This document discusses deforestation in Pakistan, its causes and impacts. Key causes discussed include timber mafia illegally logging forests, urbanization and construction projects clearing land, and local communities cutting trees for fuel and construction. This is resulting in increasing rates of deforestation and loss of forest cover. Impacts mentioned are increased climate change effects, loss of biodiversity, sea intrusion damaging the local economy, and reduced ability to meet wood and fuel needs sustainably. Solutions proposed include stronger policies and enforcement against illegal logging, developing alternative energy sources, and increasing reforestation and afforestation efforts.

1. ENVIRONMENTAL
ECONOMICS DEFORESTATION IN
PAKISTAN
THE HUMAN AND ECONOMIC COSTS ASSIGNMENT
SUBMITTED TO:
SUBMITTED BY:
SEMESTER:
DATE:

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CONTENTS
DEFORESTATION: THE HUMAN AND ECONOMIC COSTS........................................... 2
INTRODUCTION 2
LAND USEAND LAND USE CHANGE TRENDS 3
TIMBER MAFIA: 5
WOOD FUELING THE HOMES 5
CLIMATE CHANGE 6
SEA INTRUSION AFFECTING LOCAL ECONOMY: 7
BIODIVERSITY 7
SOLUTIONS TO DEFORESTATION 8
 POLITICS IMPEDING THE FOREST GROWTH 8
 ALTERNATE ENERGY NEEDS 9
 MANGROVES- IN THE PROCESS OF REHABILITATION 9
 WETLANDS 10
 FARM FORESTRY 10
REDD+ 11
REASON FOR PLANTING NON-INDIGENOUS PLANTS 11
CONSEQUENCES OF PLANTING NON-INDIGENOUS TREES 12
REFERENCES: .......................................................................................................................... 13

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DEFORESTATION: THE HUMAN AND ECONOMIC COSTS
Deforestation is a global environmental problem caused by a wide range of drivers which may
vary from one region to another. Pakistan with low area under forest is facing very high level of
deforestation. The present research aims at incorporating the selected drivers of deforestation in
to systems thinking to find out the effects of these factors on forest area of the country. These
selected variables; population growth, timber and firewood production, forest land use
conversion to agriculture and construction, and forest area affected by forest fires have been
studied from 1990 to 2010. The results show that, without interventions, deforestation is
projected to increase further, thus slowing down the growth of forest area. The effects of forest
production on deforestation are not evident. The policy scenarios developed through system
dynamics show that afforestation and regeneration efforts can be more effective than population
control and production control policies. As shown in one of the system dynamics scenarios, to
achieve national forest regeneration goals, the Pakistani government should create a
multidimensional policy covering land use policy, forest production control, population control
and forest growth policy through afforestation and regeneration. The model results are validated
and found consistent with the national forest area. The insatiable human desire to urbanize,
proliferate factories, use wood as fuel source and have unsustainable development growth at the
cost of cutting trees has immensely disturbed Pakistan’s environment.
INTRODUCTION
Forest area in Pakistan covers 5.1% (4.55 m. hectares) of the total land area of the country. Out
of this, coniferous and natural forests constitute 54% and are the main source of construction
wood. Pakistan already has low forest cover. It ranks 113 among 140 countries of the world in
terms of forest area (GOP, 2005). Per capita forest area in Pakistan is only 0.03 ha. and is
declining due to growth in population (NIPS, 2009). Forestry Sector Master Plan (1992) was
prepared to increase the forest area to 10% by 2018 but there is no significant increase. The
Government of Pakistan highlights the Forestry Sector Master Plan (1992) estimate of annual
rate (4%) of decline in growing stock in its National Biodiversity Action Plan (1999). A
complete national inventory of forest growing stock is not available in Pakistan. The working
plans of the forest department cover approximately 50 % of coniferous forests and contain
estimates of volume, but many of these are based on outdated inventories (FAO, 2010a). The
household sector is the largest consumer (81.8%) of fuel wood, followed by industrial fuel wood
users (14.9%) and commercial users (3.3%). Protection forests are 58.5% of the total forest area
and production forests are 41.5% .The forest growth (yield) in the country is 14.4 million m³
which is assumed as sustainable annual wood supply. The wood shortage was estimated about
34.12 million m³ in 2010 which is 70% of the total wood consumption. Out of the total imports
of wood and wood based products, the imports of timber constitute 76% while the imports of
wood products constitute 20% .The main sources of fuel wood are farmlands and plantations
(91.4%) followed by imports (5.22%) and state forests (3.34%) About half of the area under
