Houbara bustard ban

A controversy that can cost Pakistan dearly

For well over four decades Pakistan government has been inviting Arab dignitaries for hunting houbara bustard in Balochistan through falconry, in view of the special relations with them that transcended the normal regime of diplomatic ties. However on a petition filed by two citizens, Balochistan High Court in an order in November 2014, asked the government to cancel the area allotted to Arabs and other foreigners for hunting the rare houbara bustard in Balochistan and other provinces maintaining that it was illegal for Arab royal family members and other foreigners to hunt the bird, as it violated the International Wild Life Conservation Convention. The petition was a sequel to a report prepared by a divisional forest officer in Balochistan claiming that a Saudi Prince Fahd Bin bdul Aziz hunted 1,977 birds, while other members of his party hunted an additional 123 birds, bringing the total number of hunted houbara bustard to 2,100 during a 21-day stint of falconry in Chagai district of Balochistan in January 2014.

The Supreme Court also endorsed the decision of the Balochistan High Court in August 2015. While dismissing appeals of the federal and provincial government challenging ban imposed on hunting of the endangered species of houbara bustard, ordered the cancellation of all permits issued for the purpose. The federal government however has moved the Supreme Court to review the decision, maintaining that the restriction was affecting Pakistan’s relations with the Gulf countries. The review petition maintained that all the provincial governments had statutory powers to remove any category of wild life from the schedule of protected species. According to Balochistan Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Act 2014, houbara bustard was a game animal and its hunting was permissible under law. Further, the sustainable use of natural resources as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) clearly said that sustainable use of wildlife was central to its preservation and protection. By placing a complete ban the apex court has negated well-settled norms of the world community for the sustainable use of natural resources. Whether the SC would review its decision to ban the hunting or not is yet to be seen but the situation does demand an incisive look into the issue and evaluate the repercussions of the decision.

The decisions of the Balochistan High Court and SC ostensibly rest on the premise that due to excessive hunting the species of houbara bastard faced extinction and therefore needed to be protected. I think this assumption did not provide sufficient and strong reason for banning the hunting and the courts neglected other relevant factors and ground realities while giving the decision. Houbara bustard is a migratory bird and according to IUCN and WWF, its population is growing steadily, notwithstanding its hunting in different areas of the world, thanks to UAE-based International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC) which has an extensive programme to breed houbara bustard using artificial insemination and then releasing them into the wild in different areas of the globe. Six hundred of them were released in the Lal Suhanra National Park this year by IFHC.

In addition to the efforts of the IFHC numerous programmes of houbara bustar breeding and their release have also been carried out in Pakistan during the past decades. The Arab dignitaries, reportedly also have been encouraging the local people, where they hunted for the birds, to participate in the breeding programmes by making available necessary finances and also funding welfare development projects in the respective areas. Falconry has been recognised by UNESCO as ‘intangible cultural heritage of humankind’ and is viewed as a natural and sustainable form of hunting.

As regards the veracity of the report which formed the basis of this controversy and ultimately led to verdicts banning the hunting of houbara bustard, the experts in falconry and knowledgeable persons about the hunting practice contend that it was impossible to hunt that many birds with the help of a handful of falcons and the whole affair was a classic example of misinformation. Seen from the legal perspective as well, the decisions are beyond the domain of the existing laws. There are laws in vogue that permit houbara bustard hunting. The courts while giving their verdicts are also under obligation to deliver them within the parameters of the law and not on the basis of their personal views, sentiments or any subjective considerations about a certain issue. International Wildlife Conservations Conventions are also beyond the preview of the Pakistani courts and adherence and implementation of those conventions is the sole responsibility of the government.

Even where the laws are silent, the courts in deciding the matter under consideration, must invariably pay due attention to the national and state interests. Falconry, as rightly contended by the government in its review petition, was not merely a sport for the Arabs but was their most favourite and cherished custom, a factor which Pakistan has relied upon for adding warmth, cordiality, intensity and depth to relations with them. One of the strongest elements that have endeared the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia well towards Pakistan and giving it special treatment, is surely the gesture by Pakistan government to allow the Arab royals to pursue the fulfillment of their passion for hunting houbra bustard on its soil.

We have 1.5 million expatriate workers in Saudi Arabia and nearly 1.6 million in the UAE who are the biggest source of foreign remittances for Pakistan. According to the available data out of the total remittances of $14.9 billion during 2014, US$ 4.73 and US$ 2.9 billion came from Saudi Arabia and UAE respectively. Saudi Arabia has always been in the forefront in bailing out Pakistan from tight economic situations and UAE also has never lagged behind in extending financial assistance. According to UAE embassy sources in Islamabad during 2011-2014 the welfare and development assistance to Pakistan was well over one billion dirhams. DG ISPR Lt General Asim Saleem Bajwa in an interview with Gulf News recently revealed that the UAE government in collaboration with Pakistan Army started the UAE-Pakistan Assistance Programme in January 2011 under which various projects in the field of education, health, water supply and infrastructure have been undertaken in Malakand Division, Bajaur Agency and South Waziristan Agency. The grant provided by UAE has also been utilised for development and rehabilitation of terror-stricken areas and dealing with natural calamities like floods.

As is evident, the relations between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and UAE undoubtedly have a special status. They are needed to be further nurtured through brotherly gestures to take them to a higher level, which is very much the demand of the changing geo-political situation in our region. Annoying such friends or creating irritants like the ban on hunting houbara bustard, is not advisable. It is hoped that the SC would look at the issue from all foregoing aspects and facts brought to its notice by the government and relax the restriction. It may however advise the government to evolve a fool-proof mechanism to ensure that Falconry was practiced in a more balanced manner.

What’s needed is less emotionalism and politicisation of issues and a more dispassionate discourse. There’s a need for proper legislation and streamlining of the entire canon of wildlife rules and regulations, to curtail problems of smuggling, poaching and violation of law. Like Pakistan and the Middle East, the UK also has a long tradition of falconry and is home to well over 15,000 falconers. Due to the strict implementation of wildlife laws and state vigil, however, the falconer community there practices this millennia-old tradition in a balanced and nature-friendly way. Our state and its organs need to evolve such a mechanism as well.