HYDERABAD: On one side there is a government-sponsored drive to plant trees at both national and provincial level, while on the other side is the booming charcoal industry, which makes people resort to cut trees in the southern parts of Sindh, especially in the coastal areas and the Thar Desert.
Reports gathered from local activists in different areas reveal that firewood-cutters prefer to collect Prosopis Juliflora, and transport it via donkey carts to charcoal units for sale.
The unaware people do not even spare precious trees, which are the most important for human food as well as livestock fodder. For the coastal people, trees are natural shields against cyclones and other sea storms.
Their preservation should be a top priority to stay safe in the face of natural disasters. But that is not the case.
Same goes for community people living along the natural routes of old rivers Puran and Hakro. Tree cutting has become a lucrative business along these rivers too that cross Badin and Tharparkar districts.
Hundreds of charcoal burning units can be seen along the old rivers and roadsides, where this business is flourishing day by day. They buy firewood from the local community people throughout the year.
You can see trailers standing in queues for some time near Badin- Mithi road to load charcoal for major cities. Local people as well as outsiders have established their own kilns to prepare charcoal.
Javed Samoon, a folklore writer and traditional anthropologist of Nagar Parkar, said many people cut specific shrub Prosopis Juliflora for selling at a meagre Rs50-60/maund.
Previously, several people had started cleaning all species of trees and shrubs in the desert areas posing a threat to biodiversity. After witnessing hue and cry by environmentalists and local people, the provincial government had imposed section 144 to stop cleaning of native trees in Thar Desert.
However, now again such people can be seen cleaning an alien pod tree Prosopis Juliflora for sale. Desert herders believe the tree is dangerous for animals, which fall ill instantly after eating its pods. Thus farmers want to clean these shrubs to save their livestock.
But, there is always the threat that some desperate individuals would cut the precious trees for cash. The native Rohiro trees are cut down for furniture manufacturing. Those who cut this precious indigenous tree justify it as a better alternative for survival at a time when traditional sources of income have shrunken.
They cut trees and sell wood to charcoal manufacturing units near at Rs50-300, depending on quality of firewood.
Community activists near Kaloi, Tharparkar district reveal that several workers, who used to work on daily wages, after losing jobs, started cutting trees to supply to the charcoal manufacturing units for making a living.
Charcoal manufacturers usually receive orders from food outlets and different firms using charcoal for various purposes in Karachi, Hyderabad, Quetta and other parts of the country.
Charcoal is used for barbecues in restaurants in major cities and food outlets along highways. Its use as a fuel was also crucial in the development of metallurgy. Thus, charcoal is an ideal fuel for a forge and is still widely used by blacksmiths in rural and urban areas.
The price of charcoal at local markets varies on quality of the product, ranging from Rs1,000/maund to Rs3,000/maund.
Activists from coastal areas of Jati, Sujawal district said there was a wide portion of barren land, which has not been used for cultivation for long. The reason behind it is water scarcity and effects of sea intrusion, causing salinity all around. The land produces wild trees, which attract wood cutters.
The activists, being aware of the importance of trees seem upset over mass tree cutting activities that have been destroying the habitats of wildlife species.
Noor Thahimor, a coastal community activist in Jati town, said there were hares, jackals, partridges (both black and brown), and other common animals inhabiting the area for long, but many of the species were now disappearing due to the greed of charcoal manufacturers.
He believes that cyclone 1999 and the devastating rain flood 2011 degraded the fertile land, leaving growers in a helpless situation. “Apart from this, increasing water logging has also ruined the fertile land in many areas, where now only shrubs and trees grow which the people cut for making charcoal,” he added.
Since the farmers cannot use saline lands for cultivation, landlords prefer to lease the land on contract to people for cutting trees and shrubs.
Elderly people recalling the past said previously some people used to cut down extra trees like babul trees (Acacia nilotica), Kandi (prosopis cineraria), kirar (Capparis decidua) and others, usually growing in forests, groves, bush lands and grazing lands. They used to burn these trees for making charcoal on a small scale and scattered makeshift charcoal units could be seen burning wood. But now it has become an organised business, which was flourishing well due to mass unemployment in the region.
Some researchers link growing poverty and unemployment in the areas to frequent natural disasters, which have destroyed natural resources.
In many areas tree cutting is the only choice left for the locals, as there is no water to cultivate crops.
Some people associated with this trade believed that graded and packed charcoal was being exported to Gulf countries.
Sadly, there is no data about the deforestation and status of flora and fauna, which could help understand how the government’s tree plantation campaign was getting spoiled in an organised way.
It is pertinent to note that the government had launched the largest tree plantation campaign after realising that Pakistan ranked as the most affected by climate change, in line to lose the productivity of food crops due degradation of arable land.