SOME DEFINITIONS Deforestation: The conversion of forest to another land use or the long-term red uction of the tree

e canopy cover below a 10 percent threshold. Deforestation impl ies the long-term or permanent loss of forest cover and its transformation into another land use. Primary forest: is a forest that has never been logged and has developed followi ng natural disturbances and under natural processes, regardless of its age. Secondary forests: are forests regenerating largely through natural processes af ter significant human or natural disturbance, and which differ from primary fore sts in forest composition and/or canopy structure. Disturbed forests: Any forest type that has in its interior significant areas of disturbance by people, including clearing, felling for wood extraction, anthrop ogenic fires, road construction, etc. Frontier forests: large, ecologically intact, and relatively undisturbed forest s that support the natural range of species and forest functions (WRI definition ). Forest plantation: is one established by planting or/and seeding in the process of forestation or reforestation. It consists of introduced species or, in some c ases, indigenous species. IMPORTANCE OF FORESTS Forests provide important products for human use and consumption, and they provi de valuable ecosystem services. Let's look at each in turn. Forest Products In poor areas where wood is scarce, people, usually women, walk long distances t o gather wood for cooking. Forests provide useful wood products. Roundwood (whole logs) can be processed i nto building materials, or made into plywood products, furniture, etc. Pulp is used not only for paper and boxes, but for a wide variety of products (including the sponge you used to wash your dishes). Forests are the source of numerous non-wood products, including bark, dyes, fibe rs, gums, incense, latexes, oils, resins, shellac, tanning compounds & waxes. F ruits, nuts and berries are harvested as food. Maple syrup is an example of a un ique non-wood product from the sap of the maple tree. Ecosystem Services Forests influence climate. The within-year fluctuations in atmospheric CO2 in t he temperate zone include a spring-through-autumn decline due to plant photosynt hesis during the growing season, and an autumn-through-spring rise in CO2 as res piration and decomposition exceed photosynthetic uptake. At a more regional sca le, forests influence local climate and weather. Rain forests transport great q uantities of water to the atmosphere via plant transpiration. (Water is taken up by plant roots, bringing dissolved minerals into plant tissues. Plants exchang e gases with the atmosphere through openings in their leaves, and lose water in the same way. That water loss provides the plant with a means to transport mate rials upwards, and so is beneficial, so long as water loss is not excessive). M uch of that transpired water replenishes the clouds and rain that maintain the r ain forest. If the forest is cut, much more of that rain will become river wate r, flow to distant seas, and the region will become permanently drier. No rain forest can regenerate if this occurs. Forests maintain local climate and strong ly influence global fluxes of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Before green plants ap peared, it is believed that there was very little oxygen in the atmosphere. Forests protect the top soil and husband important nutrients. A famous study of Hubbard Brook, New Hampshire found that, after forest harvest, summer streamflo

