STAR SECTOR 5: FOREST
Imagine a natural resource that is absolutely essential to maintain the ecological balance. A resource that is ensuring a healthy environment and also providing livelihoods to thousands of families. And if nurtured with care, this potential resource can lead to real sustainable development. Know that we are talking about the forest sector in FATA!
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Over the years, our forests have been a key contributor of providing livelihoods and preserving the environment. Also, we have faced several challenges to sustain the existing forest cover, develop the capacities for better forest management and provide alternative livelihood opportunities to the associated people. But with these challenges come new opportunities, and that is what we are aiming for.
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Chief Conservator FATA
The forests in FATA provide vital goods and services for people and make a significant contribution to the tribal economy by providing livelihoods to them particularly in the remote areas. Forests are major reserves for FATA's biodiversity and provide important ecological functions and ecosystem services including timber and food. They have also contributed through other means such as water retention, flood mitigation, soil fortification, habitat preservation and environment protection.
Forest related interventions formally took off with the extension of services of the Forest Directorate Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to FATA. The subsequent establishment of the FATA Forest Circle in 1991 led to forest management and development activities gaining forward momentum. Today, the affairs of forest sector in FATA are governed by the Directorate of Forest FATA which is headed by the Conservator Forest and supported by Divisional Officers in all the agencies. KEY FACTS ABOUT FORESTS IN FATA According to rough estimates, forests are spread over approximately 215,345 hectares (532,129 acres) or 7.98 per cent of the total area. Natural forest covers approximately 126,424 hectares (312,401 acres), while afforestation has been carried out over 88,424 hectares (218,500 acres). South Waziristan Agency has large forests, including Pine Nut and Walnut trees. Pine Nut is one of the important sources of income in several forested areas of Shakai, Angoor Adda and Mehsud regions of South Waziristan Agency. The landscape of Pine forest covers the area from Shakai to Angoor Adda along with the border of Afghanistan, where around 20% of the forest comprises of Pine trees. Forests consist mainly of conifers including Chilgoza, Kail, Deodar and Chir. Oak is the dominant broadleaved variety with associated categories such as Ber, Gurgura, Neem, Amaltas and Walnut. Directorate of Forest FATA is working on the first-ever forest legislation which will result in the regulation of forest management and use. This will not only improve the overall sustainability of the forest cover in FATA but will also help in expanding the forest cover through the region. Land settlement has been successfully carried out in Kurram Agency under which usage and protection of forest resources are conducted. Plans are underway to carry out land settlement in other parts of FATA having significant forest covers.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR FOREST SECTOR DEVELOPMENT IN FATA Tribesmen in FATA have demonstrated awareness and interest in carrying out forest management related measures. This also provides
opportunities for public-private ventures in the sector to expand forestry initiatives. Availability of basic physical assets and the high
interest of local communities have made it more than likely that forestry promotion and related activities can be conducted successfully.
Through innovative approaches, high-value non-timber products, such as Mushrooms, Mazri and Chilgoza can be cultivated to generate substantial revenue as an alternative to income sources which are contributing to the depletion of forests. By reducing dependency on timber and fuel, these measures will contribute sustainability to efficient management of forest resources in the long run. The local tradition of collective resource ownership and decision making can be used as a major strength in developing the forestry sector. Through community driven forest development approaches, it can be ensured that issues of unequal distribution of benefits and individual land rights are resolved without any conflict.
Economic valuation of FATA forestry products and services needs to be carried out for tapping into commercial prospects. Besides improving the overall business outlook of the region, such an initiative can also educate the people of FATA about the actual worth of their resources to make them more sensible about the efficient management and use. Source: FATA Sustainable Development Plan 2007-15
A number of challenges are also being addressed by the Directorate of Forest FATA for sustainable forest management and development. Deforestation has occurred due to high dependency on forest resources and unregulated use at household levels. For fuel and timber, the demand graph is ever increasing and monitoring is difficult due to the absence of any legal mechanism. However, the last few years have seen improvements in that context due to enhanced focus, social forestry and livelihood development.
FROM CHOPPING DOWN TO SOARING HIGH Bilal Mehsud is a renowned nuts and fruits businessman in the Shakai area of South Waziristan Agency and he attributes his success to the high rise Pine trees that he takes good care of. South Waziristan is known throughout the country for the grandeur of its Pine trees. However, due to awareness issues and low number of livelihood opportunities, people were drawn into cutting these precious trees down against petty gains. Bilal has, on the other hand, concentrated his focus on growing Pine Nuts which are then being sold in Peshawar where the demand always remains staggering. Taking inspiration from his success, many other people of the area followed him in growing Pine Nuts which has had positive implications for the local economy and the livelihood prospects. The Pine forests of FATA are changing lives and livelihoods for the people, and they are nowhere near finished as yet.
PRODUCTION ESTIMATES OF PINE NUTS (CHILGOZA) IN SOUTH WAZIRISTAN AGENCY, FATA Total conifer forests
315292 acres
Assuming 70% area under Chilgoza
218000 acres
Estimating number of trees per acre
50 trees
Total number of trees
10.90 million
Assuming productive trees to be 40%
04.36 million
Production level per tree
03 kilograms
Total production volume
13080 tons
Cost per kilogram
PKR 1000
Total income from production
13080 million Source: Directorate of Forest FATA