TAXILA: Adviser to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said the forest area near Fatehjang in Attock will be developed into a protected national park.

Talking to the press in Attock, he said: “Located in Kala Chitta Mountain range, the forest area known as Kheri Murat sprawls over 8,740 acres. The park will provide recreational activities including hiking and interaction with nature through ecotourism while providing employment to locals. After establishment of the park, hunting, shooting and poaching of wild species in it will be declared illegal and considered as a punishable act with heavy penalties. This will be enforced within a three-mile radius of its boundaries. The park’s boundaries in the north will touch nine villages, eight in the south, Kheri Murat village and Rawalpindi in the east and in the west it will border the hills close to Gali Jageer village.”

He said a new department, National Parks Service for Pakistan, will be established and all six national parks will act as a launching pad for this service which will employ youth in nature protection.

“These parks will be established under the Green Stimulus Programme launched by the government for protected areas across Pakistan aimed at nature conservation and provision of green jobs. These parks will be established in the Kheri Murat area of Attock, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir. The parks are being developed under the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami (10BTT) programme to conserve dwindling ecological, wildlife and biodiversity habitats.

The project will surely increase production of plants, nurseries, revival of forests, honey generation, fruits and olive production besides ensuring employment initially through the green guard scheme,” he said.

According to Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2015, the size of protected areas should be at least 12pc of the total area of any state. With the declaration of new national parks, the size of protected areas in the country will increase, he added.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2020