K-P wildlife department has done a commendable job by initiating the Trophy Hunting Programme in Chitral and Kohistan
PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife Department has done a commendable job by initiating the Trophy Hunting Programme in the Chitral and Kohistan districts. This programme has been in place since 2004, in which only a few hunting permits for the markhor and ibex are issued annually through an international auction. The hunting permit fee for a single markhor goes as high as $10,000. The money earned is distributed between local communities and the government in the ratio of 80:20. The local communities’ share is deposited in the bank account of the Village Conservation Fund (VCF), maintained by a Village Conservation Committee (VCC). The VCC is empowered to carry out developmental work in the localities through consensus. Bridal paths for the locals, water supply schemes, electricity generation schemes at canals, and schools have been established with the VCF. The government’s share is spent on the salaries of the local community’s wildlife watchers and for paying honorarium to them for protecting the precious wildlife species.
The programme is also proving to be beneficial for the conservation of precious wildlife species. The local communities take extreme care of the animals and do not permit anyone to hunt illegally because they provide economic benefits to the community. It is due to this that the population of the near extinct markhor has significantly increased. The government should extend this programme to other areas of the country and include other wildlife species, such as the houbara bustard so as to protect and conserve the precious species by avoiding its ruthless hunting.
M Sayyad Alam Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, March 9th, 2016.
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