PESHAWAR, June 2: Revenue collected under the Forest Development Fund (FDF) for forest management is lying unutilised since 2002 due to ‘procedural hurdles’.

About Rs480 million is lying unused with the Forest Development Corporation working under the environment department for the funds could not be released due to procedural differences with the finance department, official sources told Dawn.

“The objective of setting up the FDF was to ensure timely availability of funds for implementing forest management plan, but the finance department is using delaying tactics to release the funds,” said an official.

He said the finance department wanted to divert the funds collected under the FDF to the consolidated provincial account and make it part of budget to be passed by the provincial assembly.

The forest department wanted direct channelising of the funds to its account to avoid delay in supply for funds for forest regeneration.

The differences between forest and finance departments over the procedure of release of the funds have resulted in lack of utilisation of the funds for any purpose since 2002.

The FDF had been created under the NWFP Forest Ordinance, 2002, to ensure timely availability of funds to the forest department for conservation and development of forest.

The department needed funds for plantation and forest regeneration once trees were cut. The revenue collected as timber duty and surcharge on commercial timber harvesting was collected under the FDF so that it could be used by the department for plantation whenever needed.

“The hurdles in release of FDF funds since 2002 have actually killed the real objective of setting up the fund,” an official said.

Forest department officials complained that lack of resources and finances affected forest conservation. “Forest is a renewable resource and ban on cutting trees is not the best solution. Plantation is held from time to time during December-February and July-August.

“There is cutting of forests, and lack of funds for plantation is resulting in loss of forests,” said Alamgir Khan Gandapur, a conservator at the provincial forest department. He suggested that after the sale of timber and paying royalty to local people the revenue collected should be spent on plantation.

A senior finance department official said some money given to the department for expenditures was also meant for conservation of forests.

He said that earlier the department’s priority was collecting revenue from forest, but the NWFP forest policy was now focused on protection and sustainable managing of forests.

The NWFP Forest Policy, 1999, gives preference to protection, sustainable management and development of NWFP forests in recognition of their ecological significance and economic value. On the contrary, the department is given a target every year to generate revenue, which is not fully utilised for increasing forest cover.

The department was allocated Rs181.515 million in the Annual Development Programme, 2007-08. And against its demand of annual revenue budget of Rs507.47 million, it was given Rs323.72 million. The department was given a revenue generation target of Rs584.64 million.

“The target was imposed on us,” lamented an official of the forest department who stressed that the NWFP forest policy mainly focused on conservation and development of forests and other renewable natural resources in the province.

He maintained that foreign donors were also not providing any assistance for security reasons. Population explosion, increasing poverty and the poor law and order situation, he said, were the main threats to natural resources of the province.