|
|
|
|
 |
 |
  
|
environment
Wonderland of trout
environment Two major fresh water lakes and a protected forest and game reservoir in Sindh province are facing serious environmental threats and could negatively impact the eco-region of River Indus, which is among the world's top 200 eco-regions identified by WWF across the world. These include Pai forest (inland forest ecosystem), Keenjhar Lake (freshwater wetlands ecosystem) and Chotiari reservoir (desert-wetlands ecosystem). The ecosystem of River Sindh also includes Keti Bunder (coastal ecosystem). In 1997, WWF-International embarked upon a global
biodiversity conservation initiative guided by With the assistance of UNEP and the National Geographic Society, 238 ecoregions were prioritised globally (commonly referred as G-200) to reflect their ecological significance and biodiversity richness. The area of five ecoregions -- Western Himalyan Temperate Forests, Tibetan Plateau, Rann of Kutch, Indus Ecoregion and Arabian Sea -- fall within Pakistan's territories. Indus ecoregion is fully situated within Pakistan and the other four are trans-boundary. In addition, Indus ecoregion is one of the forty biologically most significant ecoregions in the world. Pai forest is situated in District Nawabshah, Sindh, the hometown of President Asif Ali Zardari. The forest was established before British era as a game reservoir where various species of animals were bred for the hunting of royal families and influential individuals. Presently, the forest is facing serious threat of extinction due to continuous intrusion of land-grabbers, water scarcity and woodcutting by the locals. The forest, once known for its rich flora and fauna with diverse wildlife, is spread over 1933 hectares. In the past, the Sindh government allotted over 250 acres of forest land to Pakistan Army and other government departments including Pakistan Agriculture Research Council while over 250 acres of land was encroached upon by local influential personalities. All of them are using the forest land for agricultural purposes by cutting all the trees. Pai forest is a riverine forest but presently water scarcity is one of the major issues contributing to the slow death of this beautiful forest. Environmentalists belonged to WWF-Pakistan say in the past the River Indus was the main source of water for this forest. They say after construction of flood protection bund on River Indus, the forest turned into an irrigated forest. The indifference of the Sindh government can be gauged from the fact that 30 cusecs of water per month were sanctioned for this forest to keep it alive but the approved water was never provided to this forest. In a recent visit, locals of the area revealed that only 25 percent forest was getting water. They said individual farmers also used to steal water from the canals and channels of the forest without any check or fear of being caught. Heavy plantation of eucalyptus trees by the Sindh forest department in Pai forest is also contributing towards the fast demise of this water-starved forest. Colonel Shahid an environmental expert claims eucalyptus trees are known for their high water consuming habits. They say the visionless Sindh Forest Department officials planted these trees only to show their performance because eucalyptus grows fast. WWF-Pakistan officials working for the preservation of Pai Forest say that some 21 villages are situated around the forest. In the past the traditional lifestyle of the villagers was based on livestock. With the passage of time this traditional lifestyle was replaced with growing of cash crops like cotton, wheat, sugarcane and etc. This replacement has apparently put enormous pressure on the forest as ordinary locals have also started grabbing land. The local villagers were also found involved in cutting of forest wood for fuel-wood, which has significantly contributed to the destruction of the forest and ecosystem. Some locals told this scribe that the numbers of hog deer, gray partridges, wild boars, jackals, jungle cats, Bengal foxes and mongooses are fast declining in the Pai forest due to poaching by influential people. They claimed that only a few hog deer are left in the entire forest. A large number of hog deer have been hunted by feudal lords and bureaucrats, while high profile foreign personalities, particularly from the Middle East, were also invited to hunt animals in this game reserve on several occasions in past. Gray partridges are being over-hunted, and local influential people break the sanctioned hunting limit often. Every year, new beats are made in the forest for hunting. This involves levelling the land in selected forest areas and planting new trees. Cotton is grown in these levelled areas, since pests which attack cotton tend to attract partridges, who feed on them, they said, adding there are now hardly any black partridges