The window is closing

Midway through the 26th Conference of Parties Climate Summit in Glasgow, two almost simultaneous but unconnected events reminded us of the starkness of contrast between reality and desire in Pakistan.

Nizamuddin Jokhio, a 27-year-old man, was tortured to death allegedly by a PPP MPA and his henchmen for exposing the illegal hunting of the endangered Houbara bustard in Thatta, Sindh. A couple of days later, on the other end of the spectrum, the UK pledged to provide a funding of over GBP55 million to Pakistan over a period of five years to “fight climate change, manage water more sustainably and unlock climate investment.”

Nothing in nature exists in isolation; every bird, insect, tree and breath of air is cosmically connected. If the government of Pakistan really wants to do its part in protecting the environment, planting a billion trees will never be enough. Protecting the associated animal life has to be an equal priority. And the Houbara bustard is part of that priority chain.

Hunting of the vulnerable Houbara bustard is banned in Pakistan but allowed conditionally to Arab dignitaries as a foreign policy concession, despite knowing very well that the extinction of this bird will break the corresponding eco-cycle. To think that the planet can be saved by drastically reducing greenhouse emissions alone would be our biggest blunder.

The Earth is a great equalizer. She doesn’t care who messes up, we all have to pay the price. The effect of one broken link in the chain may take years or even decades to ripple back, but it does come back to bite. The Houbara bustard is an internationally protected bird species, yet the government has one again gone ahead with the process to grant official hunting permits to 14 Arab dignitaries for the Falconry Season 2021-2022. If the government thinks the life of this bird is a small price to pay for the economic benefits gained from such diplomatic concessions, it’s only fooling itself.

This practice was banned by India way back in 1972 following widespread backlash against the ruthless hunting in Rajasthan. After similar outrage in Pakistan 43 years later, the Supreme Court imposed a blanket ban on the hunting of the Houbara bustard in 2015. The then government of PML-N challenged the ban on grounds that the Arabs contribute economically to the poor areas around the hunting fields and that the ban would affect Pakistan’s relations with the Arab countries. The ban was lifted in 2016 and it’s hunting season as usual for the Arabs since then.

This is a critical time for Pakistan; it is the eighth most vulnerable country to climate change, and non-stop global warming means that by 2100, 36 percent of glaciers along the Hindu Kush and Himalayan ranges will have melted away. Even though poor countries are barely responsible for the current deterioration of our climate, they will be the first to bear the brunt of rising temperatures. Every country in the world knows this, but if someone from the pro-hunting community were still to ask what Houbara bustards have to do with melting glaciers, well, they should know that eco-chains are only as strong as their threatened links.

Pakistan cannot afford to plant trees but not protect the animal and bird species facing extinction. In 2020, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) called for an immediate ban on the hunting of the Houbara bustard especially in Pakistan which has single-handedly allowed for the serious decline in the species’ population, all because dignitaries want to kill the bird for the supposed aphrodisiac qualities of its meat. It doesn’t get more primitive than this.

Nizam Jokhio died an eco-warrior’s death trying to protect the endangered Houbara bustard from illegal hunting by Arabs and their local facilitators. No amount of eco-funding will ever be enough if the world is not willing to go all the way. The window is closing fast and countries cannot cherry pick their way to keeping the 1.5-degree Celsius target alive.

The writer is an executive producer, Geo News and editor of Jang – The Economist annual edition.

Twitter: @munazza193