Pakistan forest resources consists, among others, one of the oldest and

second largest Juniper forests in the world. Juniper trees are considered
among the oldest growing tree species, often termed as living forest
fossils, and can live for more than 3000 years. Situated in Suleiman
Range of Baluchistan, these Juniper forests grow in extreme dry and
rugged environment between elevations 2000-3000 meters.
Overall Pakistan forest resources are limited, covering only 4.8 percent
of total land area, which is far below the optimal standard of 25%, forest
cover for a country. However scarce, forests of Pakistan are very rich in
terms of biodiversity and present a unique blend of tree, shrub, grass
and animal species, living across various ecological (climatic) zones
from sea level in the south, to high altitude alpine pastures of the north.
Most of the natural forest resources of Pakistan are concentrated in the
mountainous regions of the north covering Himalaya, Hindukush and
Karakoram ranges, where more than 60% of the country natural forest
resources are found. The rest of forestry resource is distributed among
the south-western mountains of Baluchistan, plains of Punjab and Sindh
and the coastal areas of Arabian Sea in the south.
Moist Temperate Forests in Naran
Ecologically Pakistan is distributed into nine ecological zones depending mainly on
moisture availability, temperature, elevation and soil conditions. The broader
classification of ecological zones of Pakistan consists of Alpine zone, Temperate
zone, Sub-Tropical and Tropical zones and Costal zone. Each ecological zone offers
specific environmental, topographic and climatic conditions required to support
particular trees and plants species.
This greater variety of climatic conditions of Pakistan is a natural gift and is greatly
enriching its biodiversity of flora and fauna. Based on the distribution of these
specific ecological conditions the forests of Pakistan are classified into nine major
forest types, which, for the sake of simplicity, can be clustered into five broader
groups, as described
Alpine forests of Pakistan are found at very high elevations in the
mountainous regions of Himalaya, Karakoram and Hidukush. The
timberline, or elevation limit of tree growth, is exceptionally high in
these mountains, rising upto 4000 m above sea level. These forests are
subdivided into Sub Alpine forests, Alpine scrub and Alpine pastures.
The Sub Alpine forests grow to the tree limit and due to harsh climatic
conditions tree density is low and growth is stunted.
Alpine scrubs include shrub formations 1 m to 2 m high extending 150 m
or more above the sub-alpine forests. Alpine pastures are situated above
the tree line of 4000 meters, where growing season is very short and
vegetation mainly consists of perennial, herbaceous plants. These high
altitude pastures are found mostly in the northern districts of Gilgit,
Diamer, Chitral and Skardu.
Temperate forests
These are mostly evergreen natural forests of conifers, growing between elevations
of 1500-4000 meters above sea level in the northern mountainous regions of
Pakistan and Kashmir. Economically coniferous forests are more important as they
are Pakistans major sources of commercial timber.
Ecologically temperate forests of Pakistan are sub-divided into moist and dry
temperate, depending on the rainfall. In moist temperate zone high summer rainfall
occurs where mountain masses stand exposed to the moist southwest winds. Moist
temperate forests of Pakistan are concentrated in the northern districts of
Muree and Galiat hills, Kaghan valley, Kashmir region, Allai valley, Siran
valley and Swat Valley etc.
On the other hand Dry temperate forests grow at the same altitude, as
the moist temperate, but receive little of no summer rains. These forests
are mostly found in the northern districts of Dir, Chitral, Kohistan,
Diamer and Gilgit etc. However some of the dry coniferous forests are
also found in the Sulaiman Range of Balochistan where Chilghoza pine
and Juniper grow in the extreme dry environment.
Sub-tropical Forests
These forests are found in the lower reaches of Himalya, Hindukush and
Sulaiman Ranges between 600-1700 m above sea level. These forests are
subdivided into sub tropical broad-leaved forest and sub tropical pine
forests. Broad leaved forests grow in the lower most reaches between
600-1000 m, and consists of drought resistant species. These sub
tropical broad leaved forests cover fairly large area of about 1,191,000
ha. On the other hand Sub-tropical Pine Forests are found little higher
altitude, from 1000-1700 meters, and meet the temperate forests at the
upper end. Chir Pine (Pinus Roxburghii) is the document specie.
Dry Tropical Forests
Fairly large areas (2/3) of Pakistan fall under the dry tropical zone
consisting of Indus plains in Punjab and Sind and low hills in southern
and western Balochistan. The climatic conditions varies from semi-arid
(250-750 mm rainfall) to arid (
Coastal (Mangrove) Forests
These are also known as Mangrove forests and are found in the Indus
delta and coastal areas of Arabian Sea around the coast of Karachi and
Pasni in Balochistan. The main species found is Avicennia marina, which
grows in low height. According to estimates, these forests cover an area
of 207,000 ha.
There are two additional categories of forests in Pakistan i.e. Riverain
Forests and Irrigated Forests. The Riverain Forests grow on the banks
and dry bed of Indus River and are mostly found in Sindh and to some
extent in the Punjab. The Irrigated forests were raised by the than
colonial regime in 19th century to meet demand for fuel wood. Mostly
found in Punjab these irrigated plantations cover about 226,000 ha.