National forest products statistics, Pakistan

Introduction

Pakistan has 4.2 million ha of forest and planted trees, which equates to 4.8
percent of the total land area. Forty percent of the forest area comprises
coniferous and scrub forest in the northern hills and mountains. The balance
includes irrigated plantations, riverine forests along major rivers of the Indus
plains, mangrove forests of the Indus delta and trees planted on farmlands.

With only 0.05 ha of forest per capita against a world average of 1.0 ha,
Pakistan is comparatively forest-poor. The high population growth rate (2.61
percent) is pushing the figure further down and, at present, it is not possible
to expand public forest area at a high enough rate to keep up with demand
for forest products. However, farmers are encouraged to establish
plantations on farmlands and wastelands to help ameliorate the situation.

Benefits from forestry in Pakistan include the following:

Five hundred thousand workers are employed in forestry and related

industries such as logging, village carpentry and manufacture of
timber components for the construction industry. However, the forestry
sector contributes only 0.3 percent to GNP.

Between 1996 and 2000, on average, 31.66 million m3 of roundwood

and 2.35 million m3 of industrial roundwood were produced annually
from state forests and farmlands. A further 532 000 m3 of industrial
roundwood was imported annually to meet national demand.

Forests supply 32 percent of Pakistan’s total energy needs in the form

of fuelwood. Ninety percent of rural, and sixty percent of urban
households use fuelwood, together with other forms of biomass as
their primary energy source.

Forests provide forage for one third of Pakistan’s 86 million head of

livestock. Leather, wood and other livestock products contribute
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 US$400 million or 9 percent of total export earnings. Trampling and
browsing by increasing numbers of livestock are causing forest
destruction and uncontrolled grazing is a major obstacle to sustainable
forest management.

Forests are vital in protecting the catchment areas of reservoirs used

for power generation and irrigation. Agriculture, which contributes 26
percent to GDP, is highly dependent on irrigation in Pakistan and
annual losses due to flooding, soil erosion in upland watersheds and
siltation in reservoirs and irrigation works is estimated at Rs.2.3 billion.

Forest ownership

In Pakistan forests are classified on the basis of legal status, function,

vegetation composition and ownership. Types of state and privately owned
forests are detailed in the following sections. Table 1 gives details of the
areas of State and Private forest sub-categories in Pakistan’s provinces.

State-owned forests

State owned forests comprise 85 percent percent of Pakistan’s total forest

area of 87.98 million ha. They are further divided into four classes on the
basis of the legal designation and protection:

Reserved Forests. Forests under Forest Department control and

declared ‘Reserved Forests’ under the 1927 Forest Act. Local people
generally do not have rights and privileges unless specifically
permitted by Government notification.

Protected Forests. Forests, declared as ‘Protected Forests’ under

provision of the 1927 Forest Act. Local people have some rights and
concessions for grazing, grass cutting, collection of dry wood, etc.

Un-classed Forests. Public forestlands under the control of the

Forest Department, which are neither Reserved Forests nor Protected
Forests.

Resumed Lands. Lands surrendered by larger owners following the

fixing of a ceiling on the extent of land ownership under the Land
Reforms Act of 1959. Concerned landowners retained cultivated lands
but surrendered wooded lands in excess of the ceiling. These
resumed lands are managed by the Forest Department.
:
 Table 1. Forest area by legal classification and province (‘000 ha)

Category AJK Balochistan N.As NWFP Punjab Sindh Total

State forest

Reserved 567 707 - 98 337 292 2

forests 001

Protected - 378 67 629 2 747 726 4

forests 547

Un-classed - - - 7 115 25 147

forests

Resumed - - - 33 9 5 47
Lands

Private forest

Guzara - - - 550 - - 550

forests

Communal - - 2 - - - 2
forests 982 982

Section 38 - 1 - 26 9 - 36
areas

Chos Act - - - - 1 - 1
areas

Private - - - 159 - - 159

plantations

Miscellaneous - - 53 42 - 95

Total 567 1 086 3 1 555 3 260 1 048 10

049 5651

1- 6 287 000 ha of rangelands are included in table figures.

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 Privately owned forests

Privately owned forest is a broad classification encompassing all forests

held in private ownership. There are five categories, as follows:

Guzara (subsistence) Forests. Sizeable patches of wooded land

close to habitation, which were set aside to meet the bona fide
domestic needs of local communities. They were designated when
government forests were reserved at the first land ownership
settlement in Hazara, NWFP, 1872. Ownership is vested in local
people either individually, or communally as ‘village shamilat’.