forests in the developing countries was cleared between 1900 and 1965. Keeping the current
rates of deforestation in mind, the rest is likely to disappear in 50years .Pakistan since 1992 is
losing about 13000 hectares of forests every year (36% deforestation rate). The total area under
any sort of forest and rangeland vegetation cover has decreased by 1.68%. The rate of conifer
forests decline in Pakistan has been 1.27% per annum since 1992. Over a ten year period (1992-

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2001) the decline was -2.3%, and in subsequent ten years (2001-2010) a decline rate of 0.28%
has been observed. Deforestation rate is estimated at between 1.66% to 2.1% and annual loss of
forest is0.043 million hectares. World Bank (2009) has estimated the annual rate of deforestation
in Pakistan as 2.1%. Rare data is available for the forests affected by fires in Pakistan .FAO
(2009) conducted a study by using time series linear trend analysis for different forest types at
the country level including Northern Areas and Azad Jammu and Kashmir for the years 1992,
1997 and 2001 and projection was made for 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020. The results predicted
decrease in total forest area of Pakistan at a rate of 28,000 ha per annum till 2020. In other
words, the total forest area of Pakistan was likely to be 2.78 million ha in 2020 versus 3.29
million ha in 2001. The extent of reforestation in the hilly forest area of Pakistan is negligible
compared to the rate of deforestation .Most of Pakistan’s forests are in the mountainous areas are
usually held by tribal communities where customary laws are prevailing. Documentation of
forestlands and rights are rare and conflicts are common. Decisions about forest management,
fines, roles and responsibilities, and enforcement are made either by the Jirga or in village
meetings. Statutory law related to land rights in Pakistan is outdated and incomplete. There is no
specific comprehensive law that governs land matters but a variety of laws deal with this issue.
Provincial revenue legislation provides for landholding categories, recordkeeping, land
transactions, surveys, and partition .A study conducted analyzed the effects of socio-economic
factors on the forest area of Pakistan using multiple regressions with seventeen explanatory
variables. About 94% of the total effect is explained by the variables included in the study.
Cultivated area has been found as a factor with highest unit of effect (3.4%) on forest area of the
country, followed by construction area. The effect of cultivated area is even higher (8.1%) in the
forest rich area of Pakistan, NWFP, presently called Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, this
methodology did not allow the development of future scenarios and linkage effects of the driving
forces of deforestation. The present study is an attempt to analyze Pakistan’s deforestation
problem using a system dynamics approach.
LAND USE AND LAND USE CHANGE TRENDS
In Pakistan, analysis of the land cover change maps show that agriculture mostly expanded on
rangeland and forestland. Agricultural contraction was also observed mainly because of Jirga is a
communal gathering, act as a court held by elders of the community where decisions are made
by elders and the community is supposed to follow them. These decisions are mainly in
accordance to the customs of the area. Construction of housing and infrastructure, at the same
time, some cases of agricultural abandonment are observed, which were mainly caused by the
expansion of built-up land such as housing and infrastructure. Land use change in a mountainous
area of Pakistan situated in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region has been studied despite data
limitations. Geophysical and geographical factors related to land use change over the years 1968,
1990 and 2007 showed that at high altitude there is 30.5% loss in forest area, out of which a third
is caused by agricultural expansion. In the lower altitudes, total agricultural expansion was 129.9
% that consumed 31.7 % of the forest area over a forty year time period. In the middle elevation,
forests decreased by 49.7% and agriculture expanded by 70.3%. Annual deforestation was high
at low altitudes and vice versa, with deforestation rates ranging between .8% and 1.86%. At high
altitude, geophysical factors such as slope, aspect and altitude were the responsible factors for
land use change and agriculture expansion rather than the distance to roads and city. At low
altitudes, accessibility was the main factor responsible for agricultural expansion and land

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abandonment. Most of the deforested land has been converted to agriculture or as rangeland. In
two parts of Swat district; rich in forest area in Pakistan, around 75% and 37.8% of the forest
area was converted to rangeland over a 40 year time period .Construction is also potentially a
large driver of deforestation in Pakistan while the country becomes wealthier and more urban.
