Deforestation hitting Pakistan hard: Report
Shares
LAHORE, Feb 11 (APP):Evironmental experts Sunday urged the government to make a comprehensive policy for Forest
Management System (FMS) as deforestation was leading to a rapid increase in temperature variations, which could prove fatal for crops, livestock and humans.Talking to APP, the experts said that the government should make long-term arrangements by providing incentives for advanced forest management technologies.
They said that all city-district governments in the country should earmark certain percentage of land in their areas for forestation.Renowned expert Dr Sarwat Mirza said that deforestation in Pakistan, being a big issue, was hitting the economy hard, adding that the government, private sector and all segments of society should join hands to tackle the issue of shrinking forests in Pakistan.
While defining a Forest Management System (FMS), he said that it is a process in which forests are tended, harvested and regenerated. He said that forestation is one of the most neglected areas and there is a dire need to make joint efforts to protect and enhance forests through public-private partnerships.
Noted environmentalist Dr Mehmood Khalid Qamar said that large-scale deforestation in the Sindh riverine forests, which was highly climate-vulnerable province, has alarmingly increased the sensitivity of the province, to fallout of climate change.
He said that in the absence of special efforts for forest restoration, conservation and protection, the country's climate vulnerability could increase manifold, adding that the pace of recurring floods, coastal cyclones, dusty storms, heat waves, environmental degradation had already increased.
Environmental expert Dr Maqsood Ahmed said that forests were the best way to achieve enhanced climate resilience against fallouts of the climate change.
He said that if deforestation was not checked and deforested areas not rehabilitated on war-footing, the rural areas, towns and cities in the country won't be livable anymore and could lead to irreversible human and ecological crises in the country.
Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) data, massive deforestation in Sindh took place from 1979 to 2010.
Riverine forests in Hyderabad and Nawabshah districts were decreased by 0.72 per cent, 5.97 per cent in Sukkur and Shikarpur, whereas 2.93 per cent in Larkana, Dadu and Khairpur districts during this period.APP/AFP
