Abstract: A survey was conducted to explore the fuel wood species and timber producing species of Siran Valley, Pakistan. Consumption pattern and impact on the forest resources were also taken into consideration. A questionnaire was used as a survey instrument to obtain desired data. For this study 10 villages were randomly selected. In each village 10 persons were interviewed and they were randomly selected. Only one person was interviewed from a household. A total 100 respondents were interviewed. Studies revealed that 71 plant species belonging to 50 genera and 32 families are utilized as fuel wood and 54 species belonging to 39 genera and 27 families are utilized as timber. Three tree species Quercus incana and Cedrus deodara and Taxus wallichiana has been found endangered. There is a dire need to conserve these species.
INTRODUCTION
The study area is located in the Hazara Civil Division, District Mansehra of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Pakistan. The Siran River catchments area is commonly known as, Siran Valley. It is situated between 34° 33/ 35// and 34° 44/ 30// North Latitude and between 73° 13/ 38// and 73° 22/ 40// East Longitude. The Siran River is 130 km in length joining the Indus at Tarbala in Hazara Division. The total area of the tract is 5284.2 km. According to standard classification of forest types of Pakistan (Champion et al., 1965), the upper Siran reserved forests fall under the major type Montane Temperate Forests. Gymnosperms consist of Pinus roxburgii, P. wallichiana, Abies pindrow, Taxus wallichiana and Cedrus deodara. Several other broad-leaved species like Aesculus indica, Populus ciliata and Juglans regia are also found. Forests as vital life support systems play an important role in regulating climate, providing habitat for numerous species, maintaining and conserving soil resources, regulating hydrological cycles and ensuring water supplies. Forest resource and its use by the stakeholders depend on how social and economic parameters of a society affect such resources and its use.
Fuel wood is the main source of energy in the developing world. Use of wood by mankind for energy purpose is as old as human civilization itself. One of the most serious problems in the developing world is the shortage of fuel wood. Pakistan is experiencing rapid increase in its national energy consumption with increasing population and economic development. The country is poor in forest wealth. The primary reason is that about 70-80% of land area falls in arid or semi-arid zones with very low precipitation to support tree growth. Sheikh (1987) estimates that fuel wood meet about 50% of domestic energy requirement while 16% are shared by the fossil fuels and burning dung and crop residues generate 34%. The economic importance of firewood production is evidenced from the fact that its consumption in Pakistan is larger than any other use of wood. The idea for conducting this survey was developed because of the fact that the entire population of the Siran Valley is wholly dependent on natural forests for its energy requirements and timber. Fuel is used for cooking and heating of homes. The greatest demand of timber of large dimensions exists in construction sector. This includes residential houses, which, depending on ethnic and traditional origins requires considerable amount of timber for construction of walls and roofs, the bulk needed for roof beams, which have to carry a heavy load in case of mud roofs. The forest resources are under depletion at a very fast rate resulting in ecological imbalance. The people living in the study area are facing serious fuel wood problem. The broad objective of the study is to assess the factors causing forest degradation and to recommend measures to address such causes of forest degradation.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The survey was conducted to explore the fuel wood species and timber producing species their consumption and impact on the forest resources of Siran Valley, Pakistan. For this study 10 villages were randomly selected. In each village 10 persons were interviewed and they were randomly selected. Only one person was interviewed from a household. The total 100 respondents were interviewed. Of which 10 household heads were selected from each village. Target villages of Siran Valley were Jabori, Nawazabad, Jacha, Mandagucha, Jabbar, Devli, Kund, Bakki, Khori and Panjool. A questionnaire was used as a survey instrument to obtain desired data. The questions were designed as brief and to the point. The questionnaire was divided into two main parts i.e., The first part contained questions on household size, number of earning members, occupation, education and income level of household head. Information type of fuel used preferences for various fuels and preferred fuel wood species. The respondents were interviewed personally on their homes or farms. Although the interview schedule was constructed in English, yet the questions were administrated in Hindko and Gujri for the convenience of interviewer and interviewees to get the required information with maximum accuracy. The respondents were interviewed individually at their homes or farms and in their own environments. While interviewing the researcher tried his best to maintain informal and friendly atmosphere in order to obtain the factual opinion of the sample respondents. In this way, one after another, sample respondents were interviewed and data was collected. Plants were collected, identified, pressed; dried, preserved, mounted and ethnobotanical data were collected following the procedure of Martin (1995). They were properly identified through the available literature (Nasir and Ali, 1971-2001) and were confirmed by the experts in Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University Islamabad. The specimens were deposited in the Herbarium, Department of Plant sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University Islamabad Pakistan (ISL).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The Studies revealed that 71 plant species belonging to 50 genera and 32 families are utilized as fuel wood and 54 species belonging to 39 genera and 27 families are utilized as timber (Table 1 and 2). The people of the research area utilize fuel wood for cooking and heating their houses in winter. It was observed that fuelwood consumption per household for cooking and heating was minimum during summer (March to October). The data indicated that about 65% additional fuel was needed during winter for meeting, heating needs of the household. During winter months (November to February) the consumption pattern of the household remained the same except the change in quantity consumed. The local community is very selective both for fuel wood and timber species which has resulted in the depletion of these species. All tree and shrub species may be used as fuel if sufficiently dried however, burning properties vary widely. Some species have high caloric values and burn without smoke or sparking. There are species, which burn easily and quickly while others burn slowly and with a small flame. So even when faced with a severe fuel shortage, people are amazingly selective. Some of the valuable trees like Quercus incana which are already endangered are utilized ruthlessly as fuel wood. The common way of using fuel wood is extremely wasteful. Adequate preparation of fuel wood i.e., sufficient drying and splitting of large diameter pieces could help to avoid unnecessary losses of energy. The traditional way of cooking on three stones or a metal ring with three legs is a great loss to energy. If open fires were replaced by stoves, fuel wood consumption could be reduced by one third by the more efficient use of fuel wood and in part also by a change in heating and cooking habits, fuel wood consumption in the area could be effectively cut back. This would substantially reduce the pressure on the natural tree and shrub vegetation and help to avoid high afforestation costs. Mostly dry wood is used as fuel but if not available green trees are cut for fuel wood. Since quantity of fuel wood imported or exported for domestic use is very low, almost the total demand/consumption is produced in the study area itself. Another factor which badly affects the forests of the area is utilization of wood for tobacco curing, as tobacco is the major cash crop grown in the lower Siran Valley. Khan et al. (1996) studied the impact of fuel shortage on conservation of Biodiversity of Hindu-Kush Himalayas mountainous region. They suggested the solutions for the hazardous impacts of fuel shortage by employing various strategies at local, regional and state levels. They also suggested that alternative sources of fuel should be explored and fast growing trees should be planted in large scale while protecting the already planted trees and conserving the endangered species.
