Islamic Republic of Pakistan

4th APAP Technical WorkshopManaging Protected Areas Effectively:

Using the IUCN Green List, Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE),

and other International Tools and Standards

19-21 June 2018, Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea

By:1. Muhammad Samar Hussain Khan

Deputy Conservator (Wildlife) Ministry of Climate ChangeIslamabad, Pakistan

2. Muhammad NiazDeputy Conservator Wildlife, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa WildlifeDepartment, Peshawar,

Pakistan

Biodiversity of PakistanBiodiversity of Pakistan is blend of Palearctic, Indo-

Malayan and Ethiopian forms. Species belonging to Palearctic realm occur in the

Himalayan and Balochistan uplands Species of Indo-Malayan realm occur in the Indus

plains and the Himalayan foothills Species with affinities to Ethiopian realm occur in

the dry southwest, along the Makran Coast and inthe Thar Desert

Biodiversity of PakistanS. # Taxa Total Species Reported in Pakistan1. Mammals 1952. Birds 6683. Reptiles 1924. Amphibians 225. Fish (freshwater) 1986. Fish (marine) 7887. Echinoderms 258. Mollusks (Marine) 7699. Crustaceans (Marine) 28710. Annelids (Marine) 10111. Insects >500012. Angiosperms 570013. Gymnosperms 2114. Pteridophytes 18915. Algae 77516. Fungi >4500

Protected Areas Network in PakistanA system of protected areas has been established in

Pakistan, which include following categories (Above 12%of the land area):

National Parks: 28 Wildlife Sanctuaries: 91 Game Reserves: 116 Community Conservation Areas: 117 Recently Pakistan has designated Astola Island Marine

Protected Area, Balochistan (401.47 Sq. Km) in ArabianSea

Notification is under process for Indus River CanyonMarine Protected Area (27,607 Sq. Km)

Pakistan has also designated 19 Ramsar Sites, with totalsurface area of 13,43,627 ha

Pakistan has two areas declared as Biosphere Reserveunder UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme;Ziarat Juniper Forest (Balochistan Province) and 1977,Lal Suhanra National Park (Punjab Province).

Status of Protected Areas in PakistanUnder wildlife legislations, hunting, shooting and habitat

destruction is strictly prohibited in National Parks andWildlife Sanctuaries. Whereas hunting and shooting ofwild animals under special permits is allowed in GameReserves as well as Community Conservation Areas/Private Game Reserves.

IUCN Category II applies to the most of National Parksin Pakistan (Ecosystem protection and recreation)

IUCN Category IV applies to the most of WildlifeSanctuaries in Pakistan (Habitat/species managementarea)

IUCN Category VI applies to the most of Game Reservesand Community Conservation Areas/ Private GameReserves in Pakistan (Sustainable use of resources)

Protected Areas Management in Pakistan Wildlife conservation and management in Pakistan

is a provincial subject The provincial/territorial governments have set up

their wildlife departments, which conserve, protectand manage wildlife under their respective wildlifelegislations

Protected areas are mainly designated and managedunder provincial/territorial wildlife laws

However, policy formulation on wildlife, liaison withinternational agencies, conventions andcoordination with provincial/territorial forest andwildlife authorities is carried out at Federal level byMinistry of Climate Change.

Protected Areas Management in PakistanProtected areas management in Pakistan is mainly

focused on enforcement of wildlife legislation withlittle effort on habitat management , monitoring andassessment of biodiversity.

Protected areas management activities generallyinclude:

Controlling hunting and poaching Controlling grazing and collection of Non Timber

Forest Products Mitigation of Human Wildlife Conflict Managing tourism Controlling encroachment Surveys and monitoring of species Awareness raising activities

Protected Area Management Effectiveness (PAME) evaluation methodologies/tools in

Pakistan There is no specific mechanism for PAME evaluation

in Pakistan, however IUCN Framework for Assessingthe Management of Protected Areas is considered asstandard for it

Monitoring and evaluation is carried out in sitespecific management planning and projectsimplemented in protected areas. It generally involvesmain components of Management Effectiveness(Design, Appropriateness of management systemsand Delivery of objectives) which are used in settingindicators.

In some cases of community based conservationareas, assessment and monitoring is carried out forselected species

Benefits of PAME Methodologies/Tools and challenges in their implementation

PAME methodologies/tools are very useful to evaluate management of protected areas for improvement of policy and conservation actions.

However following are some challenges encountered in their use in protected areas of Pakistan:

Lack of management plans (More than half of PAs lack management plans/implementation).

Weak institutional capacity Financial constraints Lack of uniform management regime/land tenure Lack of inter-agency cooperation/coordination Remoteness of areas and lack of infrastructure Conflicts between park staff and local communities

Collaborative Management of Protected Areas in Pakistan

Protected Areas Management Project (PAMP): AGEF/World Bank funded project, PAMP wasimplemented during 2002-2007. Management regimeswere improved in three national parks (Hingol NationalPark, Chitral Goal National Park, and Machiara NationalPark) with active community participation byestablishing Park Associations. The main activitiesunder the project included; management planning,buffer zone development and habitat improvement andmanagement.

Fund for Protected Areas (FPA): To ensure financialsustainability a “Fund for Protected Areas (FPA) “ wasestablished. The FPA has been registered and licensedas a non-profit private company, which is run by anindependent Board of Directors. The funds generatedby FPA are utilized in the three national parks and theircommunities on the recommendations of ParkAssociations.

Community Participation in Conservation Pakistan is pioneer in involving local communities in

conservation. In early 1990s a pilot GEF funded projecttested the concept of conservation at valley level byinvolving local communities in sustainable trophyhunting. With its success, Pakistan was able to getCITES annual trophy hunting quota for Markhor (CITESAppendix-I).

