54 different species of plants are found in the forests, including Afghan ash (Fraxinus xanthoxyloides), wild pistachio (Pistacia atlantica and P. khinjuk), wild almond (Prunus eburnea), makhi (Caragana ambigua), surai (Rosa beggeriana), and zralg (Berberis baluchistanica, B. calliobotrys, B. densiflora, and B.

[2] These forests also prevent evaporation of water reserves that are a major source of livelihood for local people.

[4] Native mammals include the Sulaiman markhor (Capra falconeri jerdoni), urial (Ovis vignei), Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus), wolf (Canis lupus), golden jackal (Canis aureus), and Afghan pika (Ochotona rufescens).

Birds include the chukar (Alectoris chukar), mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus), Black-throated thrush (Turdus atrogularis), streaked laughingthrush (Trochalopteron lineatum), rufous-naped tit (Periparus rufonuchalis), and bar-tailed treecreeper (Certhia himalayana).

Factors in their decline include increasing human population, overgrazing by livestock, illegal timber cutting, overharvesting of firewood and juniper seeds, periodic droughts, attack on weakened trees by parasitic fungi and the mistletoe Arceuthobium oxycedri, and climate change.

Human activity has also altered the species composition of the forests, and once-common companion broadleaf trees like Fraxinus xanthoxyloides and Pistacia khinjuk are now rare, found only in small numbers along watercourses.

Hayat Durrani is an environmental analyst for the preservation of the 3000-year-old World Heritage of juniper forests and wildlife in the Ziarat and Zarghoon Ghar regions of Balochistan Pakistan.