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Baseline study for Kirthar Park okayed

KARACHI: The Chief Secretary of Sindh, Zubair Kidwai, has approved a baseline study of Kirthar National Park in the second meeting of the Dumbar EL Committee held here.

The meeting was attended by the Secretary of Sindh Forest and Wildlife Department, Secretary Law, DG of Sindh EPA, Conservator Wildlife, DG Petroleum Concessions (Federal Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources) and representatives of Premier-Shell Pakistan, IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Pakistan and WWF.

IUCN Pakistan's Head of programme, Mohammad Rafiq said, "We are glad that the government has approved the study, as it will offer scientific data on which future decisions about Kirthar National Park will based."

The study will also help in guiding a management plan for the Park, he said adding that IUCN Pakistan is convinced that a transparent governance mechanism for this process will bear fruit not only in this case, but also act as a model for other protected areas.

Premier Exploration Pakistan (Ltd) had been awarded a license by the DG Petroleum Concessions in July 1999 to explore for natural gas and oil in the Dumbar Block in Sindh. The Dumbar Block encompasses more than 90 percent of Kirthar National Park, which is managed by the Sindh Forest and Wildlife Department.

Kirthar National Park is the oldest protected area in Pakistan to be officially designated a national park, and is home to the urial, chinkara and the unique sub-species Sindh ibex.

The department and other environmental organisations, including IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Pakistan expressed serious concern, at exploration or mining for gas in a protected area. Environmental organisations proposed that a baseline study be conducted to evaluate the biodiversity, social and cultural importance of the park before any decisions about the park are taken.

In May 1999, the matter was taken before the Governor of Sindh, who constituted a high-level committee, the Dumbar EL Committee, to look into this matter, chaired by the Chief Secretary, Sindh. The second meeting of this Committee approved the baseline study before any further activities are undertaken.

Further, the Chief Secretary agreed that the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the baseline study are incomplete, and need to be worked on. He approved holding a workshop to finalise the TOR and incorporate concerns of the various stakeholders. In particular, the two-day workshop will examine the technical environmental aspects of the proposed study as well as governance issues raised by IUCN Pakistan.

The workshop is also expected to expand the Dumbar EL Committee to include the Federal Ministry of Environment, Local Government and Rural Development as well as prominent citizens to make it a transparent and independent body that can monitor the process.

The baseline study will be conducted by a consulting group affiliated with the University of Melbourne, Australia. The approval of the baseline study marks a significant step, as the companies had been pushing to start exploration following the mandatory Environment Impact Assessment (EIA).

However, current legislation prohibits "mining or any related activities" in a national Park in Sindh. Environmental organisations had opposed conducting the EIA or exploration until such time as the ecological value of the Park could be known, along with its potential uses.ÑAPP