Margalla hills facing plastic pollution

Islamabad’s Margalla hills including the national park's flora and fauna are exposed to serious threats of survival due to plastic pollution caused by carefree visitors, who throw waste with impunity.

The national park home is home to numerous species of flora and fauna. Regular trekkers come with a seriousness of purpose and take responsibility to avoid littering. However, the majority of those who visit occasionally take a day out of their busy routine, and leave behind trash that includes plastic bottles, wrappers, tins, juice boxes, shopping bags and other hazardous material.

The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) looks after the national park and time and again exhorts visitors and tourists to change their behaviour towards nature and preserve this pristine nature preserve.

An IWMB official said that the Margalla Hills National Park's flora and fauna were facing serious risks of survival due to frequent fires in peak season, and irresponsible visitors polluting the natural environment with their non-degradable injurious plastic waste.

He said the national park was spreading over 17,386 hectares area having six hiking tracks or trails out of which four were opened to the public. He added that above 17,000 regular hikers and birds watchers visit the trails every week.

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The IWMB official regretted that the regular trekkers had a docile and careful attitude toward nature. However, the seasonal visitors with just a recreational motive played havoc in nature and used to do littering in the national park which was damaging to the health of wild animals, he added.

He said the conservation of nature was a shared responsibility and the individual role in realising the worth of nature was imperative to achieve the goal of zero waste and plastic-free national park.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th, 2022.