IWMB starts awareness drive on ecology

Sessions will help counter, prevent man-made forest fire incidents

ISLAMABAD: With incidents of forest fires and human-wildlife encounters rising, the government has decided to conduct awareness sessions for people living in the vicinity of the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP) to play a proactive role in preserving the ecology of the area.

In this regard, the education centre of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) has launched awareness sessions to inform students, especially those from public schools, about the importance of wildlife and flora in the national park.

This was stated by the IWMB Assistant Director Sakhawat Ali while talking to reporters on Thursday.

He said the board was using its limited available resources to inform citizens about the MHNP. In this regard, over 160 students from 40 schools in the vicinity of the national park had been given sessions.

The awareness sessions included different recreational and interactive activities which converted the education session into a workshop.

It also helped the students develop their basic knowledge about wildlife and flora in their surroundings, he added.

“It is necessary to inform locals about the hazards and threats caused by fires erupting through human interventions in the national park as it will help overcome such incidents through awareness,” he said. Ali, however, lamented that news reports create hype about the appearance of leopards on the trails which was not a risk rather a revival of the healthy environment for an endangered species.

“The IWMB conducts tree identification, birds view, animal footprint identification (pug marking) and other creative activities for children.

Students are taught to capture animal footprints through a plaster which develops into decoration piece or artefacts,” he explained.

He further said that previously, the board conducted a drawing competition for public school students in the vicinity of MHNP where four students participated from each of the 40 schools.

IWMB’s next campaign, he said, is to create awareness amongst school students to prevent forest fires in the Talhar and Gokina areas.

Various discussions will be held to acquaint students about the hazards and impacts of forest fires on the wildlife and environment, he informed.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2020.