CHITRAL: The people of Balim village in Laspur valley of Upper Chitral have converted a large tract of arid land into a sprawling forest where community members, organised into a body, worked relentlessly to make the plantation drive a success.

The common pasture of the village named as Tharwagh and spreading over an enormous area of 47 acres remained unutilised for want of irrigation water, but presently it gives a pleasant and eye-catching look as a green pitch.

Telling the success story, Mir Wali, Sher Alam, Shuja Hussain, Sher Nawaz and others said three years ago, the villagers resolved to start plantation in their common and barren tract of land, and after forming an organisation, they approached the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme for support.

They said the major hurdles were the availability of irrigation water and supply of saplings for plantation as the area was enormous and bearing its heavy expenses was beyond their capacity, while they also needed technical know-how.

The villagers added after their request was acceded to, and they chose willow, a local species of plant for the block plantation, and entered an agreement with the organisation. As per the accord, they said they were to be paid Rs45 for each sapling after it was planted, and Rs35 for the plant surviving the season.

They said the lucrative package prompted the community to plant as much as 70,000 plants of willow in one season, and made desperate efforts to save each sapling till it grew strong.

The residents attributed the success of the project largely to the selection of the species whose saplings were prepared by simply cutting the branches of a mature tree of willow. They said hundreds of saplings were obtained from a single tree, which was highly adapted to the local environment.

They said the survival rate of plants was nearly 90 per cent as the community members watered the plants after carrying water in jerry cans from a distant river. Encouraged by the initial success, the residents said they continued their efforts in the subsequent two years of block plantation, and not a single plant was destroyed.

They said the success model of the village was being emulated in different valleys of both upper and lower parts of Chitral, including Harchin Lasht, Phargam, Brep and Begusht.

The women representatives Laghal Nisa, Shahadat and Zilquida said the women folk of the village were equally active in the initiative. They said the villagers had started experiencing the pleasant effects of the forest, while it had special attraction for women as it provided fodder to their livestock, enabling them to rear more domestic animals than before.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2023