Written by: Haroon Shuaib
Posted on: June 09, 2022 | 
| 中文
Sherani forest fire
Pakistan is the eighth most vulnerable country to extreme weather caused by climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index compiled by environmental NGO Germanwatch. Temperatures have peaked at 51 degrees celsius in some parts of Pakistan in recent days. Climate change and environmental degradation is becoming more apparent with each passing year as floods, glacial melts, changes in weather patterns, erratic rainfalls, droughts and forest fires occur with increased frequency and intensity.
According to Pakistan’s meteorological department, Nokundi, Taftan and Dalbandin areas of Balochistan have been facing moderate to severe drought conditions in recent months. Nushki, Mashkhel, Kharan, Quetta, Zhob, Barkhan, Sibbi along with southern districts of Sindh such as Tharparkar, Badin, Thatta and eastern Sindh areas are facing mild drought conditions. The rainfed areas of Punjab are also under stress due to the effect of the unusual heat wave this year. While during the month of May, light to moderate rainfall was reported from upper parts of Pakistan, precipitation remained below normal over most of the drought-prone areas leading to moisture stress. The good news is that the onset of Monsoon is expected during the last week of June, whereas pre-monsoon rains may start from the third week of June and bring a much-needed relief to the country.
A homestead in the area
As a major part of Balochistan grappled with a long dry spell of drought, on 10th May 2022, a blaze erupted in the pine nut and olive forest of Sherani (or Shirani) District of Zhob Division. The combustion soon turned into a large-scale wild fire. Sherani district is bounded by South Waziristan on the north, Dera Ismail Khan District on the east, Musakhel District on the southeast, Zhob District on the southwest, and Paktika Province of Afghanistan on the northwest. Total area of the district is 4,310 square kilometres with a population of about 152,952. Sherani is home to hundreds of exotic trees including pine nut, tamarisk (salt cedar), pistachios, juniper, wild olive, wild ash and wild almond. The area, which is referred to as Koh-e-Sulaiman range, is also full of shrubs including some unusual local varieties such as the deadly and poisonous Aak, bitter-apple, harmal, wild fig, barberry, wild cherry and many herbs. The pine nuts trees are the most unique and a central feature of the region, as its identity and economy centers around this natural endowment. The Urdu name of pine nut, ‘Chilgoza’ has been derived from Persian and literally means ‘40 nuts in one cone’. The pine nut forest of Sherani grows at an elevation of 1,800 to 3,350 meters. These lofty mountains are also the abode of the indigenous but endangered species of wild goat called the Suleiman ‘Markhor’ and the wild sheep ‘Urial’, besides wolves, jackals, rabbits, wild cats and deer. The forest is the natural habitat for game birds such as ‘Chikor’, sand grouse, quail, partridges, houbara bustards, golden eagles, sparrows, hawks, falcons, doves and bearded vultures.
Sifting the pine nuts
According to some reports, the fire started in the Dera Ismail Khan District but soon spread towards the Sherani district, and then by May 13 spread rapidly across the region. People who live in the forest, first tried to put out the fire on their own. Before the relevant departments realized the seriousness of the situation, the raging flames had already caused the loss of three precious lives. The pine forest belongs to three tribes of the area, whose livelihood depends on the trade of chilgoza. At least 10 people, including community members and forest department officials, were injured while battling the blaze.
Pakistan Army and civilians trying to minimize the damage
This 26,000-acre wide forest is one of the biggest pine nut forests in the world. At least 10 to 12 villages are located in the forest, nestled at the altitude of about 10,000 feet. The villagers had to be evacuated, which left an estimated 4,000 individuals displaced. By the end of May, the fire had affected an estimated 35% of this precious UNESCO-heritage pine nut forest. The extent of damage to the natural ecology, economy, flora and fauna of the region is yet to be fully ascertained.
Wild life effected by the fire
It is important to note that the wood of edible pine trees is very inflammable and can easily catch fire due to the friction of flint stones. Some unconfirmed reports also allege that the wildfire was started by arsonists at the behest of the timber mafia. The dry spell, hot dry winds, and water scarcity in the region exacerbated the situation and resulted in a rapid spread of the flames, which made it difficult to control the raging inferno. The fire continued blazing for over 2 weeks and affected at least 10,700 acres of the forest by the time it was extinguished.
Local children
Concerted efforts of National and Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (NDMA & PDMA), relevant government departments, Pakistan Army, international partners, and the community volunteers were central to this colossal firefighting exercise. Two helicopters of the Pakistan Army took part in the effort. The area is close to Pakistan and Iran border, and realizing the seriousness of the situation, Government of Iran provided an Ilyushin 76 aircraft, biggest firefighter aircraft in the world, to take part in the fire-fighting mission. The Iranian Ilyushin Il-76 air tanker has previously been used to control forest fires in Georgia, Armenia, and Turkey and can pour up to 40 tons of water. The water had to be brought from the Arabian sea and many sorties of the aircraft spread over many days had to be carried out.
Ilyushin 76 provided by Iran for fighting the fire in the Sherani forest.
While the fire has been extinguished, it will take a long time to mitigate the devastating impact of the fire on the local community and economy. Before the fire, the total area of 26,000-hectare forest produced around 650 and 675 metric tons of pine nuts (chilgoza) annually with a trading volume of around Rs 2.6 billion. The fire has left almost 2 million of these trees, some dating back to 1,500 years, charred. Overall, Pakistan produces 6,40,000 kg of pine nuts each year, accounting for 15% of global production. More than half of this production comes from the Sherani forest. Generations of farmers, cattle herders, and pine nut traders have relied on the forest for their livelihoods for decades. This unfortunate fire incident has inflicted losses amounting to billions of rupees on the local communities. The provincial government is already making plans to help grow the forest back.
Pine nuts
Being within the monsoon zone, the Sherani district historically receives heavy rainfall during the summer. This pattern has also seen a change for the worst in recent years, with long dry spells that are telling of the way climate change is affecting the area. It is important to understand the impact of climate change at the micro and macro level. While natural and man-made disasters are bound to happen at some level, the impact and scale of such disasters can be reduced considerably through comprehensive and well-planned disaster reduction, mitigation and plans to prepare for such eventualities. The planet earth is under serious threat of climate change, and Pakistan is one of the more vulnerable countries that are likely to be affected by it. Sadly, this existential threat is not even under discussion amongst our policy makers.
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