Whole population of the Siran Valley is dependent on forests for timber wood, since no import takes place and substitutes like iron girders (for house construction) are not common. Consequently it can be assumed that the total population of the study of is more or less depending on the forests for timber for house construction since coniferous timber mainly used for the carrying parts and for doors and windows. The Pine wood is traditionally used as a source of durable timber in the study area. The survey revealed that Cedrus deodara wood is preferred for construction. This plant has been cut on such a large scale that it is on the verge of extinction. Chopra (1992) highlighted the importance of gymnosperms in nature and in human life. The people of the research area live a semi-nomadic life style and their houses vary according to the prevailing condition and duration of stay.
| Table 1: | Plants used as fuel wood |
| Value as source of energy {SE}, Multiple use (besides fuel
wood) {MU}, Plantation (Natural regeneration, Fast growth, Yield under local
conditions {P}, 1 = Very good, 2 =Medium, Satisfactory, 3 = Low rating, Unsatisfactory |
|
| Table 2: | Timber producing trees and shrubs |
S = Structural uses, + = Very important, T = Tools, etc O = Less important, F = Furniture, – = Not used | |
For example the houses in the villages are mostly made of mud and stones wall having bunkers inside. In high mountains meadows the house are totally made of wood logs. A transitional stage includes the stone walls along with wooden frames incorporated in between. In general a house consumes a lot of timber wood. The order of preference for using a certain timber varies as a function of availability/ accessibility of wood. The houses in Siran Valley are constructed traditional manner with lavish use of timber in walls and roofs. The timber requirements of such houses are exorbitant to the extent that the timber used in one traditional house is enough for construction of 20-30 houses constructed in other areas of Hazara. Such lavish use of timber originated probably from early times when forests covered all the areas and were cleared by early settlers to get land for farming. At present most of the forests in surrounding of villages have been severely depleted by cutting the trees indiscriminately, usually Cedrus deodara, for constructional purpose. Not only the houses consume huge timber but at the same time have limited rooms for living and are unhygienic. There is a dire need to develop active community involvement with improved design of houses requiring minimum quantity of timber and offering better living condition. A huge amount of wood is lost by traditional methods of felling of trees. Timber harvesting is done by local made axe and two-man peg-toothed cross-cut saw. The felled trees are cut into logs and then squared in the form of scants in the forest. The scants are extracted through slides and also through water (streams). The scants so collected at the transit site are then transported by mules. Primitive tools and techniques, low timber outturn, lack of planning and absence of harvesting plans for economical outturn, wasteful methods of timber conversion, over harvesting, low literacy rate, management of timber harvest by outsiders, non-availability of bank-loans, high timber consumption in local houses and frequent forest fires are some of the reasons which are threatening the biodiversity of the Siran Valley. Rehman and Ghafoor (2000) studied the human influence on the natural resources of Mount Elum, Swat. Deforestation, timber, fuel wood collection, overgrazing, terracing, poverty, ignorance, lack of development initiatives and the ruthless exploitation of wildlife were among the root causes of ecological degradation. The possible solutions for the problems identified were social organization for resolving conflicts, raising nurseries for agroforestry and reforestation, range management, agricultural development, commercial fruit culture, fisheries apiculture and poultry development, provision of tape water and investment in gender development. To regenerate barren areas due to deforestation, immediate tree plantation campaigns are required in the barren area. However community self governance has led to a successful of forest through natural regeneration (Webb and Khurshid, 2000). For sustainable utilization of forest resources of Siran Valley following recommendation are made:
| • | The conservation and afforestation programmes should be launched simultaneously through farm forestry approach with the intimate involvement of the inhabitants. |
| • | Supply of cheap kerosene oil, LPG and other sources of energy can be helpful in reducing pressure on forests being cut for fuel. |
| • | Fast growing fuel wood species should be introduced on private lands. |
| • | Awareness among the people about the conservations of this depleting natural gift should be created through public awareness. |
| • | Non Governmental Organizations should (NGOs) also participate in conservation activities but all works should carry out by co-ordination with forest department. |
| • | The efficiency of fuel wood utilization must be increased so as to make better use of available resources. |
| • | Community should be involved in active afforestation programmes. |
| • | Timber smuggling should be checked by the forest department. |
| • | Traditional methods of felling the trees should be stopped. |