Communal Forests. Communal forests are a sub-category of Guzara

Forests. However, communal forest is essentially owned by the entire
village. Communal Forests are mostly found in the Rawalpindi Civil
Division of Punjab Province.

Chos Act Areas. Privately owned lands subject to erosion hazard

endangering vital public installations or structures and taken over by
the Government under the Chos Act, 1900. These areas may be
returned to their original owners after stabilisation.

Section 38 Areas. Areas offered by Private owners to the Forest

Departments for afforestation and management for an agreed period
ranging from 10 to 20 years under Section 38 of the Pakistan Forest
Act, 1927. Section 38 states that: "The owner of any land or, if there
be more than one owner thereof, the owners of shares therein
amounting in the aggregate to at least two-thirds thereof may, with a
view to the formation or conservation of forests thereon, represent in
writing to the Collector their desire that: such land be managed on
their behalf by the Forest Officer as a Reserved or a Protected Forests
on such terms as may be mutually agreed upon; or all or any of the
provisions of this Act be applied to such land. In either case, the
Provincial Government may, by notification in the official Gazette,
apply to such land such provisions of this Act as it thinks suitable to
the circumstances thereof and as may be desired by the applicants".

Farm Forest Areas. Farm Forests are linear or compact plantings of

trees on private farmlands owned individually or by a family. Farm
forest areas are found throughout the barani (arid areas) and irrigated
farming areas of Pakistan.
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 Forest area

The Forest Department maintains records of the forest area over which it
has jurisdiction. Forest cover information is derived from Forest Department
surveys and working plan inventories. Although Forest Reserves are
accurately surveyed, area estimates for Protected Forests and other
categories of Government forest are less reliable and no records concerning
private or communal forests are kept. Areas typically cited as ‘Forest Areas’,
referring to lands under Forest Department control, are summarised in Table
2.

Table 2. Forestland under government jurisdiction by province (‘000 ha)

Forest type AJK Balochistan N.As NWFP Punjab Sindh Total

Coniferous
360 131 285 1105 72 1 1 953
forests

Irrigated
142 2 82 3 224
plantations

Riverine
5 51 4 226 5 282
forests4

Scrub forests 1 163 658 115 340 10 1 287

Mangrove
605 605
forests6

Mazri (dwarf
24 24
palm)

Linear
2 21 23
plantations

Private
120 7 120
plantations

Total 361 299 943 1 366 626 923 4 518

1. 29 000 ha Forest Department, 43 000 ha Murree-Kahuta Development

Authority; 2. 63 000 ha unstocked; 3. 53 000 ha unstocked; 4. 24 000 ha
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 unstocked; 5. 114 000 ha unstocked. 6. Sindh Forest Department (281 000
ha), Qasim Port Authority (64 000 ha) and the Central Board of Revenue
(240 000 ha); 7. NWFP Forest Department estimate for planting under
watershed management projects.

Sources: Pakistan Forest Institute (Amjad and Khan, 1990); Provincial

Forest Departments.

Under the Forestry Sector Master Plan (FSMP) national forest cover was
independently estimated through interpretation of 1:250 000 scale satellite
images. Results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3. FSMP Estimates of Forest Area (‘000 ha)

Forest type AJK Balochistan N.As NWFP Punjab Sindh Total

Coniferous forest:1

Dense 17 46 75 138

Sparse 224 42 614 865 30 1

775

Sub-total 241 42 660 940 30 1

913

Scrub forest 16 504 539 132 1

191

Riverine forest:

Dense 1 2 27 85 115

Sparse 20 11 27 58

Sub-total 1 20 13 27 112 173

Mangrove forest:

Medium 2 85 87

Sparse 120 120

:
 Sub-total 2 205 207

Irrigated plantations:

Dense 48 7 55

Sparse 1 31 16 48

Sub-total 1 79 23 103

Farmland 7 23 6 70 306 54 466

trees

Linear 2 14 16
planting

Miscellaneous 10 120 20 5 155

planting

Total 275 592 666 1 684 608 399 4

224

Geographic 1 34 719 7 10 20 626 14 87

Area 330 040 174 091 980

% Tree Cover 20.7 1.7 9.5 16.6 2.9 2.8 4.8

1-For Northern Areas, this category includes scrub. Source: FSMP

database.