ws greatly increased (because the forest was no longer transpiring water) and nu trient outflow also increased greatly. The annual flood crest of the Amazon Riv er has increased over recent years without any concomitant increase in rainfall, presumably due to deforestation. Damaging floods are one frequent consequence of deforestation. Forests harbor tremendous biological diversity, and have the potential to provid e us with new crop varieties and medicines. A good example of medicinal use of t ropical rain forest plants is the success of the drugs vincristine and vinblasti ne, developed over the past 20 years from a wild periwinkle found in the forests of Madagasgar. These drugs dramatically improved the effectiveness of treatment s for leukemia and other forms of cancer, Since fewer than 1% of tropical plants have been screened for possible use to medical science, ongoing deforestation r esults in the permanent loss to science of other species before their value can be recognized. The winged bean is a new food crop whose value has only recently has been recognized. Carbon Sequestration Tropical deforestation contributes as much as 90% of the current net release of biotic carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This change may represent as much as 20% - 30% of the total carbon flux due to humans - i.e., rivaling the carbon rel ease due to fossil fuel burning. Deforestation thus is an important potential s ource of carbon. But what if we allow forests to regenerate? As they grow, for ests will store or sequester carbon, and so carbon sequestration has become part of the global warming debate. What is the current balance sheet are the worlds forests a source or a sink for atmospheric CO2? This is uncertain for three mai n reasons. We are not sure how much forest is being burnt, vs the amount of reg rowth. We dont know enough about the fate of deforested land, ie, how much is re verting to secondary forest. We dont know how forest disturbance is affecting so il and forest floor carbon stores. Still, there is good evidence that the regrow th of previously-deforested areas in Europe and North America during the 20th ce ntury has sequestered considerable amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere. DEFORESTATION Deforestation is the process of converting forested lands into non-forest sites that are ideal for crop raising, urbanization and industrialization. Because def orestation is a serious concept, there are also serious effects to the surroundi ngs. Effects of deforestation can be classified and grouped into effects to biodivers ity, environment and social settings. Because deforestation basically involves k illing trees in forests, there are so many effects that can be enumerated as res ults of the activity. When forests are killed, nature basically requires people to renew the forest. R eforestation is one concept that is in the opposite direction as deforestation, but is proven to be a much harder effort than deforestation. So the rate of deforestation has not been offset by the rate of reforestation. T hus, the world is now in a troubled state when it comes to issues concerning the environment. Pollution is rapidly growing along with population. Forests are greatly helping reduce the amount of pollutants in the air. So, the depletion of these groups of trees is greatly increasing the risk that carbon monoxide would reach the atmos phere and result in the depletion of the ozone layer, which in turn results to g lobal warming.

CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION The destruction of the forests is occurring due to various reasons, one of the m ain reasons being the short term economic benefits. Given below are some more co mmon causes of deforestation: Used for Urban and Construction Purposes: The cutting down of trees for lumber t

hat is used for building materials, furniture, and paper products. Forests are a lso cleared in order to accommodate expanding urban areas. To Grow Crops: Forests are also cut down in order to clear land for growing crop s. To Create Grazing Land: Forests are cut down in order create land for grazing ca ttle. Used for Fuel: Trees are cut down in developing countries to be used as firewood or turned into charcoal, which are used for cooking and heating purposes. Some of the other causes of deforestation are: clearing forests for oil and mini ng exploitation; to make highways and roads; slash and burn farming techniques; wildfires; and acid rain. THE EFFECT OF DEFORESTATION Deforestation is the process of converting forested lands into non-forest sites that are ideal for crop raising, urbanization and industrialization. Because def orestation is a serious concept, there are also serious effects to the surroundi ngs. Effects of deforestation can be classified and grouped into effects to biodivers ity, environment and social settings. Because deforestation basically involves k illing trees in forests, there are so many effects that can be enumerated as res ults of the activity. When forests are killed, nature basically requires people to renew the forest. R eforestation is one concept that is in the opposite direction as deforestation, but is proven to be a much harder effort than deforestation. So the rate of deforestation has not been offset by the rate of reforestation. T hus, the world is now in a troubled state when it comes to issues concerning the environment. Pollution is rapidly growing along with population. Forests are greatly helping reduce the amount of pollutants in the air. So, the depletion of these groups of trees is greatly increasing the risk that carbon monoxide would reach the atmos phere and result in the depletion of the ozone layer, which in turn results to g lobal warming. Erosion of Soil When forest areas are cleared, it results in exposing the soil to the sun, makin g it very dry and eventually, infertile, due to volatile nutrients such as nitro gen being lost. In addition, when there is rainfall, it washes away the rest of the nutrients, which flow with the rainwater into waterways. Because of this, me rely replanting trees may not help in solving the problems caused by deforestati on, for by the time the trees mature, the soil will be totally devoid of essenti al nutrients. Ultimately, cultivation in this land will also become impossible, resulting in the land becoming useless. Large tracts of land will be rendered pe rmanently impoverished due to soil erosion. Environment change One major effect of deforestation is climate change. Changes to the surroundings done by deforestation work in many ways. One, there is abrupt change in tempera tures in the nearby areas. Forests naturally cool down because they help retain moisture in the air. Second is the long process of global climate change. As mentioned above, defores tation has been found to contribute to global warming or that process when clima tes around the world become warmer as more harmful rays of the sun comes in thro ugh the atmosphere. The ozone layer is a mass of oxygen or O3 atoms that serves as shield in the atm osphere against the harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. Because ozone is made up of oxygen atoms, oxygen react with carbon monoxide. Such reaction would use

