Wildlife Biodiversity of Pakistan: Section 4: Initiatives to Promote and Conserve Biological Diversity

Pakistan has given serious thought to promote and conserve its biological resources by taking important steps in the following areas:

Establishment of Protected Areas (P.As)
In order to conserve as many species and ecosystems as possible, the government has established 190 protected areas (P.As) so far. These include 15 national parks, 83 wildlife sanctuaries, 85 game reserves and 14 unclassified areas. The extent of land under protection in Pakistan comprises 9% of the country area, i.e., 71649 square kilometers. Nine wetlands have been designated under the Ramsar Convention.

Institutional Measures
The first step towards legislation to protect biodiversity was introduced in 1968 with establishment of the Wildlife Enquiry Committee (WEC). This Committee drafted conservation legislation which was later adopted through various provincial acts and ordinances. These statutes provide for the creation and management of Various categories of P.As; national parks, wildlife sanctuaries; game reserves; and private game reserves. A national Council for Conservation of Wildlife (NCCW) was established in 1974 within the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock. The NCCW has an advisory board and is responsible for coordinating, formulation and implementing wildlife policies at the federal and provincial levels, coordinating activities with international agencies and promoting conservation generally. The first piece of legislation to consider environment as a whole was the Environmental Protection Ordinance 1983. The National Conservation Strategy (NCS) marked a further shift away from simple regulation and protection measures towards a holistic view of environmental problems.

International Conventions and Agreements
Pakistan is a signatory of virtually all the major international agreements in this field: the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar), the World Heritage Convention, and the Convention of the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals(Bonn). Pakistani is a member of the World Conservation union (IUCN) and the International Waterfowl and Wetland Research Bureau (IWRB). In addition, Pakistan also signed convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro). Today 125 countries are parties to this convention. iv. National Conservation Strategy (NCS): The Ministry of Environment, Urban Affairs, Forestry and Wildlife, Islamabad which is the apex body in Pakistan responsible for environment related issues has formulated a ®National Conservation Strategy¯ which encompasses Biodiversity along with other thirteen core programme areas. This strategy provides backward and forward linkages among various core areas.

The NCS recognizes that the existing protected areas (P.As) system is incomplete, in that it is not representative of all the ecosystems and plants and animal communities; the boundaries of existing P.As are in most cases not drawn according to ecological criteria; many are too small and isolated; and there are limited management planning capabiliities and weak law enforcement programmes. There are no plans which identify species ®hot spots¯, or the specific management requirements of rare and endangered species. The lack of any significant financial benefits and incentives to local people to participate also constrains biodiversity conservation in the country. As a result of these conditions, much of Pakistan¯s biodiversity is severely threatened, and in critical need of attention. To conserve biodiversity, the NCS recommends investing Rs. 1.08 billion in the following seven programmes.

- management of national parks and protected areas;
- development of new national parks;
- development of new wetland reserves;
- a medical botanicals and germplasm preservation programme;
- community management of game reserves;
- programmes for endangered species; and
- captive breeding in the private sector.