Khyber Pakhtunkhwa/Deforestation
“Pakistan has very low forest cover, but these forests are very diverse in nature and of significant importance for the livelihood security of millions of rural people who live in and around these forests” (Shahbaz, Ali & Suleri, 2006). The forests that have survived are very fragile but at the same time very unique. They are also very important with respect to the ecological services they provide to people or society in general. Despite the strong conscience of the government with regard to increase the overall forest cover since 1955, there has been no substantial progress made in this respect. “The degree of deforestation has actually continued at an alarming rate, making Pakistan one of the most vulnerable countries in the world in terms of the loss of forest resources” (Aftab & Hickey, 2010).
In 2014 the 'Global Forest watch' was initiated by the World Resource Institute. It includes the ' Global Forest Cover Change Mapping'. It stated that the forest change for Pakistan is alarming because the total tree cover loss is 10,022.4 hectares between 2000 and 2013 while the gain is 847.3 hectares. One of the member of the research team of Global Forest Cover change mapping, Ahmad Khan of WWF-Pakistan, says “This comparison indicates a loss of forests that cannot be recovered over time. This warrants a higher level of actions by the public, NGOs and private organizations” (Saeed Khan, 2014).
It is also said that if Pakistan continues with the current rate of deforestation then it is expected that it would run out of its forests in the next 50 years (Randhawa, 2017). A report was also issued by Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) stating that the total forest cover is even lower than 2.2 percent of total land. It is also said that Pakistan loses almost 42,000 hectares, which is 2.1 percent, of its forests every year (Randhawa, 2017).
From time to time Pakistan initiated a number of forest policies. The policies aimed at conserving, extending and protecting forests. Different policies were given in 1894, 1955, 1962, 1975, 1980, 1991, 2001 and provincial forest ordinance in 2002. The prevalent policy of 1894 was inherited as it was at the time of government of British in India. This policy was helpful in preserving a public forest estate but was not much helpful in extending the forests. (Shahbaz, Ali & Suleri, 2006). Rest of the policies, however, focused on the management of forests and were particularly related to the expansion of forests.
To maintain the equilibrium of the ecosystem, forests play an important role. They help in maintaining the level of CO2 in the air. It also controls other greenhouse gases which causes global warming. It is connected to many other processes of environmental degradation for example soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, air pollution, etc. Deforestation also effects the water cycle adversely.
FAO identified that corruption and crime are also some of the main reasons that cause deforestation. Corruption and Crimes lead to illegal activities because mostly the officials take bribe and sign illegal contracts with the private enterprises which permit them illegal cutting and harvesting and then smuggling the products along borders license (Contreras-Hermosilla, 2000; 2001).
There are many other reasons as well that lead to deforestation. There are many people who rely on forests for wood, fuel and for fodder. It is considered as a significant source of providing fuel energy to the households for heating and cooking specially to the rural households (Ali, 2014).Then there are tracks removed for commercial purposes, there is industrialization, agriculture, urbanization, road construction, increased demand for timber etc. All together these and many more lead to severe damage to the trees and forests and because of all this deforestation is considered to be an important ecological issue. According to World Bank figures, percentage forest area of Pakistan was 1.91 in 2015 which is actually decreasing at a faster rate (2.188 in 2010) (WB, 2018). Therefore, governments and the environmentalists need to play their due role to tackle the issue effectively.
Since forests play a vital role in maintaining the ecological balance as well as proving the livelihood to people specially the rural population, they should be taken care of. They also help in protection of land, biodiversity and also in providing a sustained supply of wood and other resources. In Pakistan greater part of its forests lie in the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and KP region (Randhawa, 2017).
Unfortunately, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is losing vast reserves of forests due to the negligence of people and the government. KPK forest resources comprise of many different types of trees like deodar, pine, Chilghoza, Fir, Nandar, Partal, Kail etc. (Dawn, 2009).
Mostly the people living around the forest area are blamed for the destruction caused to these forests as they exploit its resources while using it (Geiser & Steimann, 2004). Shahraz Khan, former forest minister, said that the main threats that the forest sector has been facing include corruption, deforestation and the smuggling of timber (Dawn, 2009). Other reasons may include the unsustainable and ineffective practices for forest management.
A research was conducted to look into the matter of deforestation in KPK and majority of the respondents (79%) blamed the forest departments of corruption and illegal deforestation. 16% of the people said that the locals were responsible for the illegal cutting of trees while 5% gave some miscellaneous reasons (Ali, Shahbaz & Suleri, 2005).
