Talimand Khan

This paper focuses on forest management
systems and resource rights in three different geographical zones of Swat
District, Pakistan. Each zone has distinctive social and historical characteristics
in relation to forest management and resource rights and their impact on
conservation and sustainable use of the forest resources. Further, the paper
analyzes three peculiar historical regimes with regard to their management
mechanisms, resource rights, and the transition from one regime to another. It
is argued that the interplay between geography and management schemes drive the
use of forest resources in the Swat District.

The paper makes some comparisons between
informal (community) management and management by formal (state institutions)
and finds that inclusion or exclusion criteria regarding resource rights laid
down by a particular management system create
situations that lead either to a sense of ownership or deprivation
among  stakeholders.  Another finding is that the management of
forests in the Swat District changed from community to formal institutions
which could not maintain the balance between the customary and statutory
resource rights arrangements. As a result, conflicting interests created an
opaque resource rights situation that prompted predatory attitudes among the
various stakeholders. The paper recommends renegotiating the resource rights
regime coupled with changes in the role of the Forest Department (a state
institution) from a command and control approach to that of a facilitator in
the process of forest management. ­ Developing alternative energy sources,
particularly in the forested areas, may also help to conserve forest
resources.