The Changa Manga (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

: ) is a man-made forest which includes a

wildlife preserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

, in the

Kasur Kasur (Punjabi language, Punjabi / ; ; also Romanization, romanized as Qasūr; from pluralized Arabic word ''Qasr'' meaning "palaces" or "forts") is a city to the south of Lahore, in the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. The city s ...

and

Lahore district Lahore District () is a Districts of Punjab, Pakistan, district in Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab, Pakistan, consisting of the provincial capital, Lahore and surrounding areas. It is the most populous Districts of Pakistan, district of Pakistan, with ...

s of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. It is located approximately 74 km west of

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. It was once the largest man-made forest in the world but has undergone illegal

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

at a massive scale in recent times. Changa Manga is known more widely as "one of the oldest hand-planted forests in the world", and hosts a wide range of flora and fauna. The forest is home to 14 species of mammals, 50 species of birds, six species of reptiles, two species of amphibians and 27 species of insects. Thus, other than producing timber for the local industry, the forest also serves as an important wildlife reserve. Named after two brother dacoits, the Changa Manga forest was originally planted in 1866 by British foresters. Its trees were harvested to gather fuel and resources for the engines employed in the North-Western railway networks.

Onomatology Onomastics (or onomatology in older texts) is the study of proper names, including their etymology, history, and use. An ''alethonym'' ('true name') or an ''orthonym'' ('real name') is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onoma ...
of name

The name of the forest is derived from an amalgamation of the names of two brother

dacoit Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word डाकू (ḍākū); "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with the meaning "a robber belonging to an armed ...

s (bandits), Changa and Manga. The dacoits were a constant source of terror for the "law-abiding citizens" of the districts in the 19th century as they would "hold up and plunder" any passing trader. The robbers had a den in the "secret heart" of the forest where they sought shelter from the British authorities. The robbers were eventually captured by the police and became the inspiration for the name of the forest site. Soon afterwards,

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

opened up a camp at the forest site as a place for reformation of criminals.

Location

The Changa Manga forest can be reached from a road off the N-5 Highway near Bhai Pheru and

Chunian Chunian (), is a historic city and the capital of Chunian Tehsil of Punjab, Pakistan. It is located at 30° 58' N 73° 51' E and at an elevation of 177 meters (583 feet), and lies about 70 km south of Lahore, the capital of Punjab. It is ...

. At present, the forest covers an area of . It was once the largest man-made forest in the world but massive deforestation has reduced it to less than half its original size. It is also known as "one of the oldest hand-planted forests in the world". The

forest plantation A tree plantation, forest plantation, plantation forest, timber plantation, or tree farm is a forest planted for high volume production of wood, usually by planting one type of tree as a monoculture forest. The term ''tree farm'' also is used to ...

dates back to 1866 and was planned to fill the need for timber and fuel resources for the North-Western railway networks. The most common species of flora are ''

Dalbergia sissoo ''Dalbergia sissoo'', known commonly as North Indian rosewood or shisham, is a fast-growing, hardy, deciduous rosewood tree native to the Indian subcontinent and southern Iran. ''D. sissoo'' is a large, crooked tree with long, leathery leaves a ...

'' (Sheesham) and ''

Acacia nilotica ''Vachellia nilotica'', more commonly known as ''Acacia nilotica'', and by the vernacular names of gum arabic tree, babul, thorn mimosa, Egyptian acacia or thorny acacia, is a flowering tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Africa, the M ...

'' (Kikar), both members of the

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

and native to the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. ''

Morus alba Morus may refer to: People * Alexander Morus (1616–1670), Franco-Scottish Protestant preacher * Henryk Moruś (1943–2013), Polish serial killer * Huw Morus (1622–1709), Welsh poet * Thomas More or Morus (1478–1535), English philosopher * M ...

'' (white mulberry) was also introduced to the plantation and became popular in cultivation throughout South Asia. The forest also has several species of ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

'' and ''

Populus ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar (), aspen, and cottonwood. The we ...

''.

