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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has now four biosphere reserves with the designation of two new such reserves in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).
The newly-designated biosphere reserves include Garamchashma in Chitral and the Gallies Biosphere Reserve (also known as galiyat), both located in KP. The natural beauty and cultural diversity of the Chitral biosphere reserve makes it a popular and growing destination of ecotourism. The Gallies biosphere reserve is located in the moist-temperate Western Himalayan Ecoregion of KP.
The other two reserves are Lal Suhanra located in the Cholistan Desert and designated in 1978 and Ziarat Jupiner Forest designated in 2013, which is the largest contiguous natural Juniper forest in Pakistan. It is also the second oldest, trailing behind the one in California.
The two biosphere reserves of Pakistan are among the 10 new biospheres reserves in nine countries, and one trans-boundary biosphere reserve across two countries approved by Unesco’s Man and the Biosphere Programme. With these new designations, the world network now totals 748 sites in 134 countries, including 23 trans-boundary sites.
Biosphere reserves are ‘learning places for sustainable development’. They are sites for testing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing changes and interactions between social and ecological systems, including conflict prevention and management of biodiversity. They are places that provide local solutions to global challenges.
The Chitral area has spectacular landscapes with 543 glaciers and 31 mountain ranges reaching altitudes of 7,000 metres and more above sea level, including three peaks in Tirich Mir. The site sustains the populations of a wide range of near-threatened or vulnerable species, including the Kashmir Markhor and Siberian Ibex, two wild species of goat, the Ladakh Urial, a wild species of sheep, and the Snow Leopard.
The biosphere reserve is home to a population of 210,000, as well as to the unique Chitral culture developed over many millennia across more than a dozen distinct peoples and many languages, including endangered Indo-Aryan languages such as Kalasha and Kalashamum.
The Gallies biosphere reserve is located in KP in the moist-temperate Western Himalayan Ecoregion, which is globally recognised as being of international significance for biodiversity conservation owing to an abundance of endangered or threatened species such as Common Leopard.
The site comprises highly diversified ecosystems, including sub-alpine meadows and conifer forests, moist temperate forests and subtropical pine forests. The biosphere reserve is home to a population of 70,000. Thanks to the region’s rich cultural heritage and unique natural environment, tourism plays a vital socio-economic role.
Local authorities have developed a variety of infrastructure for tourists, including walking treks, chairlifts, horse-riding and camping facilities, as well as tourist information centers which cater to approximately 2.5 million visitors per year.
Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2023
