Harvesting, forest fires, and insect infestations do not count as deforestation because the affected areas will eventually grow back. However, with fast diminishing forest cover, CO2 is accumulated in the environment but not utilized which is warming the globe. Experts have often related the fall and decline of past civilisations to environmental degradation resulting from deforestation. But Pakistan has only 4% forest which is rapidly being destroyed leading to rise in CO2.” Dr Baig told, “Therefore we can expect frequent heatwaves in Pakistan due to deforestation and less land vegetation.”, A report compiled by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) factors deforestation and dwindling green spaces in assisting heat waves. Moving forward: solutions to deforestation. According to Saleem, timber mafia has already devoured vast tracts of forests in Pakistan and constitutes biggest threat to the existing forest resources. The area under forests in Pakistan is only 4.5% and many agricultural scientists stated that it should be almost 25-30% of total … We are already having a terrible water crises where people don’t even have water to drink. Tree planting campaigns should be initiated on a national level at regular intervals of time and more than once in a year. July 18, 2017. 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. Coastal communities were involved in planting operations and maintenance of the mangroves’ young plantations. Moreover, we must replace flower pots with hedges, trees and shrubs as the stagnant water in pots becomes a breeding place for mosquitos. 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. Anybody call for specific solution at … Air Pollution. Also, the irreversible and abrupt consequences of deforestation may hinder the production of medicine in future and also it causes flooding. This route is called its home range where it feels safe and knows its surroundings. Deforestation is a serious threat to our world despite it taking the backseat to more talked about issues. After their scheming is done, they are planting palm trees for the beautification purposes? I deeply feel there is a dire need to educate people about our forest, ecology and trees. “Developmental plans need proper environment consideration. They are built at the cost of cutting trees and vegetation. As a consequence to deforestation and changing land use patterns, the most critically affected ecosystems of Pakistan are: During 1958 to 1968, Ayub Khan’s main emphasis was the on green Pakistan that means plantation of quick growing trees, prioritizing Eucalyptus. Question: Any message you’d like to give? The area under forests in Pakistan is only 4.5% and many agricultural scientists stated that it should be almost 25-30% of total area of any country. 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. According to an estimate, 39,000 hectares of forests are lost every year. Since we have an invasion of mosquitos, 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. He said, “Goral goat which is native of Margalla hills has completely vanished from the Margalla hills.”. 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. Neem is indigenous tree, which is rapidly being uprooted in Pakistan for the nexus of reasons while the world is adopting it as a sword to combat climate change. But in practice, it has fallen short. Scholarships, Global UGRAD – Global Undergraduate Exchange Program USA, Pakistan Council for Science and Technology, Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources. 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 Sindh and Balochistan coast. Fishermen catch these species and earn enough money.”, added Sandeelo. Your email address will not be published. While in Arabia, they are rapidly shifting to Neem trees (Azadirachta indica) which are mosquito repellant, extremely beneficial for curing rashes and carries medicinal properties. These chemical ridden insecticides etc have the ability to annihilate natural insect predators like lady bird and fireflies. In search of quality food, it will be more exposed to the predator or human settlement. Rainforest depletion in Pakistan • In 1990’s 4% of the total area of Pakistan was woody and then it reduce to 2.2% by 2010. Deforestation.. 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). Deforestation is one of the environmental problems that Pakistan and all over the world is confronting, and this is getting worse as the population and economy of the country are expanding. Our foresters did thoughtless aerial seeding of Paper Mulberry to green up the Capital afterwards Capital development Authority (CDA) started planting Bottle brush trees, the worst plant for pollen allergies. 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. Humans follow the food chain as secondary consumers so they indirectly consume pesticides too which militates against their health. Deforestation is a serious problem for every country these days. It is equally important to introduce alternative livelihoods among forest communities and provide them alternative energy sources for cooking and heating. Solutions. Apart from that, pine trees were planted near Jinnah avenue in Islamabad but they’ve dried up. This article is jointly authored by Rabia Shafqat* and Manan Aslam**- *Student at University of Management and Technology (UMT), Sialkot**Faculty Member at Muhammad Nawaz Shareef University of Agriculture (MNSUAM), Multan. The intervention of motorway in the home range has shortened the wild cat’s habitat. Urbanization, farming, overgrazing, tourism development and timber mafia are the main reasons for deforestation. The underlying causes of deforestation, identified are as follows: 1. Principally, a rural community mainly depends on the forests to access water, medicine, fuel as well as for food items. Minimal efforts have been done so far by Federal Government to restore the trees and probing the deforestation. These societies are depriving labors from that cool shade as well. Take Action for a Deforestation-Free Future. Forests play a vivacious role in the economic development of any country by attracting tourists, improving GDP as well as foreign exchange earnings. Work in this sector has been going on for 40 years now and the government have achieved great progress. Solutions to Deforestation. The focus has to be the indigenous plants, like ever green popple tree and neem, that are really good for skin and their seeds are the best pesticide as well fertilizer in the world. They basically grow in cold weather but Islamabad weather is not conducive to their growth. What I found out was horrendous, broken roads, no greenery and all the lovely forest gone. Consequences of deforestation are very serious, one of them affect biodiversity ultimately leading to depletion of ozone layer. The government and other environmental protection agencies should play an imperative role by giving an attention on the cutting of forests and make serious efforts to overcome the problem. 