Environmental issues in Afghanistan

ISAF military vehicle passing by an Afghan shepherd in Kapisa Province of Afghanistan in 2007.

Environmental issues in Afghanistan predate the political turmoil of the past few decades. Forests have been depleted by centuries of grazing and farming, practices which have only increased with modern population growth. In Afghanistan, environmental conservation and economic concerns are not at odds; with over 44% of the population dependent on herding or farming, the welfare of the environment is critical to the economic welfare of the people. In 2007, the World Health Organization released a report ranking Afghanistan as the lowest among non-African nations in deaths from environmental hazards.

Deforestation

Further information: Deforestation

U.S. Army soldiers intercept illegal timber in 2009 as it is commonly smuggled through the Narang Valley of Kunar Province into neighboring Pakistan.

Much of the population depends on forests for firewood and the revenue generated by export of pistachios and almonds, which grow in natural woodlands in the central and northern regions. The Badghis and Takhar provinces have lost more than 50% of pistachio woodland. During the conflicts of the past few decades, residents and the militias such as the Northern Alliance have used wood for fuel, and these militia forces have cleared trees which could have provided hiding places for ambushes from their opponents. Further, the use of the woodlands for grazing ground and the collection of nuts for export apparently prevent new pistachio trees from growing.

Afghanistan has lost nearly half of its forests. Denser forests in the eastern Nangarhar, Kunar, Nuristan, and other provinces are at risk from timber harvesting by timber mafia. Although the logging is illegal, profits from exporting the timber to neighboring Pakistan are very high. The reason for this is that Pakistani government has its forests tightly protected so the timber mafia are busy cutting down trees in Afghanistan instead. The timber makes its way not only to Peshawar but also to Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and Lahore, where most of it is used to make expensive furniture.

As forest cover decrease, the land becomes less and less productive, threatening the livelihood of the rural population and the floods are washing the agricultural lands and destroying the houses. Loss of vegetation also creates a higher risk of floods, which not only endanger the people, but cause soil erosion and decrease the amount of land available for agriculture. To tackle this problem, the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) with assistance from international organizations is attempting to turn Afghanistan green again by planting millions of trees every spring, particularly on the 10th of March, which is recognized as national tree plantation day in the country.

Afghanistan had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.85/10, ranking it 15th globally out of 172 countries.

Wildlife

Main article: Wildlife of Afghanistan

With very little government infrastructure to discourage hunting, and habitat disappearing because of conflict and drought, much of the country's wildlife is at risk. In 2006, Afghanistan and the Wildlife Conservation Society began a three-year project to protect wildlife and habitats along the Wakhan Corridor and Central Plateau regions.

Snow leopard

Siberian crane

• Endangered species
  • Snow leopard (Uncia uncia)
  • Wild goat (Capra aegagrus)
  • Markhor (Capra falconeri)
  • Marco Polo sheep (Ovis ammon polii)
  • Urial (Ovis orientalis)
  • Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus)
  • Siberian crane (Grus leucogeranus)
• Critically endangered species
  • White-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala)
  • Marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris)
  • Pallas’s sea eagle (Haliaeetus leucoryphus)
  • Greater spotted eagle (Aquilla clanga)
  • Imperial eagle (Aquilla heliaca)
  • Lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni)
  • Corncrake (Crex crex)
  • Sociable lapwing (Vanellus gregaria)
  • Pale-backed pigeon (Columba hodgsonii)

Little is known about the status of the salamander Batrachuperus mustersi, which is found only in the Hindu Kush.

Water management

Further information: Drought in Afghanistan, List of rivers of Afghanistan, and List of dams and reservoirs in Afghanistan

A typical canal built for irrigation

The reservoir of Kajaki Dam in Helmand Province with a spillway

Most of Afghanistan's fresh water flow by fast rivers into neighboring countries. This naturally benefits those countries but not Afghanistan. The primary threat to Afghanistan's water supply is the droughts, which created food shortages for millions in the recent past. The resulting agricultural crises between 1995 and 2001 have driven major migrations from rural to urban areas. In response to drought, deep wells for irrigation have been drilled which decreased the under ground water level, further draining groundwater resources, which rely on rain for replenishment.

By 2003, about 99% of the Sistan wetlands were dry, another result of continued drought and lack of water management. The wetlands, an important habitat for breeding and migrant waterfowl including the dalmatian pelican and the marbled teal, have provided water for agricultural irrigation for at least 5,000 years. They are fed by the Helmand River, which ran at 98% below average in drought years 2001-2003. As in other areas of the country, the loss of natural vegetation resulted in soil erosion; here, sandstorms submerged as many as 100 villages by 2003.

Some of the major water reservoirs and dams include the following:

• Afghan-India Friendship Dam in Herat Province
• Band-e Amir in Bamyan Province
• Dahla Dam in Kandahar Province
• Darunta Dam in Nangarhar Province
• Kajaki Dam in Helmand Province
• Kamal Khan Dam in Nimruz Province
• Naghlu Dam in Kabul Province
• Qargha Reservoir in Kabul Province
• Sardeh Dam between Ghazni Province and Paktika Province

Pollution

Urban populations have swelled in the past several years. Since 2002, over 5 million former refugees living in Pakistan and Iran have returned home to Afghanistan. Many of these settled in the capital Kabul, which also include migrants that have come from drought-ravaged rural areas.

Nuclear waste by Pakistan

In 2008, the Afghan government stated that it was investigating allegation that Pakistan had dumped nuclear waste in southern Afghanistan during the Taliban rule in the late 1990s.

Domestic and industrial waste

Kabul City, the capital of Afghanistan

In 2002, the United Nations Environment Programme found that a lack of waste management systems was creating dangerous conditions in several urban areas. In Kabul's districts 5 and 6, household and medical waste was discarded on streets. Human waste was contained in open sewers, which flowed into the Kabul River and contaminated the city’s drinking water.

Urban dumpsites are used in lieu of managed landfills in Kabul, Kandahar and Herat, often without protection of nearby rivers and groundwater supplies. Medical waste from hospitals is disposed in the dumpsites with the rest of the cities’ waste, contaminating water and air with bacteria and viruses.

Lack of sewage management is not unique to Kabul. In urban areas, open sewers are common while wastewater treatment is not. Much of the urban water supply is contaminated by Escherichia coli and other bacteria.

Oil refineries are another source of water contamination. In Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif, crude oil spills and leaks are uncontained and unsafe levels of hydrocarbons reach residential water supplies.

Air pollution

Air pollution does not constitute a major problem in Afghanistan, but its reliance on inexpensive energy has created some issues. Most vehicles run on diesel fuel, and household energy often rely on burning wood and other materials. As a result, air pollution in urban areas is visible and may pose health issues.

See also

• Geography of Afghanistan
• Health in Afghanistan