The construction sector in Pakistan has a 2.3% share in the Gross Domestic Product. Its growth
rate was recorded at 17.2% in 2006-07. The annual growth rate of housing in urban areas was
8% in 1998; this rate was the same (8%) in 2009. There is a high demand for construction
workers that is reflected in a continued double-digit rise in their wages since 2005. Their wages
increased by 11.1 percent in 2007. It has been found that there is a strong causal relationship
between the aggregate economy and the construction sector of Pakistan from 1950 to 2005. The
construction flow precedes GDP whereas GDP does not precede construction flow. In Asia,
particularly, urbanization often spreads on prime agricultural land thus reducing production
potential. Agricultural production has been achieved first by intensive use of land resources, and
later through expansion in agricultural land which has impacted forests .Deforestation is one of
the most important and most intensively studied factors in land use change processes.
Deforestation refers to the clearance of forests for agriculture and other land uses. Deforestation
is mainly the conversion of tropical forest to agricultural land
According to Environment protection agency, over the years, industrialization has caused
massive emission of carbon dioxide and other gases into the air. Carbon dioxide combined with
these gases act like a blanket around the Earth. They trap energy in the atmosphere causing the
temperature to rise. This phenomenon is called greenhouse effect. Industrialization followed by
urbanization has accelerated this phenomenon. Trees that absorb carbon dioxide are potential
“carbon sinks” which are being largely cut to build infrastructure, buildings and industries
resulting in rapidly changing temperature. A study conducted by the University of Columbia has
found that deforestation is largely driven by urbanization. Its lead author Ruth De fries wrote:
“The main drivers of deforestation have shifted from small scale landholders to domestic and
international markets that are distant from the forests.”
The upsurge in housing societies and development projects in Pakistan has accelerated
deforestation in the country. News reports document massive cutting of trees in Islamabad during
the execution of metro bus project and expansion of Islamabad highway.
A DHA Extension Islamabad, presently under construction, shows the negative impact of
urbanization on vegetation.
“Uncontrolled urban sprawl due to urbanization is causing horizontal expansion of cities at the
cost of agricultural land, orchards and forests,” said Dr. Malik Asghar Naeem head of
department of urban planning at National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST),
“Mushroom growth of unplanned housing schemes in most of the cities are eating away our
forests that may lead to the issue of food insecurity in near future.”
Pakistan institute of forests (PFI), in 2004 recorded deforestation rate in the country at 27000
hectares per year. However, United Nations Food and Agriculture organization (FAO)’s state of
forest report documents a mammoth increase to 41000 hectares deforestation rate per year in
Pakistan.

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Afia salam, environment based journalist told Pakistan has highest rate of urbanization as well as
deforestation in South Asia and both of these factors serve as double edged sword for harming
the healthy environment.“Deforestation is a grave issue. Major reason for it is unchecked use of
timber resources due to the population pressures.” Salam said, “Rapid urbanization has stripped
urban areas of their green cover to clear land for settling the new arrivals.”
TIMBER MAFIA:
In Pakistan, another cause for deforestation is timber mafia. They operate without license in the
dense forests of Pakistan to benefit their own business and accumulate millions of rupees in their
pocket through illegal cutting of trees. According to news reports, it is shadowy network of
politically well-connected individuals and firms that chop the trees bribe forest department
officials and locals to look other way while they transport wood in the darkness of night.
“Each of Pakistan’s five provinces has its own forest law, intended to regulate forest
conservation and timber harvesting according to local needs,” told Mohammad Saleem Deputy
Director Media & Communications at the Ministry of climate change “But these are routinely
ignored - often with the connivance of local politicians, some of whom encourage their
constituents to cut down forest, sell the wood, and turn the land into profitable plots for farming
or construction.”
According to Saleem, timber mafia has already devoured vast tracts of forests in Pakistan and
constitutes biggest threat to the existing forest resources.
“I don’t think any conservation efforts will really save Pakistan’s fast shrinking forests as long as
the government does not deal with the timber mafia with an iron fist.”, said Saleem.
Helga Ahmed, an environmental activist, striving for the preservation of forests especially in the
Gilgit Baltistan region explained the massive deforestation in the region that was carried out in
eighties and is now reaping the results in the form of frequent floods. The main actor involved in
bringing such change was timber mafia.