After successful implementation of pilot project, a fullGEF/UNDP funded project; “Mountain AreasConservancy Project” (MACP) was implemented during1999-2006, to build capacity of the local communities andgovernment agencies to manage natural resources. As aresult of the project, an initial system of four MountainAreas Conservancies was established in northernPakistan.

For financial sustainability a “Mountain AreasConservancy Fund (MACF)” was also established.

Community-based Trophy Hunting Programme

Community-based Trophy Hunting of ungulates;Markhor (Capra falconeri), Urial (Ovis aries) Blue Sheep(Pseudois nayaur), Himalayan Ibex (Capra sibirica),Sindh Goat (Capra hircus aegagrus) is beingsuccessfully implemented in Pakistan and is worldrecognized

Trophy hunting is carried out in CommunityConservation Areas which are designated by provincialwildlife authorities and managed by Community-basedOrganizations

The local communities get 80% shares of the revenuegenerated, which is used for community-basedconservation activities and socio-economic uplift.

CITES Conference of Parties (CoP10, Harare, Zimbabwe,1997) allocated an annual quota of six hunting trophiesof Markhor (CITES Appendix-I) for Pakistan. In view ofsuccess of the Programme, trophy hunting quota ofMarkhor was doubled at CITES CoP 12 (Santiago, Chile2002).

Community-based Trophy Hunting Programme(in Community Conservation Areas)

Use of trophy hunting income

Use of trophy hunting income

Use of trophy hunting income

Increase in ungulate populations Reduction in illegal hunting and poaching Habitat improvement activities Socio-economic uplift of local communities Sense of ownership in local communities Involvement of local communities in in watch and ward

and surveys Livelihood opportunities Awareness raising about importance of species Awareness raising /positive attitude for wildlife

(Reduction in retaliatory killing of wildlife in cases oflivestock depredation or crop damage)

Outcomes of Community-based Trophy Hunting Programme

An ongoing umbrella project, Green PakistanProgramme has strong component of protected areasmanagement activities (including management planningand implementation). It also include a review ofprotected areas system of Pakistan as per IUCN criteria

IUCN-Pakistan may hold a stakeholder workshop toelaborate on IUCN Green Standard for adoption inselected protected areas initially

WWF-Pakistan in collaboration with provincial wildlifedepartments has been piloting Spatial Monitoring andReporting Tool (SMART) in selected protected areas ofPakistan. It may be implemented in other protectedareas in future.

Way Forward

Management Effectiveness Evaluation:

Case Study of Chitral Gol

National Park, Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Chitral Gol – 1800 to 1971 Wildlife Sanctuary 1979 – 1984 National Park 1984 (Area 7,750 hac) Protection of resources Supports all the four national biological

symbols of Pakistan: Markhor (National Animal) Chukar (National Bird) Deodar (National Tree) Jasmine (National Flower) Regular Markhor surveys

Brief overview of Chitral Gol National Park

Biological featuresA pristine example of:Himalayan dry temperate forestAlpine scrubAlpine rangeland

Snow leopard (Panthera uncia) Kashmir markhor (Capra

falconeri) Ladakh urial (Ovis orientalis) Red fox (Vulpus vulpus) Black bear (Ursus thibetanus) Tibetan wolf (Canis lupus)

Mammals

Turkistan Rat (Rattus turkestanicus)

Himalayan Wood Mouse(Apodemus rusiges)

Golden Marmot (Marmota caudata aurea)

Grey Long-eared Bat (Plecotus austriacus)

Himalayan monal Golden eagle Himalayan snow cock Chukar partridge Himalayan griffon vulture Snow partridge

Birds

Increase in human population Low literacy rate Inadequate staff for protection Poverty

Threats

WWF/World Bank Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool

Year: 2005

Total Score: 81

Method for Evaluation

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Male

Female

Fawn

Total

Growth in Markhor Population

Protected Areas Management Project (PAMP) wasimplemented from 2001-2007.

Earlier, local communities had conflicts over the area butwith the help of PAMP their support enlisted in CGNP.

MEE was undertaken during the period to knowmanagement effectiveness of the Park in terms ofprotection of Markhor/ Snow leopard/ habitat andaddressing the needs of communities.

University of Montana, Missoula, USA and WildlifeDepartment were involved.

The main findings from MEE process included; Population of Wildlife species especially Markhor was

increasing Cooperation of local people ensured Dependency local people for fuel wood and fodder reduced.

Summary of MEE Process

Based on the results of MEE process future plans areused to keep up the positives trends.

Regular Markhor surveys, community involvement, andincentives are ensured.

Separate management unit was created to look after theCGNP in 2008.

A mega project “Development and Management ofNational Parks” was launched in 2015-16.

Local communities organized through establishment ofConservation Committees, Cluster Committees and ParkAssociations.

Efforts are being made to conduct Trophy hunting ofMarkhor in Buffer Zone to benefit local communities.

Endowment Fund established and strengthened throughseed money

Using Results of MEE Process

Each National Park must have Management Plan. Organization of local communities should be

strengthened and Incentives to local people ensured fortheir effective participation with good prospects ofminimizing pressure and threats on the naturalresources.

Management of Protected Areas through manpower andfinancial resources should be intensified.

Baseline data is essential

Lessons learned from the MEE experience

Management of CNGP on scientific basis according tothe management plan of the Park.

Initiation of Community Based Trophy Hunting ofMarkhor in buffer zone of the Park.

Capacity building of staff and local communitiesthrough short term trainings and visits to furtherimprove management.

Future Plans

Thank you