Best mountain development practitioners awarded

Islamabad: The 13th edition of Pakistan Mountain Festival concluded with awarding 28 best mountain development practitioners and conservationists with 4th Pakistan Mountains Pride Awards (PAMPA) Monday late evening. 

The International Mountain Day flagship events are annually organized by Devcom-Pakistan in collaboration with different partners.

The closing ceremony was partnered by Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), National Rural Support Programme (NRSP), Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), and Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA). The guests of honour on the occasion included the ambassador of Poland Maciej Pisarski, EvK2CNR cofounder Maurizo Gallo, EvK2CR scientific advisor Ashiq Ahmad Khan, well-known mountaineering icon Nazir Sabir, artist Raja Changez Sultan, and MD Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation Aftab ur Rehman Rana. Italian ambassador Andreas Ferrarese was the chief guest of the photo exhibition “The Colours of the Ice” that was jointly organized by the Italian embassy, Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), UNDP, EvK2CNR, IUCN and Devcom-Pakistan.

The country representative Snow Leopard Foundation Dr. Jaffar Uddin won the Agostino Da Polenza Mountain Conservation award for his dedicated efforts to the conservation of snow leopard and some other mountain biodiversity. Husool Begum from upper Chitral, Saira Bano from Nagar, and Maryam Batool Ainee from Skardu received Shoaib Sultan Khan Mountain Community Development Award.

The young energetic mountaineer Sajid Ali Sadpara won the Nazir Sabir Mountaineering Award. Well-known tourism expert Najib A Khan conferred upon the Ashraf Aman Sustainable Tourism Award while the popular Chitrali singer Manoor Ali Shabab won the Ustad Jan Ali Mountain Music Award this year again.

Devcom-Pakistan has added this year Raja Changez Sultan Himalayan Odyssey Award for Fine Arts to recognize services of the artist who has been painting mountains consistently for four decades. This award will be given to one artist who will be promoting mountains through the visual arts. As many as 20 received Friends of Mountain Awards (FOMA).

They included professionals and citizens from different sectors. Speaking on the occasion, Devcom-Pakistan Executive Director and founder of Pakistan Mountain Festival and Pakistan Mountain Pride Awards Munir Ahmed said mountains are the lifeline of the planet earth. The mountains cover around 27 percent of the Earth’s land surface and host about half of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. As the water towers of the world, they supply freshwater to an estimated half of humanity. Mountains are home to an extraordinary range of plants and animals, and to many culturally diverse communities with different languages and traditions.

From climate regulation and water provisioning services, to soil maintenance and conservation, mountains are key to our lives and livelihoods. “We have no option but to put every effort to restore mountain ecosystems, raise awareness about the crucial role of mountains for people and the planet, call for nature-based solutions, and seek to fully include mountains in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030. Pakistan’s glaciers are a big count of the mountains and a huge source of fresh water as well that needs to be protected,” he said. Speaking on the occasion, Nazir Sabir urged for waste-free mountaineering and asked the Gilgit-Baltistan government to take necessary measures in this regard. He appreciated the young mountaineers who scaled the new height in mountaineering and projecting Pakistan’s image. Maurizo Gallo spoke about the Italian cooperation for mountain conservation and valley development programmes that EvK2CNR has done.