Daily Times

At a time when Pakistan in under severe climate change threats, fresh afforestation and protecting existing forest covered area has become a challenge for the federal and provincial governments.

With forests in many areas under extreme pressure due to mounting power prices and activities of timber mafia, the responsibility on the government departments to preserve our precious forests has increased manifold.

Gilgit-Baltistan, a region of breathtaking beauty, is home to some of the most valuable forests being a treasure trove of biodiversity and source of livelihood for local communities. However, these precious resources are also under threats like deforestation, illegal logging and climate change.

Although the government has initiated numerous measures to protect these forests yet it needs to implement a strict mechanism of penalties and educate local communities to preserve these forests and valuable habitat in the region.

According to Forest and Wildlife Department, Gilgit-Baltistan region has total 249,205 hectare forest covered area with Diamer having the highest forest cover (71%) followed by Astore (12%) and Gilgit (10%). These three districts together contain 93% of the total forest area of Gilgit-Baltistan.

Therefore, the Gilgit-Baltistan government headed by Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan is making every possible effort to protect these forests. It has established Forest, Wildlife and Environment Department, to manage region’s forestry, wildlife and other resources through sustainable and integrated natural resource management.

The department is also a center for biodiversity and eco-tourism while Conservation Committees have been constituted to effectively protect wildlife and forests besides necessary legislation to educate local people about forest conservation.

Secretary Forests, Parks and Wildlife, Zafar Waqar Taj has also mentioned to different measures for forests conservation especially to raising a regular force. “The region lacked a dedicated force to protect forests and wildlife. But, now we have started training cadets for this purpose.”

He informed that a batch of 50 graduate cadets of GB’s new Forest and Wildlife Force has recently passed out at Police Training College in Gilgit. “This marks a crucial step towards bolstering region’s forest and wildlife protection capabilities.”

According to Zafar Taj, the region lacked a dedicated force to protect forests and wildlife. “But, now we have initiated a program where the department aims to train 200 cadets annually to finally build a force of over 800 trained members within next four years.”

Besides other efforts and seasonal plantation, a special initiative was also launched under the banner of Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Program in 2019 to plant 170 million plants across Gilgit-Baltistan. Total PSDP allocations for forest component under this program was Rs 6,920 million with Rs 650 million for protected areas initiative and Rs. 359 million for wildlife protection.

Although the government claims to achieve the target of planting 10.765 million plants under this program, many local people are skeptical about the post plantation protection of these trees.

“Scores of plants planted under this initiative either uprooted or dried due to lack of proper care,” said Abdul Rehman, a Gilgit city resident. “There was perhaps lack of sustainable planting practices, proper maintenance and care for plants to ensure their survival and growth.”

He said program’s success depends on long-term viability of plants and address the issues faced by this sector to achieve the desired results.

As the forests are fragmented and scattered, their management and conservation always remains a challenge. Then, the illegal logging and deforestation also continue to pose significant threats to the region’s forests, with thousands of hectare forest cover area already lost during last 20 years.

“We have seen a significant decline in forest cover in recent years,” says Muhammad Iqbal, a local environmentalist. “If we don’t take action now, we risk to losing our forests forever.”

He appreciated national parks and wildlife sanctuaries established by the government including Deosai National Park, Central Karakoram National Park, Khunjerab National Park, Shandur National Park and several others, as a step in right direction. But, he emphasized more efforts to protect our forests and wildlife.

Forests, wildlife and ecosystems of Gilgit-Baltistan are a source of livelihood for local communities in terms of tourism related seasonal earning and a treasure trove of biodiversity needed to be protected for future generations.

“We need to find a balance between conservation and livelihood,” says Ghulam Rasool, a local forest dweller. “By working together, we can safeguard the region’s ecological and economic sustainability and preserve natural beauty of our incredible region.”

Just to conclude, protection our forest covered area as a whole and Gilgit-Baltistan in particular is a daunting task in wake of rising population, increasing energy prices, threats of illegal logging, post plantation poor management and unsatisfactory survival rate of plants.

In view of failure in getting desired results despite repeated efforts by respective governments, there is dire need for re-visiting our policies and strategies to preserve our forests as their loss would be a national tragedy, bringing about more disasters and losses to our people and economy.