Divisional Wildlife Offices closed after restructuring

MANSEHRA: The Forest, Environment and Wildlife department has closed the Divisional Wildlife Offices in five districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said a notification issued last week.

The notification issued by the Secretary Forest, Environment, and Wildlife Department said that after restructuring, the Wildlife Department had been divided into four administrative units (Circles) in the province and its divisional offices in Torghar, Karak and Lakki Marat stood abolished.

Though the divisional offices of Wildlife department in Lower Kohistan and Kolai-Palas were not mentioned in the abolished districts in the notification but all three including Upper Kohistan would work jointly as Kohistan and placed in the newly created Hazara Wildlife Circle Abbottabad alongside Mansehra, Abbottabad, Haripur and Battagram districts.

Three other newly created wildlife units including Southern Wildlife Circle Bannu, Malakand Wildlife Circle, Swat and the Central Wildlife Circle Peshawar.

The seven districts of province including Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Kohat, South Waziristan, North Waziristan, Orakzai and Kurram are placed under Southern Wildlife Circle Bannu, Swat, Dir, Bajaur, Chitral combined, Buner and Malakand placed under Malakand Wildlife Circle Swat, Peshawar, Mardan, Nowshera, Mohmand, Extension and Headquarters are placed under the Central Wildlife Circle Peshawar.

Shakeel Ahmad, the divisional wildlife officer Torghar, when contacted confirmed that the divisional office in the district had been abolished.

“According to the notification, the government abolished three divisional offices including ours as we don’t have the protected areas and wildlife sanctuaries,” he said.

He said that sub-divisional and range offices in Dor Mera and Kunder Hassanzai would work respectively as usual.

“Now each conservator would sit at the headquarters of the newly created wildlife circles,” he added.