Past Management

Pre-British Era: The rich dense riverine forests were, exclusively owned by the rulers and were used for hunting and shooting. Smaller wood lots were granted to the Sardars and Jagirdars for similar purposes. There was no ownership of the land by the common people as it belonged to the rulers who granted rights of tax collection to the Jagirdars ; rights of  occupation for cultivation by extent;  rights of cultivation by location; and enforced various other systems of land tenure. Due to uncertain nature of floods and rains, the rights of occupation by extent and their usage were preferred. The forest products were used locally in subsistence living. They were not exploited and used for commercial purposes. Consequently, a social structure of aristocratic order developed, that had set rights and traditions into hierarchy. Certain crops like wheat, oil seeds, gram sand pulses were cultivated over the silty flats that were formed  due to the shift  in the course of the river. Summer cultivation consisted of rice, millets, indigo, thin sugarcane and short staple late rabi season cotton.

In 1825 the British acquired licence from the Mirs to ply their steam operated  flotillas from Keti Bandar to Sukkur and up north. The steaming boilers of the crafts needed firewood in large quantities. This initiated the commercial utilisation of firewood. The Mangrove wood was also used in Indus flotilla.

In 1860, the demand for fuel-wood  increased  because of the establishment of railways between Karachi, Kotri, Dadu, Larkana, Ruk, Sibbi and between Rohri and Samasata. The army cantonments established at Karachi and Quetta also needed firewood. Timber was needed for port works in Karachi and Bombay, and for gun carriages and ammunition boxes in Jubbulpore Ordinance Factory.

British Era : On occupation, the British took over the possession of forests and hunting areas ( shikarghas) for commercial production of firewood for the Indus flotillas. Then the management was assigned to the Railways. The proclamation of imperial monarchy in 1858 through the Queen's declaration ushered in the British Colonial outlook over Sindh as in other parts in British India. The forests were brought under the control of Forest Department in 1862.

The riverine forests of Sindh started ebbing down with the change in the rulership from the royalist to the British. The British looked upon the forest  management merely to provide fuel to the steam boilers of flotillas or railway engines. Until 1877, this utilisation pattern was practised without any regards  for scientific management.

In 1871 Dr. Schlick became the first Conservator of Forests, who organised the department on scientific footing, managing 25,525 ha. Eventually, in 1877-78, systematic management was undertaken and a working plan was prepared  which mainly catered to the needs of railways,  that used wood for boilers and sleepers.

Under the working plan, generally emulating the practice of Mirs, a third of each forest area was closed to grazing thereby ensuring their regeneration. Another measure was to expel the maldars (cattle owners) from the forest, if any forest area was burnt, not letting them return unless they restored the burnt fences and cleared a certain area of land as a protective belt.

In 1877-78, there were 24,529 ha of riverine forests maintained in highly satisfactory condition. Experiments for the introduction of some exotic species were undertaken. Out of all such species only Prosopis glandulosa succeeded.

From 1895 to 1947 the forests  were scientifically managed and exploited on sustained yield basis for obtaining firewood for Indus steam flotilla and later for Railway locomotives. There was a bureaucratic outlook towards forest management and forest administration. The Provincial autonomy of 1935 retained this character, through confining selection of locals to the administrative posts from among the aristocratic society, that adopted itself best in support of Imperial colonial order. April 1936, was the turning point in the history of forests when Sindh became a separate province with constitutional and administrative machinery of its own. Another event of importance which  influenced the forests  of Sindh and their management was completion of Lloyd Barrage that led to the policy of raising irrigated plantations. Sindh was one of the leading provinces of the undivided India, which introduced agro-forestry. This intensive land use technique has been responsible for raising not only wood plantations but also valuable food crops. From 1940 to 1947, the use of forests so as to obtain the forest products including firewood, timber for furniture, packing cases, pit props and other mining timber and for many other purposes.

The forests of Sindh were almost fully stocked before World War II. Owing to the excessive wartime pressure,over exploitation of forests was inevitable, necessitating deviation from the prescribed management practices. This inevitably resulted in over-felling and depletion of the resource.

Post Independence period . The Province of Sindh has suffered from political instability like other parts of the country. This has impacted on the management of riverine forests as well. These forests  have been victims to misuse and mismanagement. Substantially reduced flooding is the other main reason for degradation of riverine forest in Sindh.

