Staff Report
PESHAWAR: Three days training workshop on “Application of Molecular Techniques in Forest Management & Conversation” concluded here on Wednesday at PFI under the supervision of Director General Pakistan Forest Institute, Peshawar Manzoor Ahmad, which was aimed to curb illegal cutting and smuggling of timber through DNA based Molecular Technologies.
Training workshop was organized by Pakistan Forest Institute Peshawar under the project “Studies on DNA Fingerprinting of Important Pakistani Timbers for Their Identification and Illegal Trafficking control ”, in which forestry, environment and climate change experts and research scholars from prominent research institutions and universities of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including concerned Project In-charge Bilal Zia, Director Biodiversity Asher Farooq and Director Forest Products Research Division Dr. Zahid Rauf and Logging Officer PFI Dr. Tanveer Hussain, also participated. They expressed their views and gave valuable suggestions on the issue. Addressing the workshop, Mr. Manzoor Ahmed Khan, Director General, PFI said that forests are decreasing day by day in the country under the impact of climate change and, so there is a dire need to combat the challenges faced by forests along with introduction of fast growing and more productive tree species. He said that tree provide timber not only but also protect the environment and prevent natural disasters in the form of floods and droughts etc.
“Forests are essential not only for humans, but also for animals and birds by providing them habitat, he said and added that the tourism sector can be further promoted by protecting our forests and this will also improve the economy of the province. The participants appreciated this event as very useful and said that this initiative will promote research in the forestry sector.
