CHITRAL: The mysterious disease that has caused drying up of thousands of deodar trees in Chitral Gol National Park has not attracted the attention of wildlife department during the last 10 years.

Talking to Dawn here on Tuesday, a number of residents of the area said that the dried up national trees (deodar) were seen in every part of the park but its management was making no effort to diagnose the disease to eradicate it.

They said that the disease affected the national park, which housed the national tree, national animal (markhor) and national bird (chakor). Any delay in putting brakes on the disease could spell doom not only for the valuable deodar trees but also afflict other important high-altitude species, they added.

A conservationist working with a non-governmental organisation, requesting anonymity, said that the disease could affect the rich biodiversity in the national park area if effective preventive and curative measures were not taken.

Official denies prevalence of disease, cites shortage of water as the reason

He said that the process of drying up of trees had started 10 years ago. The trees older than 20 years were affected by the disease while it was observed that at first the upper part of the trees got dried, he added.

The conservationist said that the in the first stage, the needles turned yellowish and their size and the crown started withering in the next stage. “Finally the bark also peels off the drying tree,” he added.

Discarding the presence of fungus as the reason, he said that that no trace of fungus could be traced out. “Fungus attacks the roots while the drying up of the trees from the top also negates it,” he said.

He said that 35 acres of the area, specifically from north to west, had the affected trees while the park was divided into many patches in which many had completely dried up trees. “In most of the patches, trees are in different stages of withering,” he added.

The conservationist stressed the need for a thorough survey of the forests in and around the afflicted patches in the national park to assess the extent of the spread of the disease and temporary isolation of the infected areas.

Hussain Ahmed, the chairman of Chitral Gol National Park Association (CGNPA), the umbrella organisation of 12 village conservation committees, expressed his grave concern over drying up of deodar trees in the park.

He said that a number of resolutions were passed in the CGNPA meetings, asking the wildlife department to take measures to control the mysterious diseases in the park but to no avail.

He said that drying up of chalghuza pine, a species of the deodar, inflicted economic loss on the local people as they used to collect hundreds of thousands of kilograms of chalghuza every year which was in high demand in the market.

Mr Ahmed said that the process of drying up of the trees had started long ago in the park, which encompassed an area of 77.5 kilometres and it was a pity that the wildlife department was still indifferent to it.

Mohammad Buzurg, the divisional forest officer, when contacted, admitted the drying up of trees in the park and cited drought as its reason.

He said that drying up of trees could not be attributed to any anatomic disease. Shortage of required moisture to the roots of trees was the only cause of drying up of the deodar trees, he added.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2015

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