Furthermore, the research revealed that the foresters take bribes from people, like the villagers or some outsiders, to let them cut trees. The timber smugglers do likewise. The respondents stated in this regard that “the foresters take bribes from the blackies (timber smugglers) and allow them to cut as many trees as they want” and that “the forest department has less control on the area, the timber smugglers are more powerful than the department” (Ali, Shahbaz & Suleri, 2005).
Currently Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf is governing the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The government has adopted a four-pronged strategy to deal with the issue. The first was to start off with planting of trees and to regenerate the existing forests. In all the policies they adopt, there should be transparency and accountability. They also pledged to move to process oriented approach which would be pro-people i.e. development that would be people-centered. The last strategy focused on catering to the timer mafia which is causing a lot of damage to the trees by cutting them illegally.
In order to implement what KPK’s government claimed before, the government of Imran khan initiated an afforestation program named as “The Billion Tree Tsunami” project. It was started in 2015 and it focused on two things; to prevent future deforestation and second to cover the past damage by planting 1 billion trees.
The Director General of IUNC, Inger Anderson , said “The Billion Tree Tsunami initiative is a true conservation success story, one that further demonstrates Pakistan’s leadership role in the international restoration effort and continued commitment to the Bonn Challenge,” (Gul, 2017)
The province has also set a green target to restore 384,000 hectares of forests with the global "Bonn Challenge" (Aslam Khan, 2017). The Bonn Challenge basically focus on afforestation and government of KPK has become a part of this Nobel challenge. They are expecting to reach 0.35 million hectares by 2020. Currently they have reached up to 0.25 million hectares (GPFLR, 2018).
Experts of the World-Wide Fund-Pakistan are monitoring the plantation of trees in KPK. They say that the project started “has been an environmental, economic and social success, with one of the highest survival rates of trees in the world, ranging from 70 to 90 percent” (Gul, 2017).
Despite all the success stories of initiations taken by government of KPK, there still exists some contradictions. NAB has probed corruption allegations against the Billion Tree Tsunami project. All these allegations erupted when the KP government failed to correspond with the claims it made with regard to the project (GEO, 2018). But still the efforts that the government is making can’t be totally undermined or overlooked.
No doubt that development helps in the betterment of humans but this unsustained and insensitive development is actually straining the environment and damaging the human life in the long run. By deteriorating the environment real development can’t be achieved nor could it be sustained. Likewise, the environment can’t be protected until and unless economic growth take the cost of environmental degradation into account. High level of poverty, lack of awareness regarding environmental issues and sustainability and continued degradation of forests means that development is actually not sustained is under threat in Pakistan.
There is a need to understand the relationship between development and deforestation which is very complex yet dynamic (Humphreys, 2006; Mather, 1991; Sands, 2005). In one place development has helped in spreading awareness regarding the importance of forests and their conservation and helped us by providing high yielding varieties of seeds etc. yet at the same time development has led to increase in urbanization and industrialization which lead to clearing of land to tackle problems like high population etc. thus leading to deforestation.
Now, however, the government is trying to reverse, or at least trying to decrease, the environmental damage and ensure sustainability. There are however some reasons that are hindering the process. They include
• Coordination problems
• Inadequate frameworks for implementation of forest policies
• Lack of funds and budget allocation to this sector
• Limited local participation
• Lack of public awareness on environmental issues
All that Pakistan need to do is to address deforestation in a proper way. It should focus on sustainable use of forests and try to manage them properly. There should be more focus on tree plantation and also try to decrease the rate at which they being cut down. Moreover, the government should try to find alternatives for timber and firewood. Then new efficient technology, for example use of high yielding variety of seeds etc., could be convalescent with regard to deforestation. There should be improvement in governance of forest and allied resources. There is a dire need for establishment and operationalization of consultative mechanisms for various aspects of forestry at different levels. They should also revise the existing policies and laws. Gender mainstreaming should be strengthened because both men and women contribute in deforestation. The rural women in specific should be educated in this regard. In conservation of forests resources role of women should also be enhanced because they play an important role in providing food to the household and collecting wood since it’s a cheap source of fuel etc. so if they are educated they would better understand and in fact manage their activities to effect in the environment in the least damaging way. And last but not the least efforts need to be made to raise awareness among all the segments of society about the importance of conservation of forests and the challenges that are being faced which include both; deforestation and their degradation and what they could do to help in improving the situation for present and future generations.