‘Zero tolerance against illegal killing, trade of wild birds’

Islamabad: Pakistan will continue showing zero tolerance against illegal killing, seizure and trade of wild birds, said Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Mushahidullah.

In a message on the World Migratory Bird Day whose theme is 'unifying our voices for bird conservation', the minister highlighted the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats.

He said every year people around the world took action and organise public events such as bird festivals, education programmes, exhibitions and bird-watching excursions to celebrate the day.

"All these activities can also be undertaken at any time on the year because that countries or regions observing the peak of migrations at different times, but the main days for the international celebrations on the Second Saturday in May and in October," he said.

The minister said migratory birds don’t have an easy life, they have to run the gauntlet of illegal hunting / killing, wind turbines, pollution and panoply of other threats. He said Pakistan was committed to tackling the threats facing by migratory birds.

"We are located on the crossroad of bird migrations which is called Central Asian Flyway (CAF) connecting Central Asia to Indian Ocean. CAF mainly falls in Indus Plains in Pakistan is followed by a number of wintering birds during their migration from Central Asia to subcontinent, said by the Minister," he said.

The minister said about 668 bird species were reported in Pakistan including both resident and migratory species. "All important migratory birds species are 'protected' under respective provincial wildlife legislations and its hunting, killing and capturing is completely banned. Any violation is punishable with imprisonment or a fine or with both," he said.

The minister said awareness raising activities had been undertaken to highlighting importance of migratory species. He said important events like World Wetlands Day, World Wildlife Day, and World Migratory Birds Day etc. were celebrated to enhance awareness on the species.

"We are taking initiatives to conserve wildlife in Pakistan that includes revival of Wildlife Resources in Pakistan Rs1065.187 million. The aim of the project is to revive and functionally reorganize wildlife departments at provincial/AJK, GB & FATA through development of time bound plans including capacity building and incentive driven performance regime. Pakistan Migratory Birds and Houbara Bustard Endowment Fund with a seed money of Rs250 million," he said.

He said the government was committed to complying with all the national and international conventions and treaties like Convention on Migratory Species, Ramsar Convention and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

He called for increased efforts to strengthen, comply with and enforce relevant legislation and judicial processes, and engage with stakeholders, local communities and wider society to change attitudes towards zero tolerance of illegal killing of migratory birds.