Abstract
Deforestation is one of the major environmental issues. Population increase has been blamed for being the most significant factor among others, responsible for deforestation. The present study was conducted to determine the relationship between increase in population and increase in non-forest areas and the effect of population on the forest cover in Ziarat district of Balochistan. Population for the year 1998 and the annual average population growth rate of 2.47% were taken as basis for the projection of Ziarat district population for the years 2004 to 2013. For forest cover determination, three reserved forest areas namely: Batsargai Reserved Forest, Gohar Reserved Forest and Sasnamana Reserved Forest were selected. Ten sample areas were chosen from these forests. Forest covers change in these sample areas from the year 2004 to 2013, were identified and calculated with the help of softwares: the Google Earth and the Earth Point. The results showed that there was positive correlation between population increase and increase in non-forest areas. The R2 values for the Batsargai, Gohar, and Sasnamana Reserved forests were 0.93, 0.65, and 0.85 respectively.
Sabeela Gul, Maqsood Ahmad Khan, Syed Muhammad Khair. (2014) Population Increase: A Major Cause of Deforestation in District Ziarat, Journal of Applied and Emerging Sciences, Volume 5, Issue 2.
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