National growing stock and biomass

Between 1990 and 1992, the Household Energy Strategy Study (HESS)
conducted an analysis of nationwide tree biomass and productivity. Total
standing volume was estimated at 240 million m3, the number of standing
trees at 1 435 million, total air-dry wood weight at 203 million tons and the
average stocking density at 2.38 tons per hectare. Total wood yield was
estimated at 22.2 million tons per annum or 10.9 percent of the standing
stock. Definitions used for woodfuel and timber are given in Box 1 and
estimates of total standing wood volume from the HESS Biomass Survey
are given in Table 4.
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 Box 1. Definitions of Timber and Fuelwood

Roundwood with mid diameter greater than or equal to 20 cm is called timber

and is mostly used as industrial wood. Roundwood with mid-diameter of less
than 20 cm is called woodfuel and is commonly used for burning or charcoal
making. Woodfuel billets of 76-152 cm are separated by the timber martinets
and categorised for different purposes according to mid diameter:

Select: Mid diameter 15-19.9 cm, used by the match and sports goods
industries, for manufacture of industry crates, as poles and for cheap
furniture.

Thick: Mid diameter 9.5-14.9 cm, used for cheap furniture and chipboard
manufacture.

Medium: Mid diameter 5.5-9.5 cm used for chipboard manufacture.

Thin: Mid diameter less than 5.5 cm, used as fuelwood.

The Forestry Sector Master Plan (FSMP) calculated a total growing stock of
185 million m3. The 1992 FSMP farm tree survey estimated a standing
stock of trees on farms of 70.3 million m3 with an annual growth rate of 7.7
million m3. By combining data from Forest Department working plans, the
farmland tree survey and HESS, FSMP estimated a total national standing
volume of 368 million m3.

Table 4. Estimates of standing wood volume (‘000 m3) by agroecological

zone

Area Total
Zone Woodfuel Timber wood
(‘000 ha) volume

Desert 25 234 1 857 286 2 143

Semi-Arid 25 383 7 857 6 000 13 857

Natural Forest 12 997 61 143 43 143 104 286

Barani 2 788 4 429 429 4 858

Irrigated Lowlands 3 286 7 715

:
 (Sindh/Balochistan) 4 461 4 429

Irrigated Lowlands 14 286 28 572

3 186 14 286
(Punjab/NWFP)

Irrigated Highlands 4 143 8 857

1 987 4 714
(Sindh/Balochistan)

Irrigated Highlands 32 857 69 714

9 185 36 857
(Punjab/NWFP)

Total 85 221 135 572 104 430 240 002

Source: HESS Biomass Survey

According to the HESS demand survey, conducted in four provinces, 125.1

million trees were planted on farmlands in 1990-91 and 10.8 million were
felled; of those planted, 13.2 million (11 percent) were fruit trees. Tree
planting and felling rates in different provinces calculated by HESS are
given in Table 5.

Table 5. Tree planting and felling rates in four provinces

Punjab Sindh NWFP Balochistan Total

Trees planted 60.90 6.51 44.16 13.54 125.11

(millions)
49.7 5.2 35.3 10.8 100
% of plantings

Fruit (millions) 5.69 2.61 3.71 1.25 13.25

Non-fruit 55.21 3.90 40.45 12.29 111.86

(millions)
90.6 59.9 91.6 90.8 89.4
% non-fruit trees

Trees planted/ha 7.5 2.5 54.9 24.5 10.9

Total farmers 3 396 1 117 800 245 5 558

(000s)
42.9 26.6 48.4 51.8 40.8
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 % of farmers
planting

Trees felled 5.42 2.04 1.63 1.75 10.83

(millions)

Planting/felling 11.2 3.2 27.1 7.7 11.6

ratio

Source: HESS Demand Survey

Review of wood consumption by sub-sector

In Pakistan, almost all softwood comes from state forests in NWFP,

Northern Areas and AJK, whereas most hardwood is from the plains area of
Punjab and Sindh. Ninety percent of hardwood comes from farmlands and
the remaining 10 percent from irrigated plantations.

The solid wood industry in Pakistan is artisanal and small scale. Wood is
considered a valuable resource and any solid ‘waste’ is carefully re-sawn for
manufacture of smaller products with leftovers finally sold as fuelwood.
Users and uses of wood are outlined in the following sections.

