The Pressure-State-Response (PSR) is a convenient representation of the linkages among the pressures exerted on the environment by human activities (pressure box), the change in state of stocks or quality of the natural resource (state box), and the response to these changes as society attempts to release the pressure by instituting environmental and economic programs and policies (response box) (OECD, 1993). The interchanges among these form a continuous feed-back mechanism that may be monitored and used for analyzing the success or failure of the process. The OECD PSR framework has been slightly modified to assess the state of forests in...

An important factor contributing to diminishing forest resources is population growth. The population of Pakistan was estimated to be 145.96 million in 2002 and continues to grow at an annual rate of 2.6% (GOP Population Census, 1998). Due to this increased population the pressure on forests and forest products is increasing. This is evident in the fact that despite a heavy rate of deforestation, 300,000 tons of wood, pulp, paper, and other by-products were imported in the year 2000-01 (CRCP, 2001). Using relevant growth parameters of demand and supply developments and excluding inaccessible areas (25% of the total forest cover),...

There is considerable debate over the precise area under forests in Pakistan (UNCED, 1992). Partly, the problem is a definitional one, represented by a less than perfect correspondence between legally demarcated forest under the administrative control of the provincial forest departments (FD) and the situation on the ground, as it relates to both tree cover and its condition. In other words, officially designated “forest areas” may be devoid of trees, while substantial tree cover may be found on lands classified differently.

Partly, forest statistics differ. Land use data including forest areas reported by the Forestry Sector Master Plan (FSMP) Project,...

The forests in Pakistan have three important functions: protection of the natural environment, regulation of atmospheric conditions, and production of goods. All three can be ensured by maintaining a balance between sustainable production and sustainable consumption of the forests. The present trend of indiscriminate consumption of forest resources is unsustainable. According to the PFRI report, the use of wood to meet firewood consumption exceeded sustainable supplies by about 4 million m³ annually. If the harvesting continued unabated at the rate assessed in 1995, wood stocks would get completely consumed between the year 2015 and 2025 (PFRI, 2000). An SDPI study...

Pakistan’s forest policies are tied to its British colonial past. At the time of independence, the policies, procedures, and structures that administered the nation’s forests were left largely intact. For decades, the only reference point for dealing with new problems was the 1927 Forest Act, despite all the new or modified legislation enacted since then -- and the list is long, as can be seen in Annex-1. Over the past half century, the population of Pakistan has nearly quadrupled. Demands on the nation’s forest resources are expanding rapidly, with almost 2.6 percent population growth and 4.2 percent industrial expansion. It...

The societal responses of Pakistan to mitigate the impacts of different pressure factors on forestry sector cannot be underestimated. However, if good strategies, plans and policies alone were the criteria for success, the forestry sector in Pakistan would have developed by leaps and bounds. One has to admit that it is the effective implementation of the recommendations contained in these strategies, plans and policies that has been lacking in the past, and it is this aspect, which the Federal and Provincial Governments must address in future.

The Forests Act 1927 has effectively served its primary purpose of protecting and conserving...

The analysis of situation presented in previous sections has made it easy to assess the impact of societal responses to different pressures on forestry sector in Pakistan. Table-5, reflects that most of the responses are either insufficient or not implemented properly and the state of forests in Pakistan is continuously deteriorating. So much so, that the reform process initiated in NWFP itself is exerting the pressure on forestry resources as independent studies have shown that this project is accruing its benefits to the notables and privileged among the community members thus forcing the marginalized and poor sections to exploit the...