Introduction
Pakistan is a sub-tropical country
situated between 20 and 37 N latitude and 75 E longitudes. The forest
area under the control of government is 4.3 million hectares that is
4.8% of the total area. The area of privately owned forest is 1.5
million hectares, which lies in the Northern area of Punjab and NWFP.
These areas called -guzara or community forest". The study area
(Ayubia National Park) is the only moist temperate forest in Pakistan
with a high diversity of vulnerable plant and animal species. There
are about 200 species of herbs and shrubs and about 10 species of
Gymnosperm trees found in park area. It is situated in the Gallies
Forest division of Abbottabad between 34-1 to 34-3.8 N latitude and
73-22.8 to 73-27.1 E longitude over an area of 1684 hectares. The
area was declared as National Park in April 17, 1984. (Source: Work
Plan for Gallies Reserved Forest). The park is located on range of
hills running north to south in proximity of Abbottabad and
northwestern end of Murree. Altitude ranges from 1220-2865m. Highest
peak area Mirangani (i.e. 2228m) and Mukshpuri (i.e. 2865m) (Shinwari &
Khan 1998). Mean annual rainfall is above 1,500 mm, in addition to
precipitation received in form of heavy snow in winter and mean
annual temperature is 21 C and relative humidity is 66% (Khan 1998).
Important villages around the park are Kundala, Toheedabad, Mallach,
Lahurkas, Kalabun, Derwaza, Mominabad, Ram kot, Raila and Pasala. In
Ayubia National Park the vegetation is extensively being
impoverishment due to heavy population pressure from surrounding
villages. The resources of the Park are exploited by the people
mainly in form of fuel wood, fodder, enthnomedicinal and grazing of
animals.
Fauna of park include Mammals like
leopard, deer, fox and birds like Kestrel, Wagle owl, Indian cuckoo,
Purple sunbird, Black bird. (Source: Wildlife Department WWFP).
Although reserves have been crucial for preserving species and
habitats in the short term, with few exceptions they have not
incorporated in the long term and large scale dynamics of ecosystems
(Groom 1992, Holling et al 1995). Reserves and National Parks are
geographically defined areas protected by the law and in which human
activities are restricted or prohibited (Caldecott 1996). Ecosystems
are subject to natural and human induced disturbances at various
spatial and temporal scales (Groom 1992, Khan 1984). Recent work
shown that human tries to manage frequent and sometimes
intermediately frequent disturbances. This will result in extinction
or rareness of some species from nature.
The main objectives of the study are
to explore the conservation status of Gymnospermous species and
suggest some methods for future re-forestation and conservation of
natural resources.
Materials and Methods
Study
area
Ecology of the Park
Ayubia National Park is situated in
the Gallis Forest Division of Abbotabad District, North West Frontier
Province (Fig. 1). As originally designated in 1984, it lay between
34°-1' to 34°-3.8' north latitude and 73°-22.8'
to 73°-27.1' east longitude, cobering an area of 1684
hectares. In March 1998, the park area was more than doubled to 3,312
hectares under the NWFP Wildlife Act of 1975 (Fig. 2). The forests of
the park represent one of the best moist temperate forests in
Pakistan, with a wide diversity of plant and animal species. The
national park was established to preserve the ecosystem and its
biodiversity for scientific research, education and recreation(Fig. 3
and Fig. 4).
The national park consists entirely
of reserve forests, which spill out of the park area on the west and
south sides. Beyond the reserve forests are "guzara"
forests and waste land which is the communal or private property of
the people. With increasing population, the pressure on land and its
resources is enormous. The forests are a source of fuelwood, timber,
fodder, medicinal plants and wild vegetables for the surrounding
communities. As guzara lands become increasingly denuded the pressure
on forests is increasing.
As evident in the map, the park is
surrounded by dense population, with seven major villages consisting
of a larger number of linked settlements. The total population in and
adjoining the national park is about 50,000 and, in line with
national statistics, is growing at the rate of 3% per year. Social
services (schools, dispensaries, water supply schemes, roads etc.)
are far below the national average, which, in turn, is below the
South Asian norm. The high rate of illiteracy is a major constraint
in spreading conservation awareness.
Figure
1. National Park System of Pakistan.
Figure
2. Study Area in Ayubia National Park.
Figure
3. Panoramic View of Ayubia National Park Pakistan.
Figure 4. Blue Pine forest
in Ayubia National Park.
Stratification
The field work was carried out in the
Park from Jan. 1999-Jan. 2000 and border line area has been choose as
it facing major anthropogenic disturbance. This boundary area has
been divided into twelve focused regions (FR) and each FR 20
quadrates (0.25 x 0.25m) have been laid randomly and number of
seedlings and saplings of all tree species (i.e Pinus wallichiana,
Cedrus deodara, Prunus padus, Cornus macrophylla,
Quercus dilatata, Quercus incana, Abies pindrow,
Taxus wallichiana, Aesculus indica and Picea
smithiana) have been recorded.
On the basis of number of seedlings
plus saplings, each focus region categorized into a class of
disturbed or undisturbed patch.