Construction

The construction industry is the largest single user of roundwood in

Pakistan, consuming about 30 percent of the total. Builders purchase logs
or scant (squared timber) and convert them according to their needs.

Manufacture of wooden crates and boxes

Pakistan has more than 8 000 sawmills, employing an average of four or

five people and processing 2-5 m3 per day. There are also twelve large
sawmills, which operate at well below their average production capacity of
50 m3 per day. On the whole, sawmills produce low quality outturn as a
result of the preferred species not always being available and a lack of
product standardisation, grading and quality control.

The most common sawmills products are fruit boxes and crates, which are
manufactured by units attached to the mills. The entire conversion from
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 roundwood to finished product is thus handled by a single small enterprise.
Crates for transporting fruit and vegetables are assembled in the fruit
producing areas, whilst boxes are made near industrial centres. The
industry uses a variety of species, the main ones being shisham (Dalbergia
sissoo, 70 percent), deodar (Cedrus deodara, 12 percent), Sufeda
(Eucalyptus camaldulensis, 7 percent), fir (Abies pindrow, 5 percent), poplar
(Populus deltoids, 3 percent) and babul (Acacia nilotica, 3 percent).

Furniture manufacture

Furniture is made by hundreds of small-scale enterprises in Pakistan.

Traditionally, furniture manufacture was considered under the village
carpentry sub-sector. Now, however, new modern furniture factories have
been established by the private sector in Gujarat, Jhang and Peshawar.

Nearly all wood used for furniture making is shisham (Dalbergia sissoo, 82
percent), with small quantities of deodar (Cedrus deodara), poplar (Populus
deltoids), mulberry (Morus alba) and other species. The furniture makers
themselves saw most wood. An FSMP survey estimated urban consumption
of wood for furniture at 5.9 m3 per 1000 population.

Village carpentry

Village carpenters produce a wide variety of products including furniture,

agricultural implements, doors and windows. Carpenters generally do all the
conversion from roundwood to finished product themselves and sometimes
also fell client’s trees. The most commonly used species are babul (38
percent), shisham (16 percent), Zizyphus jujuba (15 percent) and deodar
(8 percent). In 1992, FSMP estimated rural wood consumption for village
carpentry at 3.7 m3 per 1 000 capita.

Match production

There are twelve match factories in Pakistan, four in NWFP, four in Sindh,
three in Punjab and one in AJK. All match splints are made from poplar, of
which 90 percent is from private growers. Each cubic meter of roundwood
yields 13 200 boxes of matches, however, conversion efficiency is only 20-
30 percent because of the small logs used. Between 1977 and 1988 the
industry grew at an annual rate of 6.7 percent with 2.491 billion boxes
produced in 1988. If production continues to increase at the same rate,
production will exceed 14 billion boxes per year by 2018. Projected wood
requirement for 2018 is thus 996 000 m3 assuming current levels of
production efficiency.
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 Mining applications

Pakistan extracts many minerals, but only the coal industry uses large
amounts of timber. In the pits, babul poles are used for structural timbers
and babul planks are for facing timbers. Approximately 56 m3 of mining
timber are used per 1000 tonnes of coal extracted.

Particle board and fibreboard manufacture

Particle board (also called chipboard) is made by mixing wood chips with
glue and pressing the mixture into a panel, whereas fibreboard is
manufactured by reducing wood chips to fibres and pressing them into
panels without glue. Both are high value-added products and make efficient
use of any kind of wood residue, including plantation thinnings, branches
and tops. The only competing use for this kind of wood is for fuel. A viable
market for these boards benefits private tree growers, who harvest trees
when they are still small.

The annual raw material requirement for particle board and fibreboard was
estimated by the FSMP at a constant 22 000 m3 per year.

Particle board

There are sixteen particle board plants in the country using wood or
bagasse. Of the eleven plants using wood, six are in Sindh, four in Punjab
and one in NWFP. The preferred species for particle board are mango (60
percent) and poplar (30 percent) and although plants are not limited by
wood supply, mango wood availability is seasonal and spasmodic.

Although the construction industry has begun to use particle board, the bulk
is used by large furniture makers. It has yet to catch on with smaller
manufacturers and thus, the potential for replacing solid wood in the
furniture industry has yet to be fully realised. Due to limited current demand
and manufacturers apprehensions about future demand, plants currently
operate at an average of only 48 percent capacity although most have
sufficient wood supply.