History

Allocation of land

Dug trenches for forest plantation after slash has been burnt

In 1864, the North-Western Railway found itself starved of resources, vital in running services on its network. It was then that Dr John Lindsay Stewart, the first Conservator of Forests of Punjab, recommended the allocation of a block of land for each railway district where forest plantations should be cultivated to cater for such growing demands. Such a block of land was allocated for the

Kasur district Kasur District ( Punjabi, ), is a district located in Lahore Division of Punjab, Pakistan. It came into existence on 1 July 1976; prior to its creation, the area comprised two tehsils ( Kasur Tehsil and Chunian Tehsil) of Lahore District. Acc ...

at the

Chunian tehsil Chunian (), is an administrative subdivision (tehsil) of Kasur District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. This particular area of land was a semi-desert scrub jungle with thorn forest land and a light alluvial soil that only required the introduction of water to yield crops. The land was mostly populated by the Gondhal and Sansi gypsies, whom British called ''"junglies"'' (a derogatory term meaning 'jungle-dwelling barbarians'). The British replaced the population of the Gondhals and Sansis with an influx of cultivators from older cultivated lands and other provinces. In preparation for cultivation, the land was slashed and burnt to rid the landscape of thorn forest and dry scrub growth. The unruly scrubs of the dry jungles were gradually turned into plains ready for irrigation.

Initial plantation

Within the premises of the allocated land, the German forester Berthold Ribbentrop, Inspector General of Forests in British India, identified a dry forest area where long rooted bar trees could exist. He planned to cultivate the land with the plantation of ''

'' (white mulberry) and ''

'' (sheesham). The plantation of the forest began in 1866 but failed to obtain substantial harvest from the initial wooded area of . In 1868, Charles Frederick Amery, an officer in the Indian Forestry Commission, had an idea of employing a trench and ridge system. Ribbentrop adopted the system making the plantation a "sylvicultural and financial success". The plantation reaped its first successful harvest in 1888 from a second crop rotation. The site was soon identified as a sustainable source for timber, primarily serving the North-Western railway network.

Railway and logistics

By 1870, the irrigated plantation had grown to and was served by the primary railway station for the Chunian tehsil on the Lahore-Karachi railway line. To benefit logistics for logging operations, it was decided to build a railway station at Changa Manga. A special gauge railway, called the Changa Manga Forestry Railway, was established for narrow gauge logging operations. The railway employed the use of wood-burning steam locomotives built by John Fowler & Co., of Leeds. When burning wood from an engine set fire to a van and buggy, the locomotives were upgraded to coal-powered types. Even with such incidents, the demand for wood from Changa Manga remained steady as its supply base grew across the timber market in India. The railway is still operational today and is only used to either transport timber or haul tourists on special occasions. Amongst the three engines, operational to date, are two from John Fowler & Co. and one from Andrew Barclay Sons & Co. of

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Great Indian Famine of 1876–78

The years 1876–78 saw intense drought sweep across much of India, and in particular the

Deccan Plateau The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura Range, Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound ...

. The famine was a result of crop failures throughout the plateau. The failure to provide food to the millions of hungry countrymen during the famine was blamed primarily on the absence of adequate rail infrastructure and thus the British administration sought to expand its rail infrastructure. Though some parts of Punjab were also affected by the famine, firewood from Changa Manga grew in demand to supply the growing network of rail infrastructure.

Salvation Army Silk Camp

The early 1800s saw many Indian traders invest in the silk trade. Most of the silk in India came from silkworms cultivated at

Moradabad Moradabad () is an industrial city, commissionerate, and municipal corporation in Moradabad district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated on the banks of the Ramganga river, at a distance of from the national capital, New Del ...

near

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. However, businessmen deemed the Delhi silk as "lacking lustre" and they ventured into silk experiments elsewhere across the country. One such silk experiment was conducted by Commissioner Frederick Booth-Tucker of

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

at Changa Manga in 1912. It came to be known as the Salvation Army Silk Camp. Booth-Tucker brought along hundred ounces of silkworm eggs (about 3 million eggs) from France. To house the worms, he created long sheds from bamboo and dried grass. The worms' feed consisted entirely of mulberry leaves obtained from felled trees in the forest. The worms fed on 70

hundredweight The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and United States customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the United States customary and British imperial sy ...

s of leaves a day. In 1916, the Governor of Punjab Sir Michael O'Dwyer visited the silk experiment where the silkworms had started developing cocoons. The governor left pleased with Booth-Tucker's work. The Salvation Army Silk Camp remained a sustainable venture for a year after the governor's visit, although changes to the climate later led to its decline.

Wildlife conservation and breeding

The forest serves as a conservation and breeding centre for the critically endangered species of Asiatic vultures, ''

Gyps bengalensis The white-rumped vulture (''Gyps bengalensis'') is an Old World vulture native to South and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2000, as the population severely declined. White-rumped vultures di ...