at all in the forest. It is pertinent to mention here that not a single staffer of Sindh Forest Department was present in the forest. Ruins of a forest department' staff colony clearly shows that the department has left the forest at the mercy of the local land-grabbers and individuals. It is also pertinent to mention here that out of the 14 installed tube wells only four are operative. Important wild life of the area includes hog deer, partridges, Asiatic jackals, jungle cat, porcupine, wild boar, snakes etc. According to a WWF-P official, hunting was permitted through licenses, but the limit was rarely adhered to and indiscriminate hunting was common. "This posed threat to the population of hog deer and partridges. Hence, for the last over two year no license has been issued for hunting." WWF-Pakistan introduced Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in the surrounding villages and presently around 14 CBOs are working in villages adjacent to the forest. The purpose is to create awareness on the importance of the forest ecosystem and provide alternate means of income and source of energy. CBOs are providing vocational training to females and running bio-gas plants in different villages around the forest. Ironically the district government of Nawabshah is paying no attention to the problem, which will ultimately affect the life and atmosphere of the district in near future. The vision of the district government regarding future planning and development of the district can be judged from the fact that the District Coordination Officer of Nawabshah simply said environment is a provincial subject and he cannot do anything in this regard. The DCO, however, admitted saying, "all the above mentioned issues exist and have put devastating impacts on the district and its population." Wonderland of trout People can compete with us in textile and carpet manufacturing but no country in the world boasts three mightiest ranges, Hindukush, Karakorum and Himalaya all at one point By Omar Mukhtar Khan One often hears about
Gilgit, Hunza and Khunjerab in the northern areas of Pakistan but the mention
of On the way to Gakuch, one passes the road going north into Ishkoman Valley with the signpost showing Tajikistan 210 kilometres away. It would be interesting to see how this distance was calculated as the road must pass through the Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan and Pamirs. Most probably this distance would be an estimated distance based on the foot trek leading to Tajikistan. The local people do tell of some sort of barter trade between the locals of two countries with Tajiks bringing their cattle and other animals and exchanging them for grains, sugar etc. It would be worthwhile to
note the geography of the District Ghizer before we move further. Roughly in
the north, Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan, Chitral and Pamirs bound it. In
the east lies the vast valley of Gilgit while in the west is the valley of
Chitral. The southern part of Ghizer borders Darel, Tangir valleys of
Kohistan District and the Swat District and is connected with these areas
only through difficult mountain passes. Considering the moderate nature of
the Ghizeris, one can just wish that these mountain passes become even more
impregnable. The first place for a real stopover is at Gupis, about two and a half hours drive from Gilgit. Although there is a good NAPWD rest house in Gupis besides some small hotels, the best place to check in is PTDC Gupis, around fifteen minutes drive from Gupis. It is always easy to criticise the government for one thing or the other but the PTDC motels in whole of the northern area have a wonderful infrastructure and a reasonably good service and one can always bargain the room rent. It was really a pain to see such aesthetically well-maintained and beautifully located motels without any tourists. PTDC Gupis is perched on a ridge over-looking the turquoise green water Khalti lake. The lake was created a few decades back due to some sort of avalanche blocking the way of the river. However, as expected, the river soon found its way through a narrow gorge at one end of the lake. One can go trout fishing in the lake against a permit available locally or can just enjoy boating in the lake. The lake freezes in the winter to the extent that according to locals, people cross the lake from one end to the other. The locals even try trout fishing at that time by making holes in the lake. About one and a half hours drive from Gupis is the serene hamlet of Phunder. The road rises considerably to reach the Phunder top. Again there are two options at the top, one is PTDC Phunder and the other is NAPWD rest house. Both places are excellent to stay and are perched on mountain ridges separated by the pristine Phunder lake. The NAPWD rest house has an astounding view towards its west with