Eastern Hindukhush in Transition: Socio-Physical Changes and their Impacts on Natural Resources in Dir Valley, Northern Pakistan

Abstract

Change and transformation in mountainous areas has become a subject of interest for scholars and scientists in the recent past and extensive research has been conducted on this issue around the world. There are three interlinked systems in the context of global change research in mountains i.e. the biophysical system; the socio-cultural system; and the natural resource management system, where any change in one system triggers off changes in the others. The existing literature reveals that in the past few decades a number of changes have occurred in various aspects of environment of the northern mountainous belt of Pakistan. These changes have occurred in a very short period of time driven by various natural and anthropogenic forces, and are still going on. The present study aims to study the phenomenon and consequences of changes in Dir Valley located in the Hindu Raj off-shoots of the eastern Hindukush Mountains. This region offers a wide potential for research in various sectors of life and environment. However, it is still unexplored and research activities are almost negligible. This research is focused on three broad aspects of change i.e. change in physical conditions; change in social setup; and the consequential impacts of these changes on natural resources and resource management strategies. Different tools and techniques were used for the collection and analysis of data regarding the above mentioned three different sets of variables. For a detail insight and in-depth study, five villages (sub-valleys) were selected besides an overview of the social and physical conditions of whole Dir valley. Two important variables i.e. availability and distribution of land and forest resources were determined using GIS. A questionnaire survey was carried out in the sample sites asking questions about various aspects of the socio-economic setup. Besides questionnaire survey, interviews and focused group discussions (FGDs) were also conducted in the selected sub-valleys. The interviews and FGDs were focusing on the indigenous resource management strategies adapted by the community and the temporal changes that have occurred in these mechanisms. Findings of the study reveal that considerable changes have occurred in various aspects of the socio-economic setup of the study area, which have affected the biophysical environment and natural resource base in a number of ways. High population growth is among the most important iv aspect of change affecting various other aspects such as housing and household characteristics, agriculture, income generation and consumption, migration and accessibility. Household size has decreased drastically resulting into a significant increase in the number of household. Consequently, land use pattern has changed due to the expansion of residential areas in all directions. Forest cover in particular has been degraded severely, which has necessitated the transformation of natural resource management systems.