MUZAFFARABAD, Nov 23: The long awaited Machiara National Park (MNP) project in Azad Jammu and Kashmir will be launched next month following the removal of some bottlenecks.

AJK Wildlife and Fisheries Department Director Mohammed Yousaf Qureshi on Saturday told Dawn that the community based project, aimed at conserving the biodiversity as well as ameliorating the living standard of the people of the area, was delayed for more than a year.

The Machiara National Park in AJK, Hangol National Park in Balochistan and Chitral Gole National Park in the NWFP were being funded by the Washington based Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the World Bank under its “Protected Areas Management Project” at a cost of more than $10 million, the official said.

He said that all the three projects were scheduled to commence in July 2001, but were delayed due to the World Bank’s disagreement with Pakistan over the government’s decision to construct a water reservoir within the area of the Hangol Park.

However, Mr Qureshi said that as the government of Pakistan had abandoned its plan to construct the dam, the WB agreed to resume the funding.

The launching ceremony of the three projects, he said, would be held in Islamabad on three consecutive days from Dec 10 and the WB personnel would provide technical guidance to the participants from NWFP, Balochistan and Azad Kashmir on how to carry out financing and procurement processes.

The official said that the share of the Machiara Park from the GEF grant was around $3.42 million. On its part, the AJK government would contribute an additional Rs15.95 million, he added.

Mr Qureshi, who is likely to be appointed as the project director of the park, said that the AJK government had already hired the consultancy services of the Pakistan chapter of a global NGO for the establishment and development of the park, to be spread over an area of 33,000 acres in northwest and north of Muzaffarabad.

He said that one of the main objectives of the project, to be executed in five years, was to reduce pressure on the forests of the area which was the habitat of some of the endangered species such as snow leopard, musk deer and western horned tragopan.