Conservation Efforts

In the wake of such deterioration of biodiversity in the mountains of the Northern Areas, considerable efforts have been initiated by the government of Pakistan. Unions such as IUCN Pakistan and some NGOs such as World Wide Fund for Nature Pakistan and Aga Khan Rural Support Programme are making their mark towards raising awareness regarding conservation and the sustainable use of biological diversity. The initiatives include signing a number of international treaties and Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), which directly or indirectly deal with biodiversity issues. Out of these agreements, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a landmark treaty, which is not only concerned with the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity as a common goal of humanity, but also the sharing of benefits arising from its use. Pakistan is the signatory of this convention.

The Government of Pakistan has developed a Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) with the technical assistance of IUCNP, to meet commitments under Article 6 of the CBD. The BAP calls for government agencies, NGOs, and local communities to work together as partners for biodiversity conservation. It integrated three processes called for by the CBD: country study, national strategy and action plan.

At the Northern Areas level, a range of protected areas including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, game reserves and protected forests have been established for in-situ conservation of biodiversity. Several laws also exist relating to conservation of various components of biodiversity. In addition, several species have been declared as protected under the NA Wildlife Preservation Act of 1975.

Organizations such as AKRSP have played an important role in managing biodiversity of NAs by providing the ground for other organisations such as IUCNP and WWF through a viable community organisation set up for sustainable development. IUCNP has developed several programmes and projects such as Mountainous Areas Conservancy Project (MACP), where an interesting community based sustainable programme of conserving the declining population of Suleman Markhor was initiated. Through this project, trophy hunting licences were issued for hunting of a specific number of adult animals. The money collected was distributed as 80 and 20 percent between the community and the government respectively. In this manner, both were partnered for conserving the biological resource of their area. WWF Pakistan is also a pioneering organisation in community based wildlife conservation project. It is involved in aiming efforts towards conserving important species in NAs such as Himalayan ibex, snow leopard, woolly flying squirrel and brown bears. Other organisations such as Himalayan Wildlife foundation and Khunjerab village organisation are also playing an active role in conserving the biodiversity of the area.