Given that Pakistan has one of the fastest rates of deforestation in the Asian region, any book on its dwindling forest resources would be welcome and Forests, Livelihoods and Power Relations in North-West Pakistan, a new and impartial book that analyses the unsustainable use of forestry resources in the country, fits the bill perfectly. The focus of the book is on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), since around 17 to 20 per cent of its land mass still remains under the cover of forests. The exact percentage is in question since the Pakistan Forest Institute in Peshawar claims that the forest cover has increased in recent years in KP while others say it is in fact depleting rapidly. At any rate, the book, which has been published by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), identifies and analyses some of the main factors responsible for the depletion of natural forests in KP.

At the launch ceremony one of the co-authors, Dr Urs Geiser (Senior Researcher, Department of Geography; University of Zurich); highlighted a number of issues that have contributed to the unsustainable management of forests in KP. “In reality, the forests of Pakistan are disappearing,” he stated. The challenges he listed include the issues of supply and demand, (Pakistan needs timber; there is a huge demand and little supply and despite the 1990 ban on cutting trees, the market finds a way through the timber mafia), the legal dimension (ownership/rights; rights of ownership need to be clarified and land tenure arrangements addressed) and the fact that the forest department needs support in its endeavours. Then there is the issue of checks and balances in the system — there is a need to monitor what is being done. Citizens should demand accountability from the government and insist that the existing laws are made operational.

Lastly, there is the role of the donors in the forestry sector; the government needs to bring all the stakeholders together, devise the rules of the game and monitor them. Should donors interfere with a set agenda? Dr Geiser was positive about the role of the forest department, explaining that “I think the forest department has the capabilities and capacity to do this; after all they have all the years of experience working here”. He was confident that the forest department could learn from the past. He was, however, wary about the KP government’s new “Green Growth Initiative”, under which 35,000 hectares of new forest are to be planted each year (around 2bn trees to be planted in the province in five years). Dr Geiser pointed out that there is a difference between planting saplings and the survival rate of plants. “How many saplings manage to survive?” he asked. “The challenge is to look at it, and determine why the survival rate is so low in Pakistan.”

Dr Abid Qayyium Suleri, Executive Director of SDPI and another co-author of the book said that the major driver of deforestation in the country was the cutting of trees by the timber mafia and, to some extent, by the local people (for both timber and firewood). He also pointed out that neighbouring Afghanistan’s economy is ‘dollarised’ and once the USA withdraws from the country, its economy will totter and that will have an adverse impact on the forests of Pakistan (more cutting of trees by the timber mafia that has a nexus with the Taliban).

Hakeem Shah, who is the Director General of the Pakistan Forest Institute, highlighted the need of having an integrated approach. “The NGOs, the local community and the forest department all need to work together,” he pointed out. As opposed to Dr Geiser, he was very positive about Imran Khan’s “tsunami plantation”, adding that: “The Green Growth Initiative would make it possible for the provincial government to increase the forest cover from 20 to 22pc in KP”.

While giving an overview of the book, Dr Babar Shahbaz, Visiting Fellow, SDPI and Assistant Professor at the University of Agriculture in Faisalabad (and yet another co-author of the book) said that it goes “beyond more traditional explanations of deforestation such as population pressure or ignorance.” He described how the huge demand and supply gap puts tremendous pressure on forests and how inefficient state institutions and weak alternative institutions provide the timber mafia with an open access to forests.

The insights presented emerged through a research study conducted by the Pakistan Research Group of the Switzerland-based National Center for Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South. Other researchers with expertise in the area of forests like Nasir Mehmood, Inspector General Forests of the Government of Pakistan, have also contributed to the book. Let’s hope that the book is not placed on the shelves of government offices to gather dust but is actually read and its recommendations carried out.