MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
|
|
Pakistan
Index
Forests cover about 3 million hectares, less than 4
percent
of the country. Many forests are in the Northern Areas and
Azad
Kashmir, where coniferous trees predominate, but the
management
and exploitation of these forests is hampered by the
remoteness
of the land. Elsewhere, most of the native forest was
destroyed
before independence by population pressure,
overcultivation, and
overgrazing. The lack of tree cover contributes to many of
the
problems the agricultural sector has experienced since
independence, including soil erosion, the silting of
streams,
flooding, and a shortage of timber and firewood.
In the mid-1990s, government efforts to increase the
extent
of forests have had little success, but tree-planting
programs
continue. Many of the nation's forests, including some
irrigated
tree plantations in the Indus River basin, are under
government
control. These forests produced 321,000 cubic meters of
timber
and 534,000 cubic meters of firewood in FY 1993, but
production
was far short of demand. Imports filled part of the
requirement
for timber, while cutting trees and shrubs on private land
met
part of the need for firewood. In October 1993, however,
the
government imposed a two-year nationwide ban on the
private
felling of trees. This action was taken because of
concerns that
Pakistan was fast losing the little tree cover that
existed
(see Pollution and Environmental Issues
, ch. 2).
Data as of April 1994
|
|