'' (white-rumped vultures). It hosts a conservation centre in association with WWF SAVE (Saving Asia's Vultures from Extinction) programme, an international effort across India, Nepal and Pakistan. The Asiatic vulture species of ''G. bengalensis'' and '' G. indicus'' have reportedly seen a decline by "more than 90 per cent in Pakistan, India and Nepal", thereby making the conservation efforts at Changa Manga extremely crucial for the survival of these vulture species.

Gyps Vulture Conservation Centre

There is a Vulture Conservation Centre in a secluded area of the Changa Manga forest. The centre has been specifically designed to manage the population of G. bengalensis. The centre operates the ''Gyps Vulture Restoration Programme'' under the management of

WWF Pakistan WWF may refer to: Computing and games *WWF (file format), a campaign for unprintable PDF documents *Windows Workflow Foundation, a software component of the .NET Framework *''Words with Friends'', a mobile computer game franchise Non-profit orga ...

and the Punjab Wildlife and Parks Department, with aid of the

Environment Agency Abu Dhabi The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) () is a governmental agency established in 1996 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), tasked with environmental protection matters in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. History In 1989, the National Avian ...

, Hawk Conservancy Trust and WWF USA. The vulture conservation programme was first realised in 2004 and this dedicated conservation centre became fully operational in 2007. The centre holds up to fifteen ''G. benalgensis'' in its communal

aviary An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds, although bats may also be considered for display. Unlike birdcages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where Bird flight, they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flig ...

, but has a capacity to hold 30 vultures in its four separate breeding aviaries. The communal aviary is 38m long and increases in width from 14m to 27.5m. The aviary contains live tree perches with roosting and nesting ledges, which also provides shade and shelter for birds.

Wildlife reserve

Changa Manga also has a

wildlife reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologi ...

that covers an area of , built in 2008. The reserve is home to species of

hog deer ''Axis'' is a genus of deer occurring in South and Southeast Asia. As presently defined by most authorities, four species are placed in the genus. Three of the four species are called hog deer. The genus name is a word mentioned in Pliny the Elde ...

Indian peafowl The Indian peafowl (''Pavo cristatus''), also known as the common peafowl, or blue peafowl, is a peafowl species native to the Indian subcontinent. While it originated in the Indian subcontinent, it has since been introduced to many other part ...

golden jackal The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called the common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Eurasia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy yellow in summer to a dark tawny beige in winter. It is smaller a ...

mouflon The mouflon (''Ovis gmelini'') is a wild sheep native to Cyprus, and the Caspian region, including eastern Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Iran. It is also found in parts of Europe. It is thought to be the ancestor of all modern domest ...

nilgai The nilgai (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'') (, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest antelope of Asia, and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Boselaphus'', which was ...

and

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

. The Changa Manga wildlife preserve is one of the three wildlife parks located in the Lahore Division, other two being

Jallo Wildlife Park Jallo Park (sometimes called Jallo Wildlife Park), established in 1978, is a public recreation and wildlife site located in Lahore District, Punjab, Pakistan. Spread over an area of , it is one of the three main wildlife parks located in Lahore, ...

and

Lahore Zoo Safari Lahore Zoo Safari Park is a zoo in Lahore, Pakistan. History The Woodland Wildlife Park was established in 1981 over as a government funded public facility. In 1998, it was handed over to the Punjab Wildlife and Parks Department (PWPD) by the Fo ...

and also called as Woodland wildlife Parks.

Recreation

Parts of the forest have now been developed into a recreation park with a railroad that gives the visitor a ride on a miniature train through the forest. Other attractions include a water turbine, a waterfall, a children's play area, and a lake called 'Lunar Lake', where boating is possible. Changa Manga Tourist Resort is situated from Lahore city. The Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) arranges picnic trips to Changa Manga throughout the year.

Deforestation

The world's largest artificial forest is being heavily logged, and so far by 2011 more than 60 percent of Changa Manga Wildlife Park has been deforested.

Revival of Changa Manga Forest

On 11 November 2011, Khan Waqas A. Khan broke the story of rapid deforestation in Changa Mhanga Forest and exposed how unbridled wood mafia with the forest officials are rapidly deforesting the world's largest man-made forest. The Chief

Ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

, Punjab, Javed Mehboob took a '' suo moto'' notice to probe the case and report accordingly. A series of news stories were then filed by Khan until 24 June 2012, when CM Punjab Mian Muhammad

Shehbaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (born 23 September 1951) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who has served as the 20th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan since March 2024, having previously been in the role between Ap ...

