ISLAMABAD: The government has finalised its conservation efforts to make wildlife-related laws stricter, harsher and more punitive to help regulate wildlife trade and illegal trafficking.

This was stated by Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Climate Change Syed Rizwan Mahboob at a national consultative workshop on “Draft amendment rules to the Pakistan Wildlife Trade Control Act of Fauna and Flora 2012.”

He said the government was fully convinced that regulating wildlife trade and halting the trade of endangered species was indispensable for halting the widening imbalances in the country’s biological diversity and preserving nature.

Mr Mahboob said after a consultative process with all government and non-government stakeholders, the amendments to the Act were incorporated. The draft amended Act would soon be sent to the law ministry for approval.

Official says regulating wildlife, endangered species trade will correct imbalanced biological diversity

He stressed a multi-agency coordination to curb wildlife-related crimes and suggested that all relevant agencies should be taken on board for leading the efforts against transnational organised crimes.

The official lauded the International Union for Conservation of Nature-Pakistan (IUCN -Pakistan) for joining government’s efforts to initiate the consultation process for the upgradation of the Act.

“Taking a big number of stakeholders for obtaining suggestions for amendments to the Act and incorporating them into the law would have not been that easy without the technical support of the IUCN,” he said.

Climate Change Ministry’s Inspector General Forest, Syed Mahmood Nasir, said the successful implementation of the amended wildlife protection law would hinge on cooperation and collaboration of the provincial wildlife and customs departments besides other relevant law enforcing agencies and stakeholders.

IUCN country head Mahmood Akhtar Cheema said his organisation was in touch with the climate change ministry to improve the Act so that it met the needs and challenges of the present day.

Climate Change Ministry’s deputy director, Mohammad Saleem, said since 1976 Pakistan had been a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

“Having signed and ratified the CITIES pact, along with 181 other countries, Pakistan agreed to join global efforts for protection and conservation of the wildlife and ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. The Wildlife Trade Control Act 2012 was framed in reaction to the country’s ratification of the CITIES law,” he said.

He said after successfully sailing through the federal law ministry, the amended law could prove to be an effective tool to control interprovincial and cross-border trade of the wildlife species, particularly those listed as endangered species.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2016