Fibreboard

There are five fibreboard plants in Pakistan, four using wood and one
bagasse. Babul (97 percent) and eucalyptus (3 percent) are the preferred
species. Fibreboard may be used as a substitute for plywood, which costs
four times more than fibreboard. Fibreboard plants, nevertheless, only
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 operate at 23 percent of installed capacity and the fibreboard industry is
stagnant.

Plywood manufacture

There are 17 plywood plants in Pakistan; ten of them are in the Punjab, six
in Sindh and one in NWFP. The installed capacity of the mills is 1.6 million
m3 per shift (eight working hours). One mill operates on three shifts,
whereas others operate at less than 50 percent capacity. If they could obtain
sufficient supplies of high quality wood, most mills would operate three
shifts. Indeed, some plants, to supplement supplies, go through the lengthy
and costly process of importing small amounts of teak, keruing and other
woods from Southeast Asia. Production of plywood increased from 30 000
m3 in 1996 to 47,000 m3 in 2000.

Construction of trains, trucks, buses, and boats

Annually, Pakistan Railways use an average of 1 350 m3 of roundwood for

new construction and 5 050 m3 for maintenance; 60 percent of wood used is
deodar and 40 percent shisham. In general, wood is gradually being
replaced by metallic and non-metallic fibrous materials in the railway
industry and it is therefore expected that wood consumption will remain
constant or decrease.

For new truck and bus bodies, some 30 000 m3 of roundwood was used in
1990. The main species were shisham (60 percent), fir (25 percent) and chir
pine (10 percent) with small quantities of babul, deodar, and chilghoza. The
volumes used are likely to increase even though bus and truck bodies are
increasingly being constructed with greater amounts of plastic and metal.

Shipbuilding uses 13 640 m3 of wood annually, comprising 10 040 m3 for

ocean-going fishing boats, 3 200 m3 for freshwater fishing vessels and 400
m3 for other boats. The main species used for boat building are deodar (38
percent), shisham (32 percent), teak (24 percent) and kikar (6 percent).

Railway sleeper manufacture

In the past, Pakistan Railways has used high value species such as deodar
(90 percent) and shisham (10 percent) for sleepers, however, these could
be replaced with less valuable species such eucalyptus in the future.
Furthermore, demand for wooden sleepers is declining due to a gradual
shift toward road transport and the closure of unprofitable rail routes by
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 Pakistan Railways in recent years. Pakistan Railways has also begun a
program to replace wooden, iron and steel sleepers with pre-stressed
concrete ones.

Production of sports goods

Pakistan produces and exports a variety of wooden sports goods, including

hockey sticks (about 60 percent of the world supply), cricket bats and
tennis, squash and badminton rackets. Between 1985 and 1990 the amount
of roundwood used by the sports goods industry fell by 20 percent from 50
220 m3 to 41 000 m3. FSMP assumed an annual growth rate of 8 percent
for the entire sports goods industry. Hockey sticks are made from mulberry,
with small amounts of ash and cane for the handle. Cricket bats, on the
other hand were made of willow around 1980, now, however, poplar is now
used for 80 percent of them.

Brick manufacture

Total production from brick kilns in 1990 comprised 11 118 million bricks and
1 227 million tiles. On average, 4.3 m3 of fuelwood and 271 tonnes of coal
are used to cure one million bricks. Fuelwood consumption for brick and tile
production in 1990 was estimated by FSMP at 83 370 m3.

Tobacco curing

In 1987, fuelwood consumption per tonne of green tobacco averaged 1.26

m3. Between 1978 and 1984, Pakistan’s annual tobacco production ranged
between 64 700 and 89 200 tonnes. Total fuelwood consumption in 1984
would therefore have equalled 112 400 m3.

Review of existing forest products related data

Institutions involved in data collection, analysis and dissemination

The following ministries/departments are engaged in collection, analysis and

dissemination of forest products data:

The Office of the Inspector General of Forests, Ministry of

Environment, Local Government and Rural Development.

Ministry of Industries and Production.

:
 Ministry of Commerce.

Federal Bureau of Statistics.

Pakistan Custom Department.

Central Board of Revenue.

State Bank of Pakistan.

Provincial Forest Departments.

Pakistan Forest Institute

Current users of forest products production and trade data

Current users of FBS forest products production and trade data include:

The Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Planning & Development

Division, (for approval of development projects),

Export Promotion Bureau

Provincial Forest Departments (to validate revenue receipts)

Provincial Planning and Development Boards (to guide

recommendations for funding development work),

The Ministry of Finance,

Provincial Finance Departments

The State Bank of Pakistan,

The Central Board of Revenue.

