By Stefanie Glinski
FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, Sept 8 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – In a small village in northern Afghanistan, nestled in barren mountains and cut off from main roads, Arsam points to what is left of his house: the few crumbling mud walls that managed to withstand flash floods around March last year.
The 70-year-old farmer, who only goes by one name, said that in the last two years, about 40 households in the narrow valley in eastern Shar-e-Buzurg have been destroyed by flooding.
Some of the families have moved to higher terrain, Arsam explained, while others have left the village, moving to bigger cities or seeking work in neighbouring Iran.
“When I was younger, Shar-e-Buzurg was covered with trees, it was a whole jungle,” he said of his district in Badakhshan province, motioning towards the hills behind his house.
“Floods were less common back then, as the trees absorbed large parts of the spring’s snowmelt,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Large-scale deforestation driven mainly by four decades of war has contributed to widespread flooding throughout Afghanistan, prompting many in rural areas to move to the capital Kabul or leave the country.
Trees have long been casualties of extreme poverty and war in Afghanistan, with many people in remote areas having little choice but to cut down forests to build houses, fuel stoves and keep warm in winter, climate experts say.
The grave consequences of the country’s tree loss have led to calls for reforestation, but the task will not be easy, said Jalaludin Naseri, director of natural heritage protection at Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA).
“We’re trying, but it will take a long time,” he said in emailed comments.
“We are planning to restore the forests to their original state, but this needs time, budget and peace. During years of war, many depend on forests and natural resources.”
