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March 23, 2015
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Pakistan
National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan
Government of Pakistan
2015
March 23, 2015
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Foreword
Government of Pakistan
Ministry of Climate Change
Pakistan is bestowed with a wide variety of ecosystems and habitats ranging of Arabian sea in the south to the
second highest peak in the world – K-2. The diverse topography and climatic conditions manifests itself in a wide
range of habitats and species many of which are of global biodiversity significance. Four ecosystems of Pakistan are
included in the Global 200 most biologically outstanding ecoregions in the world. Unfortunately except for agricultural
lands, more than 90 percent of remaining landscape has no land use plan and no one is taking care of the ecological
health of these lands. Vast majority of Pakistan’s natural habitats, except those under management of State
agencies are generally degraded and have lost much of their productivity.
The worsening health of ecosystems and diminishing ecosystem service are a cause of alarm as it is not only threat
to the livelihoods of the poor and marginalized communities who depend on these resources for forage, fuelwood,
and other natural products but also for agriculture and hydropower by reducing useful life of dams. It is neither
feasible nor desirable to for government to manage vast areas of natural habits, and therefore, institutions and
capacity of local communities must be strengthened and actively involved in sustainable management of these lands.
Pakistan is among the 10th
most vulnerable country to climate change, and colossal damage of life and property from
recent floods are still fresh in our memories. Pakistan is home to a large number of wild relatives of crops which
together with other threatened species of flora and fauna are most at risk of extinction due to changes in habitat
conditions and therefore we need to establish and effectively manage representative areas of all of our natural
habitats covering land water and sea. In addition to loss of nature’s bounty, there has been a lot of erosion of
varieties of crops and breeds farm animals due to the introduction of high yielding crop varieties.
Although high yielding varieties have helped the country feed rapidly growing population, yet it has been at a high
cost – high incidence of cancer and other diseases due to high use of agrochemicals. We need to preserve our
traditional crop varieties and breeds of farms animals both as an coping strategy against crop failures under changing
climate and for improving vigor breeding improved varieties and breeds. In addition, we need to develop, test and
promote sustainable agricultural practices to improve water use efficiency, and minimal use of environment friendly
agro-chemicals.
Pakistan has always shown strong political commitment to the cause of environment and sustainable development.
Pakistan prepared its National Conservation Strategy in 1992 even before coming in force of the Convention on
Biological Diversity. Not only that, similar strategies were prepared in provinces and even in many districts. Pakistan
has been at the forefront of joining the global community in signing and ratifying environment related conventions.
Unfortunately, the financial limitations far exceeded the political will of the country, and the country was unable to
make satisfactory progress on the Biodiversity Action Plan of 2000.
The revision process for the National Biodiversity Strategy has taken stock of the situation, and provided a new
vision, objectives, strategies and targets to meet the conservation challenges of the 21st century, and make significant
contribution to achieving the CBD strategic objectives and achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. 2010-2010. I am
especially pleased with the process followed for the preparation of NBSAP. Active participation of the provinces who
will be major players for its implementation and open and transparent process will ensure buy in of the stakeholders. .
While Ministry of Climate Change will have a central role in coordination and providing leadership for its
implementation, active participation of all other Ministries, provincial governments, and stakeholders will be essential
for meeting the objectives of NBSAP. While the government will try its best to increase allocations for biodiversity, the
affluent nations and multilaterals will have to come forward to meet the full financial needs of the NBSAP.
March 31, 2015 Minister for Climate Change
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Acknowledgement
The stakeholders and key resource persons who contributed to the revision of National Biodiversity Strategy and
Action Plan are too many to mention individually. The team for drafting of the NBSAP gratefully acknowledges the
support and cooperation of all those who made spared useful time to participate in consultative meetings, group
discussions, individual meetings and review of the draft. Our special thanks are due to the Sayed Mahmood Nasir,
Inspector General of Forests for providing guidance during the process and made useful technical inputs.
Special thanks are due to senior policy makers and planners in the provinces, civil society organizations, and
professionals who took keen interest in the provincial and regional consultations. The provincial offices of the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and provincial NBSAP facilitators played a key role in
organizing consultations and meetings. IUCN office in Islamabad played pivotal role in providing logistics support for
travel and meetings in Islamabad.
The revision of NBSAP would not have been possible without the financial support of the Global Environment Facility,
administrative support of the Ministry of Climate Change and personal interest of the Director Biodiversity in making it
all happen.
NBSAP TEAM
Javed Ahmed, Biodiversity Consultant, IUCN Pakistan
Inam Ullah Khan, NRM Expert, IUCN Pakistan
Naeem Ashraf, Director Biodiversity, Ministry of Climate Change
Mailk Ghulam Sarwar, Coordinator NBSAP, Minsistry of Climate Change
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CONTENTS Foreword ......................................................................................................................................................................... i
Acknowledgement .......................................................................................................................................................... ii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................................. vi
I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................ 1
1. Context .................................................................................................................................................................. 2
2. Values of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the country and their contribution to human well-being – ......... 2
3. Analysis of the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss .............................................................................. 3
3. 1. Land Use - Degradation and Desertification .................................................................................................. 3
3. 2. Deforestation ................................................................................................................................................ 4
3. 4. Grazing .......................................................................................................................................................... 4
3. 4. Fishing ........................................................................................................................................................... 5
3. 5. Agriculture ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
3. 6. Pollution ......................................................................................................................................................... 6
3. 7. Global Climate Change ................................................................................................................................. 7
3. 8. Population Growth ......................................................................................................................................... 7
4. National constitutional, legal and institutional framework ....................................................................................... 8
4.1. Biodiversity Legal Framework ........................................................................................................................ 8
4. 2. Provincial Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries Laws. ......................................................................................... 9
4. 3. Biodiversity Policy Framework ...................................................................................................................... 9
4. 4. Poverty Reduction Strategies ...................................................................................................................... 10
4. 5. Institutional Framework ............................................................................................................................... 10
5. Lessons learned from the earlier NBSAP(s) and the process of developing the updated NBSAP....................... 11
5.1 Progress on Implementation of Biodiversity Action Plan 2000 ...................................................................... 11
5. 2. Biodiversity Scenarios ................................................................................................................................ 12
5.3. Processes for development of BAP and NBSAP. ......................................................................................... 12
5.4. Biodiversity Action Plan 2000 ....................................................................................................................... 12
6. Revision of NBSAP ......................................................................................................................................... 13
II. NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY: PRINCIPLES, PRIORITIES AND TARGETS ......................................... 14
7. Biodiversity Awareness ....................................................................................................................................... 14
7.1 Context .......................................................................................................................................................... 14
7.2. Strategies ..................................................................................................................................................... 14
8. Mainstreaming Biodiversity ................................................................................................................................. 15
8. 1. Context ........................................................................................................................................................ 15
8. 2. Strategies .................................................................................................................................................... 16
9. Terrestrial Ecosystems ....................................................................................................................................... 17
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9. 1. Context ........................................................................................................................................................ 17
9. 2. Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity ...................................................................................... 17
10. Forest Ecosystems ........................................................................................................................................... 19
10. 1. Context ...................................................................................................................................................... 19
10. 2. Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity ......................................................................... 20
11. Inland and Coastal Wetland Ecosystems .......................................................................................................... 21
11.1. Context ....................................................................................................................................................... 22
11. 2. Conservation and Sustainable Use of Wetlands Biodiversity ................................................................... 23
12. Coastal and Marine Ecosystems ...................................................................................................................... 25
12. 1. Context ..................................................................................................................................................... 25
12. 2. Conservation and Sustainable use of Marine and Coastal Areas ............................................................. 27
13. Agrobiodiversity ................................................................................................................................................. 28
13. 1. Context ..................................................................................................................................................... 28
13. 2. Conservation and Sustainable Use of Agrobiodiversity ............................................................................. 29
13. Environmental Protection .................................................................................................................................. 30
13. 1. Context ...................................................................................................................................................... 30
13. 2. Strategies and Actions .............................................................................................................................. 30
III. IMPLEMENTATION, MONITORING, AND EVALUATION ...................................................................................... 32
14. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 32
15. Implementation of NBSAP ................................................................................................................................. 32
16. Communication and Outreach Strategy ............................................................................................................. 32
17. Plan for Resource Mobilization .......................................................................................................................... 33
18. National Coordination Mechanisms ................................................................................................................... 33
19. Clearing-House Mechanism ............................................................................................................................... 33
20. Monitoring and Evaluation ................................................................................................................................ 34
IV. REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................................................... 35
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Terrestrial ecosystems of Pakistan included in Global 200 Eco-Regions ....................................................... 17
Table 2. The change in area of different forest types 1992-2004. ............................................................................... 19
Table 3. Wetland ecosystems of Pakistan included in Global 200 Eco-regions. ......................................................... 22
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Map of Pakistan. (Source: http://geology.com/world/pakistan-satellite-image.shtml) ..................................... 1
Figure 2. Change in forest cover 1990 - 2010. .............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 3. Numbers of goat, sheep, and camel 1990 - 2014. ......................................................................................... 5
Figure 4. Population growth in Pakistan 1960 - 2010. ................................................................................................... 7
Figure 5. Overall national PSDP and allocation for the Climate Change Division. ......................................................... 8
Figure 6. Progress on the implementation of Biodiversity Action Plan 2000. ............................................................... 11
Figure 7. Level of various threats in different forest types. ........................................................................................... 20
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Figure 8. Map of Pakistan showing major wetlands. ................................................................................................... 23
Figure 9. Map showing Arabian Sea. ........................................................................................................................... 25
LIST OF ANNEXURES
Annexure 1. Matrix showing Aichi Biodiversity Targets and National Actioms ............................................................. 36 Annexure 2. Lists of Threatened Species of Fauna.. .................................................................................................. 45 Annexure 3. List of Acronyms and Abbreviations. ....................................................................................................... 46
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
I. INTRODUCTION
1. Context
Pakistan ratified Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1994. The Convention requires countries to prepare a
national biodiversity strategy and action plan. A Biodiversity Action Plan of (BAP) was drafted in 1999 and approved
by the Pakistan Environment Protection Council in the year 2000. The Conference of the Parties (CoP) to the
Convention in their meeting held In April 2002, resolved to achieve a significant reduction of the of biodiversity loss by
2010.. In order to achieve the 2010 targets, the CoP established seven thematic programmes of work corresponding
to some of the major biomes on the planet. A review of the global 2010 Biodiversity Targets revealed that biodiversity
was continuing to be lost and ecosystems were degrading undermining human well-being. Against the above
background, CoP-10 held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, in October 2010, adopted the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-
2020 with five strategic objectives and 20 “Aichi Biodiversity Targets.” The Parties further agreed to translate this
overarching international framework into revised and updated national biodiversity strategies and action plans.
As part of the process for drafting Pakistan’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), a review of the
BAP 2000 was undertaken in March 2014. The review revealed that so fat, no action was initiated on 52% of the
targets of the BAP and 44.5% targets were either partially or fully completed. Main reasons for low progress of the
ambitious BAP targets were inadequate financial resources, and lack of institutional capacity and political will. The
road map for revision was shared with the members of the Biodiversity Working Group (BWG), and consultative
meetings were held with key resource persons, and other stakeholders.
