World Wildlife Day observed

Lahore : World Wildlife Fund-Pakistan marked the World Wildlife Day on Saturday by announcing the commencement of two new wildlife conservation initiatives with focus on addressing wildlife poaching as well as illegal wildlife trade in the country.

This year’s theme, "Big Cats: Predators under Threat" is relevant to Pakistan as the country is home to two critically endangered big cats, the snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and common leopard (Panthera pardus) according to the national IUCN Red List Assessment (CAMP).

As part of the World Wildlife Day activities, an awareness walk was also held in collaboration with the Gilgit-Baltistan Forest, Wildlife and Environment Department to highlight the importance of predators in ecosystems.

WWF-Pakistan has been working on the conservation of these elusive big cats for over three decades by addressing key challenges to their survival particularly human-leopard conflict and habitat degradation. Both species are threatened by habitat degradation, poaching and conflict with communities.

In connection with the World Wildlife Day, the WWF-Pakistan, with support of WWF International and in collaboration with the Gilgit-Baltistan Wildlife and Forest Department, announced the innitivative of piloting Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART), a technology-based framework to control wildlife poaching and illegal trade of snow leopard in Misgar Valley of Hunza district, Gilgit-Baltistan. The project will focus on initiating a zero-poaching framework approach, including SMART-based patrolling and monitoring programmes in the valley.

It will also build capacity of relevant stakeholders and engage local communities to control poaching and trafficking of wildlife. With the introduction of the initiative, Pakistan becomes the first country to pilot the technology based zero-poaching framework. The second initiative annouced by the WWF-Pakistan focuses on the assessment of existing field challenges and the availability of sufficient resources to the officials of wildlife departments who work tirelessly to protect endangered and iconic wildlife species and their habitats. The assessment will be conducted in the selected protected areas of Pakistan, including those falling within the snow leopard landscapes.

WWF-Pakistan Director General Hammad Naqi Khan said that the organisation was making concerted efforts for conservation of snow leopards, common leopards, Indus River dolphins and other endangered terrestrial and marine species in the country.

He also shared that human activities and the accompanying use of non-renewable natural resources had grown so dramatically that since the mid-20th century, environmental conditions that fostered development and growth had begun to deteriorate.

He mentioned the successful breeding of critically endangered Oriental white-backed vultures in captivity at the Changa Manga Vulture Conservation Centre, Lahore. He shared that this was the third year of successful breeding of the species in a row in Pakistan where two healthy white-backed vulture chicks were hatched in January.

He emphasized the need to understand the scale of human impact on the vanishing population of wild species and develop a robust mechanism to address the issue.

According to WWF’s Living Planet Report, since 1970 to 2012 nearly 58 percent of all vertebrates, including fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals, have been wiped out directly as a result of human appetite and activities.

If the prevailing trend continues by 2020, the planet will have lost two-thirds of its wildlife species. This can only be reversed if actions and investments which support wildlife conservation in the long run are accelerated and intensified.

The theme of World Wildlife Day 2018 encourages the youth around the world to rally to address the major threats to wildlife, including habitat degradation, pollution, over-exploitation, illicit trafficking and climate change.

WWF-Pakistan believes that the youth, future custodians of the environment and wildlife, can play a significant role in conservation and protection of wild species.