Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy - IUCN

extensive consultation process and the priority setting
set out in Chapters 5-14, a better title ultimately would
be A Sustainable Development Strategy for the NWFP.
This should be a consideration for the next phase, following
the implementation of the SPCS in 1995-98.
2.1.2
Agriculture
Agriculture is the mainstay of the NWFP economy
and there has been an increase of about 6% in the
cultivated area from 1975-76 to 1993-94. The area
under orchards has increased from about 14,000 to
about 30,000 hectares during this period. Most significant
has been the increase in the number of fruit
orchards over the past 15 years.
The major crops are wheat, maize, vegetables,
and fruit. Yields have increased for all of the major
crops because of greater inputs of improved seed,
irrigation, and agricultural chemicals. Rain-fed agriculture
is found on 54% of the cultivated area, but
yields on this land are 25-80% lower than for irrigated
land, depending on the amount of precipitation.
The average farm size is about 2.2 hectares, with a
cultivated area of about 1.6 hectares. About 78% of
the farms are owner-operated, and 22% owner-withtenant
and tenant-operated. Nevertheless, there are
signs of increased commercial agriculture, especially
with respect to vegetable and fruit trees.
On the other hand, prime agricultural land is
being steadily lost to non-productive uses such as
human settlements and roads. Moreover, industrial
units and estates are being established on productive
farmlands. The impacts of changes in land use on the
environment have not been quantified but the trends
are obvious. The loss of productive farmland to nonproductive
uses is already leading to a food deficit.
The livestock population has increased in all categories,
but mainly in poultry. There were 29 million
birds in 1995-96, with 84% in the rural sector. The
commercial sector produces 1 million kilograms of
broiler meat and about 32 million eggs annually—in
contrast the rural poultry sector is estimated to produce
892 million eggs.
There has been marked shift from the use of draft
animals to milk-producing animals, which is partially
I S S U E S & T R E N D S I N S U S T A I N A B L E D E V E L O P M E N T 2
due to mechanization of agriculture. A large proportion
of the cattle, goat, and sheep population is transhumant
and semi-transhumant and depends on grazing
of lower hillsides, upper watersheds, and alpine
slopes. Even sedentary livestock are fed by open
grazing. This had caused deterioration of the rangelands
and has often prevented natural regeneration
of forests, threatening their sustainability.
2.1.3
Forest & Grazing Land Depletion
The number of people living in the forested mountain
areas is increasing rapidly. So are the prices of timber.
Both of these have serious impacts on the forests of the
NWFP. The increase in human population has raised
the amount of wood removed from the forests to meet
local needs for timber and fuelwood. It has also
extended the cultivation of mountain slopes and
increased the rate of deforestation. The very high
prices of timber have increased the illicit removal of
trees. Although considerable forest depletion has been
occurring in the NWFP for the past century, rapid population
increase and rapidly rising timber prices seem
to have escalated the rate of cutting in recent decades.
Grazing lands cover about 1.78 million hectares
in the NWFP. Their denuded condition indicates a
higher grazing intensity than they can sustain. While
livestock form a significant component of the rural
economy, and grazing lands provide most of their
sustenance, little has been done to improve range
management. Sustainable development of forests and
grazing lands is essential for the protection of watersheds
and biological diversity. It is also necessary to
provide a sustainable livelihood to the people in the
mountains, and for the general economic well-being
of the people of the NWFP.
2.1.4
Biodiversity Conservation
Since 1975, the NWFP has made considerable efforts
to protect wildlife, although biodiversity conservation
as such is a recent issue. There are approximately 20
threatened mammal species in the province. Similarly,
some 20-25 bird species are under threat. Data are
SARHAD PROVINCIAL CONSERVATION STRATEGY 11