Anayat Khan, 30, is worried that there will be more fires in the dense forests of Pakistan’s north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, including around his hometown of Mansehra, which has the imposing Himalaya and Hindu Kush ranges as its backdrop.

“There has been less snowfall on the mountains, which would previously be ice-capped. So, the environment is warmer and drier, and more susceptible to forest fires,” says Anayat.

A sub-divisional forest officer in KP, home to around one fifth of Pakistan’s 4.2 million hectares of forest and planted land, Anayat comes from a family of firefighters. His great-grandfather was a forest guard in the 1870s, during British rule, while his grandfather and father also served in the forest department.

Much has changed in the intervening years in terms of equipment and technology, including artificial intelligence, says Anayat. But in most parts of KP, traditional and “primitive” methods continue to be practised to fight forest fires.

With warming winters and drier forests, Pakistan’s northern regions face increasingly devastating wildfires. But underfunded departments, outdated equipment and treacherous terrains make fighting them an extremely difficult task…

Forest guards along with local volunteers, including those whose villages are threatened by the fire, are the first responders, controlling the fire using traditional methods such clearing fire lines, digging trenches and using fire beaters, often made from tree branches.

From time to time, the fire department gets a supply of gear, including fire-resistant suits, helmets, fire-fighting tools such as rakes and beaters, and safety kits, but they depend on donor engagement and budgets.

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Anayat previously worked at the World Wildlife Fund-Pakistan (WWF-Pak),........

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