Environmentalist says forest cover in KP shrinking

ABBOTTABAD: A senior environmentalist and former chief conservator of Wildlife Malik Mumtaz Khan has said forest cover in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is shrinking due to what he says are controversial strategies and policies.

In an interview with The News here on Tuesday, he opined that Scientific Management Policy was a self-coined term that had no basis in global forest management practices.This terminology is not recognized or included in any international or national forest management frameworks, guidelines, or policies, he insisted.

The environmentalist said the use of this terminology was aimed at legitimizing destructive forest practices, harming the environment and national economy.He said the destruction of forests was first noted in the 1992 floods. As a result, a complete ban on forest harvesting was imposed by the government. During the ban period, unprecedented transportation of timber from Northern Areas to down districts was recorded which raised questions about the involvement of the timber mafia in making the ban ineffective.

Malik Mumtaz said now a new policy/ strategy of extraction of snag, dead or dying and diseased trees was being practiced.

He pointed out that contrary to local forest management, the global forest management objectives included the conservation of biodiversity carbon sequestration to control global warming and mitigate climate change, soil and water conservation by timber harvesting.

Malik Mumtaz said the policy of extraction of snags from the forest was in direct conflict with all the management objectives except timber harvesting.“This policy is not only against the present-day norms of forest management but also is detrimental to the national economy and international conservation related to biodiversity, climate change and soil and water conservation”, he added.

Commenting on the importance of national parks, Malik Mumtaz said that these were the large natural areas with outstanding scenery, flora and fauna.He said uses of natural resources were strictly prohibited, adding these were museums of nature where all the natural processes continued unabated.

All life forms, including plants, animals, birds and microorganisms thrive under legal protection.He said these parks play a key role in the understanding of nature, research, education and recreation.

The environmentalist pointed out that the legacy of the national park started in KP in 1982 when the first such park was established as Ayubia National Park. This was followed by Chitral Gol National Park in 1984, he added.

Malik Mumtaz said the realization of the importance of nature conservation grew over the years and till 2022, the KP Government notified six national parks all over the province. Two of these became a part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, he pointed out.

He went on to say that suddenly there was a realization by the timber mafia that “Productive Forests” were being closed to “axe”. A day may come when all the “Reserved Forests” will be out of bounds for “axe men”.The environmentalist said a calculated move was launched to influence policymakers, bureaucrats as well as communities and convince them against the national parks.