CHITRAL UPPER: To finalize the management plan of the Hindu Kush landscape, a one-day stakeholder consultation workshop was organized in Chitral in which more than 55 stakeholders, including women from different sectors, participated.
Representatives from the Wildlife Department, Forest Department, Livestock Department, Agriculture Department, and other government and non-government agencies, as well as local community representatives, were also involved.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Wildlife Division Chitral Farooq Nabi, and Director Agriculture Research Station Dr. Abdul Rauf, besides Dr. Shoaib Hameed of the Snow Leopard Foundation, RPM Chitral Jamiullah Shirazi, Dr. Safirullah of the Livestock Department, and Ijaz Ahmed of the Forest Department, attended the event.
The community representatives expressed their views about the management plan. He said that “the snow leopard is a very important animal in the ecosystem of this area, and its presence in a natural environment is a guarantee of its health”.
He said that “the absence of snow leopards in this ecosystem for the past several years is a cause for concern and indicates that we have disturbed the balance of the environment and nature. Dr. Ali Nawaz, Dr. Shoaib Hameed, and Dr. Jafaruddin of the Snow Leopard Foundation worked on the plan, which is an important milestone in the history of conservation of the snow leopard and its environment”.
The participants took keen interest in the details of the work plan and expressed concern through their views and comments on its content, and community representatives voiced their concerns.
These concerns would be incorporated before finalizing the plan so that it could be fully reflective of stakeholders’ aspirations and actionable. The organizers welcomed these suggestions and concerns and assured to incorporate them into the plan.
Earlier, former Inspector General of Forests Pakistan, Dr. Syed Mahmood Nasir, gave a detailed presentation on the Hindu Kush management plan and highlighted its various aspects, including its aims and objectives, conservation obstacles and challenges, and recommendations.