DECLINE OF CONIFER FOREST COVER IN PAKISTAN: A GIS APPROACH

Abstract

Deforestation is one of the obstinate environmental problems globally. Pakistan, being a developing nation also encompasses crisis of depletion of forest reserves. The rising climate change consequences remain the primary culprit behind this phenomenon. The present study intends to focus attention on one of the threatened vegetation types, the Conifer forests and their consequent reduction in area during the last two decades. GIS techniques have been employed to analyze the change detection in various regions and provinces of Pakistan. The results of current study indicated that Conifer forests have been declining at the rate of 1.27% per annum since 1992, showing negative trends due to various causes associated with climate change i.e. increase in temperature and decrease in rainfall. So, the need for the conservation of these forests should be the basic task to accomplish order to avoid their vulnerability against various environmental and socio economic disturbances.