AGRICULTURAL LAND AND DEFORESTATION IN CHITRAL

Abstract

Deforestation has increased in Chitral. Agricultural land use, .filel wood consumption and illegally selling of wood are the primary .factors o.f deforestation in Chitral. The researcher conducted a survey in the Booni valley of district Chitral. The researcher took a sample size of one hllndred and twenty (120) respondents and collected data on the hasis of a structured questionnaire. The major cause oldeforestation like agricultural land usage has been discussed in "Land Use Th eOl)' ". The researchfound thatthe.foresliY department ()f the area was not active. This study revealed that there was improper implementation of policies Fom the part ()f government that has allowed the deforestation /0 increase. There prevailed a thought Ihat crops growing fields would have no trees surround it. This study indicated that the people of the area considered it as Iheir duty to protect the/oresls and trees of the area. According to them the nature took revenge from them in the form ()f natural disasters as they were unable to protect their .forests. It was hypothesized that the agricultural land usage was considered as the major cause ()f de.forestation in the area. The data was highly significant and supported the alternate hypothesis of the study.