a wide plain lush green valley bisected in the middle by the blue waters of the serpentine Gilgit river. The lake is worth visiting and a stroll along its banks is really refreshing. The fishing in the lake is a bit difficult due to the weeds, which entangle the hooks and spinners. However, people who can overcome such intricacies of fishing are rewarded with big catches. The river beyond Phunder becomes wider and calm, at least on the surface. At times it divides into several small branches with small islands in between, only to join again later on. This is the area where even inexperienced fishermen can try their luck with a fair chance. It was heartening to note that even the locals were using locally made fishing rods for the game and there was apparently very no netting or other mass fishing activity. However people did tell about unscrupulous elements using methods like nets, small explosions or gas cylinders for fishing. From Phunder, Shandoor is around two hours drive on a jeep track although the track is so wide and well-maintained that cars and coasters easily ply on the road up till Shandoor top. On the way, one passes through the small village of Teru about half an hour from Phunder, which has one good NAPWD resthouse. After Teru comes the postcard picture Handarab village on the left down in the valley. Now the Handarab village is developed around the Handarab Nullah or stream that comes from Handarab lake around 12 kilometres in the south. It takes around four hours to trek to the 23 hectares lake but the intrepid adventurist is rewarded with a fair chance for reasonable sized trout fishing. The trek onwards leads into Swat valley but should only be done with an experienced guide. The river in this western most part of Gilgit valley is spread over a vast area with streams joining from all north as well as south. One place worth visiting for the sake of it is Pepsi Nullah or officially Chapahrkhud stream. About ten minutes drive on the jeep track along the stream is a small water spring with the water having a fizzy nature and it tastes like a carbonated drink. The locals consider this water extremely good for digestion and other intestinal issues and at times, this place appears to be a small picnic spot. The most interesting part was, however, standing there with an American qualified gastroenterologist and judging the right way in case of a digestive problem. Before the jeep rises again into a mountain pass to enter Shandoor, it passes through vast meadows of Langar with the river flowing as if in a vast delta. This is again a very good fishing spot and also a site for the construction of a camping site by PTDC, probably for fishing lovers. Shandoor, now widely known for its annual polo match, is probably a much more serene and picturesque place before and after the hustle and bustle of this annual commercial extravaganza. Nevertheless the event has brought a lot of good things to the local area like business, roads, cell phones etc. However, there is still no proper lodging place except for the Chitral Scouts Mess for the 'connected' lot. There are two lakes in the Shandoor vale; one is much bigger and prominent than the other besides being more awesome and scenic. The polo ground is nestled between the lakes and the scouts' mess, surrounded by tall snow-capped mountains on all sides. The Shandoor Lake like the Phunder Lake is crystal clear and one can see almost to the bottom of the lake. As earlier said that it gives pain to see such lovely resorts devoid of tourists, both local and foreigners, despite excellent facilities provided by Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation. However PTDC can concentrate more on marketing and advertisement of its facilities both locally and abroad. A small PTDC facility at Shandoor, keeping in view the environmental sensitivities, may be another good step on PTDC's part. People can compete with us in textile and carpet manufacturing but no country in the world boasts three mightiest ranges, Hindukush, Karakorum and Himalaya all at one point. Mountain tourism is the best cash crop we can ever produce. |
|
WWF's overall global strategy of 6 target-driven and thematic programmes
(freshwater, forests, species, toxics, marine and climate change). 
probably much more scenic Ghizer valley is often missing as few people tread
into this yet un-explored valley. It takes about one and a half hours drive
to the west of Gilgit to reach Gakuch in Punial, the administrative
headquarters of District Ghizer. The road from Gilgit follows the Gilgit
River and after winding through the orchards enters the Gilgit river valley.
The road is surprisingly smooth. Gakuch is a good place to get your fuel
tanks and rations checked before moving further towards Shandoor, even though
one can find items of daily use further on in the small bazaars of Gupis and
Phunder.
