are Fir, Spruce and Deodar. These species 
grow from 2424 to 3181 meters. In the inner 
valleys, Deodar dominates between 2424 and 
2727 meter elevations. Beyond these 
elevations, the proportion of Fir increases. 
Between 2727 and 3030 meter elevations, Fir 
and Spruce dominate. Broad-leaved species 
like Oak (Quercus sp), Walnut (Juglansregia), 
Horse Chestnut (desculus indica) and Maple 
(Acer pictum) are confined to stream beds and 
cool sheltered places between 1818 to 3030 
meter elevations (Jan, 1982). 
3. THE IMPACT OF REFUGEES 
ON THE FOREST RESOURCES 
The major influx of refugees into 
Pakistan began in April 1978 and reached 1.8 
million by the end of March 1981. In the 
summer of 1984 there were 2.86 million 
refugees. By the end of 1989, refugee 
population exceeded 3.5 million. There were 
more than 350 refugee camps in Pakistan, and 
each camp had an average population of about 
10,000. The largest camp had a population of 
120,000 and covered 8 km? (Weinbaum, 1994). 
Overall, the refugees represented about 
20 percent of the local population in the two 
most affected provinces, the NWFP and 
Baluchistan. In some areas, such as the tribal 
areas of Orakzai, Kurram, and North 
Waziristan Agencies this representation was 
almost 50 percent. According to Weinbaum 
(1993), refugees outnumbered the local 
population in some areas of the Kurram 
Agency. The arrival of refugees in these areas 
also exerted a profound impact on the ethnic 
make-up of the local population. This resulted 
in sectarian tensions and evolved into law and 
order situations in sensitive tribal areas of 
Kurram and the North Waziristan Agencies. 
In order to maintain the law and order. 
Pakistani authorities decided to move refugee 
camps away from those border areas. The 
118 
decision to relocate refugees farther north and 
northeast of NWFP brought refugee camps 
closer to the densely forested regions of Dir 
and Hazara. The refugees brought with them 
over three million livestock, which also 
contributed significantly in environmental 
degradation. 
How much depredation of forests may 
actually be related to refugees and what was 
the extent and intensity of this destruction 
which caused severe environmental 
degradation? No significant study has been 
conducted to address such questions. 
Numerous brief reports and memorandums by 
the NWFP's forest department have stated 
about seriously damaged forest areas and 
assessed the damage in terms of monitory 
value. One such memorandum dated 
November 1983, issued by the Divisional 
Forest Office (DFO) on the subject of “damage 
to the forests caused by the Afghan refugees." 
listed seven forest localities situated in the 
vicinity of the refugee camps (all in Siran 
Valley). The memorandum read, “the 
following forests have been heavily damaged 
by Afghan refugees, residing near these forests 
and who have cut the forests to meet their 
requirements for fuel." In this particular case 
the total of damaged area was 3759 acres. The 
damaged areas belonged to Guzara or 
"subsistence forests," which are for the 
"common use" of the local population. 
Typically, Guzara forests do not enjoy the 
same level of legal protection as the classified 
public and private forests. The absence of 
appropriate legal regulations make Guzara 
forests highly vulnerable to illicit cutting. 
Allan (1987) discussed the impact of 
Afghan refugees on the forests of northern 
Pakistan (Figure. 2). He stated two main 
causes of forest destruction: 1) the felling and 
burning of trees for the creation of agricultural 
land, and 2) the lopping of trees for fuelwood 
  
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