Forests which are also known as the Green Gold of any concerned region are vital to our existence. The decreasing forest cover due to human greed and development projects carved is making world pay a big price in form of rising temperatures and ecological imbalance.
Kashmir is famous world over for its natural beauty. It is often called paradise on earth. Kashmir has unique gift of nature in form of its great gorgeous forests, which are throughout the year lush green and add dazzling dimensions to the natural beauty of Kashmir . But for quiet long time now, the green gold of Kashmir has been vandalized and the situation continues to remain bleak.
Famous for its lush green forests, the Kashmir valley is slowly losing its green cover as there is no stopping the haphazard and illegal cutting of trees and timber smuggling. Several reports from ground zero indicate that the green gold in Kashmir is openly being plundered by vested interests and the authorities seem to have turned a blind eye to the forests.
On account of ruthless cutting of forests, “Global warming” appears to have taken a toll on the climate patterns in Kashmir valley which has been experiencing a decline in snowfall and rise in temperature, a reality which even weather scientists have found.
On the other side of the spectrum , the last 3-4 decades have see massive devastation of forests in almost every country, apart from for a few exceptions, mainly in the continent of Europe. Now, there are two kinds of countries: one, that have reversed the trend of deforestation, and, second, that be in this world with the sorry reality of declining forest cover. Sadly, we belong to the second category. The impact of deforestation is visibly destructive for us.
The need of the hour is for all the stakeholders to brainstorm in a collective manner and save the fragile forest cover of Kashmir from further destruction
