FORESTS

Definitions:
 Forest: Continues areas of land dominated by trees.
 Protective Forests: Mainly man-made forests that are used for the protection and revival of the
soil, animals, climate etc. They are usually linear, and include amenity planting trees along
roads, in parks, and along railway lines. They have Very little commercial value; many of them
don’t supply valuable species of wood.
 Productive Forests: They are mainly natural forests which have trees in a higher density and
have a forest canopy which is closed. They have great commercial value and are used for
extracting timber and other products.
 Ecology: The study of organisms and how they interact with the environment around
them.
 Decomposition: The process by which dead organic substances are broken down into
simpler organic or inorganic matter.
 Humus: The organic component of soil, formed by the decomposition of leaves. It helps
maintain the fertility of the soil and ensures food supply to millions of people.
 Recreation: Activity done for enjoyment when one is not working.
 Irrigated Plantation:
 Aridity: The state of being very dry and without enough rainfall for plants.
 Edaphic Factors: The properties of soil that effect the diversity of living organisms, living in the
soil.
 Sustainability: the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.
 Tropical cyclones: Cyclones over tropical oceans.
 Estuaries: An arm of the sea at the mouth of a river.
 Ephedra: A medicinal shrub.
 Overgrazing: excessive grazing which causes damage to grassland.
 Soil erosion: Erosion caused by wind or water on soil.
 Silt: Sediments carried by river water.
 Terracing: A method of reducing and preventing soil erosion by cutting or building steps into
steep hillsides, edged with bunds.
 Bunds: mud or stone walls edging terracing.
 Contour Ploughing: A method of reducing and preventing soil erosion by planting crops parallel
to the contour side of the hill.
 Strip farming: When two or more crops are grown together in the same field.
 Snow line: The boundary between a snow-covered and snow-free surface.
Importance of Forests:
1) Ecological point of view:
 Help maintain balance in the environment.
 Protect soil.
 Check pollution and purify air.
 Keep environment pleasant by lowering and maintaining its temperature and providing shade.
 Prevent land sliding and avalanches.
 Regulate water supply to the nearby reservoirs.
 Clean water.
 Prevent floods or decrease their damage.
 Stop EMOTIONAL DAMAGE!
 Help maintain fertility of soil.
 Provide habitat and food for organisms.
2) Commercial Point of view:
 Provide raw material.
 Timber
 Fuel wood.
 Paper
 Pharmaceutical products.
 Recreational value
 Tourism
 Employment in the forest department.

The type and distribution of forest is closely linked with altitude!

In areas above snow line there is hardly any vegetation. Alpine forests grow just below the snow line
from 1000- 4000 meters.

Coniferous forests are found below 1000 meters, and only irrigated forests have good species of wood.

Types of forests:
1) Alpine Forests:
 Chitral, Dir, Kohistan
 stunted growth (less sunlight and low temp),
spread out roots on thin soil to absorb
nutrients and firm grip, normally upward
branches to attain more sunlight.
 Used for fuel wood only.
 Above 1000- 4000 meters below snow line.
2) Coniferous Forests:
 Northern areas, Murree, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Balochistan Mountains, Quetta, KPK.
 Evergreen forests, low temp, conical shape, sloping branches which stop accumulation of
snow, small thick needle like leaves to check excessive transpiration, less leaf fall provide
less humus.
 Timber, environmental protection, conserve soil and help in checking floods, good breeding
and conservation center foe birds, wild life, tourism attraction, scenic beauty.
 Below 1000 meters.

3) Tropical Thorn Forests:

 Punjab plains, Sindh plains, Southern and western Balochistan.
 Low height, forest dominated by thorny hard wood, deep roots to search for water, scanty
vegetation due to water shortage.
 They are used as fire wood.

4) Sub Tropical Srub Forests:

 Hills and foothills of Himalayas, sulaiman and kirthar ranges, Peshawar, Waziristan, kohat
above makran coast.
 Sub-tropical broad leafed and tropical thorny species.
 Watershed protection, firewood, grazing purpioses.

5) Riverine or Bela Forest:

 River Indus and its tributaries.
 Linear plantation on the banks of a river, high yielding commercial hardwood species.
 Provide 2 important wood shisum and babul which are used in furniture making.
6) Mangrove forest:
 2 types Rhizophora and Laguncularia.
 Rhizophora are found in salt swamps and Laguncularia are found in both salt
and fresh but mainly salt and near the end on a river.
 Coastal areas of Sindh, coastal areas of balochistan.
  Broad leaves with dip tips, leathery texture to minimize transpiration, low
trees and shrub grow on the tidal mud flats, spread into sea water and
provide protection and a nursery for the fish, general height is 3 meters but
can reach 6-8, dumping of industrial and agricultural waste has caused
stunted growth for the mangroves in the Indus and hub delta, limited number
of species in polluted waters.
 Firewood, timber, breeding ground for fish, food for livestock and camels,
fallen leaves serve as nutrients for the marine life there, protect coastline
from erosion, prevent sea water from mixing in with the river water, stop huge
waves that could cause harm to the coast, protect against earth quakes and
tsunamis by absorbing the shock.