, taking notice of the situation, ordered the removal of Chief Conservator (Forest) Dr Mehboobur Rehman and Conservator (Forest) Rao Khalid from their posts and making them OSD. The chief minister also ordered the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment DG and the CM Inspection Team (CMIT) chairman to carry out a joint investigation into the deforestation by timber mafia and ferret out facts about their possible links with the forest authorities. The CM also ordered an investigation into the issue from 1990 onward. The team was directed to investigate all the DFOs, posted at Changa Manga since 1990. Similarly, the team was directed to investigate all SDOs, Block Officers and Forest Guards who had been working there since then. Police subsequently made some arrests. However, all of the accused got bail from the courts, were cleared of the charges or received minor penalties. The Ombudsman issued a detailed report on the case affixing para wise responsibility on those who were responsible for the worst affairs and CMIT proceeded for criminal proceedings for the same, but everything went under the blanket and now almost all of the accused are working on the similar posts as ADHOC. The culprits was to appoint them on the same posts as contract/daily wage/ ad hoc employees while they are still OSD, dismissed from service officially. Apart from this, however serious efforts the government somehow started to bring back Changa Manga to the list of world's largest artificial forests. Changa Manga Forest could then safely be termed as having come back on track. Water scarcity was the first reason of plant disease and failure. The forest administration negotiated with the irritation department and took full sanctioned discharge of 113 cusecs for the forest for all seasons. This step alone brought very positive results and the forest grew green again. Illegal animals were another source of forest destruction. There were mafias that used to use this forest as the grazing safari and hence all new plantation failed because of abundant illegal grazing. 864 Animals in this period were ejected from the forest on self-help basis as legislation for the same is still pending although a summary has been approved by the CM in this regard already. To tackle the political and social mafias, the current administration kept a close liaison with the Chunian Cantt authorities who deployed army patrolling teams in the forest to help forest staff control the damage, illicit grazing and snubbing of notorious habitual offenders. Two row boundary planting of large sized plants along the 39km boundary of the plantation including improvement of boundary road for patrolling has been completed. Barbed wire fencing of 30km along with the RCC posts on the boundary of the forest to check illegal movement has been completed. Planting of 9km large sized ornamental plants along tram line for aesthetic view of the visitors has been completed. Construction of main gates on the boundary of plantation to stop illegal movement has been completed. Construction of boundary wall with iron grill around forest park to secure 5000 Rft park area and 7050 Rft on the Wankhara side has been completed as well. Additionally, afforestation of new plants was done on a 1500 acre blank area. It is pertinent to mention that an additional 4000 acres is still pending afforestation that is expected to be started by next year. However, 150000 poplar plants have been recently planted on the road sides to give the forest a better look. In the same period 52 FIRs have been registered, however most of them are still pending investigation as the accused are, either themselves or family members of, prominent political figures of the area including Ch Mehmood Anwar and Rana Muhammad Ishaq Khan belonging to the ruling party of Punjab. Changa Manga has long been waiting for all this. Now when things are back on track; it shall be expected that the authorities will not turn a blind eye towards affairs and will help forest administration in preventing culprits from further destroying the forest. Similarly, it is also recommended that encouragement rewards may be given to the current administration for doing honest efforts to save the forest. According to Forest Department officials in April 2020, honey sales from Changa Manga wildlife preserve increased from Rs. 729,000 in the 2016-17 financial year to Rs. 1.3 million in the 2019-2020 financial year. This is asserted to be due to increased honeybee presence at the preserve as a result of Billion Tree Project afforestation efforts and decreased use of pesticides and industrial fertilizers in the vicinity of the region.

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Pakistanpaedia – Changa Manga

{{Portal bar, Punjab, Pakistan, Environment, Ecology, Earth sciences, Biology Forests of Pakistan Kasur District Wildlife sanctuaries in Punjab, Pakistan Wildlife sanctuaries of Pakistan Protected areas of Punjab, Pakistan

Onomatology Onomastics (or onomatology in older texts) is the study of proper names, including their etymology, history, and use. An ''alethonym'' ('true name') or an ''orthonym'' ('real name') is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onoma ... of name

Location

History

Allocation of land

Initial plantation

Railway and logistics

Great Indian Famine of 1876–78

Salvation Army Silk Camp

Wildlife conservation and breeding

Gyps Vulture Conservation Centre

Wildlife reserve

Recreation

Deforestation

Revival of Changa Manga Forest

See also

References

References

External links

Onomatology Onomastics (or onomatology in older texts) is the study of proper names, including their etymology, history, and use. An ''alethonym'' ('true name') or an ''orthonym'' ('real name') is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onoma ...
of name