Environmental Law in Pakistan - IUCN

5.1.1 Land TenureThe two federal legal instruments governing land tenure were substantively curtailed by a 1990Federal Shariat Court ruling which invalidated specified provisions restricting land holdings as un-Islamic (see 5.2.1 below). Other provisions of these two legal instruments remain operative.5.1.1.1 Land ReformsAct 1997The objective of this act was to bring about a more equitabledistribution of land for the benefit of tenant farmers. The law fixeda ceiling on the area of land that may be owned. The provisions ofthis act were challenged before the Federal Shariat Court. In 1990,the Court ruled that ceilings on land holdings were against theinjunctions of Islam, invalidating Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7(5), 8, 9, 10,and 11–17. Those portions of Section 7 that remain valid prescribeprocedures for making declarations of land ownership. Sections18–27 concerning the Federal Land Commission also remain valid,as do the procedural provisions of Chapters VII and VIII. Provisionson joint holdings (Sections 22 and 23) and on alienation (Section24) also remain valid pending future decision of the court.5.1.1.2 Land ReformsRegulation 1972The preamble to these regulations mentions Islam and justifies theredistribution of land on religious grounds. Accordingly, theseregulations place certain restrictions on the ownership andpossession of land. Nevertheless, the provisions of theseregulations were also challenged before the Federal Shariat Courtwhich, in 1990, invalidated most of the substantive provisions onthe grounds that they were against the injunctions of Islam.Sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 18 and 25(3)(d) were invalidated intheir entirety. Sections 2(7), 15, 16, 17, 19, 20 and 25(1) wereinvalidated with respect to specified conditions. The sections of theregulations that remain valid concern land commissions (Sections4–6), the exchange of land among family members (Section 11),declarations of land ownership (Section 12), land grants to tenants(Section 18), the rights of tenants (clauses of Section 25 that werenot invalidated in whole or in part), the use of land recovered fromuniversities and certain charitable institutions (Section 21), and theprocedural provisions of Section 3 and Parts VIII and IX.5.1.2 Forests, TimberLaws governing this sector regulate the exploitation of forest resources or impose restrictions on theuse of certain forests in the interest of national security. There is currently no federal law thatprovides a framework for the management of forests as ecosystems or landscapes, for theirconservation as habitats for wild flora and fauna, or for the protection of rare or threatened forestspecies.05NaturalResources32EnvironmentalLaw in PakistanFederalWhen Pakistan gained independence from British rule in 1947, the Forest Act 1927 was in forceacross most of the country, except for northern Balochistan (to which the Balochistan ForestRegulation 1890 was applicable). The 1927 Act was subsequently extended to the PATA of Chitral,Dir, Kalam, Malakand and Swat (1974). There is no single legal instrument that extends the ForestAct 1927 to all of the Northern Areas but by 1991 a series of notifications had extended the ForestAct to all of the Northern Areas. The law does not apply to FATA which covers 2.76 million hectares