Deforestation and its impacts on district Abbottabad

In District Abbottabad, area cover under forests is 76148 ha, which is 5.4% of the forest resources of the province. The study areas have sufficient natural resources but these natural resources are depleting very rapidly. The present study showed that most of the population living especially near the mountain range is poor, illiterate and having no other means of income generation. Therefore they cut forests trees for the fuel and timber not only to fulfill their domestic needs but also on commercial scale. There are no other alternatives of fuel wood in the area. They mostly depend of forest for fuel wood. People of the area get timber mainly from the nearby forests for construction. Agriculture is the backbone of local economy in the area. The forest trees near the agriculture area are cut down to extend their agricultural land. Soil erosion and flooding is increased because of clearing of land for agriculture. People of the area graze their livestock freely in the rangelands and forests without taking care of their carrying capacity. The political administration and forest department cannot take any step to prevent overgrazing and deforestation activities in the area. Some times the local people damage the plants by cutting or putting them in fire, which causes severe damage to the plants. Lack of awareness among local communities about the importance of natural resources i.e. forest and wildlife. The people considered the wildlife, as free gift of nature there is no restriction on hunting from government or other agency. (author)