Chamber of commerce and trade

Exporters & importers

Universities and Educational institutions

:
 Donor agencies

Use of CHK data is confined to the Central Board of Revenue and the
Ministry of Finance.

Forest-related information currently collected

Information presently collected at the local and national level includes the
following:

Forest area under compact plantation

Forest Area under linear plantation (roadside/rail side canal plantation)
Area afforested/reforested under different schemes
Forest Departments Nurseries
Planting stock available or distributed during tree planting campaigns
Revenue generated from grazing and grass cutting
Work done for rangelands improvement
Work done to develop sericulture (rearing of silkworms)
Work done for watershed management
Area subject to felling and thinning
Out-turn of timber from state forests
Yield of fuelwood from state forests
Forest crop damage through natural causes (flood, fire and others)
Import/export of forest products
Surveys for removal and production of processed wood

Production and trade data

Annual production of wood and quantities imported between 1996-2000 are

shown in Table 6 along with the percentage of consumption
(imports+consumption) imported.

Statistics from the publication of the Federal Bureau of Statistics, Statistics

Division, Government of Pakistan for 1996 to 2000 show that for the 1995-
96 financial year the value of the imported products listed in Table 6
amounted to Rs.8 032.874 million. For the four following years the amounts
were Rs.6 713.419 million, Rs.7 458.516 million and Rs.10 634.853 million
and Rs.6 525.584 million.

Between 1996 and 2000, wood products exports from Pakistan were
confined to wooden furniture, small amounts of stationery (registers, diaries,
letters, etc.) and some shisham (Dalbergia sissoo) table and kitchen wear.
Export earnings during 1995-96 and the four following years were
:
 Rs.80.795 million, Rs.148.338 million, Rs.285.244 million, Rs.263.183
million and Rs.417.635 million respectively. Export and import values are
plotted in Figure 1.

Table 6. Average Annual Wood Production and Quantity Imported for 1996-
2000

Product Units Production Import % Imported

Roundwood 000s 31 660 533 2

m3

Woodfuel including wood 000s 29 315 0.023 0

for charcoal m3

Industrial roundwood 000s 2 345 532 18

m3

Wood residues 000s 598 0.171 0

m3

Sawnwood 000s 1 103 37 3

m3

Wood-based panels 000s 110 49 31

m3

Plywood 000s 31.2 0.521 2

m3

Particle board 000s 55 0.677 1

m3

Fibreboard 000s 24 46 66
m3

Hardboard 000s 10.2 8.354 45

m3

Mdf 000s 13.6 35.639 72

m3
:
 Insulating board 000s 0 1.995 100
m3

Wood pulp 000s 0 57.072 100

mt

Other pulp 000s 176 0.215 0

mt

Recovered paper 000s 81.4 25 23

mt

Paper & paper board 000s 500 199 28

mt

Figure 1. Value of wood products import and export 1996-2000

The major suppliers of wood products imports between 1996 and 2000 were
as follows:

Roundwood: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Malaysia and Singapore.

Softwood was imported from Afghanistan and teak and other non-
coniferous wood from Myanmar, Malaysia and African countries.

Veneer and Plywood: Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Singapore and

USA.
:
 Sawnwood: UK, USA, Romania, Myanmar, Malaysia and Singapore.

Wood Pulp: Sweden, Switzerland, USA and South Korea. Pakistan

imported a huge quantity of paper and paperboard i.e. graphic paper,
newspaper print.

Paper and paperboard: France, Russian Federation, Sweden, Japan,

Italy, Finland and South Korea.

Packaging material: Brazil, China, Italy, Poland, Spain, Romania and

USA.

Other paper and paperboard not elsewhere specified: France,

Japan, Netherlands, South Africa, Norway, Spain, UK and USA.

Special coated paper: Asian countries, Bulgaria, Finland, Germany,

Italy, Norway, Poland, South Korea, UK and USA.

Copying paper: China, Japan and UK.

Household sanitary papers: China, Dubai, Norway, South Korea,

Thailand, UK and USA.

Packaging cartons and boxes: Austria, Australia, Dubai, Switzerland

and USA.

