Implications of National Forest Policy 2015 on Gilgit-Baltistan: The Question of Forest Ownership and Deforestation in Gilgit-Baltistan
Abstract
Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) having a specific administrative status under the Federation of Pakistan has several political and social issues which have socio-political implications on the lives of the people living in that Region. Although the Federal Government has legislated forest policy at the National level; due to the presence of the various types of traditional forest regulating mechanisms GB lacks single unanimous policy for the conservation and harvesting of natural forests in the different regions of GB. So, therefore, to conserve natural forest; GB needs a unified type of forest policy legislated by the mandated Assembly of GB to prevent the region from deforestation and degradation of wildlife
Keywords- forest policy, Gilgit-Baltistan, Ownership and Deforestation