CURRENT STATE OF FORESTS IN PAKISTAN
Most of the country falls in arid and semi-arid zones. Agriculture and livestock grazing are the major land uses in Pakistan. Both of these land uses compete with and impact forests and forestry in many ways.
Pakistan has very low forest cover of (4.7%- 5.01%) but its great variety reflects the country's great physiographic and climatic contrasts. Pakistan's forest and woodland types include: littoral and swamp forests; tropical dry deciduous forests; tropical thorn forests; sub-tropical broadleaved evergreen forests; sub-tropical pine forests; Himalayan moist temperate forests; Himalayan dry temperate forests; sub-alpine forests; and alpine scrub. Coniferous forests predominate. Man-made plantations are an important wood source in Pakistan. These fall into four categories: irrigated plantations; farmland trees; linear planting; and miscellaneous planting.
The North West Frontier Province has around 42% of Pakistan's forests. More than 75% of which is found in arid and semi-arid areas as tropical thorn vegetation, mainly comprising bushes and small trees, while the rest is in sub-tropical and temperate zones in the foothills and high mountains respectively comprising predominantly coniferous forests with only 0.03 ha of forest per capita compared to the world average of 1 ha. The distribution of forests and tree cover in the country is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Distribution of forests in Pakistan, 2004 Province-wise distribution of total forest area and the area of various forests types, plantations and farm tree cover are shown in Figures 2 (FSMP 1992) and 3 (FSMP 1992)
Figure 1. Distribution of forests in Pakistan, 2004
Province-wise distribution of total forest area and the area of various forests types, plantations and farm tree cover are shown in Figures 2 (FSMP 1992) and 3 (FSMP 1992).
Administratively, 4.2 million ha of lands (or 4.8%) are allocated to natural forests, under the jurisdiction of provincial forest departments.
Source: PAKISTAN FORESTRY OUTLOOK STUDY by Office of the Inspector General of Forests Ministry of Environment, Government of Pakistan
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