ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul on Thursday said mountain conservation is vital to economic development and youth shall be sensitised to take care of the Pakistan Mountains that are second to none.

She made these remarks while speaking as the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the 9th Pakistan Mountain Festival held near Shakarparian.

She said mountaineering and tourism could bring much awaited prosperity and economic development to the northern parts of the country.

The hardworking natives of the mountains are the custodians of the indigenous knowledge, folklore and culture.

Mountaineering, tourism can bring much awaited prosperity and economic development to the northern parts of the country

Ms Gul said: “We have unmatchable mountains for high altitude trekking and scenic attractions, landscapes and lakes to enthuse the foreign tourists. The government has relaxed the visa policy for the foreign tourists to enhance the tourism influx.”

The minister said provision of alternative energy to the mountain communities would decrease pressure on the mountain forests. They should also be sensitised to protect their resources from the exploiters of the natural resources.

“Poverty is another reason for the mountain communities to lagging behind. We need to have integrated and comprehensive plans to combating the climate challenge, poverty and disaster risk reduction,” she said.

Pakistan Youth Hostels Association (PYHA) National Secretary Ambassador Qazi Humayun said that the PYHA had 13 hostels mostly in the mountains that could be used for engaging local youth and students from other parts of the country in to different mountain conservation initiatives.

He said the mountain environment was rapidly changing and the mountains were losing their beauty and charms day by day. “We need to act briskly to save the natural eco-habitats,” the ambassador added.

Speaking on the occasion, the founder of Pakistan Mountain Festival Munir Ahmed said the festival was focusing on engaging youth and mountain communities up and downstream to create a synergy for raising voice for mountain conservation and development.

“Mountains are on the frontline of climate impact and need more active plans of investment to protect nature and natural resources besides investing in the natives’ livelihood and for the protection of their lives and infrastructure,” he said.

Mountain film festival

Only mountain film festival in Pakistan and one of the three in entire Asia, Pakistan International Mountain Film Festival is all set to be held on Dec 28 and 29 at the Foundation of Arts, Culture, and Education (FACE) in Islamabad.

The annual film festival event takes place in December every year since 2015. The 5th edition of the festival will showcase 22 of the top short and feature length documentary films of the year from 15 countries around the world. The theme for the current event is ‘Responsible Tourism’.

According to a statement, the festival is known for screening films particularly pertaining to mountaineering, climbing, paragliding, and other adventure, nature, and ethnographic subjects. The festival awards film in three categories including Best Picture (Jury Award), Best Picture (Audience Award), and Best Picture (Environment and Culture Category). The film selection this year includes the biopic of Sir Edmund Hillary titled “Hillary: Ocean to Sky,” award-winning Pakistani folk music documentary “Indus Blues,” and “The Last Mountain,” which chronicles the first successful winter-expedition to the K2 including the rescue of mountaineers stranded at the Nanga Parbat.

Wajahat Malik, the Chairman of Pakistan International Mountain Film Festival and the Managing Director of organizers Eyebex Films, expressed his hope that the festival would play its part in inspiring a culture of both documentary filmmaking and adventure activities in the country as well as projecting the positive image of Pakistan.

The festival will screen back-to-back films from morning into the night for two days on the last weekend of 2019.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2019