Man's impact on vegetation and landscape in the Kaghan valley, Pakistan
Man's impact on vegetation and landscape in the Kaghan valley, Pakistan
Udo Schickhoff Dr.
ABSTRACT
The present study examines the environmental changes in
the Kaghan valley from a historical point of view.
Man-induced alterations of the forests vegetation are
reflected by the prevalence of nitrophilous weeds,
light-loving elements as well as unplalatable and
browsing resistant species. A detailed vegetation
mapping has revealed that the potential forest areas
have decreased by c. 50%. The historical transformation
processes from forests into farm and rangelands can be
differentiated into several periods with varying degrees
of intensity. It turns out that the dynamics of
landscape change are heavily dependent on the general
socio-economic conditions. Until the beginning of the
nineteenth century the Kaghan Valley was very thinly
populated. Substantial changes in the distribution of
forests and agricultural lands occurred in the first two
decades of British rule from 1847 to 1867. The
protective influence of the Forest Department, founded
in 1864, considerably slowed down these transformation
processes. Up to the turn of the century the scenery of
the present-day cultural landscape has been created in
its basic patterns. In the twentieth century the
quantitative loss of forest cover is negligible. The
last decades are rather marked by negative structural
alterations within the forest stands and along the
forest margins.
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September 1993
Vol. 43, Iss. 3