The provincial governments and other federating units will be implementing the NBSAP in the field; therefore their
buy-in of the strategies and actions was of prime importance in the process. In order to create greater ownership of
the NBSAP at provincial and regional levels, consultative meetings with stakeholders were organized in Karachi,
Quetta, Lahore, Peshawar, Muzaffarabad, and Gilgit. In addition, meetings were also held with policy makers and
planners in the provinces and regions. The provinces and other federating units were agreed to prepare their own
Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans, and the NBSAP preparation team guided them at every step of the process.
The NBSAP is a sum total of provincial and regional biodiversity strategies and action plans plus some national level
actions. The draft NBSAP was widely circulated to key resource persons and members of the BWG for peer review.
2. Causes and Consequences of Biodiversity Loss
Land degradation and desertification are serious issues in Pakistan and main cause of loss of biodiversity and
agricultural productivity. Land use planning is almost nonexistent in Pakistan and consequently the impact of land
degradation and desertification on national economy is not well documented. Water erosion, wind erosion, depletion
of soil fertility, water logging, salinity, and deforestation, over grazing are major causes of land degradation. The
resource degradation is further exacerbated due to scarcity of water, frequent droughts and mismanagement of land.
It is estimated that water logging affects 11 million ha, and another five million ha are affected by salinity. More than
60 percent area of the country is in degrading rapidly due to the other causes mentioned above. Habitat
fragmentation and loss poses a serious threat to biodiversity in all biomes, and consequently many populations of
species are confined to isolated small pockets. Habitat loss coupled with over exploitation of selected species for
trade, food and sport have resulted in extinction of some species from the wild, and many more are threatened with
extinction.
Deforestation: The forest cover estimates for Pakistan vary between 2.2 – 2.4% and other wooded areas occupy
another 1.8 percent of land area. It is estimated that Pakistan has lost an average of 41,100 hectares of forest per
year which amounts to an average annual deforestation rate of 1.63% (source: FAO in mongabay.com). In total,
between 1990 and 2010, the country lost 41.3% of its forest cover, or around 946,000 hectares. However, the
plantation area increased by 18.6% or around 106,000 ha during the same period. Measuring the total rate of habitat
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conversion (change in forest area plus change in woodland area minus net plantation expansion) for the 1990-2010
period, Pakistan lost 33.2% or about 840,000 ha of its forest and woodland habitat.
Grazing: More than 60 percent of arid and semiarid lands of Pakistan cannot be cultivated or planted due to
topographic and climatic factors and absence of irrigation water. Except for alpine pastures in the northern
mountainous region, 85% of the rangelands receive less than 300 ml of precipitation. The unregulated heavy grazing
pressure and cutting and uprooting of trees and bushes for fuel have caused severe degradation of the rangelands.
According to the economic survey of Pakistan 2013-2014 between 1990 and 2014, the goat population increased by
80% from 37 to 66.6 million, numbers of sheep increased 10.6% from 26.3 to 29.1 million, and population of camel
remained at about a million. While much of this increase has been fed by the production of forage within irrigated
areas, persistent overgrazing has seriously depleted the carrying capacity of rangelands to about one-third the
potential - and in some areas to as low as 15% of the potential.
Fishing:. Over harvesting, use of destructive fishing gear is common causes for loss of fish biodiversity. In addition,
fishermen resort to use of poison, electrocution and dynamite for fishing. There has been a steady increase in the
number of fishing vessels of all kinds in Pakistan’s two coastal provinces. However, despite the increase in vessels,
there was a decline in catches across the board between 2000 and 2003 from 438,000 to 402,000 metric tons. Not
only have stocks fallen radically, some species of fish have been wiped out entirely. Environmentally harmful nets
have been introduced in an effort to increase fish catches. The introduction of new technology and bigger fishing
trawlers has also increased the tendency to overexploit the fishery resource. The use of wire nets and winches to
carry out bottom dragging for up to a month at a time destroys coral reef systems and marine life on the sea bed.
After indiscriminately catching all species using bottom dragging, the desired fish are kept and the rest thrown back
into the water. In addition, concern has also been expressed about the incidental take of marine turtles by commercial
shrimp trawlers using mechanized nets.
Agriculture: Crop genetic diversity in Pakistan is low and the principal reason is the development and use of high-
yield varieties (HYVs). This genetic erosion is well pronounced in wheat, rice, cotton, sorghum, sugarcane and
vegetables. Similarly some 75-80% of Pakistan's domestic livestock are cross-breeds. As the genetic traits of local
species are lost, the ability to adapt to local environments and climates and to tolerate diseases is greatly reduced.
The use of pesticides and fertilizers has increased rapidly in recent years. Consumption of pesticides has increased
from 665 tons in 1980 to 14,773 tunes in 1990 and 61,229 tons in 2000..Unfortunately, the widespread use of
pesticides has disturbed the agro-ecosystem and killed non-target and environment-friendly organisms, including
environment-friendly organisms, and birds. Studies show that the populations of natural enemies in cotton growing
areas have declined as much as 90 percent during the last decade. Besides, the excessive inappropriate use of agro-
chemicals has induced pest resistance and their resurgence..
Pollution: Pollution is a growing problem in Pakistan and discharge of sewage and industrial effluent into aquatic and
marine ecosystems is a major threat to the biodiversity. Major cities dispose off largely untreated sewage into
irrigation systems, streams and rivers. The polluted water is also being used for drinking in downstream areas,
causing numerous water-borne diseases. Latest estimates reveal that total quantity of wastewater produced in
Pakistan is 962,335 million gallons per year including 674,009 million gallons from municipal and 288,326 million
gallons from industrial use. The total wastewater discharged to the major rivers is 392,511 million gallons, which
includes 316,740 million gallons of municipal and 75,771 million gallons of industrial effluents. It has also been
estimated that around 2,000 million gallons of sewage is being discharged to local surface water bodies every.
Global Climate Change: Pakistan ranks 16th on the Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) by Maple Croft,
jumping up 13 positions in one year. German Watch also places Pakistan as the “most affected” country and in top 10
Climate changes are costing the economy $14 billion a year, which is almost 5% of the GDP. According to the Asian
Development Bank, more than 10 million people have been displaced in Pakistan over the last 2 years due to these
climate related disasters. Pakistan’s economy has been crippled heavily by devastating and repetitive floods during
the last decade. In the past 10 years, Pakistan has been hit by floods almost every year. However, the floods of 2010,
2011, and 2014 have emerged as the biggest catastrophes in the country’s history.
Population Growth: Pakistan has one of highest population growth rates in the world and is sixth most populated
countries of the world. The estimated population of Pakistan’s population grew from 31 million in 1951 to about185
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million in 2014. High population growth puts undue pressures on all other national resources, especially the natural
resource capital. Great majority of people living in the rural areas outside of the arable tract have heavy dependence
on natural ecosystems for fuel, forage, and small construction timber. In the mountain areas, rapidly increasing
population and infrastructure development is increasing the incidence of landslides. In addition, the new household
breaks fresh land for agriculture and housing causing loss of biodiversity and habitat fragmentation.
Policy, Planning, and Institutional Failures: The value of biodiversity and ecosystem services, their contribution to
national economy, and potential to alleviate poverty have not been integrated in the national and local planning and
development process. Consequently the environment sector including climate change, biodiversity, forestry and
wildlife receive a very low priority when it comes to resource allocation.. The only year when allocation to environment
rose beyond decimals (1.8%) was 2005-06. The situation is no better for other natural resource management (NRM)
sectors including agriculture, livestock and fisheries. There is no approved national policy for conservation,
sustainable use of biodiversity. The national benefits from biodiversity goods and ecosystem services would far
exceed the costs of protecting conserving and making their sustainable use.
3. National Constitutional and Legal Frameworks
Environmental pollution and ecology was included in the list of subjects on which both federal and provincial
government could legislate, however, under the 18th
constitutional amendment of 2012, it was made the exclusive
domain of the Provincial Assemblies. The Pakistan Environmental Protection Act of1997 (PEPA) had been the key
environmental legislation instrument for the entire country until the 18th
amendment transferred the responsibility of
environmental legislation and management to the provinces. Responding to the need, some of the provinces have
already enacted their provincial environmental protection acts while others are the process of doing so. All the
provincial governments and federating units have laws and regulations governing forestry, wildlife and fisheries.
In order to effectuate the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora 1973, the Pakistan Trade Control of Wild Fauna and Flora Act, 2012 (CITES Act) was promulgated which
extends to whole of Pakistan. It prohibits export, re-export and import of any specimen included in any Appendix of
CITES and fixes punishment for contravention. This law has significant implications for sustainable harvesting of non-
timber forest products, especially medicinal and aromatic plants as it would not only help check unsustainable
harvesting practices but would also encourage the beneficiary communities to make sure that such species are
conserved and protected so that a sustainable use regime could be put in place to take full advantage of such
species.
A legislation to provide for facilitating access to genetic resources and their derivatives for environmentally sound
uses, protecting associated traditional knowledge, equitably sharing benefits derived from them, and promoting
technology transfer and building scientific knowledge and technological capacity associated with them was drafted in
2012. The bill is a legislative requirement under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and
Agriculture (ITPGRFA) to which Pakistan is a Party. The draft bill protects community rights in respect to genetic
resources, i.e., (1) the inalienable right to use their traditional knowledge in their customary ways, (2) the right to
regulate the access to their traditional knowledge, and (3) the right to share the benefits arising out of the utilization of
their traditional knowledge.
4. National Policy Framework
The Pakistan National Conservation Strategy (1992), was the first ever policy framework for biodiversity and
conservation. The NCS had a central influence in mainstreaming environmental and sustainability dimensions in
other policies, plans and strategies, including Pakistan’s Eighth Five-Year Plan, which borrowed heavily from the
NCS in terms of greening its development objectives. The success of NCS prompted interest in developing provincial
and local level conservation strategies. Since then all provinces have developed their conservation or sustainable
development strategies. Although biodiversity considerations started receiving attention in national planning
processes after the NCS, it was not until 2000 that a comprehensive Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) was prepared.
The National Environment Policy 2005 provides an overarching framework for addressing the environmental issues
facing Pakistan, particularly pollution of fresh water bodies and coastal waters, air pollution, lack of proper waste
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management, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, desertification, natural disasters and climate change. The National
Environment Policy, while recognizing the goals and objectives of the National Conservation Strategy, National
Environmental Action Plan and other existing environment related national policies, strategies and action plans,
provides broad guidelines for addressing environmental concerns and ensuring effective management of their
environmental resources at national, provincial, regional and local levels.
The National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS) envisions ‘to evolve a just and harmonious society in the
country through promotion of a vibrant and equitable economic growth without overexploitation of natural resources
with fair distribution of development dividends to all; in particular to the marginalized, poor and vulnerable in the
society and to future generations’. The Strategy is aligned with the emerging concept of ‘green economy’ as an
alternate to the Framework for Economic Growth (2011), prepared by the Planning Commission of Pakistan.
The National Climate Change Policy, approved by the government in 2012 has an overall goal, ‘to ensure that climate
change is mainstreamed in the economically and socially vulnerable sectors of the economy and to steer Pakistan
towards climate resilient development’. One of the major objectives of the policy is conservation of natural resources
and long term sustainability which was further elaborated through specific measures under forestry, biodiversity and
other vulnerable ecosystems. The biodiversity related policy measures included setting National Biodiversity
Indicators and to provide the requisite financial resources for implementation of the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP).
