Title Pakistan Forest Digest Issue 01- A4 - Pakistan Research Group

SDPISustainable Development Policy InstituteMangroves depletion on the topOver 4.242 million hectares in thecountry were forest land in 1992.However, it declined to 3.44million hectares by 2001, thereport says.The highest rate of deforestationhas been found in the Indus deltamangroves, which has depleted ata rate of around 2.3 per cent, whilethe coniferous forest depleted at1.99 per cent and ravine forests at0.23 per cent.The WWF report says that over99,711 acres of forest land inPunjab and 27,874-acre forests inSindh have been converted to nonforestuses. In this regard, it says,the beneficiaries remain somegovernment departments,politicians and other influentialpeople having close contact withrespective governments.A province-wise breakdown offorest land converted to other usesshows that Punjab tops the listwith conversion of 99,711 acres,followed by Sindh with 27,874acres, Balochistan with 13,693acres, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with9,692 acres, and Azad Jammu andKashmir with only 577 acres. Thisway the WWF tally of forest landconversion becomes 151,548acres.BeneficiariesWhile forest lands have been givento various governmentdepartments, some civilians andnon-government/commercialorganisations also have got theforest land allotted in their name inan exchange.Some of the beneficiaries in Sindhinclude Pir Syed Shah MardanShah, Pir S. Sibghatullah Rashdi,Pir Syed Nadir Ali Shah, AbdullahFakir, Kamat Fakir, SyedMohammad Qaim Shah, GhulamNabi, Ghluam Rasool andAbdullah Sanjarani, ChaudhryMohammad Ashraf and GhulamHaider Ghalio.The government and privateorganisations having got the forestland in and around Karachi includethe Defence Housing Authority,which has been provided with thelargest chunk of over 11,500 acres,the city district government ofKarachi for garbage dump, SirSyed University of Engineeringand Technology, Barrette HodgsonEducation Institution, DawoodCollege of Engineeringand Technology,Shaheed Zulfikar AliBhutto Institute ofScienceandTechnology, Aga KhanUniversity, SindhMadressah, and Indus ValleySchool of Arts and Architecture.In Punjab, the people andorganisations having obtained theforest land include H. SyedMohammad Ishaq, Malik Khalidfor chairlift in Bansra Gali, BrigMohammad Aslam Khan forShangrila Hotel in Murree, PearlContinental Hotel in Bhurban,Redco for hotel in Bhurban,Youths Hostel in Bhurban, ZafarIqbal for houses in Murree, forchairlift in Patriata, InstaPhone,Journalists Housing Colony, andPunjab Government ServantsHousing Foundation.In Balochistan, a CNG companyand SOS children’s village havebeen given forest land in Quetta.In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,beneficiaries include MohammadPervaiz Khan and PMA hut inNaran; Pakistan Youth Hostel inSharan, Hotel Pine Park ComplexinShogran.Over 60,000 hectares of forests lostsince independence: reportDawn Islamabad, June 26, 2010By A ReporterISLAMABAD, June 25: Morethan 61,000 hectares of forestshave been converted into nonforestland since independence ofthe country and the decrease inforest area continues due tovarious factors including weakregulatory enforcements, theWWF-Pakistan has said.The recent report, launched by theWorld Wide Fund for Nature –Pakistan chapter, said: “It wasshocking to observe that Pakistanhas only 2.5 per cent area coveredwith forest and the rate ofdeforestation is alarming.”The report titled, ‘Conversion ofForests to Non- Forest Uses inPakistan’ said Punjab took the leadfor conversion of forests into otheruses compared to the remainingprovinces in the country.The report was presented byChairman of the ScientificCommittee of WWF-Pakistan DrKausar Abdullah Malik at theNational Press Club here onFriday.Dr Malik said Pakistan had thehighest rate of deforestation inAsia and the rapid deforestationcontinued at the rate of 2.1 percent annually.Other panelists present on theoccasion were Inspector Generalof Forests, Ministry ofPakistan Forest Digest Vol. 1, No. 1, April – June, 2010