Methodologies for data collection, compilation, validation

and dissemination

Production from public forests

Public forests (i.e. coniferous, riverine, scrub and mangrove forest and
irrigated and linear plantations) supply most of the national industrial wood
requirement and some of its fuelwood. Within public forest areas, Divisional
Forest Officers (DFO) record production data on the basis of actual fellings.
Enumeration of trees to be felled is carried out and diameter of the
respective trees is recorded at breast height. Log volumes are computed on
the basis of the quarter girth formula, with allowances made for bark.
Fuelwood is laid in stacks of 40 feet in length, 5 feet in width and 5 feet in
height, giving a total volume of 1000 cft. including void space.
:
 Measurements of woody produce (log and fuelwood) are recorded in
respective forms at compartment and forest level.

Production is reported at monthly intervals through the forest operation

report by the DFO to the Conservator of Forests. The Conservator of
Forests (CF) compiles the annual production report for his circle and
submits it to the Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) using the control form
of timber and fuelwood production. The revenue generated through
harvesting is also reported on monthly basis and is validated through
inspection by the CF and CCF. The Revenue Wing of the Forest
Department also audits revenues collected.

In contrast to State forest production data, which is based on field

measurements, farmland production is estimated through surveys and
studies conducted by the forest departments, NGOs and the Pakistan
Forest Institute. Final production figures are arrived at through estimation
and projection of survey/study results.

International trade statistics

International trade statistics are collected by the Federal Bureau of Statistics

(FBS) and the Data Processing Centre (DPC), Custom House, Karachi
(CHK). The FBS obtains international trade statistics through collection of
Bills of Entry (BOE) and Shipping Bills (SB) from 44 customs points. It has
attained 100 percent coverage and retrieval of international trade data. The
CHK is confined to Karachi only and has yet to expand to cover the whole
country. The FBS and CHK data are verified with data from revenue receipts
from the Central Board of Revenue and with export/import remittance data
from the State Bank of Pakistan. As a result of cross checking at four levels
the data is considered reliable.

The information collected by FBS includes country of origin and quantity and
value of imports and exports. Data collected and published includes:

Monthly and cumulative values and quantities of imports and exports

with details of important items. Issued in ‘Advance release of Foreign
Trade Statistics’ in the month following data collection.

Monthly and cumulative imports and exports by commodity, and short

shipment exports.

Data for the last quarter and whole financial year on (i) import and
export value of commodities by section and group, and (ii) import and
:
 export value and quantity by commodity and country. The information
is published annually in ‘Foreign Trade Statistics of Pakistan’.

The DPC and CHK collect information on the value of imports and
total import duty, split according to duty free and dutiable imports.
Information collected and published includes:

Item-wise details of commodities imported for home-consumption and

their value.

Heading and sub-heading wise details of commodities imported and

their value.

Import rate-wise value of imports and actual import duty.

A comparative statement of imports by economic category.

A comparative statement of selected items giving total import value of

dutiable and duty free imports, and collection of customs duty.

Information on exemptions by SROs giving assessed value, import

duty, cost of Iqra (educational) surcharge and sales tax.

The FBS use the Standard International Trade Classification, Revision-3

(SITC, Rev.3) in the form of a conversion made in July 1989 called the
Pakistan Standard Trade Classification. Although, a full description of the
coding system has not been published the revised classification uses seven
digit codes for each commodity. For example 6 343 100 is allotted to
plywood sheets outer-ply, 6 343 900 to other plywood sheets, 6 344 101 to
laminated sheets, 634 909 to other plywood (i.e. veneered panel). Since the
system has been in place there has been some confusion encountered in
using the commodity codes and descriptions.

Quarterly information published by the Federal Bureau of Statistics is

occasionally incomplete and does not include full information on imports by
commodity and country. However, the biannual forest trade statistics
published by the FBS does provide complete information and this data is
compared and revalidated with that of the Pakistan Customs.

Adherence to the WCO Harmonised System

The WCO Harmonised System (HS) has been adopted by the Pakistan
Customs Department. Eight columns are used to categorise each
:
 commodity as detailed in the Imports and Exports Trade Guide, Central
Excise and Sales Tax Tariffs produced by the Central Board of Revenue.
The system is as follows:

Column 1: Heading number based on the headings of Harmonised System

of Coding and Commodity Description.

Column 2: Sub-heading number based on the Harmonised System or

created to suit national requirements.

Column 3: Description of items.

Column 4: Rate of duty applicable.

Column 5: Rate of sales tax.

