Investor Presentaiton
2.2
Scrub Forests
Punjab Forest Policy, 2019
The scrub forests grow in the foothill and lower slopes of Himalaya in
Punjab. The main mountain ranges occupied by these forests are Salt Range, Kala
Chitta Range and Suleman Range. They are mainly distributed in the districts of
Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Jhelum, Attock and a small portion in district Khushab and D.G.
Khan. Most of these forests lie between 1500 to 3000 feet above the sea level. The
total area of scrub forests in Punjab is 679549 areas.
The forests are dominated with low productive small sized broad leaf and
ever green tree species and therefore can be classified as xerophytes forests. The
density of forests varies from complete closure under the moist favourable
conditions on northern aspects to scattered trees or group on dry sites mostly on
southern aspect. However, their importance from the soil and water conservation
point of view can hardly be over-emphasized. It is the reason that the Irrigation
Department has established several small dams in the area. Scrub forests are
characterized by erosion, gullies and deep ravines. Rocks and boulders are common
feature with small patches of infertile soil produced due to weathering of sandstone.
It is very cold in winter and summers are hot, small amount of precipitation is
received in monsoon and winter rainfall.
The main tree species are Olea cuspidata (Kahu), Acacia modesta (Phulai),
Tecoma undulata (Lahora), Butea monosperma (Dhak), Pistacia integermia
(Kanjer), Capparis decidua (Kanir) and Dodonea viscosa (Sanatha).
The department does not undertake any felling of trees in the scrub forests
from a period of more than four decades. The area is under severe premise of grazing
and collection of firewood by the local inhabitants. Nomadic graziers (Bakarwal) visit
these forests annually during winter and stay in these areas for four to five months.
These Bakarwals browse their goats and cause damage to the crop due to excessive
grazing. Large scale mining activities are also common in and around forests under
proper legal cover. These mining activities also have deteriorating effects on the
forest health. Roads are constructed for carriage of minerals. The labourers settled
in an around forests and engaged in mining activities also uses firewood from the
forest area.
2.3
Irrigated Plantations
Irrigated Forest Plantations form one of the most valuable forest estate in
the province and their management comes high on the list of the functions of the
Forest Department. These are man-made forests and are in shape of blocks of
tree plantation in the canal irrigated tract. These plantations were among the world
pioneer in the forest practices. The first irrigated plantation of the country started
at Changa Manga in 1866. With the development of irrigation system in Punjab,
which is largest in the world and colonization in the semi-arid region afforestation
by canal irrigation also expanded and today we have about 456175 acres under
irrigated plantations in the province in different districts of the Punjab. The individual
size of a plantation ranges from 7,000 to 20,000 acres. The primary objective of
the establishment of irrigated plantations was to produce coal for the steam
engines. It is the reason that all the major irrigated plantations are established along
the railway lines. The basic species raised in these plantations was "Shisham"
(Dalbergia sisso) with a shorter rotation to produce firewood. These plantations
now meet about 10% of the total firewood needs of the province.
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