up oxygen atoms. It follows that when there are more carbon monoxide atoms going to the atmospher e, the volume of oxygen would decline. Such is the case of ozone depletion. Disruption of the Water Cycle The third effect to the environment would be on the water table underneath the g round. Water table is the common source of natural drinking water by people livi ng around forests. Water table is replenishing. That means, the supply of water underground could a lso dry up if not replenished regularly. When there is rain, forests hold much o f the rainfall to the soil through their roots. Thus, water sinks in deeper to the ground, and eventually replenishing the suppl y of water in the water table. Now, imagine what happens when there is not enoug h forests anymore. Water from rain would simply flow through the soil surface an d not be retained by the soil. Or other than that, the water from rain would not stay in the soil longer, for t he process of evaporation would immediately set in. Thus, the water table is not replenished, leading to drying up of wells. Effect to biodiversity Forests are natural habitats to many types of animals and organisms. That is why , when there is deforestation, many animals are left without shelters. Those tha t manage to go through the flat lands and residential sites are then killed by p eople. Through the years, it is estimated that there are millions of plant and extinct animal species that have been wiped out because they have been deprived of home. Thus, biodiversity is significantly lowered because of the savage deforestation practices of some people. Wildlife advocates have been constantly reminding that several wild animals left in the world could still be saved if deforested forests would only be reforeste d and the practice of slash and burn of forests would be totally abandoned. Social effects of deforestation Deforestation is hardly hitting the living conditions of indigenous people who c onsider forests as their primary habitats. Imagine how they are rendered homeles s when forests are depleted. These natives would be forced to live elsewhere, an d are usually left to becoming mendicants in rural and urban areas. Flooding and Drought One of the vital functions of forests is to absorb and store great amounts of wa ter quickly when there are heavy rains. When forests are cut down, this regulati on of the flow of water is disrupted, which leads to alternating periods of floo d and then drought in the affected area. Climate Change It is well known that global warming is being caused largely due to emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, what is not known quite as well is that deforestation has a direction association with carbo n dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. Trees act as a major storage depot for carbon, since they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which is then used to produce carbohydrates, fats, and proteins that make up trees. When deforesta tion occurs, many of the trees are burnt or they are allowed to rot, which resul ts in releasing the carbon that is stored in them as carbon dioxide. This, in tu rn, leads to greater concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Overall, effects of deforestation cannot be offset by the contribution of the pr actice to development. While it is logical that progress is very much needed by mankind, it must also be noted that nature knows no defeat. Destruct it and it w ould certainly retaliate, one way or another.

