https://www.dawn.com/news/2005114
Media Source: Dawn (Pakistan)
Date: 5 June 2026
Under the shade of recently planted poplars in Afghanistan, village leader Ghulam Ali Poya is proud to see residents rediscover the value of trees after years of wartime deforestation. “There were forests of pistachio trees,” he told AFP
Under the shade of recently planted poplars in Afghanistan, village leader Ghulam Ali Poya is proud to see residents rediscover the value of trees after years of wartime deforestation. “There were forests of pistachio trees,” he told AFP, gesturing to the bare mountains that surround Char Bagh’s mud homes. Experts say communities are working to improve forest cover. Both the US-backed government, in place until 2021, and the current Taliban administration have supported tree-planting campaigns. In Char Bagh, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) funded a kilometre-square grove which includes poplars, paulownias, pomegranates and persimmons. More work, however, is needed to protect the remaining old growth, as well as planting in forests rather than just in urban areas.
