Climate change minister faces criticism for justifying CDA’s tree-cutting drive in Islamabad amid environmental concerns

Amid public outcry over chopping of thousands of grown-up trees in Islamabad, Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Dr Musadiq Malik on Friday said that about 29,000 paper mulberry trees had been cut in the Capital city in line with court’s order.

“Paper mulberry trees, which were considered a major cause of allergies and caused deaths even among chronic asthma patients, were chopped on the orders of the Supreme Court issued in 2023. In 2025 also, the order was again implemented to rid the city of this invasive species which is life-threatening and not indigenous, said Dr Malik while talking on a TV talk show after presiding over a meeting on the issue.

"It is planned not to plant non-indigenous species," the minister said, adding: "One tree chopped is being replaced with three new saplings/trees in the capital city".

The meeting came after pointed criticism from the media on the authorities for slashing thousands of grown-up trees in various locations of the capital city, including the leveling of acres of tree cover around Shakarparian.

In recent times, mass tree felling has occurred in Islamabad’s three regions – Shakarparian, H-8, and Chak Shahzad. In the Shakarparian area alone, at least four sites have been made nearly a desert where not only paper mulberry but other trees were reportedly chopped down by the residents. But the CDA has been claiming that only paper mulberry was removed.

Some trees have been downed in H-8 sector where a park is being modernized, while the decades-old trees have been cut down in Chak Shahzad for the development of a dual carriageway for CDA-DHA Housing Society.

The minister reported that the paper mulberry trees are non-indigenous tree species that were planted in the 1960s. The cutting of the trees, he said, would happen after the ministry of health is satisfied that paper mulberries are indeed one of the health threats to the community.

On the other hand, the statement from the ministry stated that the minister was briefed on the on-going campaign initiated in an effort to reduce the number of non-native paper mulberry trees in Islamabad. Additionally, the minister assessed actions on the preservation of the gr