THE EFFECTS OF DEFORESTATION ON OUR ENVIRONMENT TODAY Deforestation has been described as the cutting down of trees without planting o thers in their place. It is hard to think that there was a time when 90% of the earth was covered by t rees, but this was once the case. If so, one asks, naturally, what happened to a ll these trees? Why do people cut down trees? The following are probable reasons : a) Demand for land for cultivation. This has been seen both in Kenya and other parts of the world especially countri es that have Agriculture as the backbone of their economy. Trees have been cut d own to obtain land for cultivation of both subsistence and cash crops, both by g overnments and individuals. b) Need for firewood People, especially those who live in rural areas where electricity and gas are u navailable, resort to use of firewood as a source of heat. Here, wood is cut dow n and burnt. c) Need for land to build industries Industries require a lot of land and while industrialization is important for ev ery country, it is the bane of large tracts of forest. People need jobs in order to provide for their daily needs. d) Need for land to build houses With the worldwide increase in population, land to build houses for people to li ve in is very much required. e) Need for wood for furniture, pencils, paper etc Whereas the above needs are important and have to be satisfied, cutting down tre es is not the most probable solution to these problems. Why? This is because, mo st people who cut down trees do not plant others in their place. Also, if all th e above needs are to be met by cutting down of trees, even planting two for ever y tree cut will not prevent desertification. This is because trees take so long to grow and mature, especially so for hard wood trees. Deforestation has the fol lowing dangers: Destruction of carbon sinks: Carbon sinks are huge stores of carbon, e.g. Swamps and forests Soil Erosion: Deforestation makes soil prone to erosion by agents such as wind and water. The roots of trees hold the particles of soil together thus, preventing the fertile top soil from being carried away. Soil erosion leads to loss of productivity of the land due to loss of mineral nutrients and soil microorganisms Destruction of animal habitats: Apart from domesticated animals and marine and fresh water animals, all other an imals need forests as their habitats. These forests do not only provide a place for the animals to roam day but also provide their food and act as a source of p rotection from predators through camouflage. Destruction of the animals habitats literally kills the animals. Medicinal Plants: Some trees are used as herbs. Trees such as the Cinchona have been used as treat ment against Malaria since time immemorial. Destruction of these forests leads t o destruction of medicinal plants that could be used as treatment for various ai lments. Trees act as windbreakers: Absence of these trees enables strong winds and or storms e.g. Hurricanes and To rnados. I write this in the wake of a Tsunami at the Indonesian coast where abou

t 150 people have just lost their lives. Hurricanes like Katrina are still fresh in our memories. I cannot over emphasize this point. Greenhouse effect and global warming: Nature balances the flow of energy and nutrients. Forests plan a very vital role in these cycles e.g. the carbon cycle where deforestation causes carbon dioxide to remain in the atmosphere. Accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere a cts as a blanket that traps long wave radiation of heat and prevents it from esc aping the surface of the earth back into the atmosphere. This phenomenon is know n as the greenhouse effect. The trapped radiation is converted into heat. This h eat causes global warming. Destruction of forests also causes modification of climate of an area mostly lea ding to desertification and aridity.

What then should be recommended as solutions to these problems? a) For every tree that is cut, three, not two should be planted in its case. We have reached such a critical point that to prevent the desertification of the wo rld that many more trees need to be planted. b) Unless it is necessary, water catchments areas should strictly be left alone c) Quick growing varieties of soft wood trees should be grown for commercial use s e.g. making of furniture, pencils and paper. d) We should carry out consistent mass education on a worldwide scale, on the im portance of reforestation and the dangers of deforestation e) We need to enact and enforce strict laws against deforestation, worldwide. f) It is high time that we reduced our dependence on charcoal as a source of fue l and make use of wind and solar energy.

Nature works as a whole cycle. This is seen not only in animals where predator a nd prey work together but also in the different energy and nutrient cycles. As a lready explained earlier, forests play a crucial role in this equation. The know ledge of how to conserve WHOS TO BLAME? Environmentalists have identified the main "culprits" as large corporations clea ring land to plant trees for pulpwood and palm oil.. Small farmers setting fires to clear plots for crops are responsible for 10% to 20% of the scarred acreage. Both small farmers and large corporations have tried clearing mangroves to esta blish rice paddies. This has generally failed because the soils under mangroves are fragile, highly acidic and tend to form solid, impermeable pans when exposed to the tropical sun. Average temperature was between 23C and 26C (73.5F and 78.8F) before the advent o eavy logging. After logging, temperatures of 40C (104F) were recorded regularly. Where the land has been logged, there are no longer trees to produce the rain cy cle which cools down the atmosphere. This would exacerbate the drought and worse n conditions. Logging has been established on the Malaysian peninsula since the 19th century b ut developed most rapidly in the 1970s; timber production peaked in 1979. For a long time, the actions of the logging companies went largely unchecked. Even whe n laws were created to curb the depletion of this resource, they were not always been enforced. The government has banned deliberate use of fires, but the head of Rubber Association of Indonesia says burning is the most efficient and practi cal way to clear land. If an official tries to enforce the ban, "you just bribe him," the trade groups A.F.S. Budiman told the Far Eastern Economic Review. Money has a way of placating many of the moral views and laws in society. Scott paper company abandoned its plantation project to its partner P.T. Astra I nternational after severe opposition from Indonesian and Western groups. The gov ernment was angered at the strength of the campaign against Scott and launched a

