Does agro forestry help protect natural forests in semi-arid environs (A Case Study of the Bunji Community Managed Conservation Area Astore, Pakistan)
Does agro forestry help protect natural forests in semi-arid environs (A Case Study of the Bunji Community Managed Conservation Area Astore, Pakistan)
Babar Khan1, Muhammad Zafar Khan2 and Garee Khan2
ABSTRACT
Agro forestry has been a viable option to substitute the scarce forest resources in fulfilling the needs of fuelwood and timber of rural communities in the arid and semi arid mountainous areas. We have evaluated the extent of agro forestry and its impacts on protection of natural forests in Bunji, a small village in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. On average, land fragmentation has resulted into a loss of 1.3 ha per capita during the past fifteen years. However, compared to farm land (46%) only 7% loss in land under farm forestry was observed. A remarkable change had occurred in land use patterns. Land under crop production has decreased on an average rate of 2.3% year-1 while the land under agro forestry has increased at the rate of 1.4% year-1. Total number of trees in the village increased at the rate 7.3% year-1, except Poplar (Poplus spp), which has decreased at the rate of 1% year-1 probably due to its excessive harvest for timber in construction of new houses, diverting community's reliance on farm trees for timber needs. Moreover, the annual domestic energy consumption in Bunji was about 5234 Kg year-1 from different sources including fuelwood, LPG (cylinders) and Kerosene oil. However, fuel wood from agro forestry was the main source of domestic fuel (98%) with an annual consumption of 5116 Kg household-1 year-1. The rest of 2% was met from other sources i.e., Kerosene oil and LPG. Each household was self sufficient in fulfilling its fuel wood requirements from the trees grown on their farmlands, and so the firewood pressure on natural forests has completely been alleviated by avoiding extraction of fuel wood and timber from natural forests.
Key words: Firewood, forest conservation, Bunji, WWF, Gilgit-Baltistan
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March 2009
Vol. 59, Iss. 1
