KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly was informed during Question Hour on Monday that ostrich was not defined as a protected bird under the provincial wildlife laws and its farming was allowed under relevant laws.

Furnishing a statement on the floor, Forest and Wildlife Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that a special permission for ostrich farming was required to be obtained from the provincial authorities as for poultry farming.

He said that a private farm had been established in Thatta for ostrich farming.

In reply to a question, he said that the Rs150.97 million project of rehabilitation and improvement of wildlife sanctuaries at the Haleji Lake, Langh Lake, Thatta and Qambar could not be completed owing to paucity of funds, and added that it would be completed in June.

He said that different jobs at the Haleji Lake, including liner plantation along the inspection path, development of floating mounts, development of a pelican island, restoration of historical information centres, development of the fun area for children, restoration and repair of lavatories, restoration of the crocodile enclosure, installation of a wireless system, and construction of floating rooms, had been carried out.

In reply to another question asked by opposition member Nusrat Sehar Abbasi, the minister said that a Rs50m project for habitat restoration and development of water harvesting facilities at the KNP, Karachi, and Jamshoro was expected to be completed by June 2019.

However, he added, the project’s date of completion had been extended by two years because of paucity of funds.

Answering a question by opposition member Arif Mustafa Jatoi, the minister said the Pai Forest in Shaheed Benazirabad had been declared a game reserve.

He said that hunting was not allowed in the Pai Forest, but the government was empowered to relax the rules and issue permits for hunting in special cases.

In reply to another question, Mr Shah furnished details of the year-wise allocation and utilisation of the budget for plantation and rehabilitation of forests during the past five years.

The minister said Rs612m was allocated in 2017-18.

Giving answer to a question, he said that the local fishermen were catching Indus blind dolphin as previously the Sindh fisheries department was issuing fishing permits for the catch.

He said that the population of the endangered species had remarkably increased since 2014 when the issuance of fishing licences by the SFD was finally stopped with efforts of the Sindh wildlife department.

The minister also told the house on a question by opposition member Arsalan Taj Hussain that 12 different species were declared endangered in the province. They were: Sindh ibex, Afghan urial, Indian wolf, honey badger, mugger, or marsh crocodile, gharial, or gavial, smooth-coated Indian otter, Indus blind dolphin, greater flamingo, freshwater turtles, hog deer (axis porcinus) and chinkara deer.

He said that several steps had been taken to conserve the endangered species. The steps, he said, included the establishment of a series of protected areas such as National Park, 34 wildlife sanctuaries and 13 game reserves for protection, conservation and management of endangered wildlife species.

Besides, the minister said, the Sindh Turtles and Tortoise Protection, Conservation and Compensation Rules 2014 had been enacted to ensure the conservation and protection of turtles in the province.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2019