Column 6: Conditions of Import of goods (in accordance with the Import

Policy).

Column 7: Unit of quantity in which goods are to be invoiced.

Column 8: Standard Internat ional Trade Classification, Revision 3

developed by the International Bureau of Statistics.

Processed wood products data

Production data for processed forest products (i.e. wood charcoal, wood
chips and particles, wood residues, sawnwood, veneer sheets, plywood,
particle board, pulp and paper) is collected through surveys and studies
carried out under development projects. The data is normally collected by
way of questionnaires or visits to concerned industries.

Weakness and constraints in current statistical system

General weaknesses and constraints in the existing national system of

forest products data collection, analysis and dissemination include the
following:

In Pakistan, planning, execution and implementation of forestry and range

management programmes is the responsibility of the Provincial Forest
Departments. Policy, however, is a federal responsibility and this has led to
a fragmented forestry sector lacking consistency and unity.

The present skeleton staff lack computer facilities and the necessary
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 support to develop a central forestry database for analysis of information,
policy formulation and strategic planning.

Production data for farmlands and forest industries is based on surveys and
studies carried out by the Provincial Forest Departments and the Pakistan
Forest Institute. A substantial amount of money is required to carry out such
studies at regular intervals.

Forest trade industries are reluctant to provide accurate data, as they do not
fully understand the purposes for which the information is used.

Suggestions

Studies should be updated at five yearly intervals to allow a clear

understanding of forest products production and consumption patterns and
of natural resource use. Studies of the following subjects are required:

Fuelwood consumption in Pakistan.

Annual wood use in construction and building.

Species-wise consumption of wood for furniture.

Industrial wood use.

Consumption of fuelwood by the tobacco and brick industries.

Chipboard units and their wood consumption.

Wood consumption by chipboard, hardboard, veneer and plywood

units in Pakistan.

Wood consumption by the pulp and paper mills in Pakistan.

Wood consumption by the match industry.

Wood consumed in village carpentry.

Other suggestions and requirements for improvement of the statistical

system in Pakistan are as follows:

Capacity building is required in the areas of data collection, data entry,

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 error checking and data analysis.

Statistical models are required for survey analysis and appraisal.

Systems are required for storage and rapid retrieval of data.

There is a need for a regional data collection and networking system.

Capacity building is required at the national regional and provincial

levels to improve understanding of the Harmonised System (HS) and
the Standard International Trade Code (SITC) classification.

References

Anon, 1998. Foreign Trade Statistics of Pakistan, 1995-96 & 1996-97.

Federal Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan.

Anon, 1998. Pakistan Customs Tariff, Imports & Exports Trade Guide,
Pakistan Customs Department, Central Board Revenue, Government of
Pakistan.

Anon, 1999. Foreign Trade Statistics of Pakistan, 1996-97 & 1997-98.

Federal Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan.

Anon, 1999. CBR Year Book 1997-98.Stastic Wing, Central board Revenue,
Government of Pakistan.

Anon, 2000. Foreign Trade Statistics of Pakistan, 1999-2000. Federal

Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan.

Archer, G. 1993. Pakistan Household Energy Strategy Study (HESS)

Planning and Development Division, Government of Pakistan.

Bukhari A.S. 1990. Wood Consumption Survey of the Railway Industry in

Pakistan – Consultancy Report. Envoforestry (Pvt) Ltd.

MSJ Research Institute 1991. A Survey of the Sawmilling/Crate/Box Making

Industry in Pakistan – Consultancy Report, MSJ Research Institute Karachi.

NMC, 1990. Consumption of Wood in the Chipboard/Particle Board and

Hardboard Industries of Pakistan – Consultancy Report, NMC (Pvt) Ltd.

MSJ Research Institute, 1991. A Survey of the Truck & Bus Body, Tractor
Trolley and Boat Building Industry in Pakistan – Consultancy Report.
:
 MSJ Research Institute, 1991. A Survey of the Furniture Industry in Pakistan
– Consultancy Report.

Punjab Forest Department, 1999. Statistical Handbook of Forestry, Wildlife

and Fisheries Department.

Reid, C. and Associates, 1992. Forestry Sector Master Plan (FSMP) Reid,
Collins Associate, Canada, Silviconsult Ltd, Sweden.

Siddiqui K.M. & Khan Saliheen, 1995. Wood Use in Match Industry of
Pakistan. Pakistan Forest Institute, Peshawar.
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