More than 500 young nature loving students from different educational institutions and universities trailed the Margallah Hills Trail-3 to collect garbage from the track on Sunday. The ‘Mountain Eco-friendly Walk’ was organized in connection with the 4th Pakistan Mountain Festival, an annual advocacy and outreach festival by the Development Communications Network (DEVCOM-Pakistan) to commemorate International Mountain Day. This time Capital development Authority (CDA), Lok Virsa, and Golf project of the UNDP are the core partners of the 8-day long festival.
CDA member environment Syed Mustafain Kazmi and UNDP Assistant Country Director (Environment and Climate Change) Amanullah Khan were the chief guests on the certificate distribution ceremony arranged to honour the efforts of the participants of the Margallah Hills clean up.
Speaking on the occasion, Syed Mustafain Kazmi said that mountains are our precious asset and we need to conserve and protect this natural treasure. Not only biodiversity rather the human life will be in danger if we do not conserve our natural resources. We need to get the mountain cleaned on regular basis. He said the increasing floods, heavy rains in lesser time, and droughts are the evidences of the climate change that is happening very fast. We need to curb our undue emission of carbon gases to protect and conserve the forest cover for the sake of pure natural environment and healthy human life, and for the sake of biological diversity.
Amanullah Khan, Assistant Country Director of UNDP, said International Mountain Day is a pivotal milestone in highlighting the importance of mountain for the life on earth. Our mountains are rich hub of biological diversity that contains many rare herbs and shrubs that are mainly used in the medicines. We need to conserve and harvest them more nature friendly ways.
Munir Ahmed, Director of DEVCOM-Pakistan and Festival Director of Pakistan Mountain Festival, said the main objective of our events is to sensitise and mobilise youth for the conservation and protection of mountain environment that is the backbone of life in the highlands and downstream.
“We need to focus on the youth for a sustainable future in terms of natural resource management and its conservation. I am sorry to say that the older generation is hopeless. Despite of repeated environmental sensitisation, they keep on doing all the wrong to the nature”, Munir said.
Munir said “The United Nations General Assembly has designated 11 December, from 2003 onwards, as “International Mountain Day” (IMD). It is observed every year with a different theme relevant to sustainable mountain development. FAO is the U.N. Organization mandated to lead observance of International Mountain Day.
