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

SDPISustainable Development Policy InstituteCultivation of Chinese fruit plant “Hep Haffe”should be promoted: GovernorAwais Ghani briefed about Chinese fruit; Hep Heffe is used for juiceand as remedy for jaundiceDaily Aaj, Abbottabad, May 12, 2010Peshawar (Aaj News) ChairmanPakistan Agricultural ResearchCouncil Dr Zafar Altaf metgovernor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwain Peshawar and briefed him aboutthe cultivation of Chinese fruit tree“hep heffe” He asked thegovernor to support the cultivationof the tree on commercial level.Vice Chancellor of KhyberPakhtunkhwa agricultureuniversity Dr Khan BahadurMarwat was also present in themeeting. The plant has alreadybeen introduced in the MalakandUniversity.This plant has medicinalproperties. It is not only used forjuices but is also a remedy forjaundice and high blood pressure.The governor agreed to theproposal that cultivation of thisplant can bring improvement in theclimate and life of the people. Helauded the agricultural universityfor its plan to cultivate this fruit on40 acres of land.Trees, Taliban and the militaryDaily Azadi Swat 27 May 2010Dr Sultan-e-Rome (Swat)Trees are a blessing and a gift ofGod. Life of humans and animalsdepends on trees. Whether it isfood or shelter, whether it is smallhuts or huge mansions, whether itis fuel for cooking meals or forkeeping the homes warm in wintersomehow or the other we needtrees. Trees are beauty of the earthand also ensure survival of livingbeings. Swat valley which isfamous for its natural beauty sinceancient times has a variety of trees.Though trees were being cut downmercilessly at one time but theruler of Swat Mian\Abdul Wadood aka Bacha Sahiband Miangul Jahanzeb known aswali sahib took such measures thatnew trees were planted in the areaand cutting of trees was stopped.There was a time when no onecould prune the trees in his housewithout the official permission.Anyone doing this withoutpermission had to pay heavy fines.Later this law was slightly relaxedand in 1960 an order was issuedthat the owners can cut down thetrees within the boundaries of theirhouses or orchards. The ownershave a right to cut down fruit treesbut shady trees cannot be cut downunless a replacement trees isplanted on the side two or threeyears ahead of cutting a tree.Besides that there were certainrules and limitations on pruning oftrees and anyone violating thoserules was fined. Anyone whohappened to cut the trees whichwere not allowed by the authoritieshad to pay the fine and also returnthe wood to the government. Thesituation totally changed after thedecision by the government ofPakistan to merge Swat into itsprovince. Laws were not followedand due to the violation of lawsforests vanished in Swat veryrapidly. However the people ofSwat started planting more treeson their lands. That is why whilethe mountains in Swat are withouttrees the plains are full of trees.Unfortunately such activities werestarted in Swat during the past fewyears that the people of the areafaced many hardships. Trees andforests of the valley were alsoaffected by the situation.Swat and the people of Swat borethe brunt of this dangerous game.It was in the presence of themilitary that the humans and treesof Swat were being slaughtered bythe Taliban. The hardshipcontinued for these elements evenafter the removal of the Talibanfrom the scene because themilitary officials ordered cuttingdown of trees off and on. Eitherthe residents of the area wereasked to cut the trees or thesoldiers used to cut thosemercilessly. The military officialswere taking these steps in violationof the Islamic rules of war and alsoin violation of the protection ofenvironment act 1997.The trees which were planted andgrown by the people of Swat arenot only an asset but contribute agreat deal to the environment. It ishard to understand why thisvaluable asset is disliked by themilitary authorities. Why trees arebeing slaughtered. This was beingdone by the Taliban but now it hasPakistan Forest Digest Vol. 1, No. 1, April – June, 2010