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What use an irrigated forest
A recent visit to Pai forest in Nawabshah confirms it faces serious threat of extinction
By Ali Raza
Two major fresh water lakes and a protected forest and game reservoir in Sindh province are facing serious environmental threats and could negatively impact the eco-region of River Indus, which is among the world’s top 200 eco-regions identified by WWF across the world. These include Pai forest (inland forest ecosystem), Keenjhar Lake (freshwater wetlands ecosystem) and Chotiari reservoir (desert-wetlands ecosystem). The ecosystem of River Sindh also includes Keti Bunder (coastal ecosystem).
In 1997, WWF-International embarked upon a global biodiversity conservation initiative guided by WWF’s overall global strategy of 6 target-driven and thematic programmes (freshwater, forests, species, toxics, marine and climate change).
With the assistance of UNEP and the National Geographic Society, 238 ecoregions were prioritised globally (commonly referred as G-200) to reflect their ecological significance and biodiversity richness. The area of five ecoregions – Western Himalyan Temperate Forests, Tibetan Plateau, Rann of Kutch, Indus Ecoregion and Arabian Sea – fall within Pakistan’s territories.
Indus ecoregion is fully situated within Pakistan and the other four are trans-boundary. In addition, Indus ecoregion is one of the forty biologically most significant ecoregions in the world.
Pai forest is situated in District Nawabshah, Sindh, the hometown of President Asif Ali Zardari. The forest was established before British era as a game reservoir where various species of animals were bred for the hunting of royal families and influential individuals.
Presently, the forest is facing serious threat of extinction due to continuous intrusion of land-grabbers, water scarcity and woodcutting by the locals. The forest, once known for its rich flora and fauna with diverse wildlife, is spread over 1933 hectares.
In the past, the Sindh government allotted over 250 acres of forest land to Pakistan Army and other government departments including Pakistan Agriculture Research Council while over 250 acres of land was encroached upon by local influential personalities. All of them are using the forest land for agricultural purposes by cutting all the trees.
Pai forest is a riverine forest but presently water scarcity is one of the major issues contributing to the slow death of this beautiful forest. Environmentalists belonged to WWF-Pakistan say in the past the River Indus was the main source of water for this forest. They say after construction of flood protection bund on River Indus, the forest turned into an irrigated forest.
The indifference of the Sindh government can be gauged from the fact that 30 cusecs of water per month were sanctioned for this forest to keep it alive but the approved water was never provided to this forest.
In a recent visit, locals of the area revealed that only 25 percent forest was getting water. They said individual farmers also used to steal water from the canals and channels of the forest without any check or fear of being caught.
Heavy plantation of eucalyptus trees by the Sindh forest department in Pai forest is also contributing towards the fast demise of this water-starved forest. Colonel Shahid an environmental expert claims eucalyptus trees are known for their high water consuming habits. They say the visionless Sindh Forest Department officials planted these trees only to show their performance because eucalyptus grows fast.
WWF-Pakistan officials working for the preservation of Pai Forest say that some 21 villages are situated around the forest. In the past the traditional lifestyle of the villagers was based on livestock. With the passage of time this traditional lifestyle was replaced with growing of cash crops like cotton, wheat, sugarcane and etc.
This replacement has apparently put enormous pressure on the forest as ordinary locals have also started grabbing land. The local villagers were also found involved in cutting of forest wood for fuel-wood, which has significantly contributed to the destruction of the forest and ecosystem.
Some locals told this scribe that the numbers of hog deer, gray partridges, wild boars, jackals, jungle cats, Bengal foxes and mongooses are fast declining in the Pai forest due to poaching by influential people. They claimed that only a few hog deer are left in the entire forest. A large number of hog deer have been hunted by feudal lords and bureaucrats, while high profile foreign personalities, particularly from the Middle East, were also invited to hunt animals in this game reserve on several occasions in past.
Gray partridges are being over-hunted, and local influential people break the sanctioned hunting limit often. Every year, new beats are made in the forest for hunting. This involves levelling the land in selected forest areas and planting new trees. Cotton is grown in these levelled areas, since pests which attack cotton tend to attract partridges, who feed on them, they said, adding there are now hardly any black partridges at all in the forest.
It is pertinent to mention here that not a single staffer of Sindh Forest Department was present in the forest. Ruins of a forest department’ staff colony clearly shows that the department has left the forest at the mercy of the local land-grabbers and individuals. It is also pertinent to mention here that out of the 14 installed tube wells only four are operative.
Important wild life of the area includes hog deer, partridges, Asiatic jackals, jungle cat, porcupine, wild boar, snakes etc. According to a WWF-P official, hunting was permitted through licenses, but the limit was rarely adhered to and indiscriminate hunting was common. “This posed threat to the population of hog deer and partridges. Hence, for the last over two year no license has been issued for hunting.”
WWF-Pakistan introduced Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in the surrounding villages and presently around 14 CBOs are working in villages adjacent to the forest. The purpose is to create awareness on the importance of the forest ecosystem and provide alternate means of income and source of energy. CBOs are providing vocational training to females and running bio-gas plants in different villages around the forest.
Ironically the district government of Nawabshah is paying no attention to the problem, which will ultimately affect the life and atmosphere of the district in near future. The vision of the district government regarding future planning and development of the district can be judged from the fact that the District Coordination Officer of Nawabshah simply said environment is a provincial subject and he cannot do anything in this regard. The DCO, however, admitted saying, “all the above mentioned issues exist and have put devastating impacts on the district and its population.”