CONSERVING DRYLAND ECOSYSTEMS AND THREATENED TREES IN PAKISATAN

Dryland ecosytems in Paikisatn emcompass a range of habitats including scrub, dry decidous forest and flood plains. Many of the species they support are over-exploited for use as fuelwood and timber, and are being increasingly replaced by uniform plantations and exotic species.

The Global Trees Campaign is working with the Government College Univeristy and Lahore Botanic Garden to promote native species conservation

We are currently supporting the pioneering work of Prof Amin Khan and his team at the Government College University (GCU) and the Botanic Garden, Lahore, to promote the use of native species in restoring drylands in the southeastern parts of Pakistan (Punjab province).

In the next phase of the project, the three restoration sites (Soan Valley, Khoshab district, Harappa, Sahival district, and Kolian, Shakargarh district) will be scaled up by 4 ha each, including the establishment of local nurseries to ensure the provision of a viable stock of saplings with the tree keystone species Olea ferruginea, Acacia modesta, Nannorrhops ritchiana, Prosopis cineraria, Salvadora oleoides, Tamarix aphylla and Butea monosperma. An additional restoration site will be established in the Cholistan Desert in the very south of the Punjab Province.

This practical restoration work is also accompanied by a number of public outreach and advocacy activities to raise awareness of the potential negative environmental impacts of using introduced species in large-scale afforestation projects.

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