“Since the opening of Karakorum Highway in mid-eighties, timber mafia non-stop turned the
slopes barren. Very rarely does one read that the cause is not due to global climate change, but
the massive deforestation that this terrain has borne”. Ahmed said.
Dr Pervaiz Amir, senior economist and environment expert, blamed the lack of political will to
tackle this problem. In his view, the unprecedented progress in technology has opened the vistas
to have strict check and balance of cutting trees but nothing is done to curb the problem.
“Timber mafia is a well-known racket, billions of rupees (are) involved (and) the forest
department is an important party to it. GIS technology can easily pin point where cutting takes
place (but) massive corruption (is) benefit(ing) all.” said Amir.
WOOD FUELING THE HOMES
Not only urbanization and timber mafia have amplified the deforestation but pressing need at
homes of many individuals especially the ones residing on mountainous regions to burn wood for
fuel is rapidly denuding forest cover.

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Domestic energy needs combined with poverty serves as a powerful motivation and factor to cut
the forests to satisfy local needs.
“What do we do, if we don’t cut trees? We use wood as fuel to cook our food. Even though we
have gas in Murree but its pressure is almost zero.”, told Umar Naveed resident of village Dhal
in Murree. “Lower middle class cannot afford cylinder which costs around Rs 1400. We also use
native wood to build roof of our buildings, which would otherwise be very costly if we buy it
from market. “Results of massive deforestation are bareness of mountains of vegetation,
becoming completely barren.
According Bisma Raja another resident of Murree, hailing from village karore, wood is the best
alternative to gas, because working in the fields for a whole day and earning meager income
doesn’t allow her family to substitute gas for wood.
“I know the beauties of these mountains are trees but life here is not as easy as tourists admire.
You have to work all day and in return spend the money wisely” Raja told, “If I use cylinder, it
would cost me a lot so wood is the best source (of energy).”
CLIMATE CHANGE
The landscape of Pakistan has always championed the diversity in flora and fauna. This
diversity, according to Pakistan Forests Institute (PFI), ranges from 2000-3000 meters long
consisting of thousand year old juniper trees in Suleiman range to Alpine pastures in the Deosai
plains. Subtropical pine forests grow all over Margalla hills in the Capital and occupy substantial
land in Murree while Mangrove forests are present near Indus delta and coastal areas of Sindh
having for long garnered the attention and attraction of many researchers. Over the years, the
genocidal trend of slaughtering trees has triggered disastrous climatic changes in the country.
Pine trees providing a scenic view in the hills of Murree.The untethered cutting of trees has not
only unleashed the curse of heat waves which took the toll of around 1200 human lives last year
but also accelerated the floods that alone cost $16 billion to economy and claimed 3072 lives
according to Pakistan Economic Survey.
New report of Intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) predicts that concentration of
carbon dioxide will double in next century. Temperature would also rise up to 2-3°C above
average temperatures. Vegetation models predict that trees water use efficiency (WUE) doubles
as the amount of carbon dioxide doubles. A recent study by T. Keenan, published in nature-a
science journal, says forests are becoming more water efficient as carbon dioxide concentration
is rising. With more water conserved, the plant absorbs more CO2, and less greenhouse effect is
expected. However, with fast diminishing forest cover, CO2 is accumulated in the environment
but not utilized which is warming the globe.
“Well-established forest of longer time is more efficient (in WUE) as compared to more recent
plantations. But Pakistan has only 4% forest which is rapidly being destroyed leading to rise in
CO2.” Dr Baig told, “Therefore we can expect frequent heat waves in Pakistan due to
deforestation and less land vegetation.”

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A report compiled by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) factors deforestation
and dwindling green spaces in assisting heat waves. It states, “Considerable reduction of trees
and vegetation, and rapid urbanization over the recent years had also contributed to the severity
of the heat waves.”
The report recommends widening the green spaces by planting trees in cities on an emergency
basis. According to the Ministry of Climate Change, even though 10 million trees were planted
in Sindh in 2015, the figure was not large enough to prevent heat waves in Karachi.
“The rising global temperatures are drying up water bodies, displacing communities, and
increasing the desertification of fertile lands,” said Umar Saeed, an environmental activist and
founder of Mohammad Ali Saeed Foundation. “The situation is critical and we must act now.
