PM’s special assistant emphasises ‘responsible tourism’

ISLAMABAD: PM’s Special Assistant on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam underlined the need for ‘responsible tourism’ in the region given the recent upsurge in local tourism, which has resulted in environmental degradation and also endangering wildlife.

He said this Thursday while chairing the virtual 4th meeting of the working group on ‘Silk Route ecologically responsible tourism and preservation of natural resource programme’.

It is pertinent to mention that the ministry of climate change set-up the working group on July 30, 2019 with the Aga Khan Cultural Service-Pakistan (AKCS-P) as its secretariat.

The purpose of the working group is to prepare a multipronged strategy and design action plans that can help preserve natural resources through mitigation against the adverse impact of the climate change. The representatives of the forest and tourism departments of the Gilgit-Baltistan, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the civil society attended the meeting.

Jurjen van der Tas, director of Aga Khan Trust, gave presentation on the multi-year programme for the Ghizer district that is home to two parks, numerous rivers and streams spreading over 10,000 square kilometres with an estimated population of 120,000. Ghizer had earlier been chosen in February 2020 as the First Zone of Special Value (ZSV1) with Astore and Shigar the other ZSVs.

While speaking on the occasion Malik Amin Aslam emphasised that it was all important to utilise the coming five months of winter and start the implementation of the programme.