Abstract
Based on the annual rate of deforestation as a forest conservation outcome, this study evaluated how effective is the existing forest management regime in controlling deforestation in the study area. Remote sensing data were used to measure the rate of deforestation. Furthermore, the existing forest management regime in the study area, as well as in other regions of the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges of Pakistan and the Himalayan temperate biome of India, China, Nepal, and Bhutan, was reviewed to compare deforestation. The results showed that, with regional-wise management regimes, the overall annual rate of deforestation was recorded much higher in the study area (0.8 yr−1) compared to the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges of Azad Kashmir (0.13% yr−1), Punjab (0.20% yr−1), and Gilgit Baltistan (0.31% yr−1). The cross-national and site-regional findings highlighted that lowest deforestation was associated with management regimes characterized by effective monitoring and law enforcement with the inclusion of conservation and community. Deforestation was higher in forest management regimes that aimed to maximize economic growth, unstable rights, weak law enforcement, and exclusion of conservation and community-based management/use. In conclusion, the best forest conservation outcomes are associated with management regimes that include conservation and community and stable and secure rights supported by high-ranking monitoring and law enforcement. Therefore, the inclusion of community and conservation supplemented with stable rights and high-rank monitoring and law enforcement into the existing management regimes is suggested.
Highlights
Forest carbon management and conservation are globally recognized as a potentially low-cost choice for climate change mitigation, with supplementary benefits for biodiversity, regulating the hydrological cycle and other multiple ecosystem services (Canadell and Raupach, 2008; DeFries et al, 2010)
We evaluated how cross-national management regimes across the Himalayan temperate biome (China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar) and site-regional management regimes in Pakistan are effective for forest conservation outcomes
32,323 ha of forests were lost and the annual rate of deforestation recorded was 2,938 ha (0.8%). This annual rate of deforestation was much higher than the estimated rate of deforestation in the Himalayan (Murree and Islamabad, 0.13–0.20%) and Karakoram (Gilgit, 0.31%) ranges of Pakistan reported by Qamar et al (2012) and Mannan et al (2019)
Summary
Forest carbon management and conservation are globally recognized as a potentially low-cost choice for climate change mitigation, with supplementary benefits for biodiversity, regulating the hydrological cycle and other multiple ecosystem services (Canadell and Raupach, 2008; DeFries et al, 2010). To control the rate of deforestation, numerous conservation strategies such as logging bans and regulations, payments for ecosystem services, and establishment of protected areas have been implemented worldwide (Angelsen, 2010; Angelsen et al, 2012). Prohibitions on logging (partial or full ban) as a conservation tool have been implemented in many countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, China, Indonesia, and New Zealand, to control the rate of deforestation (Brown et al, 2001; Tuynh and Phuong, 2001). The results of such measures are variable, with positive outcomes in certain countries (e.g., New Zealand, China, and Sri Lanka), while uncertain in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Thailand (Zeb, 2019). The fact is that protected areas consist of a small proportion of global forests, and in forests outside protected areas, rates of deforestation are widely different among countries (Bertzky et al, 2012; Brandt et al, 2017; Hansen et al, 2013)
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