Afghanistan: Snow Sales Replace Illegal Logging in Afghan Province

Sep 8, 2014 | Qaisar Khosti, Environmental News Service
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For hundreds of years, people in Afghanistan have stockpiled winter snows in specially-dug pits so they can use it during the scorching summer months. Now, residents and officials in the mountainous southeastern province of Khost say storing and selling snow could provide a viable alternative to the illegal logging which has severely depleted local forests. Deforestation is a major problem in Afghanistan. More than 30 years of conflict has left woodland areas devastated as people cut timber to sell or use themselves. Many loggers say they have no other means of earning an income.