Otherwise our basic necessities, our economy and our very existence could be in danger”,
added Saeed.
SEA INTRUSION AFFECTING LOCAL ECONOMY:
Thick mangroves are a part of ecological feature of coastlines in Pakistan, which are now facing
multiple threats to its existence despite having innumerous beneficial qualities especially
protecting coast from sea intrusion.“They are very important for the health of the coastal
ecosystem, serve as carbon sinks, protect the coast from erosion, and serve as the first wall of
defense against disasters like tidal waves, storm surges and tsunamis.” told Muhammad Tahir
Qureshi, Senior Advisor Coastal Ecosystem at Coastal & Marine Program. Qureshi lamented the
rapid deforestation of mangroves, “Mangroves forests are surviving but will not thrive for a
longer period. “He counted scarcity of fresh water, marine pollution, industrialization and
urbanization in coastal areas as factors depriving coastal areas from mangrove trees. According
to Dr Baig, mangroves are the marine nurseries where fish, shrimp and crabs spawn and because
they are in the inter-tidal zone, then these are washed into deeper sea to nurture marine life.
These marine nurseries help local communities generate revenue apart from fishing. Mangroves
depletion is not only aiding the sea intrusion but also depriving local communities from
generating their income. Thus, it affects not only the ecology but also the local economy.
According to the old record of Sindh Forest Department in Indus Delta, the mangroves covered
over 600,000 hectares before the construction of Sukkur barrage in 1932-33 while today only
225,000 hectares of mangroves are left out of which 37% are dense forests and the rest are sparse
vegetation. Rapid deforestation of mangroves had advanced extreme weather pattern in Pakistan
especially in Sindh. “The absence of mangroves has lowered the guards against the global
warming and climate change which are adversely impacting Pakistan.” told Dr Baig.
BIODIVERSITY
Apart from the degradation of human lives, deforestation is affecting animals and insects, which
are displaced from their natural habitats to find alternative ones. The damage inflicted by
deforestation on biodiversity is so great that it cannot be gauged in financial terms.
Doctor Ejaz Ahmad, senior director programs at WWF, explained that pesticide dealers have a
corporate mentality which encourages farmers to cut trees and grow crops as a way of
sustainable livelihood. They are marketing their product by selling the dangerous pesticides that
promises short term benefits but causes long term problems to the environment. Humans follow

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the food chain as secondary consumers so they indirectly consume pesticides too which militates
against their health. Development without proper environment assessment has also endangered
many species. According to Dr Ahmad Pheasants on Margalla hills and white headed ducks have
most recently become extinct. The list of endangered species is lengthening on a yearly basis.
According to WWF-Pakistan, leopards have been known to be living in Margalla Hills for a long
time. A few years ago, WWF monitored a leopard’s movement through a collar and observed
that it took the route of Galliyat to Abbottabad and travelled for 8-9 days before coming back to
Galliyat. This route is called its home range where it feels safe and knows its surroundings. The
intervention of motorway in the home range has shortened the wild cat’s habitat. “Due to
shrinkage of its route from 40km to 25km the food base of leopard will also suffer. In search of
quality food, it will be more exposed to the predator or human settlement. Fearing its presence
humans will decimate it”, said Dr. Ejaz. This disturbance will not only distort the food web of
animals but also affect the quality of human lives.“Developmental plans need proper
environment consideration. In Holland, whenever mating season of frogs approach a particular
road is blocked for some time by authorities. We can try to replicate such kind of model here in
Pakistan with desired amendments. This will conserve our ecological zones”, he added.
Dr. Anis ur Rahman, Chief Executive Officer of Himalayan Wildlife Foundation (HWF), an
NGO working for the conservation of biodiversity in Himalayas, said that capital was shifted
from Karachi to Islamabad because of this beautiful and serene environment. This tree laden
plateau with rich biodiversity and temperate temperature attracted General Ayub Khan to this
place. However, alarming rate of deforestation has eradicated the habitat of many species. He
said, “Goral goat which is native of Margalla hills has completely vanished from the
Margalla hills.”
“Our environment is very forgiving but if some specie gets extinct it is a very big thing. It means
we have drastically changed our environment so much so that specie can’t live in i.”, lamented
Dr Rahman.
