KARACHI: The timber mafia is minting millions of rupees from the country's trees of eucalyptus and Conocarpus. The timber mafia has been making a lot of money by cutting these trees for the past many years. Earlier, they were after eucalyptus trees only, but during the last couple of decades, the Conocarpus trees were also benefitting them.

Timber Mafia Pakistan

Trees reduce the urban heat effect and ozone formation in the troposphere besides providing shades during hot summer days and helping mitigate urban noise pollution. 
 

The timber mafia has a systematic method to chop down these trees and then transport its wood from one place to another, which is being traded for millions of rupees. These views were expressed by Professor Dr Zafar Iqbal Shams of the Institute of the Environmental Studies University of Karachi while addressing a seminar held on World Environment Day.  

Timber Mafia discussed on World Environment Day Pakistan 

 
The event was held at the Chemistry Auditorium on Friday. The Departments of Chemistry, Education, and Botany of the University of Karachi jointly organized the seminar. They later had a plantation activity and a poster competition for students at the botany department.   
 
He informed the audience that the timber mafia had been relentlessly cutting down, but unfortunately, no serious action has been taken against them yet. He said that, like other plants, these two trees also absorb carbon dioxide and provide oxygen and do not have any adverse effects on the environment.

 

According to him, eucalyptus and Conocarpus absorb more water than other trees as they grow faster than other trees. Prof Dr Zafar Iqbal warned that if deforestation continues like this, we may face severe environmental problems.  
 

"One of the major reasons for the rapid temperature rise is the relentless deforestation. We should focus on planting different types of plants instead of the same type of plants as plantation of one type of tree could be dangerous, as diseases can rapidly affect all of them. In contrast, if we have a variety of plants available, then it will take some time to damage them." 
 
 
 
Another speaker, Dr Hina Baig from the National Institute of Oceanography, said that we are working to eliminate marine pollution. We all need to work together to eradicate marine corruption and protect aquatic life.  
 
 "Every year, millions of aquatic life die due to garbage dumping. There is a need to raise public awareness in this regard. People need to understand how much damage is done to the garbage thrown into the sea." 
 

On this occasion, Dr Dilshad Ahmed of Sindh Environmental Protection Agency said that every year various events related to the world environment are organized by the public and private sectors but, unfortunately, we do not implement what we learned from such events, and that is why we have failed to produce fruitful results so far. He urged that people should take care of plants as it is necessary for the better future of our next generation.   

 
Dr Erum Zaheer of the Department of the Chemistry University of Karachi said that urgent measures should be taken to tackle climate change, requiring urgent action at the government and public levels. She said that climate change affects all walks of life, and an integrated and sustainable system is needed to tackle change. 
 

 
 
"Universities have the responsibility, to be honest with their students and prepare them for a changing climate."  
  
Dr Maroof Bin Rauf from the Department of Education, and Dr Fayyaz Alam of the Dua Foundation also addressed the seminar and gave a detailed presentation regarding the world environment day.