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. These marine nurseries help local communities generate revenue apart from fishing. In 1996, I became member of Asif Ali Zardari environmental committee, I was asked to monitor forestation of Pakistan. However, Sindh is a swamp area making it difficult to build a railway line unless those swamps are removed. Due to settlements, whole area and its natural environment vanished completely. Deforestation: The human and economic costs, Environmentalist Helga Catrina Ahmad explains how the invasive alien species of plants are causing environmental harm to. After becoming the member of committee I again visited Swat in 1996. When the tree plantation season started, we had grey bearded foresters to guide us in understanding the flora and fauna of the forest, and for months, we used to spend our time there. Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to utilize the land or trees. Effects Of Head Trauma From Intimate Partner Violence Largely Unrecognized, Samsung Display Showcased Under-Screen Camera Tech For Notebooks, Cell companies mull tariff plans after 3G tech, SCA demands Rs100b in the next budget for agri-sector, Fawad To Initiate Scholarship Program For Schoolchildren, Three International Scholarships Deadline Is Near: HEC, A Vibrant Hub With Over 100 Fully Funded Ph.D. 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. “At first the ideology was to cut trees for livelihood but now the paradigm shift is occurring. Just avoid exotic plants that don’t belong here because firstly it’ll help counter pollen allergy and water crisis. Take a closer look at deforestation here. 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. In Holland, whenever mating season of frogs approach a particular road is blocked for some time by authorities. Green methods of production and utilization of resources can immeasurably reduce deforestation. 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. We can’t apply one size fits all formula to this”, he added. Disputes, pollution, deforestation — what it’s like to live near CPEC project in Pakistan China insists that BRI projects, of which CPEC is the centerpiece, are strictly vetted for environmental impacts and meant to benefit the locals. Usually, the poor forest soil which assists to produce a layer of rich material, may be that type of land is productive only for a few years but finally, it will be lost and require fertilization and nutrients. The upsurge in housing societies and development projects in Pakistan has accelerated deforestation in the country. Deforestation: Consequences & Solutions. 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. I think they carry a lot of symbolic significance, perhaps our elite want to show that we are “arabun kay champchay” (sychophant of arabs). Captcha loading...In order to pass the CAPTCHA please enable JavaScript. It was therefore surprising for me to find that in underdeveloped country children did not knew the nomenclature of trees, nor could they identify local herbs. The significant number of ruinous illnesses cure can be found right now in various trees & herbs, but might be in future deforestation may remove everlasting the ability of something to discover which could be benefited for the human race in the coming years. March 18, 2018. It is the conversion of forested land to non-forested land by humans. Thereafter, farmers later called me and said I was not needed there anymore. Mangroves- In the process of rehabilitation. 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. Deforestation in pakistan 1. ... Pakistan receives solar radiation with great intensity about 20MJ. 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. Solutions.• Pakistan 3. Even in areas where forested land is suitable for agriculture, replacing forests with monoculture crop or tree farms opens up the economic risk of failure from weather, pests or disease. Investment in the forest sector is critical to restore and manage Pakistan’s forest ecosystem. 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 farmers interests. Therefore, in Pakistan, deforestation is a very serious ecological issue. Deforestation 2. Causes.3. 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.”. As a nation, we have to face a lot of problems and damages due to floods. Dengue and malaria has infected the population. Tweet. We cried and prayed at that time so our elders decided that we should get involve in collecting herbs, seeds, nuts and mushrooms etc. Consumption for accelerating livestock and crops deforestation encourages higher levels of water use. 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. And which trees were planted? This disturbance will not only distort the food web of animals but also affect the quality of human lives. 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. Gilgit-Baltistan could apply other alternative energy sources in order to curb deforestation in the sense of local efficiency. Forests play a vivacious role in the economic development of any country by attracting tourists, improving GDP as well as foreign exchange earnings. Wetland consist of land areas that are filled with water either fresh, salt or somewhere in between. Trees play a vital role in protecting our environment in several ways so we should protect the forest: The best way to stop deforestation is replanting. Thus, affecting not only the ecology but also the local economy. Question: When was the first drive to increase the forest cover for the Islamabad? Hence, we must stop wasting drinking water on plants. This phenomenon is called greenhouse effect. 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. They are an asset for the ecosystem as they serve in water filtration, storm protection, flood control and recreation as stated in WWF website. According to Dr Ahmad Pheasants on Margalla hills and white headed ducks have most recently become extinct. “Well-established forest of longer time is more efficient (in WUE) as compared to more recent plantations. 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. This paper assesses the present forest wood consumption rate by 6000 brick kilns established in the country and its implications in terms of deforestation and emission of greenhouse gases. “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.”. This tree laden plateau with rich biodiversity and temperate temperature attracted General Ayub Khan to this place. 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”. With one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, Pakistan’s forests are in urgent need of protection and conservation. 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