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The Wasteland A new catastrophe faces Afghanistan. The American bombing campaign is conspiring with years of civil conflict and drought to create an environmental crisis. Humanitarian and political concerns are dominating the headlines. But they are also masking the disappearance of the countrys once rich habitat and wildlife, which are quietly being crushed by war. The UN is dispatching a team of investigators to the region next month to evaluate the damage. A health environment is a prerequisite for rehabilitation, says Klaus Topfer, head of the UN environment Programme. Much of south-east Afghanistan was once lush forest watered by monsoon rains. Forests now cover less than 2 per cent of the country. The worst deforestation occurred during Talibab rule, when its timber mafia denuded forests to sell to Pakistani markets, says Usman Qazi, an environmental consultant based in Quetta, Pakistan. And the intense bombing intended to flush out the last of the Taliban troops is destroying or burning much of what remains. The refugee crisis is also wrecking the environment, and much damage may be irreversible. Forests and vegetation are being cleared for much-needed farming, but the gains are likely to be only short-term. Eventually the land will be unfit for even the most basic form of agriculture, warns hammad Naqi of the World Wide Fund for Nature in Pakistan. Refugeesaround 4 million as the last countare also cutting into forests for firewood. | 
