PESHAWAR, March 6: The district council of Chitral in its session held on Wednesday unanimously approved Chitral Conservation Strategy (CCS) document, says a press release issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) here.

The session, chaired by council convener Saleem Khan, discussed the integrated development vision for Chitral district as reflected in the document and formally approved it.

CCS committee chairman Sardar Hussain briefed the house about salient features and characteristics of the document, and said under the Local Government Ordinance 2001 every district government had to develop a strategy and Chitral had taken the lead by developing a conservation strategy for itself.

He said the strategy had been developed through a process of public consultations and priorities had been identified in the light of inputs from the stakeholders and experts.

The document, he added, presented a comprehensive programme for judicious utilisation of natural resources and sustainable development of the district.

Mr Abdul Wali Khan, Mr Khursheed Ali and Mr Abdul Majeed Qureshi, taking part in the debate, discussed the issues pertaining to natural resources, integrated development and sustainable development in the context of Chitral district.

After the adoption of the strategy, Mr Saleem Khan reiterated that the district government would use all its resources for the implementation of the CCS.

He expressed gratitude to the IUCN and the Swiss agency for providing technical and financial assistance in formulation of the strategy. During the session, websites for Chitral district government and Chitral conservation Strategy were also launched.