A new catastrophe faces Afghanistan. The American bombing campaign is
conspiring with years of civil conflict and drought to create an environmental
crisis.
Humanitarian and political concerns are dominating the headlines. But they
are also masking the disappearance of the country鈥檚 once rich habitat and
wildlife, which are quietly being crushed by war. The UN is dispatching a team
of investigators to the region next month to evaluate the damage. 鈥淎 healthy
environment is a prerequisite for rehabilitation,鈥� says Klaus T枚pfer, head
of the UN Environment Programme.
Much of south-east Afghanistan was once lush forest watered by monsoon rains.
Forests now cover less than 2 per cent of the country. 鈥淭he worst deforestation
occurred during Taliban rule, when its timber mafia denuded forests to sell to
Pakistani markets,鈥� says Usman Qazi, an environmental consultant based in
Quetta, Pakistan. And the intense bombing intended to flush out the last of the
Taliban troops is destroying or burning much of what remains.
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The refugee crisis is also wrecking the environment, and much damage may be
irreversible. Forests and vegetation are being cleared for much-needed farming,
but the gains are likely to be only short-term. 鈥淓ventually the land will be
unfit for even the most basic form of agriculture,鈥� warns Hammad Naqi of the
World Wide Fund for Nature in Pakistan. Refugees鈥攁round 4 million at the
last count鈥攁re also cutting into forests for firewood.
The hail of bombs falling on Afghanistan is making life particularly hard for
the country鈥檚 wildlife. Birds such as the pelican and endangered Siberian crane
cross eastern Afghanistan as they follow one of the world鈥檚 great migratory
thoroughfares from Siberia to Pakistan and India. But the number of birds flying
across the region has dropped by a staggering 85 per cent. 鈥淐ranes are very
sensitive and they do not use the route if they see any danger,鈥� says Ashiq
Ahmad, an environmental scientist for the WWF in Peshawar, Pakistan, who has
tracked the collapse of the birds鈥� migration this winter.
The rugged mountains also usually provide a safe haven for mountain leopards,
gazelles, bears and Marco Polo sheep鈥攖he world鈥檚 largest species. 鈥淭he
same terrain that allows fighters to strike and disappear back into the hills
has also, historically, enabled wildlife to survive,鈥� says Peter Zahler of the
Wildlife Conservation Society, based in New York. But he warns they are now
under intense pressure from the bombing and invasions of refugees and
fighters.
For instance, some refugees are hunting rare snow leopards to buy safe
passage across the border. A single fur can fetch $2000 on the black
market, says Zahler. Only 5000 or so snow leopards are thought to survive in
central Asia, and less than 100 in Afghanistan, their numbers already decimated
by extensive hunting and smuggling into Pakistan before the conflict. Timber,
falcons and medicinal plants are also being smuggled across the border. The
Taliban once controlled much of this trade, but the recent power vacuum could
exacerbate the problem.
Bombing will also leave its mark beyond the obvious craters. Defence analysts
say that while depleted uranium has been used less in Afghanistan than in the
Kosovo conflict, conventional explosives will litter the country with
pollutants. They contain toxic compounds such as cyclonite, a carcinogen, and
rocket propellants contain perchlorates, which damage thyroid glands.