HARIPUR: The forest division, Haripur, has decided to declare the Tarbela Lake as a game reserve or protected area in order to protect the migratory birds from illegal hunting.

According to official sources, several species of migratory birds have become endangered owing to frequent hunting and as such the department has decided to declare 4,692 hectares of Tarbela Lake between Afghan refugee camps of Panian to Kag village as protected area where shooting birds would not be allowed without licence.

“This is a significant step to protect hundreds of migratory waterfowls from being hunted through regularisation of the area,” said divisional officer, wildlife, Shakeel Ahmed.

Talking to this correspondent, he said the recommendations had been sent to the chief conservator, wildlife, for formal issuance of notification, which was expected in next few days.

Haripur forest official says notification likely in next few days to protect migratory birds

Mr Ahmed said that owing to rich biodiversity of the reserved forests of Khanpur and Makhniyal, the secretary, KP forests, had declared the two forest ranges as the ‘site for special scientific interest’. He said survey of this area to assess and monitor the presence of barking deer and other mammals and birds was in progress by engaging the department of forestry and wildlife, University of Haripur.

“These two ranges would be protected areas where no shooting would be allowed,” he said.

Answering a question, he said the Haripur wildlife division was created a few months ago and its staff was busy devising the strategy to compile record of the wildlife using modern methods.

According to official record, Haripur district has five game reserves namely Mang, Rakh Sardaran, Pind Hasham Khan, Bagra and Kalinjar, which have different species of mammals and resident and migratory birds.

Different species of guest waterfowls, including Russian dove, pochard, pintail, mallard, shoveller duck, falcon, etc, travel to Tarbela Dam from Russia and Central Asian states every year using the route of Indus River and stay in Haripur during April and May. They then return to their native areas via same route after undergoing reproduction process in northern areas.

However, merciless hunting by hunters has considerably reduced the population of these guest birds, forcing the department to ban shooting without permit.

According to Mr Ahmed, the department has collected revenue of Rs3 million during 2021-22, by imposing fine on illegal hunters and issuance of hunting licences. He said that illegal hunting and possession of birds would not be allowed.

Published in Dawn,June 13th, 2022