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II. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS OF UNSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
[ II | II-A | II-B
| II-C | II-D
| II-E | II-F
| II-G | II-H |
II-I | II-J ]
A. Major green environmental problems and causes
[ A | A-1 | A-2
| A-3 | A-4 | A-5
| A-6 ]
4. Biodiversity conservation
The government of NWFP has made considerable effort to protect wildlife. In NWFP, there are approximately 20 mammal species and between 20 and 25 bird species which are threatened. Past efforts have largely been aimed at regulating hunting. The current protected area system includes two national parks at Ayubia and Chitral-Gol, five wildlife sanctuaries and over two dozen game reserves located in different parts of the province; however, they only provide protection for 0.6 per cent of the land area and are located in only three of the 12 main NWFP ecosystems. The principal threats to biodiversity in NWFP are deforestation, overgrazing, soil erosion, water pollution, uncontrolled hunting and fishing, the spread of modern agriculture which is based on the use of agrochemicals, and the introduction of exotic species which threaten indigenous varieties, and can have undesirable ecological as well as economic consequences. For example, in hilly areas of Manshera district, where the total annual rainfall is quite high, there was no need to introduce exotic species of eucalyptus trees which do not allow other tree species or grass to grow beneath them. That has created a shortage of fodder for animals, and thus creating a problem for local farmers who depend on range-land.
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