SOLUTIONS TO DEFORESTATION
Politics impeding the forest growth
Imran Khan led Pakistan TehrekInsaf (PTI) incorporated green growth model in its manifesto.
This model speaks of planting trees, conserving the environment and preserving the biodiversity
through eco-friendly means. After coming into power in KPK and taking the role of opposition
in the center, Imran Khan announced “billion tree tsunami” campaign to combat climate change.
Malik Amin Aslam Khan, environment adviser to PTI and mastermind behind this campaign,
told “Billion Tree Tsunami” project was registered under the Global “Bonn Challenge” on
Afforestation - which is a global voluntary initiative of countries opting to increase forestry
under the umbrella of the UN convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).Sensing the dire need
to conserve the forest cover and playing politics to score high on his national achievement card,
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced the “Green Pakistan Programme”. The programme
plans to plant 100 million trees in the country this year. Moreover, this model is based on the
“Great green wall programme” of China in which Chinese government aimed to combat

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desertification by planting 100 billion trees along the northern part of China’s Gobi desert. With
the PM led government being engulfed in the recent Panama Paper crisis, this initiative has been
shoved aside as Inspector General Forests Syed Mahmood Nasir said, “Nothing concrete has
been started yet. The announcement has been made but the initiative is still to be planned and
implemented.”
Alternate energy needs
Imran Khan led government in KPK introduced alternative energy sources other than wood to
curb deforestation. The micro hydro-power station introduced in Swat district which is a scenic
destination for tourists, has reduced the pressure from dwindling forest covers and provided an
alternative energy source to the locals. According to PTI’s environment advisor, the new
hydroelectric plants were installed at the cost of around Rs5 billion. They have capacities
ranging from 10 to 500 kilowatts. “This model is providing conservation driven economic respite
in a province otherwise stricken by terrorism and conflict.” Malik said.
Other than hydro-power stations, solar energy would also serve the alternate purpose of
providing fuel. “We want to inculcate in people that conserving forest is their source of
livelihood not cutting them,” told Irfan Tariq, Director General of environment at the ministry of
climate change. “You see even Afghan bastis (slums) have started using solar power which is not
very costly and one can transfer to this mode of energy easily, in order to save trees from
being cut”
Saleem was of the view that since 53,000 people are directly employed in the forestry sector and
millions others rely on them for livelihoods and meeting domestic energy needs. It is equally
important to introduce alternative livelihoods among forest communities and provide them
alternative energy sources for cooking and heating.
Mangroves- In the process of rehabilitation
Recently, on the occasion of Earth Day, WWF-Pakistan collaborated with DHA Karachi to plant
a total of 10,000 mangrove saplings.
“These plantations will certainly benefit local communities as mangroves are the important
source of livelihood for them”, says Asif Ali Sandeelo, Senior Communication Officer at WWF-
Pakistan Karachi. “Basically, they are the nurseries for different species of fish, prawns and
crabs. Fishermen catch these species and earn enough money, added Sandeelo.
Mangroves rehabilitation works have been done under the projects executed by various
organizations including International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Qureshi says,
“In the past, there was no ownership of mangroves in Pakistan, as a result, a lot of mangroves
were cut and large blank areas were created along the coast of Pakistan.” He added that in 1970,
government recognized due importance of mangroves when the role of mangroves as breeding
ground for fisheries was discovered. The ICUN has tackled over 100,000 hectares of degraded
mangrove areas in collaboration with the government and non-governmental organizations and
coastal communities on the Sind and Baluchistan coast. Coastal communities were involved in
planting operations and maintenance of the mangroves’ young plantations. Allowing the
communities to have an alternate source of income besides fishing, which remained their main
profession not only benefits them but also creates healthy ecology.

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Wetlands
Wetland consist of land areas that are filled with water either fresh, salt or somewhere in
between. They are an asset for the ecosystem as they serve in water filtration, storm protection,
flood control and recreation as stated in WWF website. Many forests rely on groundwater for
survival, and depend on wetlands to support their growth. Trees depend on wetlands which are
also essential for the ecosystem as well. Dr. Baig suggests that wetlands should start being used
for afforestation because a large land area where a jungle could be grown is not available so
easily. Managing wetlands could solve more than one problem at the same time.
