Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan has witnessed a series of violent periods during the last few decades. Beginning with Soviet-Afghan War in 1980s, post 911 events, and war between US led allied forces and Afghan Taliban, all of these wars directly affected the regions of KP bordering Afghanistan. During the year 2008-9, the Taliban militants captured the Swat district of Pakistan and started to advance towards neighboring areas. Consequently Pakistan armed forced started a full-fledged war and almost whole population of Swat district was displaced until army took control of the district. When the residents of Swat were returning to their home after the end of war, there was devastating flood in 2010 that destroyed the remaining infrastructure. Swat is a mountainous regions endowed with rich natural resources including forests, mineral, water and fertile land. The occupation of Taliban and then war, had long-term impacts on the governance of forest resources and overall livelihood strategies of the local people. The forest management in KP was already a complicated issue and a bone of contention between local residents and the state officials, and the war had further complicated the issue. This paper analyses the forest management practices in post-conflict situation and answers questions about how different players adjusted themselves during and after the war. What was the cost of war in terms of the depletion of forests and other natural resources? How did international donors respond in revival of livelihoods in resource-dependent communities?