Forest resources of Pakistan

• 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.
• Uniqueness of Pakistani forests
• Forests of Pakistan are very rich in terms of biodiversity
• Present a unique blend of tree, shrub, grass and animal
species.
• 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.
 Distribution of Pakistan Forest Resources
• Most them 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
1. South-western mountains of Baluchistan
2. Plains of Punjab and Sindh
3. Coastal areas of Arabian Sea in the south.
 Ecological zones of Pakistan
• 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
1. Alpine zone
2. Temperate zone
3. Sub-Tropical and Tropical zones
4. Costal zone
• Each ecological zone offers specific environmental,
topographic and climatic conditions required to
support particular trees and plants species.
 Forests of Pakistan
• Alpine Forests
• Temperate forests
• Sub-tropical Forests 
• Dry Tropical Forests
• Coastal (Mangrove) Forests
 Alpine forests
• 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
1. Sub Alpine forests
2. Alpine scrub
3. 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 Pakistan’s 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.
• 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 11,91,000 ha.
• 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 important
species.
 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 to
arid environments
 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
Mangrove Forests near Karachi
Avicennia marina, which grows
in low height.
• 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.