Tackling deforestation: New body to strategise forestry issues, says MNA

Prime minister has set up a 10-member council.

ISLAMABAD:

The government is serious about issues related to forestry and the prime minister has formed a new body to discuss the country’s forest strategy among other environmental concerns, according to a ruling party parliamentarian.

Member National Assembly Marriyum Aurangzeb was speaking on Friday at a seminar jointly organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and the government’s Climate Change Division (CCD) to mark the International Day of Forests.

Discussing about inclusion of forestry in the national development agenda, Aurangzeb said a 10-member Pakistan Environment Council will discuss and strategise forestry issues.

She said similar committees should also be created in the provinces and chief ministers should lead the charge in saving forests.

“Such forums can help use indigenous knowledge to solve issues of food security, disaster risk management and combating climate change,” Aurangzeb, who recently also represented Pakistan at the second Global Climate Summit in the US, said.

She also emphasized the need for a stronger advocacy campaign to curb deforestation highlighting youth participation in such drives.

Pakistan’s forests have long been a contentious and neglected issue, but their governance was considerably weakened after the 18th Amendment when provincial control of forests was reaffirmed. International commitments on forests are done at the state level and deforestation in one province or the other amount to national loss, according to environmentalists.

But the country recently won a $3.8 million readiness grant from the World Bank to participate in the United Nations Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus programme, which puts a cash incentive for countries to protect their forests.

Trees can store carbon from carbon-dioxide, the greenhouse gas which contributes toward global warming. However, countries such as Pakistan have to first quantify the amount of carbon that can be stored in their forests. So, the readiness grant itself demands a more active role by government and official institutions to identify and monitor Pakistan’s forests.

Patrick Evans, the Pakistan Representative for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, said the day is dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of forests towards economic, social and environmental security.

But the world’s forest resources are facing major challenges, Evans said.

The situation in Pakistan is no better, where as experts noted, there is confusion over the actual area of forest reserves.

SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Suleri said a comprehensive definition of what falls within the category of forests is the need of the hour.

CCD Inspector General Forests Nasir Mahmood said a transparent procedure for monitoring forests is equally important in the current Pakistani forest landscape.

Mahmood also touched upon the Thar crisis where, he said, local sustenance systems had collapsed in an unprecedented manner. Planting Guggal, Prosopis or Aloe Vera can be beneficial for such areas as they have extreme drought resistance quality, he said.

Abdul Sattar, an official from the Sindh Forest Department, said attention should be given to protect blocks of rangelands in Tharparkar and Kohistan areas by fencing them.

Sattar said the fenced area could be managed under a rotational grazing system and fodder from these rangelands can provide backup for areas hit by a drought-like situations. Speakers stressed effective implementation of environmental policies and also devoted considerable time in discussing the benefits of awareness-raising.

Deforestation can be controlled by creating social awareness, said Hamdard University Dean Dr Kamran Khan. But political commitments and research are also important, Khan said.

Suleri said SDPI can support an advocacy campaign that focuses on policy and research needs regarding forestry.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2014.