Forests – An imperative resource

By Naeem Javid Muhammad Hassani

A forest (also called a wood, woodland, wold, weald, holt, frith, or firth) is an area with a high density of trees. A forest is a dense growth of trees, together with other plants, covering a large area of land. The science concerned with the study, preservation, and management of forests is forestry. A forest is an ecosystem-a community of plants and animals interacting with one another and with the physical environment.
The plant communities cover approximately 9.4% of the Earth’s surface (or 30% of total land area), though they once covered much more (about 50% of total land area), in many different regions and function as habitats for organisms, hydrologic flow modulators, and soil conservers, constituting one of the most important aspects of the Earth’s biosphere. Although a forest is classified primarily by trees a forest ecosystem is defined intrinsically with additional species such as fungi.
The diversity of landscapes and climates in Pakistan allows for a wide variety of trees and plants to flourish in this region. The forests range from coniferous alpine and subalpine trees such as spruce, pine, and deodar cedar in the extreme northern mountains, to deciduous trees such as the mulberry-type Shisham in the Suleiman range in the majority of the country, to palms such coconut and date in South Punjab and all of Sindh. The western hills are home to juniper and tamarix as well as coarse grasses and scrub plants. Mangrove forests form much of the coastal wetlands along the coast in the south.
Coniferous forests in most of the northern and north-western highlands are found at altitudes ranging from 1,000m to 4,000m. In the xeric regions of Baluchistan, date palms and ephedra are common floral varieties. In most of Punjab and Sindh, the Indus plains support tropical and subtropical dry and moist broadleaf forestry as well as tropical and xeric shrub-lands. These forests are mostly mulberry, acacia, and Eucalyptus.
The chief economic product of forests is timber, but the economic benefits, in terms of climate control, pollution abatement, and wildlife maintenance, have rarely been calculated. The economic importance of non-timber forest products is also increasing. The forest is also vital as a watershed. Because of the thick humus layer, loose soil, and soil-retaining powers of the trees’ long roots, forests are vitally important for preserving adequate water supplies. Almost all water ultimately feeds from Forest Rivers and lakes and from forest-derived water tables.
In addition, the forest provides shelter for wildlife, recreation and aesthetic renewal for people, and irreplaceable supplies of oxygen and soil nutrients. Deforestation, particularly in the tropical rain forests, has become a major environmental concern, as it can destabilize the earth’s temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels. Efforts to control deforestation, including those at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, remain ineffective.
Forests are major contributors to the Earth’s ability to maintain its climate, by the global impact of their photosynthesis. They are a natural defense against climate change, removing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and generating oxygen. This assists in purifying the atmosphere and controlling rising temperatures. Deforestation negates these benefits.
In addition to assisting in climate control, forests have other ecological benefits. They prevent erosion by reducing the rainfall’s force on the soil’s surface and by absorbing water and not allowing it to directly run off and remove topsoil. Forests also act as water filters, collecting and storing water and recharging underground aquifers. Tropical montane forests are especially important to watersheds. Forests also increase the atmosphere’s humidity by transpiration, which affects temperature and rainfall.
Forests contain a greater range of biodiversity than any other ecosystems on earth. Only a fraction of the species found in forests have been examined and studied. A single massive tree in the Amazon rainforest can be home for thousands of species. The wide variety of trees and plants found in tropical forests comprises particularly intensive biodiversity. This biodiversity is be important on its own terms in ways we may not currently understand, as interdependent species have evolved over millions of years to interact and flourish.
Humankind derives many benefits from forest ecosystems. Many medicines and pharmaceuticals have been discovered in plants native to forests. Local communities survive on plants and animals culled from the forests. Products that modern society depends on such as wood, paper and bamboo all originate from forest ecosystems. Many other desirable products such as spices, gums and dyes are also found in forests around the globe. Forests are important to humans for aesthetic reasons as well, and ecotourism is one way to use and promote the protection of forests in a sustainable manner.
Pakistan has five out of fourteen mountain peaks of height over 8,000 metres (26,250 ft), that attract adventurers and mountaineers from around the world, especially to K2. From April to September, domestic and international visitors to these areas bring tourist income to the local people. Pakistan receives 500,000 tourists annually; with almost half of them heading to northern Pakistan and forests in these areas are the key and dominating factors that contribute in this regard.

The writer is Divisional Forest Officer, Baluchistan and has done M. Sc Forestry from Pakistan Forest Institute, Peshawar. He contributed this article to pkarticleshub.com. He can be reached at tulaib_javid@yahoo.com.