Landslides caused by the October 8 quake claimed many of the more than 73,000 lives lost in the disaster, said Environment Minister Tahir Iqbal.

"It was the landslides which wiped villages off the face of the Earth," Iqbal said. "Areas where there were forests, landslides did not occur.

"Where the forests were depleted, whole mountains have just vanished."

To protect remaining forests, the government was planning to supply LPG gas to communities to reduce dependency on wood for fuel and heating, he said.

UN Environment Programme deputy executive director Shafqat Kakakhel said he worried the "timber mafia" would now use survivors' needs as a "pretext for indulging in massive pillage and destruction of forestry resources".

He also said there were "tonnes and tonnes and tonnes of waste and debris lying about" -- including rubble, toxic medical waste and "aid waste" such as water bottles and cardboard boxes.

Other potentially hazardous materials, such as stockpiles of pesticide and underground petrol reserves, also had to be dealt with, he said.

An environmental assessment of the quake zone and priorities for handling the damage was released Saturday when Pakistan won pledges of nearly six billion dollars from international donors for relief and reconstruction.

The measures suggested in the environmental report would cost about 22 million dollars over the next 18 months.

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