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Article: It's time to restore Afghanistan. (War's other victims: the land, the animals, the children).
- Article from:
- Earth Island Journal
- Article date:
- June 22, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Earth Island Institute. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Southeast Afghanistan used to be carpeted with forests of cedars watered by monsoon mists. Today less than 2 percent of the country remains forested. Most of Afghanistan's woods were cut and cleared in just the past 20 years.
"The worst deforestation occurred during Taliban rule, when its timber Mafia denuded forests to sell to Pakistan markets," Pakistan environmental consultant Usman Qazai told the New Scientist.
Only 15 percent of Afghanistan can support farming and only 6 percent of that percentage is being farmed. In Afghanistan On-line [www.afghan-web.com], Daud Saba notes that 30 percent of Afghan farmlands and pastures now lies abandoned while ...