Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy - IUCN

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B I O L O G I C A L D I V E R S I T Y , P A R K S & P R O T E C T E D A R E A S
our survival that Government expenditures for biodiversity
conservation are just as important as for other
development activity.
Threats to biodiversity of plants include many of
the same factors as for fauna. Deforestation, agricultural
expansion, overgrazing, and soil erosion are
the principal problems. The root cause of these is
rapid population growth, the consequent demand for
food and natural resources, and poverty. Together,
population growth and demands for an improved
standard of living account for a doubling of the
demand for natural resources every 12 years.
Common wisdom has it that loss of forest habitats is
only a recent phenomena, but research in the Kaghan
Valley (Schickhoff, 1995) suggests that forest clearing
accelerated dramatically with the arrival of British
administration in 1847. Ship building, railway building,
and agricultural expansion were the principal economic
factors involved, and recreational hunting began
in earnest, causing problems for animal species. In
1870, the area of cultivated land in the Kaghan Valley
was almost the same as in 1981 (Swati, 1985).
Deforestation has accelerated again during the
last 20 years, often linked to improved accessibility
due to road building. This is true for much of the
mountain region, particularly Kohistan, Swat, and
Chitral. This also permitted additional access for agriculturists
and graziers, which is having a significant
but less direct impact on vegetation.
Collection of plant genetic material for agricultural
crops and their wild relatives is already under way in
the Plant Genetic Resource Institute of the National
Agricultural Research Centre. This includes some commercially
useful fruit and nut tree species. Each of the
agro-ecological regions of the country is being
explored to collect germplasm that will be banked for
archival reasons, genetic research, and crop improvement
purposes. Although it was only established in
1993, some 28 collection expeditions have been
undertaken, some in the NWFP. The Department of
Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife (DFFW), the Pakistan
Forest Institute, and the Agriculture Department all
have seed collection and distribution programmes,
provenance trials (the testing of seeds from different
latitudes, altitudes, aspects, and microclimates), and
crop improvement initiatives.
158 SARHAD PROVINCIAL CONSERVATION STRATEGY
An expanded programme of investigation of plant
genetic resources will be undertaken in the context of
the national Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan.
However many of the root causes can only be
addressed through the mechanisms described in
other portions of the Sarhad Provincial Conservation
Strategy. While the creation of a parks and protected
areas system will help protect wild vegetation communities,
problems such as deforestation, overgrazing,
soil erosion, and water pollution also need to be
addressed in a systematic and coordinated manner.
1 3 . 3
CURRENT INITIATIVES IN
BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
Several important initiatives are already under way
to stabilize and reverse the decline in biodiversity in
addition to the steps enumerated in Chapter 12.
Pakistan has now ratified the international
Convention on Biological Diversity, and preparations
are under way for a national Biodiversity Strategy
and Action Plan. NWFP officials and the non-governmental
organization (NGO) sector are represented
on the technical team that intends to do this work.
Much of this will be funded by the Global
Environment Facility (GEF) II, and a wide variety of
action items are also proposed for funding.
Already under way or completed are several
species-specific projects by the DFFW and the World
Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). In the Palas Valley of
Kohistan, Birdlife International is successfully using a
community-based approach to establish conservation
areas for the western tragopan pheasant and the
Himalayan elm, both of which are internationally
threatened. Indeed, in this area of the NWFP the temperate
Himalayan forest zone has been identified as
a globally significant area for biodiversity, a ‘hot
spot’ with many endemic plants and animals. This is
a joint project, with some donor and some
Government funding.
Although hot spots of endemism are important, all
endangered species should receive some attention,
irrespective of how low the indices of species ‘richness’
may be for a certain habitat. The high Hindu
Kush, for example, may only support limited numbers