January 20, 2008	Sunday	Muharram 10, 1429

PESHAWAR, Jan 19: The government has no authentic and verifiable data to prove its claim that 11.78 per cent area was covered with forests in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan, it is learnt.

The tribal territory comprising seven agencies and six Frontier Regions is spread over 27,220 square kilometers, out of which the government claims that 11.78 per cent area is covered with forest though it has no annual mapping for the same, official sources told Dawn.

An official said that forestry was the most neglected sector in the country particularly in the tribal areas and the respective governments and local communities never gave any priority to it. “No law exists to protect natural forests. Even Forest Act 1976 has not been extended to Fata so far,” he remarked. Out of Rs6.6 billion Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the tribal area for 2007-08 the government had allocated Rs391 million for forests including Rs295.641 for 51 ongoing schemes and Rs96.154 million for new schemes. Two projects are financed by foreign donors.

The dilemma with the forestry sector in the tribal region, according to the concerned officials, is that existing forests belonged to the local tribes. Local people cut trees for fire and construction purposes as well as earn livelihoods by selling timbers in the market.

On the other hand government and the political administration cannot ban cutting of trees. Fata Forest Directorate can carry out plantation only with the consent of the local communities.

Officials said that proper maps were not available with Fata Forest Directorate to provide authentic data about the existing forest covered area in the tribal region. Few years ago, they said, a survey was conducted only in the North and South Waziristan regions, but the authorities could not carry it out in the remaining five agencies and six Frontier Regions.

Citing major reasons for the deforestation in the tribal region, they said that continuous cutting of trees, incidents of fire eruption, grazing, prolong dry spell and non availability of alternate energy resources were posing threat to forest resources and the concerned directorate was helpless to restrict illegal harvesting.

The large scaled deforestation has caused degradation of environment in the region. It has led to the scarcity of fuel wood and timber in the area. The price of 40 kilogramme fuel wood is Rs240 in Miramshah. Some wild species in the area are also under threat because of large scale harvesting and inadequate germination process. Conservators said that pine-nut forests in Shawal region of the North Waziristan were under threat because of harvesting. This wild species grow only in Shawal.

Fata Forest Directorate has chalked out an ambitious plan to increase the forest covered area to 15 per cent by the year 2015. The eight-year plan, official said, required more than Rs4 billion and for this purpose Fata Secretariat would negotiate with donor agencies to obtain funds. Senior officials in the directorate are sceptical about the release of such a huge amount by foreign donors from the plan.

Fata Forests Conservator Afsarullah Wazir told Dawn that main objective of the eight years plan was to stop forests degradation in collaboration with the land owners and right holders and introduction of bio physical measures to minimise flash floods and land erosion in the region.