CHITRAL, March 18:  The centuries-old conservation system practiced in Chitral for the sustainable use of pastures is no more in vogue causing imbalance in the eco-system.Talking to Dawn here, a number of conservation activists said that there were well defined and strict rules and customs regarding the utilisation of pastures and all the flora and fauna present in every village but now it is story of the past.

Dr Inayatullah Faizi, a former project manager of IUCN, said that the people in every village used to manage their local resources in a sustainable manner giving equal opportunities to all. He said the villagers used to impose ban on grazing on certain pastures for an extended period of three to five years which provided it with an ample time for recuperation.

Mr Faizi said that the hunting of birds and animals in the banned pastures and the forests surrounding it was also prohibited during the period. He said that no person dared violate the sanction and poaching was never heard of in any village as there were strong social sanctions against the violators in the form of social boycott, censure and fine.

The cutting of trees and shrubs was also banned in the banned pastures and one was allowed to harvest dried trees from the forest and pastures declared free, he maintained.

Hazrat Baig, a senior citizen of Torkhow valley, recalled that the villagers fined the violators by slaughtering his cow, bull or sheep and goat and distributed its meat among the villagers.

He said the poaching of markhor and ibex was also discouraged by the community and the hunters were allowed only a certain number of hunting in a season.

“Once a hunter was banished from the village when he was found shooting a markhor during the breeding season, he said.

Recalling the days of 1940s, he said the hunting of partridge and other birds in the pastures was also regulated by the community.

Sardar Hussain, chairman of Biyar Conservancy, said over the last two decades, the old system of conservation had become obsolete inflicting loss on the eco-system beyond redemption. He attributed a number of reasons to the debacle of local conservation system which included the population growth, migration of influential people from the villages to the cities, evaporating cohesive force between different segments of the society and disunity among the people.