LAHORE: The board of governors of the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan) has appointed Hammad Naqi Khan as the new director-general of Pakistan’s largest conservation organization.

He will take over the charge from former director-general Ali Hassan Habib from Monday (today), says a release issued here on Sunday.

Hammad Khan has a dynamic portfolio of professional achievements in environment, conservation, development and water management sectors which are spreading over 22 years.

He has been an active part of the WWF for 17 years. Formerly, he had served as the director of programmes at the WWF-Pakistan, managing freshwater, sustainable agriculture, environmental assessment and climate change programmes of the organization.

Under his leadership since 2010, the WWF-Pakistan has been able to support cotton farmers in both Punjab and Sindh grow Better Cotton, an international standard crop which is both environmentally-friendly and sustainable.

Despite floods in the country the same year, this pioneering achievement for Pakistan was an international benchmark for other cotton growing countries like India, China and the African continent where the Better Cotton Initiative is operational.

Mr Khan has represented the WWF-Pakistan and Pakistan at various international forums, conventions and scientific and policy meetings.

He has been a core member of the WWF International’s Market Transformation Initiative, Freshwater and Toxics Teams, and recently completed an intensive three-year term with WWF international’s Market Transformation Initiative as the Global Cotton Leader.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2014