Environmental degradation major stumbling block for Afghanistan’s recovery – UN

Two decades of warfare in Afghanistan have degraded the environment to the extent it now presents a major stumbling block for the country's reconstruction efforts, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says in a report released today.

UNEP’s "Post-Conflict Environment Assessment" report, produced in close cooperation with the new Afghan Government, details how conflict stalled previous environmental management and conservation strategies, destroyed infrastructure, hindered agricultural activity and driven people into cities already lacking the most basic public amenities.

The assessment also illustrates the mounting pressure on Afghanistan’s already meagre natural resources, noting that three to four years of drought have compounded a state of widespread and serious degradation: lowered water tables, dried up wetlands, denuded forests, eroded land and depleted wildlife populations. With 2 million returning refugees in 2002 and a further 1.5 million expected this year, pressure on those natural resources and environmental services will only increase, the agency says.

UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said the assessment – carried out last year by 20 Afghan and international scientists and experts who examined 38 urban sites in four cities and 35 rural locations – makes it clear that environmental restoration must play a major part in the reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.

Underscoring how high the ecological stakes are for the people of the country, Mr. Toepfer says that over 80 per cent of Afghans live in rural areas, “yet they have seen many of their basic resources – water for irrigation, trees for food and fuel – lost in just a generation.” He adds that in urban areas, the most basic necessity for human well being – safe water – may be reaching as few as12 per cent of the people.