Biodiversity action plan : AJK govt, power company to manage Mahaseer park
Agreement is first of its kind in the country.
A view of the beautiful Poonch River in Kashmir. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and a private power company has joined hands to jointly manage the Mahaseer National Park.
Mira Power Co Ltd a subsidiary of Korea South-East Power (KOSEP) Company developing the 102-MW Gulpur Hydro Power Project signed a landmark agreement with the AJK government for implementation of a biodiversity action plan (BAP) for Mahaseer National Park.
Under the agreement, the company will provide supplemental funds for protection of the park and for construction of a hatchery for the Mahaseer fish in Murli Nullah near Kotli.
The AJK Forests and Wildlife Department will carry out protection of the park that covers an area of over 100 kilometres along the Poonch River with the support from an independent organisation funded by the KOSEP.
The Korean company will also engage a firm for monitoring and evaluation of the initiative, and to measure the extent to which BAP objectives are achieved.
On behalf of the government of AJK, secretary forests, Farhat Mir, and Mira Power Chief Executive Officer Yoon Tae Hak signed the agreement here on Monday.
This agreement is the first of its kind in Pakistan where the government and the private sector are formally collaborating on a long-term basis to manage a national park. The park was established by the AJK Government for the protection of the Golden Mahaseer, which is a prized angling fish listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The Poonch River is also rich in biodiversity and is home to a number of other fresh water fish species that need conservation.
“Besides mahaseer, wide-crusted kalij, peacocks, red jungle fowl, rhesus monkey, langur and mongoose are some of those animals and birds species, which are considered, endangered in the area,” the AJK Fisheries and Wildlife Department Director, Chaudhry Abdul Razzak, told The Express Tribune.
The project meets the stringent requirements of international organisations and environmental experts and is supported by a consortium of financiers including the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Both the IFC and the ADB have facilitated the preparation of the BAP to ensure that the project achieves a “net gain in biodiversity” and “betterment of the national park” through implementation of a series of conservation and protection measures that will offset any possible impact the project may have.
The project follows best international practices and complies with the AJK wildlife and environmental legislation, for which approvals have already been issued by the concerned government agencies.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2016.
The government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and a private power company has joined hands to jointly manage the Mahaseer National Park.
Mira Power Co Ltd a subsidiary of Korea South-East Power (KOSEP) Company developing the 102-MW Gulpur Hydro Power Project signed a landmark agreement with the AJK government for implementation of a biodiversity action plan (BAP) for Mahaseer National Park.
Under the agreement, the company will provide supplemental funds for protection of the park and for construction of a hatchery for the Mahaseer fish in Murli Nullah near Kotli.
The AJK Forests and Wildlife Department will carry out protection of the park that covers an area of over 100 kilometres along the Poonch River with the support from an independent organisation funded by the KOSEP.
The Korean company will also engage a firm for monitoring and evaluation of the initiative, and to measure the extent to which BAP objectives are achieved.
On behalf of the government of AJK, secretary forests, Farhat Mir, and Mira Power Chief Executive Officer Yoon Tae Hak signed the agreement here on Monday.
This agreement is the first of its kind in Pakistan where the government and the private sector are formally collaborating on a long-term basis to manage a national park. The park was established by the AJK Government for the protection of the Golden Mahaseer, which is a prized angling fish listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The Poonch River is also rich in biodiversity and is home to a number of other fresh water fish species that need conservation.
“Besides mahaseer, wide-crusted kalij, peacocks, red jungle fowl, rhesus monkey, langur and mongoose are some of those animals and birds species, which are considered, endangered in the area,” the AJK Fisheries and Wildlife Department Director, Chaudhry Abdul Razzak, told The Express Tribune.
The project meets the stringent requirements of international organisations and environmental experts and is supported by a consortium of financiers including the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Both the IFC and the ADB have facilitated the preparation of the BAP to ensure that the project achieves a “net gain in biodiversity” and “betterment of the national park” through implementation of a series of conservation and protection measures that will offset any possible impact the project may have.
The project follows best international practices and complies with the AJK wildlife and environmental legislation, for which approvals have already been issued by the concerned government agencies.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2016.