5. Institutional Framework
The Forestry Wing of the Ministry of Climate Change is the national focal point for the CBD. The Directorate of
Biodiversity in the office of the Inspector general of Forests is responsible for coordination with the CBD Secretariat
on one hand and with the national, provincial, regional and local government agencies, and other stakeholders
responsible for implementation of CBD on the other. In the four provinces, State of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK),
Gilgit-Baltistan region, and federally administered tribal areas, departments of the forestry, wildlife, fisheries,
environment, and agriculture and livestock sectors are responsible for the management of these sectors and the
other matters related to biodiversity. The provincial Environment Departments are responsible for providing and
enforcing environmental impact assessment guidelines for all economic development projects, regulating industrial
and municipal pollution.
Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) has in recent years started work on agro-biodiversity and in addition
hosts the only Plant Genetic Center in the country. In addition, the provincial governments have established many
field research stations for in-situ conservation of important varieties and land races of crops and breeds of major
indigenous breeds. The biodiversity research and education is still in its infancy and only a couple of universities
have started to do research and included biodiversity in their curriculum. The in-situ conservation potential of
zoological and botanical gardens is not being fully utilized.
International conservation organizations like the International union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World
Wildlife Fund (WWF) have played a significant role in creating awareness, building capacity, policy development and
jointly implementing new generation of biodiversity conservation projects.
II. INATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY: PRINCIPLES, PRIORITIES AND TARGETS
6. Biodiversity Awareness
People are often the cause of loss of biodiversity being unaware of their role in creating it, and need for its
conservation and sustainable use. Therefore awareness is the first point at which they gain basic information about
the loss of biodiversity and its consequences for their own well-being, and how others solving the problem. Change
takes time, and simply getting the world out is not going to have an impact on biodiversity conservation. Therefore
well planned and targeted efforts will be required to obtain commitment and cooperation of the people who use it and
those who are responsible for making the national policies and plans. The following strategies and actions are
contemplated to make people aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use it
sustainably:
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Strategy 1. The mass media especially the print and audio-visual media shall be mobilized to create public
awareness of the values of biodiversity and consequences of its loss.
Action:
1) Capacity of the Biodiversity Directorate will be strengthened by 2016 to implement a well-planned
biodiversity education and communication strategy to create public awareness of the value of
biodiversity, and target high level policy makers, planners and administrators in selected important
development sectors that impact or depend on components of biodiversity, and the business
sector. (ABT 1)
2) A focus group comprising of ‘opinion leaders’ representing print and audio-visual media shall be
constituted to prepare and implementing a communication strategy and action plan by 2016 to
engage the media for implementing NBSAP. (ABT 1)
3) A cadre of environmental journalists who act as ‘biodiversity champions’ for print media shall be
created by 2017 and supported to contribute articles to print media, produce audio messages for
radio, and video clips for TV. (ABT 1)
Strategy 2. The knowledge and values of biodiversity and the consequences of its loss will be introduced in
the curricula of schools, colleges and universities
Action: A task forces comprising of CBD Focal Point, Ministries of Education and Science and Technology,
and Food Security will be constituted by 2017 to incorporate biodiversity in curriculum of universities,
colleges and schools. (ABT
7. Mainstreaming Biodiversity
The objectives of the Convention would be difficult to meet until consideration of biodiversity is fully mainstreamed in
the national policies and plans. The conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity needs to be integrated in both
cross-sectoral plans such as sustainable development: poverty reduction, climate change adaptation/mitigation,
trade and international cooperation, and in sector-specific plans such as agriculture, fisheries, forestry, mining,
energy, tourism, transport and others.. Mainstreaming does not mean creating parallel and artificial processes and
systems, but about integrating biodiversity into existing sectoral and cross-sectoral structures, processes and
systems. The hope is that mainstreaming will help all sectors recognize the value of biodiversity and ecosystem
services and act to maximize the positive and minimize the negative impacts of human activities on biodiversity. To
gain this cooperation with stakeholders and to place biodiversity on the agenda of other Ministries, other levels of
government or other sectors in society, a range of communication, education and awareness interventions are
needed. The following strategies and actions are contemplated to mainstreaming biodiversity values:
Strategy : A well-planned continuous dialogue will be initiated with high level policy makers, planners and
administrators at central and regional levels) in important development and business sectors that impact or
depend on components of biodiversity.
Actions:
1) The revised NBSAP will be adopted by 2015, as a policy instrument by the national, provincial and
regional governments and implementation and monitoring mechanisms shall be put in place. (ABT
17).
2) A support group comprising of ‘opinion leaders’ from among the policy makers and planners will be
constituted by 2016, to prepare and implement a strategy for increasing the biodiversity knowledge
of decision makers and act as a change agent through informal communications. (ABT 2)
3) The capacity of National School of Public Policy (NSPP), National Institute of Management (NIM),
National Defense College, and Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Studies (PIPS) will be built by
2017, to incorporate biodiversity consideration in their training courses for decision makers of mid-
career and senior managerial levels. (ABT 2)
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4) Studies shall be commissioned by 2017 in selected ecosystems to demonstrate the value of
biodiversity and provide a basis for dialogue initiated with the Ministry of Finance for inclusion of
biodiversity in national accounting and reporting systems. (ABT 2)
5) The financial resources from all sources will be mobilized by 2018, for a substantial increase from
the current levels for effective implementation of the NBSAP (ABT 20)
6) A dialogue will be initiated by 2017with the Planning Commission, and Ministries of Food Security,
Science and Technology, Culture and Tourism, for integration of biodiversity considerations into
their policies and plans. (ABT 2)
7) A national consensus will be built by 2018 for signing the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic
Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization. (ABT 16).
8. Terrestrial Ecosystems
The natural habitats are comprised of 17 different vegetation types with many endemic species of flora and fauna and
a large number of relatives of crops found in the wild. Two terrestrial ecosystems of Pakistan are of global
biodiversity significance and included in the list of global 200 priority ecosystems of the Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment. These are: (a) Western Himalayan Temperate Forests and (b) Tibetan Plateau Steppe.. A large area
of natural habitats throughout the country comprising of unsettled lands have no management in place and
uncontrolled grazing and collection of fuelwood, breaking of land for cultivation, and indiscriminate hunting has
caused large scale land degradation and loss of productivity. The wildlife, primarily game species, has historically
received legal protection since the time of British rule. A system of game reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, and national
parks was initiated in 1974 and since then the numbers of such areas have steadily increased.
Protected areas are established to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services
and cultural values. The protected area list of Pakistan is comprised of all game reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, and
national parks spread over approximately 11% of the area of Pakistan. The protected area system review of 2000
found that many protected areas of Pakistan do not meet the globally accepted criteria, and a study undertaken in
2012 found many representation, ecological and management gaps in the protected area system of Pakistan. In
order to fill these gaps, implement the CBD programme of work on protected areas, and achieve the Aitch
Biodiversity targets, following strategies and actions are proposed.
Strategy 1. The institutional and regulatory framework will be improved to address the challenges of the
21st century for conservation of biodiversity, its sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits.
Actions:
1) Institutional effectiveness and efficiency of the Directorate of Biodiversity shall be enhanced by
2017 to ensure effective management and monitoring of the biodiversity resources. (ABT 17).
2) A biodiversity conservation policy shall be formulated, and adopted by 2017. (ABT 17)
3) A policy and guidelines for trade in species of flora and fauna including those listed on CITES
appendices shall be prepared and widely disseminated by 2017. (ABT 12)
Strategy 2. The natural habitats will be conserved through the expansion and effective management of a
network of protected areas and integrated with the landscapes through community empowerment.
Actions:
1) A national list of protected areas comprised of only those sites that meet the internationally
recognized definition of a protected area shall be prepared by 2016. (ABT 11)
2) The protected areas network shall be expanded by 2018 to complete representation of ecosystems
and habitats especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity. (ABT 11)
3) An integrated landscape management pilot project will be launched by 2018 in at least three
different sites of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem service to test the efficacy of
positive incentives that would significantly reduce and ultimately halt the degradation and
fragmentation of areas. (ABT 3)
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Strategy 3. The knowledge, the science base and technologies relating to biodiversity, its values,
functioning, status and trends will be improved and conservation status of known threatened species will be
improved
Action:
1) Pakistan’s natural habitats will be defined and mapped by 2016 for assessing the biodiversity
status and to identify conservation priorities and opportunities. (ABT 19).
2) Recovery plans are prepared and implementation to improve the conservation status of at least six
selected threatened faunal species. (ABT 12).
9. Forest Ecosystems
There is no credible data of forest cover in Pakistan. The official statistics of forest area represent the physical area
and not the forest cover. The Economic Survey of Pakistan (2001-02) shows that forest area has increased over time,
from 3.46 million ha in 1990 to 3.79 million ha in 2002. In contrast, FAO in State of Forests (2001), reported the total
forest area of Pakistan (sum of natural forests plus forest plantation) decreased from 2.75 million ha in 1990 to 2.36
million ha in 2000 or a 1.5% an annual rate of deforestation over a ten year period. The Global Forest Watch
initiative of the World Resources Institute (WRI) has reported that Pakistan lost 10,000 ha of forest between the years
2000 to 2012 and gained less than 1000 ha in the same period in the form of plantations.
Irrespective of the differences in reports on forest area or forest cover, one thing is obvious that the forestry capital of
Pakistan is relatively small and the forest cover is shrinking due both to deforestation and degradation. Under the
United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in 2005, Pakistan committed to increase its forest cover from
4.8 to 6.0 % by 2015. Pakistan is obligated to report on the status of forests in a transparent manner to various
international conventions and UN agencies. A wide variety of medicinal plants grow in abundance in temperate
forests of western Himalayan and Hindukush mountain ranges. A survey by Pakistan Forest Institute (1989), reported
that 500 tons of medicinal plants are produced in Hazara and Malakand, 16 tons in Murree Hills, 38 tons in Azad
Kashmir and about 24 tons in Gilgit-Baltistan. These plants are collected from the wild, dried and processed and sold
in the local markets or exported to other countries. The following strategies and actions are proposed to implement
the CBD Programme of Work on Forest Biological Diversity and contribute to the implementation of Aichi Biodiversity
Targets 2011-2020.
Strategy 1. An enabling institutional environment will be created for mainstream biodiversity considerations
in the forestry sector policy and planning processes so as to provide a sound basis for conservation and
sustainable use of forest biodiversity.
Actions:
1) A baseline of the health (deforestation) and condition (degradation) of forests and its impact on
biodiversity and ecosystem services will be established by 2017, using a GIS based system and
monitored at regular intervals. (ABT 5)
2) Forest and forest-related laws and regulations will be reviewed by 2018 to provide a sound basis
for conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity. (ABT 7)
Strategy 2. The forest biological diversity including the ecosystem services shall be protected and restored
through adoption of an ecosystem approach for management of all types of forests.
Actions:
1) Representative forest areas of special importance for biodiversity will be designated as Forest
Biodiversity Reserves by 2016 and effectively managed integrating with the wider landscapes.
(ABT 11)
2) Suitable ecosystem approaches will be developed by 2016 for different forest types; and training
workshops held for managers for their application. (ABT 7)
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3) A project will be developed by 2017 and implemented for piloting and demonstrating the ecosystem
approach in three different forest ecosystems and exchange related information nationally and
regionally (ABT 7).
4) The Code for the preparation of management plans shall be revised by 2018 to incorporate the
ecosystem approaches for sustainable management of forests and biodiversity (ABT 7).
