Despite serious environmental threats such as widespread deforestation, drought, and pollution, a number of youths are striving to build a greener and more sustainable future for Afghanistan through planting saplings, collecting seeds of mountain plants, and raising public awareness. Interviews with 20 young volunteers involved in planting-saplings activities in the provinces of Daikundi, Badakhshan, Bamyan, Maidan Wardak, Ghazni, Ghor, Samangan, Baghlan, and Kabul show that these youths, driven by a sense of responsibility and humanitarian commitment, are playing their part in protecting nature. Most of these efforts are voluntary and carried out without significant support.
Reza Jafari, a 35-year-old from Daikundi who has been working as a volunteer in greening activities for the past year, says, “The main reason we turned to volunteer work was that everywhere we look in our country, unfortunately, the hills have been stripped of forests, and plants have disappeared due to people’s excessive use and population growth. A lack of public awareness has led people to overexploit mountain forests.”
Helmand Osmani, a 24-year-old resident of Kabul who has participated in environmental volunteer activities for more than four years, says that witnessing widespread pollution, the decrease of green spaces, public neglect, and the excessive use of mountain forests motivated him to become active in this field.
“My interest in nature, along with the environmental problems we see in society—such as air pollution and the shortage of green spaces—encouraged me to decide on working as a volunteer in environmental protection,” he says.
Mohammad Nasim Hossainzada, a 38-year-old from Bamyan who works in collecting mountain plant seeds and raising environmental awareness for protecting the environment, says, “Our activities included collecting mountain seeds from forests, packaging them, and distributing them to people interested in seed planting and environmental work. I distributed them across Bamyan province, including various districts and villages, while also raising awareness among people about environmental protection.”
Salim Jamili, a 30-year-old from Ghazni who is also active in mountain plant seed collection and environmental awareness, says, “So far, our activities have focused on raising public awareness about keeping the environment clean. We have worked on public awareness campaigns, planting-sapling programs, environmental and street clean-up activities, and waste collection together with young people.”
However, these youths say that a lack of resources, insufficient financial and technical support, and low public awareness remain among the main challenges they face. Mohammad Zaman Bahonar, a 33-year-old from Bamyan, says,
“The problems we are currently facing include the lack of sufficient support from charitable organizations. Another issue is the shortage of equipment. A further challenge is sustaining campaigns—if we want to run campaigns, we first need to change people’s mindsets.”
Ahmad Sajjad from Badakhshan says, “The challenges we face include a lack of facilities and insufficient public support. Environmental protection is not a one-person task; it requires public attention and collective support from institutions and communities so that ideas for improving the environment can be implemented.”
Environmental experts also consider the role of young volunteers vital, saying that awareness-raising and strengthening a sense of responsibility can bring positive environmental changes through simple actions such as planting saplings, clean-up activities, and raising awareness. They believe group activities and environmental campaigns can encourage broader public participation in protecting nature.
Ishaq Wakili, an environmental expert, says, “When young people are informed and feel responsible, they can create environmental change through simple but effective actions such as planting-saplings, environmental clean-ups, and raising awareness of others. Group activities and environmental campaigns can involve more people in environmental protection. To reduce excessive consumption, we must start with ourselves by conserving water and electricity and reducing plastic use.”
Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock say they have prevented illegal cutting of forests and forest trafficking across the country. Currently, about 2 million hectares of land nationwide are covered by forests, accounting for more than 2.8% of Afghanistan’s total area.
Sher Mohammad Hatami, Director of Information at the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock, says awareness programs have been launched to protect forests. He says,
“To protect forests and prevent excessive cutting, the Ministry of Agriculture has launched extensive awareness programs in forested provinces so that people can actively cooperate with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in preserving forests.”
Officials from the National Environmental Protection Agency say a special program has been designed to engage young people and different social groups across the country as volunteers for environmental protection.
Mohibullah Bahar, spokesperson for the National Environmental Protection Agency, says the agency organized about 1,700 programs, projects, and seminars nationwide last year to raise environmental awareness.
“In public awareness alone, the National Environmental Protection Agency conducted around 1,700 programs, projects, workshops, and seminars across the country last year. These activities aimed to raise awareness and encourage people to recognize their responsibility toward the environment, avoid its destruction, and protect it,” he says.
Officials of Kabul Municipality also say that the spring planting-saplings campaign for the year 1405 began about 15 days ago and will continue until the end of the month of Hamal (March–April 2026).
Nematullah Barakzai, Cultural Affairs Advisor to Kabul Municipality, says the Kabul municipality plans to plant about 1 million saplings and ornamental flowers across the city.
“Kabul Municipality will plant around 1 million saplings, as well as ornamental and carpet flowers, across Kabul city. Undoubtedly, cooperation from citizens, youth, and different groups is very important to us. Many people who could afford to buy saplings joined the campaign, and many young volunteers even picked up shovels to help plant saplings alongside us,” he says.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in its 2025 report, stated that Afghanistan is among the 10 countries most vulnerable to climate change. Weak wastewater and water resource management, along with a shortage of green spaces, threaten the health and livelihoods of the country’s citizens.
Reporter: Zarafshan Sharifi
