A crucial agreement for mapping and monitoring the Murree Forests Division (MFD) forests and to highlight encroachments on forest land was signed between the Punjab Forest Department and the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) – Pakistan on Monday. The ceremony took place at the Punjab Forest’s Secretariat and was headed by Punjab Forestry Wildlife Fisheries and Tourism Department Secretary Babar Hassan Bharwana and WWF – Pakistan Director General Ali Hasan Habib. Through the agreement, mapping and monitoring of MFD forests will be conducted. Encroached pockets in the forest area will also be highlighted to efficiently manage the natural resources of the area.
MFD has been facing high encroachment pressures and considering the alarming encroachment rate, the Lahore High Court (LHC) took a suo motu notice after which WWF – Pakistan became a party and helped the court by providing images and maps of the selective highly encroached forest sections. WWF – Pakistan in consultation with the Punjab Forest Department, Revenue Department and Survey of Pakistan has already conducted a model study of the selective MFD forest sections. The maps and results of the model study were presented to the LHC for reference. The study was also recognised by Murree Steering Committee while WWF – Pakistan Indus for All programme is funding MFD.
The recent degradation of forests in the country has proved to be alarming. The 2010 floods raised further concern about depletion of this natural resource. Since 2011 has been declared the international Year of the Forests, the agreement will add to the efforts by WWF – Pakistan and various government agencies to try and decrease forest degradation. Bharwana said the government appreciates the support of WWF for mapping the forests and pointing out illegal encroachments in MFD. He said under the model study, the comparison of satellite images and other maps traced out on different dates has helped identify the forest degradation areas and has also helped identification of the areas where the forest boundary pillars have been removed by the land grabbers.
WWF-Pakistan DG said the agreement will help conduct the joint Geographic Information System (GIS) studies of MFD. He said the agreement for extending the model study to collect and maintain the forest record on scientific basis was an important step and would lead to better management and monitoring of forests. The agreement signing also coincides with the World Biodiversity Day, which is celebrated on May 22. Pakistan’s forests host vast biodiversity, animals, insects and plants and monitoring them will benefit all species dependant on them, besides human beings.