5) Landscapes that provide essential services related to water for major dams, and contribute to
health; livelihoods and well-being of local communities will be restored by 2020 and safeguarded.
(ABT 14)
Strategy 3. The knowledge, the science base and technologies relating to forest biodiversity, its values,
functioning, status and trends will be improved to prevent loss of forest biodiversity, and mitigation measures
adopted including by reforming the rights and concessions of local people.
Actions:
1) A forest classification system will be developed and maps prepared by 2016, using agreed
international standards compatible with remote sensing technologies that include broad indicators
of forest biodiversity. (ABT 19)
2) A pilot project will be launched by 2017 in different ecosystems to test collaborative forest
management approaches for reducing the anthropogenic impacts and developing livelihoods of
local people based on sustainable use of components of the biodiversity. (ABT 7)
3) Joint forest management projects will be developed and implemented by 2017 for carbon
sequestration through reforestation of at least 15,000 ha of forests and 5,000 ha of community
forests (ABT 15)
10. Inland and Coastal Wetland Ecosystems
The inland water ecosystems of Pakistan comprise of streams, rivers, numerous natural lakes, manmade reservoirs,
Indus river delta and wetland complexes of the Indus basin. Other than the Indus River system, there are some small
rivers in Balochistan province such as the Hub River, Gudri River, and the Nal River, all of which drain into the
Arabian Sea on the Makran coast. Pakistan has some wetlands that are of global biodiversity significance and are
included in the list of global 200 priority ecosystems of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. These are: Rann of
Kiehh, and Indus Delta. Around 225 places have been identified and listed as significant wetland sites, which are
distributed all over the Pakistan from sea coast in the south to high mountains in the north. Of the major wetlands,
only 46 sites have some sort of protected status in the form of national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and game reserves.
Pakistan ratified the Ramsar Convention in 1975 and 15 wetlands of international importance have been designated
as Ramsar Sites.
The streams and rivers are not only the lifeline of agriculture and hydropower generation, but also provide livelihoods
to thousands of people through artisan fisheries, and serve as a refuge for large numbers of wintering migratory birds.
Pakistan has more than 670 species of birds, of which one third are water birds, with most of these being migratory
species, including geese, ducks, swans, waders and other water birds. Pakistan is a range country of the Central
Asian Flyway (CAF). The rivers, manmade reservoirs, canals are managed for irrigation and hydropower generation
by the Water and Power Development Authority respectively. The fishing and hunting are regulated by the Fisheries
Department and Wildlife Departments. All these agencies act independently without and coordination. Overfishing,
and use of destructive fishing methods including illegal nets, and dynamite and poison fishing are other serious
threats. A draft policy for conservation and sustainable use wetlands biodiversity was prepared in 2010, but has not
been approved as yet. The following strategies and actions are designed to implement the CBD programme of Work
“Inland Water Ecosystems” and Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
Strategy 1. Conservation of fish and other aquatic organisms, and equitable sharing of benefits shall be
ensured through sustainable management of fisheries by incorporating biodiversity considerations in the
legal, regulatory and policy frameworks of coastal and marine fisheries sectors.
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Actions
1) A mechanism will be created by 2016for coordination among agencies responsible for managing
water, fish, and wildlife resources in wetlands. (ABT 6)
2) The inland Fisheries laws and regulations will be updated and appropriate policy instruments
formulated by 2017 to incorporate biodiversity considerations, and equitable sharing of benefits
from sustainable fisheries. (ABT 6)
3) A baseline survey will be undertaken by 2017 to assess the biodiversity of key inland wetlands and
establish a system to monitor the status of species most in decline at regular intervals (ABT 19).
4) At least 7 major inland wetlands of national biodiversity significance shall be declared protected
areas by 2019 and together with the surrounding terrestrial areas managed effectively. (ABT 11)
5) The institutional capacity of fisheries departments will be strengthened by 2016 for effective
enforcement of laws against illegal and destructive fishing practices. (ABT 6)
Strategy 2. Appropriate measures shall be taken to prevent the introduction of freshwater invasive species
and control their spread to other areas, and where feasible, invasive alien species will be eradicated in
habitats of significant biological diversity.
Actions
1) The pathways for spread of alien freshwater species from hatcheries and aquaculture into natural
habitats will be studied by 2017 and appropriate controls will be put in place to control their spread.
(ABT 9).
2) Studies will be undertaken by 2020 to assess the impact of alien freshwater species in selected In
natural habitats of biodiversity significance. (ABT 9)
Strategy 3. The objectives of sustainable management of fisheries and aquaculture, and equitable sharing
of benefits are achieved through strengthening capacity of all stakeholders.
Actions
1) A procedure shall be designed by 2017 and implemented for sustainable harvest of inland fish
stock for minimizing impacts on threatened species and vulnerable habitats. (ABT 6)
2) The capacity of all stakeholders shall be built by 2017 for conservation of biodiversity and
sustainable management of inland aquatic habitats. (ABT 6)
3) Plans will be prepared by 2017 and implemented for recovery of depleted freshwater fish species.
(ABT 12)
11. Coastal and Marine Ecosystems
The biodiversity of Arabian Sea is of global biodiversity significance and is included in the Global 200 Priority
Ecosystem. The marine fisheries are a direct source of livelihood for over a million people comprising more than
125,000 households. There are approximately 15,000 fishing vessels of various sizes ranging from small to medium-
sized boats, large launches and trawlers engaged in fishing. The boats are used for fishing in creeks and within the
12-mile territorial limit which falls under provincial jurisdiction. The larger launches go into deeper waters on extended
fishing excursions. Most of the fish catch is exported with little value addition. The species exported are mainly shrimp
(65%) and the rest are Indian mackerel, ribbon-fish, tuna, sole and crab. Over-fishing, including during the breeding
season (June–August), has led to a steep decline in shrimp catches. Sardines are caught as trash fish and converted
into chicken feed.
The Indus Delta is heavily polluted by a variety of industrial effluents, sewage, solid waste, and nutrient-enriched
irrigation water. Progressive upstream diversion of Indus waters and the gradual depletion of freshwater discharges
and accompanying reduction in silt load is increasing salinity in Indus delta. A 20 km stretch of beaches in Hawkes
Bay and Sandspit are nesting grounds of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys
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xv
olivacea). In Balochistan, there are three major green turtle nesting sites: Ormara, Astola (Haft Talar) Island (a small,
uninhabited island about 6 km in length) and the Jiwani. Marine turtles in Pakistan face multiple threats, of which the
major threats are egg predation and incidental catch in fishing craft. Other threats include depredation on green turtle
hatchlings by sea gulls, crows, foxes, jackals and stray dogs takes an additional toll
Climate change threatens the coastal communities in Pakistan due to lack of coastal resilience to cyclones. The
Climate Risk Index (CRI) for 2012 ranked Pakistan at number 8 as the most affected country by climate change, and
its impact could drive the already economically unstable country further into poverty. The adaptation to changing
ocean conditions, marine fisheries need to be healthy by reducing overfishing and bycatch. Establishment of
protected areas can benefit both fisheries and tourism by preserving important spots of marine biodiversity and fish
spawning grounds. The following strategies and actions are designed to implement the CBD programme of Work
“Coastal Areas and Marine Ecosystems” and Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
Strategy 1. The coastal and marine biodiversity shall be conserved and made resilient to climate change
through a system of protected areas, and specific conservation measures aimed at recovery of populations
of species most in decline.
Actions
1) At least three major coastal and marine protected areas will be established by 2017 integrating
these in the wider landscapes and seascapes and managed effectively in an equitable manner on
an ecosystem based approach. (ABT 11)
2) The population of known threatened marine species particularly of those most in decline shall be
monitored regularly starting 106 and remedial measures taken to improve and sustain their
population (ABT 12).
3) By 2020, the number of operating fleets will be capped to about 3,000 along Balochistan and 4,000
along Sindh coast. (ABT 6)
4) At least 1,500 fishing boats will be modified by 2020 to improve the outdated fishing methods. (ABT
6)
5) A Climate Change Adaptation Plans will be prepared by 2018 for the coastal areas and capacity of
coastal communities developed to cope with the impacts of climate change. (ABT 10)
Startegy 2. The coastal and marine biodiversity resources will be conserved and used in a sustainable
manner through capacity development of coastal fishing communities.
Actions
1) A pilot project shall be prepared by 2017 and implemented to develop and test approaches to
organize, empower, and build capacity of at least five different coastal communities for sustainable
harvested of all fish and invertebrate stocks. (ABT 6)
2) All mangrove forests shall be managed by 2018 on ecosystem approach under plans prepared and
implemented jointly with custodial communities for restoration of degraded mangroves and their
sustainable use. (ABT 5)
3) Indus delta will be sustainably managed through collaborative management by 2018 to conserve
biodiversity and make sustainable use to safeguard the livelihoods and well-being of local
communities. (ABT 14)
Strategy 3. The coastal and marine fisheries regulatory and institutional framework will be improved to
address the challenges of the 21st century for conservation of biodiversity, its sustainable use and equitable
sharing of benefits
Actions:
1) Laws, regulations, and policies shall be updated or formulated by 2016 incorporating biodiversity
concerns and effective management of coastal and marine fisheries on sound ecological basis and
to prevent threat of extinction of utilized species. (ABT 6)
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2) Institutional effectiveness and efficiency of the Sindh and Balochistan Fisheries Departments and
Directorate of Marine fisheries shall be enhanced by 2020 to ensure effective management and
monitoring of the coastal and marine biodiversity (ABT 4
12. Agrobiodiversity
Pakistan has diverse agro climatic conditions and a good natural resource base for agriculture. The vision of
government is to have an efficient and competitive sustainable agriculture ensuring food security, and with ability to
contribute to the economic development for Pakistan. The country has a rich indigenous crop diversity with an
estimated 3,000 taxa of cultivated plants and around 500 wild relatives of cultivated crops. The northern and western
Pakistan comprises one of the world centers on the origin and diversity of cultivated plants (BAP, 2000). Many wild
and local cultivars survived in Pakistan up to the era of the Green Revolution and after the introduction of high-yield
varieties, local cultivars are rare to find on farms. Recognizing the importance of preserving crop genetic diversity, the
government started collecting indigenous plant germ plasm in the early 1970s and today there are over 15,600 germ
plasm accessions.
The Indian subcontinent was one of the first places to domesticate cattle, buffalo and chicken. Pakistan now has two
breeds of buffalo, eight of cattle, one of yak, 25 of goat, 28 of sheep, one of horse, four of camel, and three of
indigenous poultry. The pure-bred animals are believed to constitute only 20-25% of the cattle population. Of the
sheep breeds, 14 are thick-tailed and 14 thin-tailed. Almost 75-80% of Pakistan’s domestic livestock breeds are
derivatives of established breeds and the proportion of ‘non-descript’ livestock to pure stock is on the increase (BAP
2000).
The focus of agricultural policies in Pakistan has been maximization of yields through introduction of improved
varieties of crops, use of agrochemicals and exotic breeds of livestock and poultry, and artificial insemination and
cross breeding are the common factors that are eroding the natural heritage of agro biodiversity. Pakistan is the 10th
most vulnerable country to climate change, and it is likely to impact the farming systems in Pakistan. The impact will
be more pronounced in mountains and arid regions where agriculture depends on rainfall. Therefore, traditional crops
and varieties will be require as coping strategies for adaptation to changing conditions and sustaining rural peoples'
livelihoods. In order address these issues and to contribute to CBD programme of work on agrobiodiversity, and
implement Aichi Biodiversity Targets 2010-2020, the following strategies and actions are proposed.