7) Irrigated Forest:
 Changa Manga near Lahore, Wanbachran in Thal are, Chichawatni in Sahiwal
district and Ghulam Mohammad and Guddu Barrages.
 Economically important species are planted in large blocks of the same
species, Shishum Babul and Eucalyptus are normally preferred.
 Timber, firewood, shade when in linear plantation.

Irrigated Plantation
Advantages:
 Provide timber for construction and fencing, firewood
 Leaves provide food and act as a fertilizer for the animals and plants.
 Transpiration helps cool the environment and also help bring more rainfall.
 Provide shade/shelter/for people and animals
 Provide a nesting ground for birds
 Control surface runoff and prevent soil erosion.
 Provide employment in the forest department.
 Reduce water loss and helps purify river water by trapping the silt I their roots.
 Eucalyptus trees can reduce waterlogging and salinity.
 Act as a shield against heavy winds.

Disadvantages:
 Planting forest required a lot of investment
 Maintenance costs a lot
 Long term investment and can take 5- 10 years to fully develop
 The land that could have been used for industrial planning and growth is used for trees.
  Illegal cutting of trees is difficult to monitor.
 Forest fires cause a lot of damage especially if the trees are closely together, as this help the fire
to spread quickly.
 Need constant supply of irrigated water, hence they are an extra burden on the water supply
which is limited.

Determinants;
Forests in Pakistan range from Alpine to Mangrove. The density and type of forest is closely relates to
the amount of rainfall, temp., altitude, and the type of soil.

Altitude= Area with higher altitudes have less and less oxygen and warm water, hence many different
types of forest are found there eg alpine and coniferous.

Aridity= if the climate and the weather is too arid dry and hot then there will be different kinds of trees
with special features eg thorn and scrub

Precipitation= the amount of rainfall also effects the trees. Rainforest have a lot of annual rainfall and
only trees which require that much water or can survive in it are found there eg coniferous in the
northern mountains can only grow there because of rainfall.

Amount of Nutrients available= if the soil has more nutrient then the trees can grow bigger and
stronger like hulk except he used a drug….

Edaphic factors (type of soil) = if the soil is under water like the case for mangrove then diff trees
otherwise other trees.

Mangrove Forests and salt water:

How do they survive in the salt waters?

They have strong roots that branch out and go deep into the swampy waters. Those stems act as filters
to filter most of the salt. Some salt still manages to get through but the mangrove tissues have a high
tolerance and can remain undamaged with taking a little bit of salt. The excess salt is carried onto the
surface of the leaves. The salt is then easily cleaned off the leaves by wind or rainfall. These mechanisms
have evolved into mangroves like iron man’s suit into the war machine suit.

Conservation and sustainable development of Mangrove

forests:
Because of that dams and barrages, there is a low discharge of water from the river and into the sea.
Even this little discharged water has little silt as it has been mostly purified by the dams. This drops the
quality of the silt that reaches the river delta/ mouth. (The silt came from the mountains and the plains).
This silt along with the supply of fresh water from the river contributes to the fertility and the expansion
of the growth and sustainability of the mangrove forest and marine habitat.

Mangrove resources have been vanishing fast due to many reasons such as the cutting o the forests and
sea water pollution by the industrial and agricultural waste. The removal of sand from the beaches also
contributes. Sand serves as a barrier against storm waves, thus protecting coastal residences and
commercial investments. , its removal means that the stormy waves will damage the coastal areas along
with the vegetation there. Sand is removed for reclamation of beaches for construction of buildings and
roads.

All of these are an added thread to the coastal areas, as a result the marine life is put into danger and
marine resources are vanishing fast. More over the communities are facing worst disasters like tropical
cyclones. The disappearance of mangrove means that the disasters will damage the coasts more as
there is nothing to block their attacks. The cyclones sweep away the houses like a blow dryer and the
tidal waves and rainstorms knock down the remaining trees and the destroy the coasts. The loss could
have been less with more mangroves and sand which are the natural protectors of coasts.

Mangroves also provide a breeding ground for the marine life, as well as protection and a nursery for
the shrimps and other young several species of fish. The fallen leaves provide nutrients and food and act
as a fertilizer for the beautiful habitat in the estuaries. They also provide honey.

