Cover Changes
Natural Forest is spread across approx 30% of the Earth’s surface and its main role is to absorb significant anthropogenic carbon emissions, and play a critical role in mitigating climate change. However, forests are also vulnerable themselves to climate change impacts such as forest fires, diseases, pests, especially due to the recent intensification in disturbance regimes.
Pakistan currently has less than five percent of its land area under forests, and demands for protection of forests resources is crucial to combat climate change and mitigate the harmful effects of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The demand for up-to-date, scientific and reliable forest spatial data has grown over recent decades.
Space-based tools can play a crucial role in monitoring of the national forest including identification of changes both due to natural and anthropogenic activities in forest ecosystem . Space technologies also support accurate, timely, and scalable insights that are used for the assessment and management of forests. It also helps to identify carbon accounting, resilience planning, biodiversity and ecosystem restoration.
Key Capabilities & Monitoring Parameters
— National Geospatial Forest Cover Estimation
— Deforestation & Afforestation Monitoring
— Forest Health Monitoring (Density & Seasonal Growth)
— Early Warning Systems (Deforestation, Forest Fire & Hazards)
— Hyperspectral & Optical Forest Types & Species Mapping
— AI-Integrated Forest Cover Analytics
— Above-Ground Biomass, Carbon Stock & GHG Inventory
— Wildlife & Forest Biodiversity Mapping
Initiatives
- Satellite data assisted AI-based Forest Cover Mapping of Pakistan (2019 & 2025)
- Quantifying Forest Cover Change from National to District scales across Pakistan
- Satellite-augmented plantation sites monitoring for KP’s 10-BTTP program
- Development of Forest Geospatial Watch (FGW) for public forest awareness & information access
Forest Cover of Pakistan
Forests are spread across specific regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (1.32 million ha, 47.5%), Punjab (0.45 million ha, 16.14%), Azad Kashmir (0.42 million ha, 15%), Balochistan (0.24 million ha, 8.6%), Gilgit Baltistan (0.18 million ha, 6.6%) and Sindh (6.5%), respectively. This highlights the significance of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa forests in term of national resources and need for forest conservation to as climate mitigation strategy.
Forest Types In Pakistan
Recent Studies
Different forests have varying growing conditions from higher elevation in north to low-lying coastal mangrove forest visible from satellite view.
Different forests have varying growing conditions from higher elevation in north to low-lying coastal mangrove forest visible from satellite view.
Forest cover is also prone to natural hazards like wildfire in Pakistan which can be effectively demarcated and mitigated through satellite data. One of such events has been recorded in Sheerani Chilgoza pine forest fire of 2022, where SUPARCO provided satellite-based insights by locating the extent of the forest fire and estimated burn scar areas in timely manner.
Forest Geospatial Portal
Explore interactive analytical infographics and GIS Maps that summarize key spatial statistics about forests in Pakistan – including forests cover from national to local scale, forest seasonal growth under varying climatic conditions, forest cover change dynamics on stable forest, deforestation & afforestation, information on top 10 deforestation and afforestation districts, distribution of forest types and annual and near-relative forest fire events