Forest officers’ protection inevitable, says minister

Islamabad: Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Mushahidullah Khan has said that motivating forest officers and providing government protection at all levels is inevitable to protect and conserve forests in the country.
Mushahidullah Khan
said that country’s existing forest resources are at serious risk of vanishing because of greedy forest mafia, which has gulped forests for their personal economic gains at the
cost of the natural environment.
However, he said those forest officials, who are foiling illegal tree-cutting bids anywhere in the country should be appreciated and awarded as a recognition of their priceless services to the environment.
It is pertinent to mention here that a senior forest
officer Irshadullah Gondal along with his three
subordinates was brutally injured on the night of June 27 by Unsif Almaroof s/o Mohammad Ajaaib and
his 21-member illegal loggers’ gang.
The incident took place when Irshadullah Gondal and his team intercepted a tractor-trolley carrying wood worth Rs300,000, which was illegally chopped in the state-owned Ghoon forest in Tehsil Kahuta.