- IUCN official suggests revision of climate change, forests and wetland policies to formulate policy for wildlife
ISLAMABAD: A meeting with all stakeholders for the consultation on the National Wildlife Policy, chaired by Forest Inspector General Syed Mehmood Nasir, held here at the Ministry of Climate Change.
The inspector general of forests told the participants that the Ministry of Climate Change sent letters to all provinces as a reminder to submit their comments and all the provinces submitted their comments except Sindh.
He said that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN-Pakistan) agreed to hold a consultative workshop on the National Wildlife Policy. IUCN country representative Mehmood Akhtar Cheema told the participants that concept note has been prepared for this consultative workshop.
He also highlighted that all other policies including forests policy, climate change policy and wetland policies must be reviewed first to formulate the wildlife policy. The inspector general asked the IUCN to invite all the stakeholders in the workshop, including representatives from fisheries, tourism and custom departments.
During the meeting, it was also suggested that the Ministry of Defence can be asked to nominate their representatives to attend this meeting to consult on the wildlife issues which fall in areas under the jurisdiction of the forces. Dr Ali Nawaz from the Snow Leopard Trust highlighted that human-wildlife conflict should be considered in this policy.
He said that this was an issue of all the provinces that would be increased with the passage of time. So this issue should be given due importance, he said and also pointed out lack of job opportunities for the students who were opting professional wildlife studies. He stressed upon developing linkages among academia, research and the students on the wildlife.
It was decided to distribute zero draft among all the stakeholders in which they will incorporate their comments in writing for the next meeting. Representatives from the Punjab Wildlife Department, wildlife and forests departments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, WWF-Pakistan, IUCN, Azad Jammu Kashmir Wildlife Department and officers of the Ministry of Climate Change also attended the meeting.
