A 20-member youth group left for Cholistan to attend the First Moot on Desert Conservation (DESERTCON 2015) that is being organised by the Development Communications Network (Devcom-Pakistan) in collaboration with Islamia University Bahawalpur and WWF-Pakistan. The moot is being technically supported by the Cholistan Development Authority, Bahawalpur Museum, Forests and Wildlife departments, Pakistan Council for Research on Water Resources (PCRWR), and Sustainable Tourism Foundation Pakistan.
The inaugural ceremony of the moot, chaired by the Vice Chancellor, would be arranged at the old campus of the Islamia University Bahawalpur on Monday. The main speakers included Head of the Cholistan Institute of Desert Studies (CIDS) Dr Shazia Anjum, Divisional Forest Officer Dr Fazal Shah, Director Wildlife Irfan Farooqi, Director Bahawalpur Museum Hussain Ahmad Madni, Director Cholistan Development Authority Rana Shahid Nadeed.
Director Decom-Pakistan and founder of the DesertCon Munir Ahmed, while talking to media, said that the moot would engage 60 students from different universities, along with youth from the Cholistan desert community. He said that it was a thrilling initiative to engaging the urban and rural youth, civil society, technical experts, government departments, academia and media through one platform to initiate inclusive desert conservation strategies based on collective vision and wisdom.
The Desert Con moot, he said, would create a replicable model of a joint initiative that can help engage different stakeholders and development partners in public policy and outreach. The main aim is to sensitize the public and push policymakers and parliamentarians to seriously oversee their engagement on hardcore challenges confronting Pakistani deserts. There shall be an annual public advocacy and outreach moot on desert conservation where the youth, civil society, and media reps, shall be engaged in orientating themselves to the on-ground challenges.
WWF Director General Hammad Naqi Khan appreciated the initiative and believed that the moot would be the first of many strong initiatives to engage youth from the urban and rural communities to push forward development strategies for the desert.
Beenish Khan, a student of PEF University Peshawar, said the moot would certainly help create awareness about the challenges confronting the Pakistan deserts, their unique environment, natural and cultural heritage, and the lifestyle of their inhabitants.
Iman Habib said the moot is in fact very inspiring, and would be an opportunity to interact with the Cholistan communities and people would be able to find out their stories, including the challenges confronting their lives and livelihood.
Aftab Rana said that in the absence of agriculture in Cholistan, the communities shall be trained for eco-friendly and cultural tourism related activities, which are supported by the relevant government departments and the private sector. The Desert Con would initiate a large-scale intervention to promote tourism and culture.