Strategy 1. Appropriate policy and legal measures shall be adopted to promote the positive and mitigate the
negative impacts of agriculture on biodiversity and wellbeing of the people.
Actions:
1) The agriculture policy shall be reviewed, and appropriate rules and regulations framed by 2017 to
conserve genetic diversity of crops, fruits and farmed animals, and to prevention of the introduction
and eradication of Invasive alien species (ABT 13).
2) The knowledge on agrobiodiversity shall be incorporated by 2018 in the curriculum of agriculture
universities, and extension and research work plans of agriculture and livestock sectors. (ABT 1)
Strategy 2. A comprehensive assessment shall be undertaken of the status and trends of the local varieties
of crops and breeds of the domestic animals including the local knowledge of management of agro
biodiversity, and measures initiated for in-situ and ex-situ conservation.
Actions:
1) The diversity of local varieties of crops, fruits, and breeds of livestock and poultry and local
knowledge of their management shall be documented by 2017 and disseminated. (ABT 18)
2) The gaps in the in-situ and ex-situ conservation of the agro biodiversity shall be assessed by 2017
and measures taken to fill the gaps. (ABT 13)
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Strategy 3: Promote management practices, and policies that mitigate the negative impacts of agriculture
on biodiversity, and enhance productivity to sustain livelihoods, through the multiple goods and services
provided by the different levels and functions of agricultural biodiversity.
Actions:
1) Appropriate models of sustainable agriculture ensuring conservation of agrobiodiversity shall be
developed by 2019 and tested in at least five different agro-ecological zones (ABT 7)
2) An outreach programme developed and launched to raise awareness the farmers and their
organizations regarding the value of agrobiodiversity and the need for its conservation. (ABT 19)
13. Environmental Protection
Pakistan Environmental Protection Council (PEPC); was responsible to take measures to promote research and the
development of science and technology which may contribute to the prevention of pollution. protection of the
environment, and sustainable development. However, after the 18th amendment in the constitution, the functions of
Pak-EPA were delegated to the provinces. The following strategies and actions are proposed to be taken for
implementation of Aichi Biodiversity targets.
Strategy: The environmental laws and regulations shall be strictly enforced to control pollution and ensure
major economic development projects do not contribute to loss of biodiversity
Actions:
1) The professional and operational capacity of Environment Departments will be strengthened by
2020 to enforce environmental laws and regulations especially safeguarding critical biodiversity
habitats and well-being of people. (ABT 8)
2) Studies will be commissioned to assess water pollution and its impact on habitats of special
biodiversity significance by 2016 and measures will be taken to control it to safe levels. (ABT 8)
3) At least 25 percent of the regular development budget will be dedicated for the implementation of
the NBSAP targets. (ABT 20
4) Projects will be prepared by 206 to seek bilateral and multilateral donor support for fully achieving
the NBSAP targets. (ABT 20)
III. IMPLEMENTATION, MONITORING, AND EVALUATION
A strategic plan, no matter how good it is, will not achieve the desired results if sits on the shelf. Effective
implementation will require working with and building capacity of the stakeholders at national, provincial, regional and
local levels; communicating and reaching out to mainstream biodiversity values in the policy and planning processes,
and for people to conserve and use it sustainably; and mobilizing resources for its implementation.
14. Implementation of NBSAP
The main implementation responsibility will rest with various biodiversity related sectors in the national, provincial and
regional level considering their constitutional mandate. However, most stakeholders lack an understanding of the
biodiversity and its values and therefore building their capacity for implementation of the NBSAP will be crucial for the
achievements of the results. This will first require strengthening capacity of the Directorate of Biodiversity, Ministry of
Climate Change which will then build capacity of other stakeholders through a serious of thematic workshops to
increase their knowledge of biodiversity, the exchange of experience, enhance their understanding of the NBSAP,
and train them in the use of relevant tools and mechanisms. The workshops will provide an opportunity for the
stakeholders to identify ways and means of overcoming challenges in the implementation of NBSAP.
15. Communication and Outreach Strategy
Pakistan is the sixth most populous countries of the world, faced with the challenge of meeting the basic
socioeconomic needs of the people and building basic physical infrastructure for coping with the needs of growing
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population. Therefore, to prevent unintended negative consequences of policy decisions on biodiversity, it is
important that there must be a clear understanding of the values of nature and presenting sectors. Suitable training
modules will be developed and delivered in the training programmes for senior policy makers, planners and
parliamentarians at the National School of Public Policy (NSPP), National Institute of Management (NIM), National
Defense College, and Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Studies (PIPS). In addition to training, mass and informal
communication resources shall be mobilized for raising awareness and mainstreaming of biodiversity. .
16. Plan for Resource Mobilization
Many actions of the NBSAP to achieve Aichi Biodiversity Targets will either neatly fit or will be accommodated in the
existing development budget of various biodiversity related sectors at the national, provincial and regional levels.
Simultaneously additional sources of funding shall be explored through innovative mechanisms available in the
Ministry of Climate Change (MoC), and other on-going donor projects, for example, project for REDD+
Readiness, the
System for Transparent Allocation of Resources (STAR) allocation under the Global Environmental Facility, etc. In
addition, bi-lateral and multilateral donor support shall be solicited to meet the short fall in the financial resources for
achieving the ABTs in an effectively and timely manner.
17. National Coordination Mechanisms
The Ministry of Climate Change shall have the overall responsibility of coordinating implementation of the NBSAP
through its Directorate of Biodiversity. The implementing partners will be the relevant ministries at the national level,
the provincial and regional governments and major international conservation organizations like IUCN and WWF.
Because of the diversity of sub-sectors at provincial and regional level, the Planning and Development or its
designated Department shall be a focal point for the CBD, coordinate among various stakeholders and act as a
liaison with the MoC. For the purpose of coordination with the implementing partners a Steering Committee shall be
established which shall meet at least once every year.
18. Clearing-House Mechanism
The government of Pakistan in collaboration with WWF-Pakistan with the support of GEF and UNEP launched
Clearing House Mechanism website on the occasion of International day of Forest on March 7, 2013. It contained
useful information of biodiversity in Pakistan, and measures implemented to conserve and make sustainable use of
biodiversity. However, the website remained active only for a short time because funding for its hosting expired, and
since then it is has been off line. The opportunities for finding a suitable host for the CHM are being explored and it is
hoped it will be functional and updated soon.
19. Monitoring and Evaluation
The progress on the implementation of the NBSAP shall be monitored on an annual basis through a flexible
framework of indicators keeping in view the national circumstances and priorities. A framework of indicators was
developed based on indicative list of indicators contained in the annex to the CBD decision XI/3. The monitoring will
not only measure progress towards the achievement of NBSAPs and national targets, but also help in identification of
implementation issues, and in adaptive management for effective implementation of NBSAP. An independent mid-
term evaluation shall be commissioned, subject to availability of funds, to review the implementation of NBSAP and
make recommendation for achieving the national targets in an effective and timely manner. Final evaluation of
NBSAP will be combined with the preparation of 6th
National report.
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Figure 1. Map of Pakistan. (Source: http://geology.com/world/pakistan-satellite-image.shtml)
I. INTRODUCTION
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1. Context
A World Conservation Strategy (WCS) was launched by The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN in
1980 as a blue print to halt and reverse the rapid deterioration in the condition of earth’s living resources. The WCS
urged the preparation of national conservation strategies to focus attention on priority areas, raise public
consciousness, and to overcome apathy and resistance. Pakistan (Figure 1) was among a few countries that
responded to WCS and prepare in 1991 the National Conservation Strategy: where we are, where we should be, and
how to get there.
Pakistan was among the 150 countries that signed the Convention on Biological Diversity at the 1992 Rio Earth
Summit, and ratified it in 1994. National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) are the principal
instruments for implementing the Convention at the national level (Article 6). The Convention requires countries to
prepare a national biodiversity strategy and action plan and ensure that this strategy is mainstreamed into the
planning and activities of all those sectors whose activities have an impact on biodiversity. A Biodiversity Action Plan
of Pakistan was drafted in 1999 and approved by the Pakistan Environment Protection Council in the year 2000.
The Conference of the Parties (CoP) to the Convention in their meeting held In April 2002, committed themselves to
achieve a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level by 2010
as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth. In order to achieve the 2010 targets, the
COP established seven thematic programmes of work corresponding to some of the major biomes on the planet. The
programmes included a
vision, guiding principles,
potential outputs, and
suggest a timetable for
implementation.
The Parties to the
Convention in its second meeting held in Jakarta in November 1995, called for the preparation of a periodic report on
biological diversity: the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO) to provide a summary of the status of biological diversity.
The third GBO reported that the 2010 Biodiversity Target was not met and biodiversity continues to be lost,
ecosystems are degraded, and the consequent decline in ecosystem services threatens to undermine human well-
being. Against this background, COP-10 held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, in October 2010, adopted the Strategic Plan
for Biodiversity 2011-2020 with five strategic objectives and 20 “Aichi Biodiversity Targets” (annex 1). The Parties
further agreed to translate this overarching international framework into revised and updated national biodiversity
strategies and action plans. The status of implementation of the 2010 targets in Pakistan was reviewed in the Fourth
National Report (2009), and review of BAP and Aichi Biodiversity Targets was done in the Fifth National Report
(2014). The review found that while some progress was made on the Programmes of Work and ABTs, the
ecosystems and habitats continue to degrade and loss of ecosystem services threatens the economic well-being and
health of the people of Pakistan. The purpose of the revision of National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan is to
establishment national targets in line with the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and their integration into national and local
development and poverty reduction strategies and planning processes.
2. Values of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the country and their contribution to human well-being –
The term biodiversity or ecosystem services refers to a set of benefits that fall into three distinct economic categories:
(i) “goods” (products obtained for direct consumption or as inputs for industry, such as resource harvests, and genetic
material that contribute to the variety of crops and animal breeding); (ii) “services” (recreational and tourism benefits
or certain ecological regulatory functions, such as water purification, climate or pollution regulation, erosion control);
and (iii) cultural benefits (scientific knowledge, spiritual and religious feelings, heritage…). Apart from these actual
benefits, biodiversity plays a significant role as a safety net in our changing world, especially for climate change and
for the most vulnerable human populations whose subsistence depends directly upon productive ecosystems. There
are no two opinions that human activities threaten ecosystems and biodiversity and degradation of this natural capital
threatens human well-being. The Millennium Assessment report also highlighted the links between ecosystem
The biological diversity is about more than plants, animals and
microorganisms and their ecosystems – it is about people and our need for
food security, medicines, fresh air and water, shelter, and a clean and
healthy environment in which to live. (Convention on Biological Diversity)
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services and the elements that contribute to human well-being. The economists have developed a conceptual
framework, which aims at measuring the Total Economic Value (TEV) of the environmental services for the purpose
of communicating the beneficial use of ecosystems services to increase public awareness and policy makers’
interests in biodiversity conservation.
