Scientific management of KP forests begins after delay of three decades.

PESHAWAR -- The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa forestry and wildlife department's plans to manage forests in the province along scientific lines have got off the ground after remaining on the back-burner for three decades.

Officials told Dawn that as the first task under the scientific forest management project, the department would clear the 'dead, dying, diseased or wind-felled' trees from forests in the province.

They said the department didn't regularly remove such trees fearing that social media would promote wrong impressions about the exercise.

The officials said some social media users even showed the 'legitimate felling of trees as the handiwork of timber mafia.'

Official says initiative must for sustainable production of timber, firewood

'As per the working plan estimates, the annual commercial yield from the forests of Hazara and Malakand areas is 11.5 million cubic feet with a minimum price of Rs17 billion annually,' conservator (forest) in the lower Hazara division Mohammad Yousaf Khan told Dawn.

He said on average, 70 per cent of the money went to people as forest royalties and the rest to the government.

'We are implementing this initiative under the approved working plan separately chalked out for each forest in the province,' he said.

The official said KP's annual forest-related losses since 1993 totalled Rs17 billion.

He said scientific forest management was necessary for sustainable production of timber, firewood and other minor forest production, while it was also important for the better health and hygiene of the forest to reduce the fire hazards and flood disasters.

The conservator said initially, the scientific management of forests was banned in 1993 as two years were required to enhance the capacity of the forest department personnel as well as organisational structure and mechanised harvesting.

He, however, said the ban was extended to 22 years and stayed in place until 2015 due to the 'pressure' from organisations working against deforestation in the country.

'With this harvesting of such timber will not only improve the health and hygiene of the forest but will also enhance its production,' he said.

About the implementation of scientific forest management, the official said the department would remove dead, dying and...