Forestry Panjgur

Introduction

All official sources report no forest in Panjgur district. However, few areas of the district have clusters of trees which are cut and used as fuel wood.

Forestry (Plantations)

According to the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), about 50 to 60 thousand cuttings of gazz (tamarix galicia) trees were once planted near Rakhshan river in Panjgur. However no trace of such plantation could be found during the field visit. The forestry department had plans for tree plantation in various areas of the district but could not put these plans into practice due to budget constraints.

Major Vegetation

The vegetation in Panjgur consists mainly of grasses and spiny scrubs. There are numerous grass and fodder plants in the district. The most important of these are the barshonk, sorag, drug and kandar. The landscape is featured with kahur (prosopis spicigera) and gazz (tamarix galica) or tamarisk trees. Fodder grass is plentiful and found in places where water is scarce. Some plants of pharmaceutical importance including aishak, guldir, morpuzo, danichk (Ispaghol), keraich and udesh are also found in the district. Some other wild plants are guan, chigird and gishtar. A frequently found plant is pish (nannorhops ritchieana) which is used for construction of huts in some areas of the district.

Wildlife

Once the district’s mountainous area contained plenty of Sind ibex (Capra lircus) and ravine deer (Gazella gazella bennetti) but now they are rarely found. Hares and wild ducks are hunted in the district. Occasionally, wolves (Canis lupus pallipes), Caracal (Felis caracal) and bears are also found while wild pigs are found in Dabbing, west of Isai. Bustards are rarely found in areas adjoining cultivation. The most common animal found in Panjgur district is the red fox (Vulpes vulpes).

Bee-keeping

Bee-keeping is an alien idea in the district as people are aware of wild honey only.

GO/NGO/Private Enterprise, etc. involvement in Forestry Development

 

 

Coverage Forestry Services

Local Govt.

Prov. Govt.

Fed. Govt.

 

NGO

Internat. Donor

Private Entr.

Tree planting

-

x

-

-

-

-

Fuel wood marketing

-

-

-

-

-

x

Legend:

-

x

no involvement

minor involvement

Conclusion and major Development Issues

The district is officially reported to be devoid of forests. However, wild plants, grasses, and trees are found of which some are of pharmaceutical use. Game birds are also found in the area. Afforestation is needed for the area, specifically in order to stop wind erosion.

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