$2.5 million public-relations counter-attack: The estimated cost of this project is $1 billion. The timber plantation component alone will cost $342 million, 35 percent of whic h will come from the Forestry Departments Reforestation Fund, which in turn comes from a state tax levied against logging companies for the reforestation of degr aded forest. It seems somewhat ironic that the money set aside from the protection and regene ration of the environment will be the very money which will fund a project to cu t down more trees. FOREST MANAGEMENT AND RECOVERY Forest management may have many goals. Under rotation harvest, the goal typical ly is to maximize annual harvest while ensuring that the area harvested is consi stent with forest regrowth rates and total area under management. This might re sult in a second harvest of the same forest plot after some 60-100 years. The l ength of time between successive harvests of a forest is called the rotation len gth. Forests on federal and state lands are usually managed according to multiple use doctrine. This means that in addition to forest harvest, the land is available for recreation and maintains a healthy forest ecosystem. Managing to protect b iodiversity and to restore pre-settlement conditions are relatively recent goals . In many parts of the world forests may be used by indigenous people for subsi stence hunting, forest harvest, and as a place to live. These people add yet mo re considerations, and more stakeholders, to the challenge of forest management. Forest restoration may seek to restore the system to a near-natural or completel y natural state, or to restore many aspects of the structure and function of an undisturbed forest. The latter is usually referred to as rehabilitation, to emp hasize that the desired endpoint is not necessarily that of pre-settlement condi tions. Forest management in the USA often involves the controversial role of fire, and whether to attempt to direct the course of forest succession. Most forests in t he lower 48 states are relatively young second-growth, and may have developed un der an unnatural degree of fire suppression. In the upper Midwest, for example, aspen covers much of what was once white pine. Roughly 80 years old, these asp en forests are at the age when they are likely to die. It is uncertain what typ e of forest will replace them. Within oak-maple hardwood forests, the overstory is dominated by oaks, whereas the seedlings are dominated by maple. To maintain oak forests, some combination of fire and thinning is needed to favor recruitme nt by oaks. Fire plays a major role in many forest types, including some that are highly fir e adapted. The jackpine of Michigan, for example, releases its seeds only after fire heats its cones. Fire suppression has been US Forest Service policy since some devastating fires of the 1950s brought calls for fire management. Since t hen, fuelwood on the forest floor has accumulated and people attracted by scenic settings have increasingly built houses in wooded areas. As a consequence, cal ls for fire suppression are even stronger, and the human costs of fire are even greater than before. Forests often will recover on their own, but perhaps not in the direction or as quickly as we might prefer. The old growth spruce-hemlock forests of Southeast Alaska appear to recover toward their original state, but it is hard to say how long this will take. After all, extensive clear-cuts first took place only som e 50 years ago, so there are no forests that have fully recovered. Best estimat es from comparisons of plots of different ages, some caused by long-ago natural disturbances, suggests 200-400 years. It often is said that tropical forests wi ll never recover from deforestation, especially if the land is burned and the to p soil is disturbed. This may be true in some instances, but examination of lan ds abandoned 50, 100, or more years ago suggests that we should be more optimist ic. An ambitious plan to restore a dry forest (one that sheds its leaves in the dry season) in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, serves as a good example. Using fire an d grazing to control invasive plants, and working with a detailed knowledge of f