The secretariat of the convention on biological diversity states that forests play a pivotal role in
the hydrological cycle which influences how water is routed and stored in a watershed. This
consequently plays a role in the preservation of wetlands, which act as natural reservoirs and are
extremely rich in terms of both biodiversity and the environmental services that they provide.
The secretariat is working with United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and Ramsar
Convention, an intergovernmental treaty that provides framework for wise use of wetlands and
their resources. Pakistan welcomed the Ramsar Convention for wetlands in 1973. The group has
located 19 sites in the country including peat lands which can be developed into forests.
However, no official body in Pakistan is working on its implementation. The Ministry of Climate
Change confirmed this. The official Ramsar convention website states that peat lands are kind of
wetland areas with a naturally accumulated layer of dead organic material such as moss which
help with natural forest growth. Forestation on these kinds of wetlands reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, keep carbon stored in the soil where it is, maintain water storage and perform
purifying functions and conserve biodiversity in the area.
The Forest department in the ministry of climate change suggests that provincial governments
should pick up the matter. According to Mahmood, every province needs to make its own
wetland management authority to begin work in this sector as it is not in federal domain and is
extremely beneficial for the forestry sector.
Farm forestry:
National forest policy of 2016 envisioned farm forestry as a solution to the deforestation. “All
Provincial and Territorial governments shall provide incentives for promoting farm forestry by
promoting private investments. “Farm forestry has served as a very important way of
afforestation in Pakistan. “Even though there is enough space for tree growth along the border of
The lands, owners were too skeptical to use that area for farm forestry” explained Nasir, “for
they suspected government is going to own their land.”
According to Nasir entire match industry is in works due to poplar farming. Poplar trees are used
for producing matches and are farmed as they need more water than is available in the jungles.
Work in this sector has been going on for 40 years now and the governments have achieved great
progress. “The fear of government control over their lands was wiped out when we educated
farmers to grow trees which would produce fruit that they could sell”, told Nasir.

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REDD+
The Federal Ministry of Climate Change, in collaboration with WWF Pakistan secured the $3.8
million REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) project
developed by UN-REDD despite competition from other countries for this program. According
to the Ministry of Climate change (MoCC), ‘+’ stands for additional activities as a result of the
plan such as enhancing carbon storage and biodiversity conservation. They explained that the
project is funded by forest carbon partnership facility with the World Bank as trustee to the fund.
According to UN-REDD, the main aim of this initiative is to increase the total area of forests in
the country which stands at 4.34 million hectares (5 per cent of total land) only. The REDD+
program is a voluntary, national-level strategy designed to give financial incentives to countries
under the United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in return for
demonstrated, verified reductions in net Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. “Pakistan joined the
UN-REDD Programme in 2011. In December 2012, the country received Targeted Support funds
to develop a REDD+ Readiness Roadmap, to complement work being done by the Office of the
Inspector General of Forests”, said Ben Vickers, Regional Programme Officer (UN-REDD),
“However, official work on the plan in the country began in June 2015.”
Pakistan is currently in its first phase of action which is preparedness. It includes acquiring
technical devices and establishing a feedback mechanism for local communities. The next phase
is National REDD+ strategy and its implementation framework, followed by raising awareness.
“Our outreach would be to a diverse set of stakeholders including students, academia, local
communities and policy makers so it will be a mix of all segments of our society”. Inam Ullah
Khan who is REDD+ Programme Coordinator of Pakistan told, “For the strategies we make it
important to remember that every species of plants has a different capacity for carbon storage. So
every strategy we come up with it has to be in respect to particular specie. We can’t apply one
size fits all formula to this”, he added. “At first the ideology was to cut trees for livelihood but
now the paradigm shift is occurring. The new ideology spells out that forest is our essential life
support system.” told Tariq. We human beings should conserve the forest not only for the moral
reasons but also for the selfish reasons for, if we don’t protect our nature then who is going to
protect us.
REASON FOR PLANTING NON-INDIGENOUS PLANTS
During 1958 to 1968, Ayub Khan’s main emphasis was the green Pakistan that means plantation
of quick growing trees, prioritizing Eucalyptus. Besides, they can easily survive because
livestock doesn’t feed on them. Government initiated the plantation drive without any
background information about plant’s species and their compatibility with the environment.
