Pakistan inherited a very small forest area (4.5%) in 1947. With the result that, over the years, a significant part of the country's requirement of timber and wood products had to be imported. At the same time, the pressure on the indigenous forest resources continued to rise, increasing the demand for timber and pushing up its price steeply. Until early seventies, the forests in Pakistan were harvested by private contractors, who became heavily involved in malpractices, and institution of private contracts came into serious disrepute and was abolished. Since mid-seventies all the provinces of Pakistan are carrying out their timber harvesting and marketing either departmentally (Punjab and Sindh) or through public corporations (NWFP and Azad Kashmir). In the beginning, all these organizations were using tools and methods of forest contractors because there were no arrangements within the country to train the staff in improved methods of tree felling, conversion and transportation and for conducting research to find out the best methods for the local conditions.