According to the Forest Department, the district's forest area is 40,044 hectares distributed over 14 forests (Agricultural Statistics indicate a forest area of 37,206). With the exception of Gulusheher reserve of 374 hectares which is a thick forest, all others are scattered forests, while Dhepal forest (647 hectares) is completely deforested.

Source: Forest department, Sibi.

Reserve forests total area is 8,736 hectares accounting for 22 percent of the total forest area in the district. These forests are privately owned but are protected and managed by the Forest Department. Under the forest rules, wood cutting in reserve forests is prohibited except with the Forest Department's permission. Enforcement of forestry rules is, however, far from satisfactory. People cut trees and tree branches at will. The contractors appointed under official licence by the Forest Department for tree felling, reportedly cut more than the number of trees they were permitted. Consequently, almost all reserve forests are very thin.

State Forests occupy an area of 27,747 acres, which is 69 percent of the district's total forest area. The overall condition of state forests is better than that of the reserve forests. The forest department has planted acacia and other trees on several hundred acres of land in Gulusheher. This plantation has been quite successful.

Commercial forestry is non-existent in the district. In the close reaches of Nari canal and its branches, a large number of trees have sprung up naturally and many have been planted by the farmers themselves. But these trees are in scattered form, and no large block plantations for commercial purpose have been seen or reported in the district.

No statistics or descriptive accounts of major vegetation are available. However, among the trees found in the area acacia, berries, and eucalyptus are most numerous. Many kinds of shrubs are also found.

Officially speaking, wood cutting in the forests is done only under licence. In the close vicinity of Sibi town, the forestry law in this respect is enforced with a fair degree of success. In far flung forests illegal cutting of trees is quite frequent. Marketing and processing operations are carried out by the private sector. Contractors cut wood on licence, and they arrange all subsequent operations.

The district forests are administered by the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) who is based in Sibi town. Besides the DFO, his office has about ninety officials.

Wolves, Hyenas, Bears, foxes etc are found in the district in small numbers. Birds of various kinds abound in the area. The white sea gull is a common sight there.

There are no reports of existence of bee keepers in the district. Potential for bee-keeping, however, exist in Harnai Tehsil.

Legend: - no involvement

X minor involvement

XX substantial involvement

XXX major involvement.

The district has experienced large scale deforestation. Fifty years ago, it had thick forests over a large area. Now, all but one or two of the forests have only scattered vegetation. The Forest Department has done reforestation near Sibi town, reserved a large area for range land in the district, and prohibited tree cutting except with a licence. There is a need to pursue the reforestation and forest protection programme more vigorously. Supply of natural gas to Sibi town has, according to local people, considerably slowed down deforestation. Extension of this facility to other localities in Sibi district will have a very positive impact on the forestry sector and the environmental situation.

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