Another reason for planting eucalyptus was that British planned to plant trees along a new
railway line from Karachi to Khyber by engaging German foresters. However, Sindh is a swamp
area making it difficult to build a railway line unless those swamps are removed. Hence, they
imported eucalyptus from Australia to plant them in order to drain up water immediately as
eucalyptus massively takes in water for its survival. Apart from that, pine trees were planted near
Jinnah Avenue in Islamabad but they’ve dried up. They basically grow in cold weather but
Islamabad weather is not conducive to their growth. Palm trees consume plenty of water, that’s
why they are usually found near oasis or coastal areas. In Islamabad, pine trees have withered

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causing CDA to replace them with palm trees. Housing societies like Bahria town and DHA are
planting palm tree just to beautify the environment. I contacted Malik Riaz to inform him about
this wrong decision of planting palm trees but he didn’t listen. Environment of Islamabad is not
favorable to the growth of bearing good quality palm trees. They don’t even produce dates or
provide enough shade. In hot summer days, people especially labors seek refuge in the shade of
trees to avoid scorching sun. These societies are depriving labors from that cool shade as well.
Just like pine trees, most date trees being non-indigenous to the area, don’t survive either.
CONSEQUENCES OF PLANTING NON-INDIGENOUS TREES
Pollen allergy is on the prowl due to male paper mulberry plants in Islamabad. Dengue and
malaria has infected the population. The roots of eucalyptus are greedily searching water in the
ground even wandering off to the gutters and depleting water reservoirs rapidly, paving way for
the uglier forms of water scarcity.
Eucalyptus trees are still planted in the residential areas despite being the major cause of water
depletion. Remove everything which is exotic. Since we have an invasion of mosquitoes, dengue
due to masses of filth, so plants beneficial to the environment should be promoted like Calendula
or Basil as their leaves cure malaria, while chambeli or raat-ki-raani to work as mosquito
repellents. Moreover, we must replace flower pots with hedges, trees and shrubs as the stagnant
water in pots becomes a breeding place for mosquitoes.
I went to the rural Punjab and held training sessions for farmers about the use of Neem seed to be
utilized as fertilizer and pesticide. At first, they were receptive about the initiative of substituting
Neem seed as fertilizer and pesticide but later pesticide lobby brainwashed them by planting
malicious ideas into their minds that were completely against farmer’s interests.
If multiple strategies are adopted including land use control, population control, forest
production control and forest growth policy through afforestation and regeneration, the forest
area would be increased to 7.5 million hectares by 2050.In case multiple strategies are adopted,
deforestation in 2050 would drop down to 0.075 m hectares from 0.102 m hectares in the
absence of all these policy controls during the same year. System dynamics methodology for
forest land of Pakistan helped us to determine the effects of drivers of deforestation and to
estimate the net position of forest area. It further helped to determine the information lapse, if
any, to construct the model. By developing scenario visioning the projection was useful in fixing
the problem. Deforestation in Pakistan is not a uniform figure for every year rather growing with
the growth of population and expansion in cultivated and built up areas. As shown by the results
of the study, there is no significant change in the reported area of the country therefore we accept
that a part of the total expansion in the cultivated and built up area is at the cost of forest area
which will keep on going in decades to come. Forest production is found insignificant in the
absence of data on illegal harvesting, that is not available therefore non-inclusion of this factor is
the limitation of the model. Afforestation and regeneration activities are found insignificant
unless accompanied by natural regeneration. Some policy scenarios are found effective like land
use policy and forest growth policy. The model data is valid for the historical data found in the
national statistics.

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REFERENCES:
1. Government of Pakistan. 2014. Economic survey of Pakistan 2013-14, Ministry of
Finance, Islamabad
2. https://rainforests.mongabay.com/deforestation/archive/Pakistan.html
3. https://www.islamabadscene.com › News and Trends › Environment
4. https://deforestation.atavist.com/deforestation-in-pakistan
5. https://www.thenews.com.pk/.../274828-pakistan-lost-24.7pc-forest-cover-in-15-years
6. https://timesofislamabad.com/12-Feb-2018/deforestation-hitting-pakistan-hard-report
7. www.pk.undp.org/.../pakistan/.../UNDP-PK-ECC-Forests%20and%20Biodiversity.pdf.