Success Stories

The following paragraphs describe the successful case of forest management by the community in the village of Gauharabad.

Gauharabad is a village in Diamer district of the Northern Areas, just west of Chilas. It has a population of 4,000-5,000, four primary schools, one high school and a government dispensary. It also has the distinction of having the only intact forests in the district.

This came about because there is a tradition of guarding the forests from the old days. The forests here consists of kail, fir, spruce, oak, blue fir and very importantly chilgoza. They are private forests but managed by the NAFD. However, the people of the village guard their own trees. Cutting of the trees is banned. A committee, called zaiti, gets 12 persons every year on a selection basis, headed by 4-5 lumbardars. This committee looks out for cases of illegal cutting. A barrier is in place along the forest and two persons stay on watch 24 hours a day. If illegal cutting is detected, on-the-spot fine is incurred. If anyone wants to use wood for house, he must first show the plinth of the house to the zaiti, as proof that he really needs the wood. However, dead or fallen trees may be taken away by people for fuel or other use. An additional source of wood for people is the trees that they grow on their own land, many of them fruit trees.

One of the consequences of intact forests is that the people have been able to derive income out of them. In the year 2003 they earned Rs. 3 crore from selling chilgoza seeds. This system works because the people themselves want to preserve the forest.