orest ecology, workers there hope to return this area to its original forested s tate. In other regions of the tropics, native seedlings are grown in nurseries a nd planted in forest openings to help speed recovery. INDIGENOUS PEOPLE Protecting Their Lands There are several different views of the effect upon the indigenous people in th is area. Sarawak vs. logging company the Sarawak fighting for their traditional lands. Several Sarawak had been arrested for blockading a logging road through their an cestral lands. They brought case on the grounds of infringement into their homeland. This case addresses the controversial question of whether tribal land rights inc lude forested areas where hunting, fishing, gathering, and burials are carried o ut. Or, as the government contends, these rights are limited to areas cleared fo r agriculture, leaving the forest open for commercial logging. The defendants cl aim that the Sarawak are already "legally dispossessed" from the forest, that th ey have no rights to it, no legal standing. Whatever the decision reached by the court, the case will be appealed to the Malaysian Supreme Court. The trial coul d take up to five years, during which time the logging could continue. ON THE TIDE OF CHANGE T.R. Reid in an article in National Geographic presented a different view of the indigenous people. Malaysians know that their economic leap ahead may threaten the delicate balance that keeps the diverse population functioning as a harmonio us community. In his view, the Iban seem to be adapting to the ways of the moder n twentieth century and losing their traditional customs: "The tribe once notorious for headhunting had posted a "No Smoking, Please" sign on the entrance to their longhouse." The children said that the longhouse was "OK", but they much prefer living in th e dorm at school with its electric lights, flush toilets, and TV. In the face of modern luxuries, many people are reluctant to maintain their old ways, the young especially. The elders see the beauty of tradition, the importan ce of keeping it alive. The young tend to go more for comfort, for money, for pe ace, and for ambition. Reid writes in his article, "As the only outsider present I began to get the uneasy feeling that the whole shebang (traditional dance and ceremony) had been staged for my benefit...several made it appear to be an unpl easant chore...the chief of the longhouse said "Dont worry, its all part of the to ur package." The old traditions have almost become more a tourist attraction than a practice passed onto the youth. When anthropologists, tourists, and writers go to visit t he indigenous tribes, they expect to see the rituals, the traditions. The people do not disappoint them. The outsiders are given what they desire, not the moder n day acclimation into the technological society, but their mental image of how indigenous people live. There are, of course, many indigenous people who still live their "primitive" li festyle, like the Sarawak. But many others like the Iban have begun to adapt to the culture of the cities as they send their children to schools in the city to grow up with "civilized" ways. In many indigenous cultures, violence is a well e stablished fact of life and many people die from inter-tribal feuding and raids. Sometimes the people of these cultures realize that their ways no longer fit in to the world in which they live and thus they begin to assimilate themselves int o the predominant culture. This is not always the case, of course, as, for examp le, the Sarawak are trying to retain their way of life. Many anthropologists ten d to view indigenous cultures as being apart from change. But these cultures are changing and will change, especially with the influx of outsiders into their ho melands and the destruction of their lands. Some tribes try to counter this by f ighting for their land, as the Sarawak are doing. Others try to counter it by ad apting to the predominant culture.