Table 1. Categories on the basis
of Number of Seedlings and Saplings
S.#
|
Number
of Seedlings+Saplings/m2
|
Category
|
1
|
25-30
|
Undisturbed
|
2
|
20-25
|
Least
Disturbed
|
3
|
15-20
|
Mildly
Disturbed
|
4
|
10-15
|
Average
Disturbed
|
5
|
5-10
|
Highly
Disturbed
|
6
|
>5
|
Extremely
Disturbed
|
Results
On the basis of table one the results
of trees like Quercus dilatata, Quercus incana, Abies
pindrow, Taxus wallichiana, Aesculus indica and
Picea smithiana for the twelve focused regions are shown in
the table 2.
In FR 1 the total number of seedlings
and saplings of trees (i.e. Cedrus deodara and Pinus
wallichiana and Cornus microphylla)/ m is 33 and thus it
categorized as Undisturbed patch of the park.
FR 2 includes saplings and seedlings
( i.e Abies pindrow and Picea smithiana) falls in
category of Highly Disturbed patch. While in FR 3 & FR 4 also
includes in the same one and seedlings and saplings belong to Abies
pindrow, Taxus wallichiana , Pinus wallichiana,
Quercus dilatata).
In FR 5 & 6 four and three number
of seedling plus sapling (i.e Abies pindrow, Taxus
wallichiana, Pinus wallichiana and Quercus dilatata)
are observed respectively and both of these categorized as extremely
disturbed patches.
FR 7 & 8, both have values of
number of seedlings and saplings (Abies pindrow and Pinus
wallichiana) are twelve and hence include in Average Disturbed
patch of the park.
While FR 9 is extremely disturbed
with the value of seedling and saplings only 2/m (Pinus
wallichiana and Quercus dilatata). Similarly the focused
regions 10th and 11th are also very disturbed having value is 7 and 6
respectively (In this tree species are Abies pindrow, Taxus
wallichiana, Pinus wallichiana and Quercus dilatata)
The twelveth region is also extremely
disturbed.
Table 2. Categorization of the FR
(Focus Regions) on the basis of Number of Seedlings plus Saplings.
FR
|
Number
of Seedlings + Saplings
|
Category
|
1
|
33
|
Undisturbed
|
2
|
5
|
Highly
Disturbed
|
3
|
8
|
Highly
Disturbed
|
4
|
7
|
Highly
Disturbed
|
5
|
3
|
Extremely
Disturbed
|
6
|
4
|
Extremely
Disturbed
|
7
|
12
|
Average
Disturbed
|
8
|
12
|
Average
Disturbed
|
9
|
2
|
Extremely
Disturbed
|
10
|
7
|
Highly
Disturbed
|
11
|
6
|
Highly
Disturbed
|
12
|
4
|
Extremely
Disturbed
|
Discussion
As indicated in the results that only
one FR is undisturbed and two are average disturbed. Remaining all
either are higly or extremely disturbed . The species richness is
focal component in nature conservation (Ulf 2004). It indicates that
in almost all of plot there was no regeneration of Cornus
macrophylla, Abies pindrow and Picea smithiana.
Damages includes illicit cutting. In
the suburbs of the Park there are about 2311 households of the forest
dweller with a population of 18,097 Individuals. The average weight
of wood found to be stored per household during the period mid-June
to mid-September was 2,385 kg. Families use an average of 19.8 kg of
wood per day in summer and 42.2 kg in winter. Assuming 150 days of
winter and 215 days of summer, average annual consumption is
calculated to be 10,578 kg. (Aumeeruddy 1998). As a result of the
collection of such enormous quantity of the fuel wood especially by
killing or damaging the trees, forest patches situated in about 5-6
km radius of each tribal colony shows clear sign of disturbance. Only
about 10 % of the forest shows no sign of damage. However about 90%
of trees in fuel wood collection areas showed clear sign of damage to
their bole and branches.
Fuel wood consumption in Pakistan is
more than 565 million cubic meters per year and is constantly
increasing. A preliminary survey showed that more than 70 % of people
all over the tribal areas use timber as fuel wood, 10 % use animal
dung cakes for domestic use, 10 % use natural, 4 % use kerosene oil
and less than 4 % use electricity. These people have no alternative
but to cut plant if they want to cook their food (Shinwari et al
1996; Shinwari et el 2003).
Besides deforestation, overgrazing,
rapid colonization thousands of families are totally dependent on the
local plants for their daily domestic purpose (Shinwari et al 2003).
Khan et al (1996) studied the impact
of fuel shortage on conservation of biodiversity of Hindu-Kush
Himalayas Mountain region. They mentioned in their paper that
northern areas of Pakistan are endowed with immense natural resources
which are being rapidly unchecked and uncontrolled. The most serious
crisis to the loss of the biodiversity is fuel shortage, which mainly
affects firewood species.
In Margala Hills National Park,
Islamabad over 35 species are used, among which Acacia modesta,
Acacia nilotica, Buxes papillosa and Dodonaea viscosa were under high
fuel wood pressure (Shinwari and Khan 1998). In Chitral district 15
species of gymnosperms used as local medicines Firewood was also a
one of the factor for poor conservational status of the tree species
(Rashid et al 1997). Human influence on the natural resources of
Mount Aelum, Swat Analysis showed that land and ownerships conflict
were the basic cause of the depletion of the natural resources and
ecological degradation and poor conservational status (Rehman &
Ghafoor 2000).
[Acknowledgements]
We wish to thank all of the staff of
Quiad-I-Azam University for providing us opportunity to do this
research and University fellows for providing us help in collecting
literature and during fieldwork. We also pay words of gratitude to
our field assistant Mr.Afzal, whose collaboration make this extensive
filed data to be possible.
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