Productivity of Riverine Forests.

There is a total of  241, 120 hectares of riverine forests   in Sindh, out of which 138,000 ha are wooded forests  and 103,120 ha lie blank. Table 3 below gives the comparison of potential and actual production from the riverine forests of Sindh.

Table :3; Comparison of potential and actual production from the riverine forests of Sindh.

Reference : R iverine forests
Forestry Sector Master Plan Project - Pakistan-1991

The production potential of the 138,000 ha of planted riverine forests in Sindh should be 441,600 cubic meters of timber and 717,600 cubic meters firewood. However, the  overall output from all types of forests in Sindh is lower  than the potential of riverine forests alone. The  volumes harvested in 1988-90 represent approximately 5% of the potential yield.

The riverine forests in Punjab also yield far less than their potential. The output of shisham on these bela areas is less than that in Irrigated plantations. 200 trees are planted per acre in the riverine plantations whereas, 726 per acre are planted in canal irrigated plantations. After thinnings are carried out, the canal irrigated plantations still have about 300 trees per acre. There are no intermediate yields from the riverine plantations. Since thinnings are not carried out. 

Their productivity under existing conditions of flooding and mismanagement has deteriorated. In order to offset the adverse changes on one hand and to increase productivity intensive management that focuses on regeneration of appropriate trees and their tending, is necessary in order to produce more of high quality and maximum benefit that the water and land can yield.

Economic Aspects

Prolonged flooding prevents the low-lying areas to be managed as commercial forests. However, the low-lying areas have been important habitat of wild species of animals. Moreover, these forests have provided useful products and services that included livestock grazing, game animals and birds, subsistence needs of local communities and stabilisation of river banks to some extent.

The commercial species in the high-lying areas cannot survive without irrigation as they are not flooded frequently and the ground water table is low which makes its availability to plants difficult. Irrigated plantations have been established in some of these forests. Compared with the canal irrigated plantations, these high-lying areas in riverine forests have certain drawbacks;

• They do not have access to canal water, hence water has to be pumped with tube-wells or lifted from dhands and dhoras. This is a very costly operation.
• The infrastructure (e.g. roads and water channels) of the plantations in riverine forests are damaged whenever flooded. Then these require substitution or improvement.
• The expenditure on raising irrigated plantations in the high-lying areas of riverine forests is higher than the cost in a canal irrigated plantation.

The intermediate areas, which contain babul in Sindh and Shisham in Punjab, are of great interest to the Forest Department. The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) on babul plantations ranges from 5.9% to 9.7%.  This, however, does not consider intangible benefits, since not computed. In fact, it is important to put a price on all intangible benefits to know the real rate of return. 

From the point of view of  investment, forestry has two major drawbacks:

1. Returns take  a long time; and
2. Capital is difficult to release if  the necessity arises.

These drawbacks are compensated to some extent with the probability that timber prices would rise. Except for the very large estates where the risk is well spread, the security of the investment may be impacted by fire, insect and fungus diseases. These risks, however, could be reduced by sound silvicultural practices.

Financial analysis, outrun figures and stock appraisal, reveal, that the extraction of forests  products has exceeded production capacity, with the result the stocks and reserves have progressively depleted and forests have been degraded. Due to lack of investment and inappropriate management, the production is hardly 10% of the potential.

There is a heavy demand for wood for different commercial and industrial purposes in Pakistan. Mining needs pit props and other wooden reinforcement materials. As a result, prices of wood products from riverine forests are high.

Regeneration and Afforestation

If riverine forests are left to nature the composition of economic species of trees is going to be less desirable than when it is manipulated through artificial regeneration. Obhan , babul , lai as well as kandi grows through the normal flooding. However, if a good crop of babul is to be obtained sowing of babul seeds through broadcasting in the last flood water is required. This means collection of good seeds of babul, their timely storage at the nearby places, as well as broadcasting in the last flood are very important.

The riverine forests  of Sindh have been managed on the clear felling silvicultural system, which is quite suitable.  The Clear-felled areas are regenerated in the succeeding years. Babul and Kandi are regenerated by seed and coppice respectively . Kandi regenerates on arid sandy area. Restocking of blank, felled and partially regenerated areas with babul is done by broadcasting, drilling and dibbling of seeds. Even kandi could be restocked with seeds. 

