If you are living in Islamabad, then you would have noticed deforestation on the Margalla Hills. If you did not observe then you must see in a clear sunny day. It may not be notified by the people who reside in the Capital but the people who come from other areas of the country with a long interval of time, notice deforestation on the Margalla Hills immediately. This is just a single example of that city which is prevalent due to its greenery.

Among the various environmental issues deforestation is also the major concern in the country. However, law exists against the deforestation by the government of Pakistan but lack of implementation upsurges the problem. Some people also highlighted the advantages of the deforestation. Among these advantages the most common is to get the land for residence and agriculture. This is somehow ridiculous because there is a wide land available other than forests to overcome the problem of residence. This is true for Pakistan at least where wide land is available for the above mentioned purpose other than forests.

On the other hand the worse effects of deforestation are much more than benefits. Destruction of territories of millions of species of plants and animals is one of those as most of these species keep balance our ecosystem. We are already facing extinction of numerous species resulting in the upset of ecosystem. Every tree is the habitat of many animals and when that tree is cut down these animals could not find suitable haunt for them and finally they are dead or migrated to the areas which are suitable for them by nature. As a result, we are facing many diseases like Dengue Virus i.e. the most common now a day. This is due to the disturbance of our ecosystem.

The other problem is soil erosion and leaching which has a tragic effect like the exhaustion of nutrients in the soil. Soils become more susceptible to run off from rainfall because there are no roots to hold up of soil and nutrient content is corrupted. It is estimated that one-third of the worlds topsoil has been lost due to the soil erosion and other types of degradation since 1960. Slack soils may result in land siding on the slopes which is too much dangerous. Erosion washes downs soil into nearby waterways like canals, ponds and rivers where increased sedimentation of soils and the attached debris upset the marine haunts. The local communities who are using water from these water sources also suffer badly. Moreover, deforestation leads to the infertility of the surface soil.

Forests play a vital role in lessens the impact of natural disaster like flooding. Pakistan is a developing country and almost being victim of floods every year. As a nation, we have to face lot of problems and damages due to floods. Forests reduce the pressure and flow of the water and hence reduction of losses. Forests are also helpful in absorbing the flood water and water gets managed up in a good way.

The most important delinquent due to deforestation is Carbon Dioxide emission and global warming and hence resulted in climate change. During the process of photosynthesis, trees and other plants take out Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere and in the result convert it into sugar molecules and discharge Oxygen which is a very important gas for existing on earth. So, how Carbon Dioxide has a hand in increasing the global warming? Carbon Dioxide is one of the major associates of greenhouse gases. Forests play an important role in extenuation of the greenhouse effect. In the greenhouse effect, detrimental radiations of the sun approach to the surface of the earth by crossing all the atmospheric layers (Troposphere, Stratosphere etc.) and in the result of reflection when these radiations return, entrapped by the greenhouse gases and these harmful radiations scattered all around.

William Laurance from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and Philip Fearnside from the National Institute for Amazonian, Researched in Brazil and stated that 2.4 billion tons of greenhouse gases were being released as a direct result of deforestation each year.

The greenhouse gases have the direct impact on the depletion of Ozone Layer. This Layer also protects us by many dangerous radiations of the sun. This shows how big the consequence of Deforestation is?

According to a study by University of Michigan that more than 25 per cent of the land on Earth is covered by forests, but millions of hectares of this ecosystem are destroyed every year. Over half of the worlds forests are found in just seven countries including Brazil, Canada, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Russia, and the United States. Therefore, while the disadvantages of deforestation are felt on a global scale, the decision to clear forest land belongs to only a handful of governments.

Now the question is how to control over-deforestation on global level as well as on national level. The countries which are rich of forests should be very much concerned about the issue because deforestation disturbs the environment and ecosystem on the global level.

On national level, the government and other environmental protection agencies should pay attention and make serious efforts to overcome the problem. On the other hand more and more trees should be planted. Tree planting campaigns should start on national level in regular intervals of time and more than once in a Year. This campaign may be more fruitful if awareness spread among the students of schools, colleges and universities.

The government should strictly have check on industries and manufacturing organizations that what kind of and in what quantity of pollution they are adding to the environment. Penalties implemented on such organizations in the form of tree planting. Every organization should have been given an annual target of tree plantation. Every land which is cleared for the residential purposes by the construction companies should pay for this in the form of plant the trees and develop public parks. Any organization doing well for environment should be benefited by the government as a reward e.g. by giving relaxation in the tax. If we are very much serious about our environment then we would have to take small steps to achieve the big goal.

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