Mountain Festival: Vulnerability of Pakistani mountainsincreasing with every passing day

Islamabad: The vulnerability of Pakistan Mountains is increasing with every passing day and the elected representatives from mountain constituencies are sleeping over the fate of fast depleting local resources and miseries of the mountain communities. The sustainable conservation and development of mountains cannot be achieved without active participation of the communities in the development projects being run by the government and the development partners.
The Pakistan Mountain Festival Director and the Executive Director Development Communications Network (Devcom-Pakistan) Munir Ahmed expressed these views while announcing the schedule of the events of 7th Pakistan Mountain Festival on Saturday.
The emblem of the festival was also released on the occasion that contains K2, the world’s second highest mountain peak, in the background, and the logo of the official logo of the International Mountain Day. Munir Ahmed said our efforts are being recognised by the mountain communities and their youth with their active participation that is why we have especial events to engage youth and communities in our festival that promotes their talent and potential in real-time.
In recognition of our services and contribution to provide market linkages to mountain communities for the products and services, and to mainstream the challenges confronting the mountains, the UN FAO supported Rome-based Mountain Partnership has given us organisational membership two years back.
This has led us to highlight the plight of mountain communities and the challenges being faced by the Pakistan’s mountains. Aimed at engaging different stakeholders for integrated efforts to protect and promote mountains and the mountain communities, the 7th Pakistan Mountain Festival will begin from Saturday November 25 with a youth rock climbing competition at the Daman e Koh.
The Margallah Hills Trail 5 clean-up will be done on Sunday November 26 while five documentaries and films reflecting challenges to the life and natural resources of mountains will be shown on Monday November 27 at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) in collaboration with the PNCA Film Club.
About 250 paintings by the students will be put on display in an exhibition ‘Mountain Marvels’ at the Art Gallery of the Rawalpindi Arts Council on Tuesday November 28. The Mountain Cultural Showcase will take place on December 8 and 9 at the Ibex Club, Lake View Park. Over 300 youth delegates from different parts of the Pakistan Mountains will be participating in the Pakistan Mountain Youth Parliament on Saturday December 9.