DEFORESTATION IN PAKISTAN The main cause of deforestation is felling for fuelwood, the demand for which ex ceeds production in most parts of the country. Consumption is expected to contin ue rising as the population is growing at a rate of 3% a year. Deforestation is threatening the livelihoods of many who depend on the forests, as well as having serious consequences for ecosystems and biodiversity and the impacts of natural disasters such as earthquakes. Experts stated in July 2008 that deforestation w as behind the expansion of the country's heat zone, reduced flow in the Indus Ri ver and shrinkage of the Indus delta. To help meet Pakistan's demand, large amounts of timber have been smuggled over the border from Afghanistan where the government has little control over the for ests and corruption is rife. In 2007, allegations were made about large quantities of valuable sheesham wood being smuggled to Dubai. Pakistan furniture industry representatives said they w ere facing a lack of timber due to low plantation rates and illegal cutting and called on the government to crack down on the smugglers, said to be part of a ti mber mafia. The government and local authorities have been accused of showing little interes t in combating the problems of illegal logging or deforestation, and have been c riticised for a lack of conservation and protection measures or effective enforc ement. PAKISTAN HAS HIGHEST ANNUAL DEFORESTATION RATE IN ASIA Karachi -While forests currently cover only 2.5 per cent of the countrys land, Pa kistan has the highest annual deforestation rate in Asia, according to the lates t findings of the World Wide Fund for Nature. The WWF report, which is being launched on Friday, warns that if the current def orestation rate of 2.1 per cent and trend of land conversion from forest to othe r uses is not checked, the country will not be able to meet its international co mmitments under the Millennium Development Goals to increase its forest cover fr om 2.5 per cent to six per cent by 2015. The report says that more than 61,000 hectares (approx. over 151,500 acres) of f orest land have been converted to non-forest use in the country since its incept ion. The urgent measures recommended to the relevant authorities to curb the negative trend are immediate placement of a ban on forest land conversions, commercial h arvesting and allotments; spread of awareness among lawmakers for proper legisla tion to restrict land conversions; and recovery of forest land from encroachers and its subsequent reforestation. In extremely important cases where conversion of forest lands becomes unavoidabl e, necessary provisions in the law must be made for compensatory forestation on twice the land being converted / allotted, the report recommends. Mangroves depletion on the top Over 4.242 million hectares in the country were forest land in 1992. However, it declined to 3.44 million hectares by 2001, the report says. The highest rate of deforestation has been found in the Indus delta mangroves, w hich has depleted at a rate of around 2.3 per cent, while the coniferous forest depleted at 1.99 per cent and ravine forests at 0.23 per cent. The WWF report says that over 99,711 acres of forest land in Punjab and 27,874-a cre forests in Sindh have been converted to non-forest uses. In this regard, it says, the beneficiaries remain some government departments, politicians and othe r influential people having close contact with respective governments. A province-wise breakdown of forest land converted to other uses shows that Punj ab tops the list with conversion of 99,711 acres, followed by Sindh with 27,874 acres, Balochistan with 13,693 acres, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 9,692 acres, and A

zad Jammu and Kashmir with only 577 acres. This way the WWF tally of forest land conversion becomes 151,548 acres. Beneficiaries While forest lands have been given to various government departments, some civil ians and non-government/commercial organisations also have got the forest land a llotted in their name in an exchange. Some of the beneficiaries in Sindh include Pir Syed Shah Mardan Shah, Pir S. Sib ghatullah Rashdi, Pir Syed Nadir Ali Shah, Abdullah Fakir, Kamat Fakir, Syed Moh ammad Qaim Shah, Ghulam Nabi, Ghluam Rasool and Abdullah Sanjarani, Chaudhry Moh ammad Ashraf and Ghulam Haider Ghalio. The government and private organisations having got the forest land in and aroun d Karachi include the Defence Housing Authority, which has been provided with th e largest chunk of over 11,500 acres, the city district government of Karachi fo r garbage dump, Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, Barrette Hodg son Education Institution, Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, Aga Khan University, S indh Madressah, and Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture. In Punjab, the people and organisations having obtained the forest land include H. Syed Mohammad Ishaq, Malik Khalid for chairlift in Bansra Gali, Brig Mohammad Aslam Khan for Shangrila Hotel in Murree, Pearl Continental Hotel in Bhurban, R edco for hotel in Bhurban, Youths Hostel in Bhurban, Zafar Iqbal for houses in M urree, for chairlift in Patriata, InstaPhone, Journalists Housing Colony, and Pu njab Government Servants Housing Foundation. In Balochistan, a CNG company and SOS childrens village have been given forest la nd in Quetta. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, beneficiaries include Mohammad Pervaiz Khan and PMA hut i n Naran; Pakistan Youth Hostel in Sharan, Hotel Pine Park Complex in Shogran.