The technique for raising obhan plants in polythene bags has been developed. This can help in having a good mixture of obhan and babul in suitable areas that do not remain immersed with water for more than a week at a time.

Afforestation of high lying areas in forests  has been a challenge ever since the scientific management of forests started in 1877. This concern got strengthened when the forests were depleted as a result of over fellings of the War. Consequently, innovated afforestation through agro-forestry leases was introduced and practised in high lying areas of the riverine forests. Many blank areas were granted for leases at a very low rate of Rs.8/ -per acre in 1942, as this was the year of recession in the economy. The experience in agro-forestry except in 1942 is not very positive for the reason that trees could not be planted in other cases.

For the first time, aerial seed sowing operation was undertaken in September 1974, when 2,428 ha of riverine area, that was blank, received inundation and was sown with the seed from, a specially equipped aircraft. This was a success and has been used ever since.

It is never possible to fully regenerate or plant any area in the first attempt. There are failures, the magnitude of which depends on the various factors. Whether broadcasting of seeds or planting of saplings it is important that failures are restocked. Otherwise, the productivity will be less than desired.

Grazing in new regeneration areas is very harmful. It is, therefore, important that the livestock is not allowed to graze in regeneration areas. Similarly, cleaning and weeding operations are important to get good quality and well stocked crop of trees. Most often, not much attention is paid to these essential requirements. As a result, the quality and quantity of timber and other produce from  the forest is less than desirable. Unscientific cleaning of young crop by allowing the shepherds to cut young trees for their goats and sheep is also harmful. 

Plantations

The high-lying areas in riverine forests, especially in the Province of Punjab that were planted, were initially irrigated by a trench system. However, this was not found feasible, especially in  sandy areas as it was difficult to maintain trenches. They silted up, seepage of water took place, and mesquite  invaded these areas. Mesquite is difficult and expensive to eradicate. The trench irrigation system was replaced with flood irrigation.

The Forest Department has planned to provide a cusec of water to 30ha but much less is delivered due to many factors. Since the soils in inland forests  are of poor quality the yield is low. The economy of raising plantations with tube-well irrigation needs appraisal, in case the objective is purely commercial.

Exploitation of Trees

The fellings in riverine forests are either based on normal rotation of the crop which is 30 years or the felling has to be undertaken if the area is threatened by river erosion. In the latter case the felling is termed as erosion strip felling. The riverine forests are also prone to forest fires. If a crop has been damaged by forest fire it is best to exploit it in case it is harvestable. The wood produced from riverine forest comprises of timber (constructional and furniture), pit props and fuel wood. Pit props are used in the coal mines.

Timber and Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP)

The riverine forests are important both for economic and environmental reasons. The forest produce obtained from them are fuel-wood and charcoal for energy purposes, fodder for animals, and timber for furniture. The other minor produce consists of gum arabic, honey, and bark for tannin, lac for lacquer works and red dye. They also reduce the intensity of floods and damage to agricultural lands, settlements and infrastructure.  Dhands and dhoras in these forest contain fish  and are permanent or temporary wetlands with all their components including water mammals, water birds, amphibians and reptiles. They even provide early grazing on their banks to animals and wildlife. In the past, the riverine forests supported large herds of livestock during autumn, winter and spring providing grazing, browse and pods and leaves of babul. Harvesting of NTFP is not on scientific basis.

Biodiversity and Wildlife

There are diverse habitats in riverine forests, their important parameters being soils, topography, water regime, crop composition and age of the crop. Most of these parameters are dependant on topography and so are the habitats. The low-lying and intermediate areas have the maximum species of wild plants and animals.  Dhand and dhoras are permanent or temporary water bodies which have their own faunal and floral characteristics. Fish, otters, reptiles (turtles and tortoises), amphibians (frogs) and water birds (e.g. night heron) are associated  with these water bodies.

The low-lying areas mostly contain lai of different age classes. This is the preferred habitat of hog-deer and wild boar. The intermediate and high-lying areas are used by jungle cat, Indian hare, black and grey partridges, rose-ring parakeet, yellow  eyed babbler, sand-lark, red munia, and coucal etc.

It is important that best examples of the various habitats in the riverine forests in Sindh and Punjab are included in the protected area system in the two provinces.