Intro: Pakistan is largely an arid and sami-arid land with two thirds of it under mountains and deserts. Agriculture is practiced over about 47.5 million acres, of which about 33.5 million are irrigated, mostly by canals. Production forests cover barely 1.5% of the total land area. So the country is short of timber and fire-wood: Wood and wood products - mostly pulp and paper - worth 550 million rupees are imported every year on the average. And the scarcity of firewood forces the rural people to use anything combustible as fuel - animal dung, agricultural waste, leaves and twigs. And in towns, firewood prices are generally out of the reach of the common man. This scarcity is likely to be exacerbated as gas reserves dwindle and oil generated thermal power becomes more expensive.