The majority of Kohistani people live below the poverty line
HARIPUR: The majority of Kohistani people live below the poverty line and therefore prefer the forest for dwelling, hunting, fuel wood collection, economic purposes and wooden house construction. Almost 90 per cent of their income depends on these forests but they don’t know its importance and how deforestation impacts human life directly or indirectly. For example, the roots of trees are excellent soil binders and hold the soil together to prevent erosion so if we remove forest vegetation, then soil becomes weak and ultimately becomes the cause for flooding. The people of Kohistan are facing consequences in the form of dangerous diseases, floods, tsunamis, depletion of the ozone layer, depletion of renewable resources and other natural hazards. The people of Kohistan are unaware about forestry and wildlife knowledge.
Deforestation may be the first link in a chain of environmental degradation that include soil erosion, global warming, climate changes, loss of biodiversity, air pollution, loss of wood product, loss of fuel product, loss of aesthetic stock and ozone layer depletion.
It is my suggestion to the forest department that awareness alone cannot serve to prevent deforestation in Kohistan as the people, living below the poverty line, are more concerned with their survival. It would be more effective to provide the dwellers with employment, alternatives to fuel wood and strict legislation, with an improvement in the implementation process. Check and balance to eliminate departmental corruption are also needed. Finally, material other than wood should be provided to construct homes, which will reduce the rate of deforestation, if not stop it completely. There is a new concept of social forestry in which local people are involved as special stakeholders. This concept should be introduced here to help bring down the level of illicit cutting of trees.
Umar Khitab
Published in The Express Tribune, November 4th, 2016.
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