There has been little work on the valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in Pakistan, and even if more
studies were undertaken, environment is not likely to receive priority in Pakistan due to the multitude of socio-
economic problems - burgeoning population, rampant poverty, high illiteracy, internal and external security threats
and heavily dependence on external economic assistance. However, felt needs to improve ecosystem services have
at times attracted the attention of the government to act. The prime example is the investments in integrated
watershed management in the catchment of Mangla and Tarbela Dams to reduce siltation and increase their useful
life. The torrential rains in northern Pakistan during September 1992 and subsequent devastating floods prompted
the federal cabinet to impose a ban on logging in natural forest which remained in effect for more than two decades.
On a smaller note,
adverse impacts of
deforestation on
livelihoods of camel
herders prompted political
action in Balochistan to
halt deforestation and
carryout afforestation.
3. Analysis of the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss
Land degradation and desertification are serious issues in Pakistan and main cause of loss of agricultural productivity
and biodiversity. Unfortunately, no serious effort is being made to tackle these problems in the country. The main
causes for loss of biodiversity remain the same as were described in the Biodiversity Action Plan (2000). Although
since then conservation efforts have created some islands of success, vast majority of ecosystems continue to
degrade, habitats continue to be lost, and many species continue to face the extinction threat. Habitat fragmentation
and loss poses a serious threat to biodiversity in all biomes and has advanced to such an extent that even corridors
to connect the network of protected areas do not exist. Consequently many populations of species are confined to
isolated small pockets. Habitat loss coupled with over exploitation of selected species for trade, food and sport have
resulted in extinction of some species from the wild and many more are threatened with extinction. Lists of
endangered species of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and plants are given in annex 2.
3. 1. Land Use - Degradation and Desertification
Total land area of Pakistan is 79,095 Km2 and percentage of
major land uses are shown in figure 2. Land use planning is
almost nonexistent in Pakistan and consequently the impact of
land degradation and desertification on national economy is
not well documented. A recent review of the knowledge on
land degradation (Khan et al, 2012), reported water erosion,
wind erosion, depletion of soil fertility, deforestation,
unsustainable livestock grazing and water logging to be the
major causes of land degradation that were being further
aggravated by water scarcity, frequent droughts and
mismanagement of land. It is estimated that water logging
affects 11 million ha, and another five million ha are affected by
Salinity and sodicity. There is no accurate assessment of area
affected by water and wind erosion.
Changes in the land use are a major cause of land degradation and loss of biodiversity. Breaking of new lands in
high rain fall mountainous areas and faulty agricultural practices in monsoon belt are major factors accelerating water
erosion. High rates of soil erosion in the catchment of Tarbela and Mangla Dams has reduced the useful life of the
It is not the valuation of ecosystem services but the felt needs
that influence the policy makers in developing countries to
invest resources for the conservation of natural capital –
biodiversity.
Figure 2. Major land uses in Pakistan.
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4
dams with serious consequences in terms of acute power shortages, and of irrigation water. Conversion of flood
plains to agriculture has not only contributed to loss of valuable wetland habitats, but also exacerbated the damage
from floods. Semiarid lands are also subjected to heavy soil erosion, due primarily to faulty cropping practices,
overgrazing and deforestation. Arid lands and deserts have suffered from wind erosion caused of loss of vegetation
cover. The irrigated areas are infested with the twin-menace of water logging and salinity. The fossil water in arid
Baluchistan plateau is being heavily mined for agriculture. The arid coastal lands and mangrove forests are under
increased environmental stress caused by reduced fresh water flows, sewage and industrial pollution.
3. 2. Deforestation
The forest cover estimates for Pakistan vary
between 2.2 – 2.4% and other wooded areas
occupy another 1.8. It is estimated that Pakistan
has lost an average of 41,100 hectares of forest per
year which amounts to an average annual
deforestation rate of 1.63% (source: FAO in
mongabay.com). In total, between 1990 and 2010,
the country lost 41.3% of its forest cover, or around
946,000 hectares (Figure 2). However, the
plantation area increased by 18.6% or around
106,000 ha during the same period. Measuring the
total rate of habitat conversion (change in forest area
plus change in woodland area minus net plantation
expansion) for the 1990-2010 period, Pakistan lost
33.2% or about 840,000 ha of its forest and woodland habitat.
3. 3. Land Tenure and Usufruct Rights
There is a general perception that over population and imprudent behavior of people living near forests is the cause
of deforestation. Deforestation is a multidimensional and complex process and result of a number of direct and
indirect causes. In the pre-colonial India, ownership over resources was predominantly communal and generally all
land was considered to be the property of the ruler who claimed absolute ownership and people only had usufruct
rights.
The land settlement process started around the middle of the nineteenth century under the British rule. The
government used the ‘monarchical claim’ to establish its control over land, granted propriety rights over cultivated
lands to the farmers, set aside some lands for shared needs of the community, took management control over many
forests, and vast areas of natural vegetation with little commercial value were not assigned any title. The
government’s attempts to demarcate forests were met with resistance and exacerbated the social conflict between
the state and the people. The government left the disputed forests out of the reserve category and constituted
another category of forests “Protected Forests” for these disputed areas and also designated some forests s “Guzara
Forests” to meet the timber needs of local communities.
The Protected and Guzara Forests where people had rights are managed by the government which also administers
exercise of rights by local people, which has been a major source of conflict resulting in retaliatory deforestation and
degradation of forests. The government ban on logging after torrential rains of 1992 had further fueled the conflict
between right holders and the government control and accelerated pace of forest degradation. Fortunately the ban
was lifted recently and hopes the local communities and government start making a sustainable use of these forests.
Also, there is very heavy grazing in these forests and consequently natural regeneration fails to take place after
logging
3. 4. Grazing
Figure 3. Change in forest cover in Pakistan 1990 - 2010.
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5
More than 60 percent of arid and semiarid lands
of Pakistan cannot be cultivated or planted due to
topographic and climatic factors and absence of
irrigation water. Except for alpine pastures in the
northern mountainous region, 85% of the
rangelands receive less than 300 ml of
precipitation. The proprietary rights over these
lands are undecided and generally local tribes
and communities exercise usufruct rights over
these lands. These lands are not managed and
are used primarily for grazing by the local and
transhumance pastoral communities. The
unregulated and heavy grazing pressure and
cutting and uprooting of trees and bushes for fuel
have caused severe degradation of the rangelands.
According to the economic survey of Pakistan
2013-20141 between 1990 and 2014, the goat population increased by 80% from 37 to 66.6 million, numbers of
sheep increased 10.6% from 26.3 to 29.1 million, and population of camel remained at about a million (Figure 3).
While much of this increase has been fed by the production of forage within irrigated areas, persistent overgrazing
has seriously depleted the carrying capacity of rangelands to about one-third the potential - and in some areas to as
low as 15% of the potential (GoP and IUCN 1992). The problem is particularly acute in Balochistan.
3. 4. Fishing
Pakistan’s marine fisheries span over a 700-mile coastline between Sir Creek in east and Jiwani in the west covering
territorial waters of two provinces – Balochistan and Sindh. There has been a steady increase in fishing vessels of all
kinds in Pakistan’s two coastal provinces. However, despite the increase in vessels, there was a decline in catches
across the board between 2000 and 2003 from 438,000 to 402,000 metric tons. Not only have stocks fallen radically,
some species of fish have been wiped out entirely, such as gallo and kalaki fish in Pasni, Balochistan Province,
zardum, paplet, and kalgun in other areas of Balochistan and palla in Sindh Province. The size of fish has also
become smaller.
Unsustainable harvesting is leading cause of fisheries resource degradation. Environmentally harmful nets have been
introduced in an effort to increase fish catches. These are made of nylon, have a fine mesh, and catch small fry. The
valuable shrimp fishery has already begun to show signs of over-exploitation: the number of boats has risen rapidly;
there is a tendency to fish in shallower waters; and there is an increased proportion of young shrimp in the catch
(Amjad 1996). The introduction of new technology and bigger fishing trawlers has also increased the tendency to
overexploit the fishery resource. The use of wire nets and winches to carry out bottom dragging for up to a month at
a time destroys coral reef systems and marine life on the sea bed. After indiscriminately catching all species using
bottom dragging, the desired fish are kept and the rest thrown back into the water. In addition, concern has also been
expressed about the incidental take of marine turtles by commercial shrimp trawlers using mechanized nets.
Mangroves in the Indus delta sustain fisheries through their role as breeding grounds, but the ecosystem is degrading
from a combination of salt-water intrusion up to 30 km inland and reduced silt and nutrient flows due to upstream dam
construction. This is likely to be one of the causes of the reduction in fish stock. Municipal and industrial waste;
effluents and agricultural run-off, oil spills at the ports are a major cause of water pollution and degradation of marine
ecosystems. Aftab et al. (2000) have quantified the magnitude of the pollution and estimated that 70 per cent of
Karachi’s wastewater flows into the marine environment.
3. 5. Agriculture
Crop genetic diversity in Pakistan is low and the principal reason is the development and use of high-yield varieties
(HYVs). These HYVs respond better to water and fertilizer, but are a tremendous threat to indigenous varieties and
1 http://finance.gov.pk/survey_1314.html)
Figure 4. Numbers of goat, sheep, and camel 1990 - 2014.
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6
land races that had been selected and maintained by farmers for generations. This genetic erosion is well
pronounced in wheat, rice, cotton, sorghum, sugarcane and vegetables. As the genetic traits of local species are lost,
the ability to adapt to local environments and climates and to tolerate diseases is greatly reduced.
The use of pesticides and fertilizers has increased rapidly in recent years. Consumption of pesticides has increased
from 665 tons in 1980 to 14,773 tunes in 1990 and 61,229 tons in 2000 (Ahmad et al, 2002). Out of the total pesticide
use in the country, insecticides comprised of 90%, herbicide 7%,fugicides,3% and others (acaricides, fumigants)
0.2%. Unfortunately, the widespread use of pesticides has disturbed the agro-ecosystem and killed non-target and
environment-friendly organisms, including and environment-friendly organisms, including birds. Besides this, the
excessive inappropriate use has induced pest resistance and resurgence. Studies show that the populations of
natural enemies in cotton growing areas have declined as much as 90 percent during the last decade (Husnain,
1999).
Direct mortality of wildlife, especially birds, following the use of organophosphates has frequently been reported.
Pesticides destroy the natural biotic balance in agricultural soils and reduce the diversity and abundance of
invertebrate fauna, rodents and reptiles with cascading effects at higher trophic levels. The increasing presence of
pesticides in agricultural runoff has both acute and chronic effects on aquatic fauna and on fish-eating birds. It is
estimated that 25% of all pesticides used in Pakistan end up in the sea. Excessive use of nitrogenous fertilizers leads
to eutrophication of water channels and wetlands, the spread of aquatic vegetation, and reduced aquatic diversity.
Khurshid (1991) cites Haleji, Drigh and Patisar lakes as examples.
Though cross-breeding can lead to relatively rapid gains in productivity, it also increases the rate of genetic loss if the
parent stock is not maintained. Some 75-80% of Pakistan's domestic livestock are cross-breeds. There is an
immediate need to monitor this situation by conducting scientific surveys.
3. 6. Pollution
Pollution is a growing problem in Pakistan and discharge of sewage and industrial effluent into aquatic and marine
ecosystems is a major threat to the biodiversity. Major cities dispose of largely untreated sewage into irrigation
systems, streams and rivers. Lahore alone discharges 240 million gallons of sewage per day mainly into the river
Ravi (GoP and IUCN 1992). The resultant loss of fish and contamination of potential drinking water has considerable
economic and health impacts.
