Afghan children observe Environment Day in Afghanistan

Islamabad (Office of the United Nations Coordinator for Afghanistan), 5 June 2000 -- To observe Environment Day in Afghanistan, children in Mazar-e-Sharif and Kabul City are planting kenaf seeds made available through a joint effort of the United Nations system worldwide and in Afghanistan. Kenaf is a hibiscus-like crop, which grows quickly and which is being used around the world as an alternative source for paper and building materials, thus preserving forests.
UNCHS (Habitat) has arranged the event with the Youth and Children Development Programme (YCDP) in both cities, which are affiliated with its community fora.

In Mazar, a formal planting ceremony was organised by the youth in celebration of Environment Day. Approximately eighty people, including both community members and UN and NGO staff, were invited. After an inaugural speech on Environment Day and its significance, the youth performed short skits and dramas. Finally, in a symbolic gesture, a number of children planted the kenaf seeds, while the remaining seeds will be distributed among the community members.

The youth group in Kabul arranged for Environment Day to be celebrated at one of the city's primary schools. Students and teachers took part together with representatives from both FAO and Habitat. As in Mazar, the event culminated with the seeds being planted by all the children present.

Deforestation is one of the most serious environmental issues in Afghanistan. Due to deforestation, rural dwellers are now forced to spend a great deal of time searching for fuelwood. As in other countries, deforestation in Afghanistan has led to soil erosion, water runoff, decreasing water resources such as springs and karezes, poor soil fertility, landslides, and floods.

In the short decade of the 1980's, forest and woodland cover shrank from 3.4% of the total area of Afghanistan to 2.6%. Eighty-five per cent of the rural population of the country depends primarily on wood as a fuel for heating and cooking due to the non-availability of other fuels. Even trees such as oak are being cut for fuel, while old growth forests in Nuristan and Kunar are being cut for timber to export. In the north and west natural pistachio and juniper forests are also being cut for both fuelwood and timber.