Chinji National Park: Unexplored beauty of Potohar landscape

Islamabad : The unexplored beauty of Potohar landscape is now ready to welcome nature lovers with the inauguration of Information Center, walking track, jeep track and a watch tower at the Chinji National Park, located 130 km from Islamabad.

The inauguration of these facilities was organised by the Ministry of Climate Change recently. Local representatives, government officials and media representatives attended the ceremony. Special Assistant to Prime Minister Malik Amin Aslam Khan inaugurated the facilities.

In the Information Center, you are greeted by a colorful display of information about natural and historical treasures in the region. The architecture, souvenirs, stuffed model of endangered Urial and traditional design of the Center– all reminds you of any international standard facility. Besides the shaded hills, huge remarkably shaped rocks, watch tower with an explicit view of the Park.

Chinji Reserved Forest was declared as a National Park in July 1987. However, the Park could not get any attention for appropriate initiative to ensue effective management of Park’s resources. The Park has been managed following a traditional system of management focused only on protecting and improving the existing forest which offers unique geological features, diverse landscapes and rich biological diversity.

Developed under Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Project, Chinji National Park, one of the four national parks in Potohar region, lies in Talagang Forest Sub-Division in District Chakwalat an elevation of 2,231 feet (680 m). The total area of the Chinji Reserved Forest, commonly known as Scrub Forest, is 15,003 acres. Other three National Parks of Potohar region include Margallah Hills, Kalla Chitta and Murree-Kotli Sattian- Kahuta.

The Chinji National Park has sub-tropical broad-leaved evergreen forest. It is home to numerous species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects. The presence of large water bodies, in shape of lakes, add to diversity of habitat and associated wildlife that is not commonly available in the arid tract. The most important mammal in the Park is Punjab Urial, which is also a game animal. The Asiatic jackal, Cape hare, Red fox, Scaly anteater or Pangolin, Jungle cat, porcupine, hedgehog, mongoose, Five-striped Palm squirrel, musk shrew are also reported in the area.

The reptiles found in the area are Bengal monitor lizard, Yellow-bellied house gecko and Indian garden lizard. Chukar, See-see partridge, Grey francolin, Common quail, Blue rock pigeon, Black winged stilt, Laughing dove, Red-wattled lapwing, Crow pheasant, White-throated kingfisher, Red-vented bulbul, Black shouldered kite, Common kite, Common teal and Common pochard are common bird species found in the area.

It is also the closest national park to Islamabad which increases its importance for promotion of ecotourism. The SFM Project has developed access road inside the Park, information centre, viewpoints, watch towers, rest places for facilitation of visitors as part of the implementation of management plan developed under SFM Project.

“The objective of developing this Information Center and Watch Tower is to create a model which will be repeated in all National Parks to promote eco-tourism as envisioned by Prime Minister Imran Khan. Through National Parks, will plan to protect nature, provide employment and promote eco-tourism. As you can see that the architecture of this information center and watch tower blends local architecture,” said SAPM Amin Aslam Khan while talking to media at the inauguration.

He said that under Prime Minister’s Protected Area Initiatives, the ministry has inaugurated two interventions in Chinji National Park. “It was declared National Park in 1987 but it remained a paper National Park as there was no government intervention after that to facilitate visitors. After inauguration of these facilities, we are in the process of making PC 1 for provision of basic facilities on all tracks and trails created in the park which we aim at completing in next two years,” he said adding that they plan to start different activities in the Park in the near future which includes hiking, bike trail, four wheel drive for which a rough trail has been created.

He said that the government plans to create a chain of National Parks in this region. “We are working on wet land reserve in Namal which is connected to Salt Range National Park and next to this chain is Ara-Basharat National Park which is linked to Salt Range National Park.

“Recently New York Times has acknowledged the importance of Sat Range area in the history of human civilization. There are many historical sites in this region that are hidden from the eyes of general public like Nandna Fort and Tilla Jogian etc. It is the vision of Imran Khan to revive and take pride in our heritage,” said SAPM.

The Ministry also plans to place a track and trace system to observe the interest of people as was done in Moto Tunnel in Ayubia. The SAPM shared that in one month after inauguration, around 100,000 people visited the Moto Tunnel despite the fact that it was off season and the Tunnel was not properly advertised.