PESHAWAR, Oct 31: The demand-supply with regard to forest is alarming in the Frontier as the forest depletion is currently continuing unabated at a very fast pace.

This has been revealed in a survey of a German firm.

The contents of the said report appeared in the Strategy Paper on Private Sector Development for NWFP, compiled by the Provincial Industry Department.

A meeting to this effect was held in September this year. The meeting was attended by General Manager Smeda Sultan Tiwana, Bilal Khan of IUCN, MD Frontier Steel Nauman Wazir, Dr Faizul Bari of Forest Department and Pervaiz Sultan Khan of APCEA.

In its recommendations, the report suggested that the forest department and other agencies should support and subsidize gas cylinders and other means of alternative energy sources to overcome the problem.

It further suggested that arrangements against fuel wood and alternative energy plantation be implemented through the forest department. It also supported free movement of timber to Afghanistan through legal export.

The report contended that the forest department should encourage private sector to introduce market driven projects.

The report said that feasibility study was required for encouraging wood based cottage industries in the province.

The meeting observed that the revenue sources could be promoted by ten times through value addition in the forest sector.

The report said that the high level forest contractors were interested only in cutting and selling and not in its cultivation.—APP