ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s capital Islamabad was once known for its lush greenery, but the felling of trees across the city for infrastructure and military monuments has prompted local anger and even lawsuits. Built in the 1960s, Islamabad was planned as a green city, with wide avenues, parks and tree-lined sectors. Many residents fear that vision is steadily being eroded, with concrete replacing green spaces. Muhammad Naveed took the authorities to court this year over “large-scale tree cutting” for infrastructure projects, accusing them of felling “many mature trees” and leaving land “barren.” The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) blamed major infrastructure development, including road construction and monuments, for the mass razing of trees and natural vegetation in Islamabad. Between 2001 and 2024, the capital lost 14 hectares of tree cover, equal to 20 football pitches, according to Global Forest Watch, though the figure does not account for tree cover gains during the same period. For Kamran Abbasi, a local trader and resident since the 1980s, it feels like “they are cutting t
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