Indiscriminate and unplanned disposal of effluents (including agricultural drainage water, municipal and industrial
wastewater) into rivers, canals and drains is causing deterioration of water quality in the downstream parts. In 1995
around 12.435 km3/year (40 million m3/day) of untreated water were being discharged into water bodies (Ahmad,
2008b). It was estimated that 0.484 and 0.345 km3/year (1.3 and 0.9 million m
3/day) of sewage was produced in
Karachi and Lahore metropolitan areas respectively and most of it was discharged untreated into water bodies. The
polluted water is also being used for drinking in downstream areas, causing numerous water-borne diseases.
Latest estimates reveal (PWSS, 2002) that total quantity of wastewater produced in Pakistan is 962,335 million
gallons per year including 674,009 million gallons from municipal and 288,326 million gallons from industrial use. The
total wastewater discharged to the major rivers is 392,511 million gallons, which includes 316,740 million gallons of
municipal and 75,771 million gallons of industrial effluents. Petrochemicals, paper and pulp, food processing,
tanneries, refineries, textile and sugar industries are major industrial contributors to wastewater pollution (UNIDO,
2000). It has also been estimated that around 2,000 million gallons of sewage is being discharged to local surface
water bodies every day (Pak SCEA 2006). The industrial sub-sectors of paper and board, sugar, textile, cement,
polyester yarn, and fertilizer produce more than 80% of the total industrial effluents (WB-CWRAS Paper 3, 2005).
Use of pesticides and nitrogenous fertilizers is seriously affecting shallow groundwater and entry of effluents into
rivers and canals is deteriorating the quality of freshwater. Almost all shallow freshwater is now polluted with
agricultural pollutants and sewage (Ahmad, 2008a; Ahmad, 2008b). Industrial pollution is particularly severe in the
industrial centre of Karachi with a population of over 12 million people. About 80% of the total wastewater remains
untreated and is discharged into the sea through sewers and rivers, mainly the Lyari and Malir. Many creeks and
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7
coastal waters the Karachi area exhibit eutrophication due to high levels of organic pollution. The characteristic smell
of hydrogen sulphide in parts of the city is a sign of the intense bacterial activity from the presence of organic wastes.
Most coastal pollution is concentrated in Karachi harbour where an estimated 90,000 tons of oil products from
vessels and port terminals are dumped every year. Extremely high levels of toxic heavy metals such as mercury have
been documented, especially in the coastal waters and sea near Karachi. These are likely to have both acute and
chronic toxic impacts on human beings, marine biodiversity, and fish-eating birds. The impacts of these pollutants on
commercial fin-fish and shrimp fisheries are unknown, but likely to be significant.
3. 7. Global Climate Change
Pakistan ranks 16th on the Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) by Maple Croft, jumping up 13 positions in one
year. German watch also places Pakistan as the “most affected” country for 2010 and in top 10 for 1990-2010 by
climatic changes. Climate changes are costing the economy $14 billion a year, which is almost 5% of the GDP.
According to the Asian Development Bank, more than 10 million people have been displaced in Pakistan over the last
2 years due to these climate related disasters. Pakistan’s economy has been crippled heavily by devastating and
repetitive floods during the last decade. In the past 10 years, Pakistan has been hit by floods almost every year.
However, the floods of 2010, 2011, and 2014 have emerged as the biggest catastrophes in the country’s history.
The floods of 20102 remain as one of the biggest tragedies in the world’s history, with 20 million people affected by it.
The floods resulted in approximately 1,781 deaths, injured 2,966 people and destroyed more than 1.89 million
homes. The 2010 floods were still in the recovery phase when the 2011 floods struck. The 2011 floods compounded
the damage of the previous disaster. Although nowhere near the 2010 floods, the 2011 floods also wreaked havoc,
and affected 9.6 million people affected with 520 deaths,1.2 million homes damaged in Sind, as well as inundating
688,000 ha of arable land. In 2014 floods, 312 people died, with 2,275,000 affected and nearly 687,965 hectares of
crops lost.
3. 8. Population Growth
Pakistan has one of highest population growth rates in the
world and is sixth most populated countries of the world.
The estimated population of Pakistan’s population grew
from 31 million in 1951 to about185.1 million in 2014. The
population increased on average at a rate of 3 percent per
year from 1951 until the middle of the 1980’s, then until the
year 2000, the growth of the population slowed down to
about 2.6 percent per year; and from 2000 to 2012, to
about 2 percent per year3 (Figure 4) high population growth
puts undue pressures on all other national resources,
especially the natural resource capital. Great majority of
people living in the rural areas outside of the arable tract
have heavy dependence on natural ecosystems for fuel,
forage, and small construction timber. In the mountain areas, rapidly increasing population and infrastructure
development is increasing the incidence of landslides. In addition, the new household break fresh land for agriculture
and housing causing loss of biodiversity and habitat fragmentation.
3. 9. Policy, Planning, and Institutional Failures
The value of biodiversity and ecosystem services, their contribution to national economy, and potential to alleviate
poverty have not been integrated in the national and local planning and development process. Consequently the
environment sector including climate change, biodiversity, forestry and wildlife receive a very low priority (figure4 5).
2 www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapter_12/SplSection.pdf
3 Source: World Population Review @ worldpopulationreview.com
4 Source: Pakistan Public Sector Development Programme Summaries 2002-03 to 2013-14
Figure 5. Population growth in Pakistan 1960 - 2010.
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The only year when allocation to environment rose beyond decimals (1.8%) was 2005-06. The situation is no better
for other natural resource management (NRM) sectors including agriculture, livestock and fisheries.
There is no approved national policy for conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits arising from
the use of biodiversity. The upstream pollution, deforestation, and degradation of ecosystems has small economic
gains but huge national cost in terms of quality and quantity of water, and diminishing water storage capacity of dams
for irrigation water and hydropower generation. A large proportion of the country's forests, rangelands, wetlands and
coastal waters have become open access resources due to the breakdown of traditional common property resource
management systems. The costs of protecting species and ecosystems from exploitation can be prohibitive for
owners, be they government, communities or individuals, who often lack sufficient resources, will, and capacity to
enforce regulations or other restrictions. In many areas, the customary community responsibilities for the use of
natural resources have weakened with the development of new economic opportunities eroding the need and
concern for sustainable use of these resources. This concern has been further eroded by the disempowerment of
local communities, for example, by state intervention in the management of community forests.
4. National constitutional, legal and institutional framework
4.1. Biodiversity Legal Framework
Figure 6. Overall national PSDP and allocation for the Ministry of Climate Change.
Constitution of Pakistan (1973). 'Environmental pollution and ecology' was included in the list of subjects on which
both federal and provincial government could legislate, however, under the 18th
constitutional amendment of 2012, it
was made the exclusive domain of the Provincial Assemblies. However, the Parliament is still empowered to legislate
on ‘international treaties, conventions and agreements and international arbitration', 'national planning and national
economic coordination including planning and coordination of scientific and technological research'. The
Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan predates the global emphasis on conservation of biodiversity, and thus
does not include any reference to it, however, the superior courts of Pakistan have interpreted ‘right to life’ used in
Article 9 of the Constitution and have held that the word ‘life’ used in the said Article encompasses the environment in
all its dimensions.
Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997. The Pakistan Environmental Protection Act of1997 (PEPA) had
been the key environmental legislation instrument for the entire country until the 18th
Constitutional Amendment
transferred the responsibility of environmental legislation and management to the provinces. Responding to the need,
Punjab (in 2012) and Balochistan (in 2013) have already enacted their provincial environmental protection acts while
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh have prepared the draft environmental protection bills which are waiting for their
respective legislative assemblies to enact the same.
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The PEPA is still in effect in the Islamabad Capital Territory, other areas in the Federation not forming part of any
Province, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh who have not yet passed their provincial Acts. Proposals are under
consideration to amend to PEPA to align it with the federal functions regarding environmental protection. The PEPA
resulted in framing of relevant rules and National Environmental Quality Standards which are still valid and have
already been adopted by the provinces. The Act was more focused on environmental protection in general, primarily
through controlling pollution, rather than ecosystem based measure for conservation of biodiversity.
Pakistan Trade Control of Wild Fauna and Flora Act, 2012 (CITES Act). In order to effectuate the United Nations
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora 1973, the Pakistan Trade Control
of Wild Fauna and Flora Act, 2012 (CITES Act) was promulgated which extends to whole of Pakistan. It prohibits
export, re-export and import of any specimen included in any Appendix of CITES and fixes punishment for
contravention.5 It provides for establishment of a Management Authority with representation from all provinces for
making concessions on scientific and legal grounds. This law has significant implications for sustainable harvesting
of non-timber forest products, especially medicinal and aromatic plants as it would not only help check unsustainable
harvesting practices but would also encourage the beneficiary communities to make sure that such species are
conserved and protected so that a sustainable use regime could be put in place to take full advantage of such
species.
Access Benefit Sharing Bill, 2012 (Draft). A legislation to provide for facilitating access to genetic resources and
their derivatives for environmentally sound uses, protecting associated traditional knowledge, equitably sharing
benefits derived from them, and promoting technology transfer and building scientific knowledge and technological
capacity associated with them was drafted in 2012. The bill is a legislative requirement under the International Treaty
on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) to which Pakistan is a Party. The draft bill protects
community rights in respect to genetic resources, i.e., (1) the inalienable right to use their traditional knowledge in
their customary ways, (2) the right to regulate the access to their traditional knowledge, and (3) the right to share the
benefits arising out of the utilization of their traditional knowledge.6
4. 2. Provincial Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries Laws.
4. 3. Biodiversity Policy Framework
National Conservation Strategy (1992). The Pakistan National Conservation Strategy (NCS) (1992), was the first
ever policy framework for biodiversity and conservation with three objectives: (a)
conservation of natural resources, (b) sustainable development, and (c)
improved efficiency in the use and management of resource. The ‘biodiversity
conservation’ was one of the fourteen programme areas of work for priority
action. The NCS had a central influence in mainstreaming environmental and
sustainability dimensions in other policies, plans and strategies, including
Pakistan’s Eighth Five-Year Plan, which borrowed heavily from the NCS in terms
of greening its development objectives. The success of NCS prompted interest in
developing provincial and local level conservation strategies. Since then all
provinces have developed their conservation or sustainable development
strategies.
Biodiversity Action Plan 2000. Although biodiversity considerations started
receiving attention in national planning processes after the NCS, it was not until
2000 that a comprehensive Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) was prepared. The
BAP was approved by the Pakistan Environmental Protection Council and thus adopted as the first comprehensive
strategic action plan for conservation of biodiversity in Pakistan. It has 13 components, corresponding to specific
Articles of the CBD:
5 Government of Pakistan, 2012. Pakistan Trade Control of Wild Fauna and Flora Act, 2012.
6 Government of Pakistan, 2012. Pakistan Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-sharing Act (Draft).
Islamabad: Climate Change Division, GoP.
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National Environment Policy 2005. The National Environment Policy provides an overarching framework for
addressing the environmental issues facing Pakistan, particularly pollution of fresh water bodies and coastal waters,
air pollution, lack of proper waste management, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, desertification, natural disasters
and climate change. It also gives directions for addressing the cross-sector issues as well as the underlying causes of
environmental degradation and meeting international obligations. The National Environment Policy, while recognizing
the goals and objectives of the National Conservation Strategy, National Environmental Action Plan and other
existing environment related national policies, strategies and action plans, provides broad guidelines for addressing
environmental concerns and ensuring effective management of their environmental resources at national, provincial,
regional and local levels.
