heavier' in summer compared to previous years.
Streets once lined with shade now emit heat well into the night. Lahore, Multan, and Faisalabad frequently cross 45°C, straining health systems and forcing residents to spend more on temperature regulation.
This is the urban heat island effect in plain sight: concrete and asphalt lock in warmth while greenery retreats. In new housing societies, where tree planting is barely a priority, the temperature difference from older shaded neighborhoods may be felt quickly. Heavy downpours add another layer. The torrential monsoon in late July and August 2025 turned streets into streams, especially where drains were clogged and open spaces had been paved over.
Forests are not only environmental assets but also everyday resources. In rural Punjab, farmers point to declining canopy cover as one reason soils dry out faster and input costs rise. A farmer in Khanewal explained that without trees "water doesn't stay long, and every crop now needs more irrigation". Families who once collected fodder or fuelwood nearby must now spend more time and money to obtain it.
The knock-on effects spill into urban economies as well. Degraded land makes floods more destructive, while disrupted water cycles add to the cost of maintaining infrastructure. Costs of repairing infrastructure after floods, higher electricity bills during prolonged heatwaves, and reduced agricultural productivity all translate into direct financial distress.
Forest laws exist in the country, but effective enforcement remains difficult in practice. In big cities such as Multan, Faisalabad, and Gujranwala, housing colonies and commercial developments often proceed without any monitoring of how many mature trees are cut down. Tree cutting in private plots is rarely checked.
During field visits in agrarian belts such as Multan, Faisalabad, and Gujranwala, the shade of green cover loss was prominent. Large Neem, Peepal, and Sufaida trees, once common in these cities, had been cut down for construction. Residents explained that selling timber and clearing land for housing societies were more profitable in the short run, especially with little enforcement in place. These everyday choices are gradually reshaping the landscape, leaving local climates fragile and soil structures unsuitable for agriculture.
Effective regulatory enforcement should be linked to an institutional accountability system to ensure that land-use decisions undergo stringent environmental scrutiny. Urban planning must incorporate mandatory green zoning and tree retention requirements, obliging developers to integrate ecological safeguards. Simultaneously, market-based instruments like carbon credits, fiscal incentives, and payment-for-ecosystem-services schemes may encourage communities and the private sector to invest in sustainable forest management.
The writer is affiliated with the School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, P.R. China, and the Department of Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship Development, MNS-University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan.
Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, November 3rd, 2025