IUCN has been working for the protection, conservation and rehabilitation of the ecosystem and its
resources. It started a project for planting the mangroves in coordination with the Sindh forest
department in the late 80s. However the work has not been able to start. It’s important that other
government related department and NGOs contribute to the protection and conservation and
rehabilitation of then mangroves and the coastal ecosystems.

Forest Products:
Forest products consist of:

Timber used for construction, fencing, paper, building, agricultural implements, furniture.

Fuel wood

Minor products

Resin. Mazri. Ephedra

Resin is used for varnishing

Mazri is used to make hats, baskets etc.

Ephedra is used in the pharmaceutical industry for medicine production.

Deforestation:
Causes

 Illegal cutting of trees

 Forest fires
 Floods destroy forests
 Forests are cut to grow agricultural products
  Urbanization
 For transport facilities the trees are cut to build road and railway tracks.
 Pakistan has a great wood based product market, hence trees are cut for timber which is used in
furniture making.
 Fuel wood
 Overgrazing

Effects of deforestation:
 No roots to hold the soil together, no interception

 Loss of wood for fuel may have to travel much further to find fuel.

 Less infiltration more surface run off.

 Less rainfall due to less transpiration.

 Siltation in reservoirs because soil exposed and washed into river.

 Flood, destruction farm land.

 Landslides and avalanches.

 Loss of scenery, beauty, leads to decrease in tourism so people lose their job

 Loss of habitats, species lost, extinction, more away, less biodiversity

 Less trees to take carbon dioxide so global warming

Solutions of Deforestation:
 Supplying irrigation facilities to the deforested areas. Commercial species of trees which grow rapidly
should be planted.

 By reserving land for fuel wood plantation only.

 Creating awareness among people about the hazards of deforestation.

 The supply of natural gas to the northern areas will reduce the rapid deforestation.

 By improving the techniques of raising nurseries and planting trees, deforested areas could be
regenerated in a short period.

 Forest management should try to find ways to make forestry more sustainable, example:

 Ensuring that logging companies only use selective cutting methods.

 Restricting the use of bull dozers and heavy destructive machineries in forest.
 Strict enforcement of forest laws.

 Enforcement of village/farm forestry programme.

 Urban forestry programs which include planting of trees along main roadside in open spaces.

Terracing
It is a technique to prevent flooding and lessen its damage. It involves cutting steps into the steep
hillsides and the front of each step is edged with mud or stone walls known as bunds. The bunds hold
back the water and prevent soil erosion and decrease the damage of floods.

Contour Ploughing:
It is a technique to prevent flooding and lessen its damage. It involves using trees, the natural barricade
against floods. Crops are planted on the contour side of the hill, these crops absorb the shock of the
floods and slow the water down.

Afforestation:

Afforestation is planting trees in a piece of land with no trees to turn it into a forest. (Badlands)

It consists of

 The selection of areas to be afforested

 The management of plantations
 The development of ways of using forest products

It involves spreading seeds of plants and trees collected from nurseries and spreading them throughout
the targeted land on which the forest is to be grown. The officers are responsible for the supply of seeds
and carrying out the process. They also have to motivate the locals and spread awareness about forests
and afforestation. They have to motivate local communities to plant the trees by providing them with
specialized education on afforestation and assisting them with forest management and the collection of
data on afforestation.

The government of Pakistan along with the NGOs have started a number of projects like:

 Tarbela/Mangle Watershed management Project= aims at the afforestation of privately owned

badlands in the catchment areas of the Tarbela and mangla dams. Soil conservation, the
establishment of orchids, and sustainable agricultural systems are the other main components
of the project.
 Rachna Doab Afforestation Project= started by the government
 Agha Khan Rural Support Programme= In Baltistan during 1995 started by AKRSP was successful
as a result of this programme 830000 trees were planted.
Sustainable Forestry:
 Sustainable forestry means that we should manage the forest resources in such a way as to ensure
that we will be able to obtain the things that we want from the forest on a regular basis, while
conserving the natural environment.

Sustainable forest management techniques

Community forestry:

1. Planting trees to fill, replace gaps in forest especially in vulnerable areas such as on slopes.

2. Use dead branches for fire wood rather than chopping trees down.

3. Educate and train local people into sustainable ways of use.

Agro Forestry:

1. Plant fast growing agricultural trees. Crops like oil palm and eucalyptus.

2. Maintain a complete forest cover to prevent soil damage.

3. The tree crops can be used to shelter smaller food crops.

4. Wood needed for other purposes such as fuel can be provided by planting patches of fast growing
eucalyptus trees.

Full forms:

WCED world commission on environment and development

NGO non-governmental organizations

IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature

WWF World Wildlife Fund inc