National Sustainable Development Strategy 2012. The National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS)
envisions ‘to evolve a just and harmonious society in the country through promotion of a vibrant and equitable
economic growth without overexploitation of natural resources with fair distribution of development dividends to all; in
particular to the marginalized, poor and vulnerable in the society and to future generations’. The Strategy is aligned
with the emerging concept of ‘green economy’ as an alternate to the Framework for Economic Growth (2011),
prepared by the Planning Commission of Pakistan.
National Climate Change Policy, 2012. The National Climate Change Policy, approved by the government in 2012
has an overall goal, ‘to ensure that climate change is mainstreamed in the economically and socially vulnerable
sectors of the economy and to steer Pakistan towards climate resilient development’. One of the major objectives of
the policy is conservation of natural resources and long term sustainability which was further elaborated through
specific measures under forestry, biodiversity and other vulnerable ecosystems. The biodiversity related policy
measures included setting National Biodiversity Indicators and to provide the requisite financial resources for
implementation of the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP).
4. 4. Poverty Reduction Strategies
Pakistan's national economic strategy cites macroeconomic stability, financial discipline and sound policy as key to
broad-based growth, job creation and poverty reduction. Pakistan adopted the process of developing the Poverty
Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) in 2000. Pakistan's first PRSP was implemented from 2004 to 2006. The PRSP-
II7, the latest strategy paper, was implemented from 2008 till 2010. The other key policy documents outlining
Pakistan's national poverty reduction strategy are Vision 20308 formulated in 2007, the Medium-Term Development
Framework 2011-2014. With the change in the political government in 2013, Pakistan has a new strategic framework
entitled Pakistan 20259: One Nation – One Vision. All these documents underscore the importance of the agriculture
and rural non-farm sectors to the country's overall poverty reduction strategy, recognizing that they represent
valuable sources of employment. Within the agriculture sector, the government has outlined a number of strategic
development objectives, including a focus on increasing yields, diversifying cropping patterns, producing high-value
crops and investing in livestock and dairy development.
4. 5. Institutional Framework
The Forestry Wing of the Ministry of Climate Change is the national focal point for the CBD. The Directorate of
Biodiversity in the office of the Inspector general of Forests is responsible for coordination with the CBD Secretariat
on one hand and with the national, provincial, regional and local government agencies, and other stakeholders
responsible for implementation of CBD on the other. The downstream linkages of Directorate of Biodiversity
remained very weak until recently. It was only during the process of drafting of 5th
national report that meetings were
held for the first time with the provincial and regional governments who were requested to designate focal points for
CBD and create a coordination mechanism for engaging the stakeholders in the implementation of CBD.
In the four provinces, State of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit-Baltistan region, and federally administered
tribal areas, departments of the forestry, wildlife, fisheries, environment, and agriculture and livestock sectors are
7 www.finance.gov.pk/poverty/PRSP-II.pdf
8 http://www.pc.gov.pk/vision2030/Pak21stcentury/vision%202030-Full.pdf
9 http://pakistan2025.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Pakistan-Vision-2025.pdf
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responsible for the management of these sectors and the other matters related to biodiversity. Unfortunately
biodiversity considerations have not been mainstreamed in the policy and plans of these sectors and even most
professionals are unaware of national obligations under CBD. The provincial Environment Departments are
responsible for providing and enforcing environmental impact assessment guidelines for all economic development
projects, regulating industrial and municipal pollution. The Environment Protection Department of the Punjab
province is actively working on raising biodiversity awareness and for this purpose has established four biodiversity
parks in different ecological zones.
Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) has in recent years started work on agro-biodiversity and in addition
hosts the only Plant Genetic Center in the country. In addition, the provincial governments have established many
field research stations for in-situ conservation of important varieties and land races of crops and breeds of major
indigenous breeds. The biodiversity research and education is still in its infancy and only a couple of universities
have started to do research and included biodiversity in their curriculum. The in-situ conservation potential of
zoological and botanical gardens is not being fully utilized.
International conservation organizations like the International union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World
Wildlife Fund (WWF) have played a significant role in creating awareness, building capacity, policy development and
jointly implementing new generation of biodiversity conservation projects.
5. Lessons learned from the earlier NBSAP(s) and the process of developing the updated NBSAP
5.1 Progress on Implementation of Biodiversity Action Plan 2000. Summary results, evaluation, challenges and
gaps, priority areas for NBSAP
A Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) was drafted in the year 2000 in response to the Article 6 of the UN Convention on
Biological Diversity. The 13 components, corresponding to articles of the CBD include: planning and policies,
legislation, identification and monitoring, in-situ conservation, ex-situ conservation, sustainable use, incentive
measures, research and training, public education and awareness, environmental impact assessment, access issues,
exchange of information, and financial resources. The Plan elaborated 25 objectives and proposed 182 actions with
31 to be undertaken immediately within a year, 81 within five years (medium term), and 25 within ten years (long
term). Although 14 years have passed since the BAP was approved, its implementation has not been far from
satisfactory. Review during the preparation of 5th
National Report revealed that absolutely no action was initiated on
71 or 52% of actions, 61 or 44.5% actions partially or fully completed, with five (5) actions still under implementation
(Figure 6). A major reason for lack of proper implementation of the BAP is that the targets were too ambitious without
taking into consideration the financial constraints and lack of human resource and institutional capacity. Furthermore,
there was a lack of political will and insufficient financial allocation of the government resources. A summary of the
implementation is given in the following pie charts.
Figure 7. Progress on the implementation of Biodiversity Action Plan 2000.
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The slow progress on implementation of the BAP can be attributed to lack of human and financial resources in the
Biodiversity Directorate, which resulted in lack of coordination among the stakeholders and non-integration of BAP
into development plan and policies.
5. 2. Biodiversity Scenarios
The end or slowdown of high rate of population growth is not in sight in near future. Therefore anthropogenic
pressures on biodiversity will continue to increase, deforestation and degradation of ecosystems will continue
unabated, habitats will be further fragmented resulting in diminishing ecological connectivity, fisheries resources will
continued to be depleted, and agro-biodiversity continue to be lost. However, few successes in recovery of the
threatened species and vulnerable habitats are like a silver lining that in future more protected areas and threatened
species will be conserved. Similarly, the floods and other extreme events due to climate change will draw the
attention of policy makers and planners for increasing investments for conservation of biodiversity. A brief overview of
scenarios covering different biomes and resource management regimes are presented here.
Terrestrial Ecosystems: There will be no serious threat of deforestation to forests and natural habitats that are
managed by the government; however, the peripheral areas will continue to degrade under pressure of grazing and
fuelwood collection. Deforestation and degradation of natural habitats where tenure rights are not well defined will
continue, however, afforestation on private lands using indigenous species will continue with the support of
government. Representation and management of protected areas will improve, and extent of areas with high
potential for sport hunting and bird shooting will increase.
Aquatic Ecosystems: The fishing resources in both inland waters and marine areas will continue to increase both to
meet the increasing demand in country and booming export market. However, enforcement of laws and regulations to
curb use of harmful fishing methods will improve over time. A few hydropower projects are currently under
construction on rivers in mountainous region and more are planned for future. These projects are likely to have
serious impact on the cold water aquatic biodiversity.
Climate Change: The natural habits in the northern mountainous region of Pakistan will shrink under global warming
putting the survival of species like snow leopard, brown bear and many other species with a narrow niche at risk of
extinction from the wild. Increase in snow and glacier melt, coupled with extreme climatic event will adversely impact
habitats through increase in intensity and frequency of floods in some areas, and drought in others. The country has
already suffered heavy damage and loss of life and property from the unprecedented floods of 2010, 2011, and 2014.
The farmers in some areas are already coping with the impact of climate change on sowing and maturity of some
agricultural crop, especially in the uplands.
5.3. Processes for development of BAP and NBSAP.
Transparent and consultative process ensuring wide participation of a broad range of stakeholders from government,
academia and civil society was adopted for the preparation of both the BAP 2000 and the NBSAP. In addition,
national and regional level workshops were organized for consultations with a broad range of interest groups. In
case of NBSAP, the voluntary guidelines to parties proposed by CBD for review of national biodiversity strategies and
action plans were followed for the revision process. Following is a brief overview of the processes for the
development of BAP and NBSP.
5.4. Biodiversity Action Plan 2000
The preparation of the BAP 2000 started with the formulation of a Biodiversity Working Group (BWG) to guide the
process. The BWG comprised of government and civil society representatives, and key resource persons with
specialization in different fields of biodiversity. The process started with a national level inception workshop at which
time different thematic groups were constituted to hold consultations with stakeholders and formulate strategies and
actions to achieve the objectives of the CBD. Additionally, a number of background papers were prepared on sector
and cross-cutting issues. A drafting team using the background information, and thematic reports prepared the first
draft of the BAP. The initial draft was first reviewed by the BWG, and then circulated widely for peer review. The final
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draft was again reviewed by the BWG and then submitted to the government for approval. The BAP was presented
in a meeting of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Council in the year 2000.
6. Revision of NBSAP
A road map for revision of the NBSAP together with working papers was prepared for consultations on major thematic
areas of the biodiversity. It was shared electronically with the larger BWG and discussed in meetings in Islamabad
with smaller groups comprised of members of the Biodiversity Working Group (BWG) and other key resource
persons. The BWG approved the road map and made several suggestions for refining and fine tuning the working
papers. Subsequently separate meetings were held with key resource persons covering thematic areas:: Habitats
and Species, Forest Ecosystems, Agro-ecosystems, Inland Waters, Coastal Areas and Marine Ecosystems, and
cross cutting issues - Ecosystem Services and Livelihoods, and Policy and Planning.
The provincial governments and other federating units will be implementing the NBSAP in the field, therefore their
buy-in of the strategies and actions was of prime importance in the process. Therefore, in order to create greater
ownership of the NBSAP at provincial and regional levels, consultative meetings with stakeholders were organized in
Karachi, Quetta, Lahore, Peshawar, Muzaffarabad, and Gilgit. In addition, meetings were also held with policy
makers and planners in the provinces and regions. Since provinces and regions would be responsible for actions on
NBSAP in the field, therefore, it was decided help regions to make their own strategies to achieve the CBD Strategic
Objectives and plan actions under the ABTs and make NBSAP a sum total of regional plans. The draft NBSAP was
widely circulated to key resource persons and members of the BWG for peer review.
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II. NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY: PRINCIPLES, PRIORITIES AND TARGETS
7. Biodiversity Awareness
7.1 Context
People are often the cause of loss of biodiversity being unaware of their role in creating it, and need for its
conservation and sustainable use. Therefore awareness is the first point at which they gain basic information about
the loss of biodiversity and its consequences for their own well-being, and how others solving the problem.
Rendering communication with people is important to inform them of the problem and how they can take remedial
measures. Similarly the idea of importance of biodiversity for human wellbeing sharply contrasts with the commonly
held worldview of social and economic development. Change takes time, and simply getting the world out is not
going to have an impact on biodiversity conservation. Therefore well planned and targeted efforts will be required to
obtain commitment and cooperation of the people who use it and those who are responsible for making the national
policies and plans.
Biodiversity is relatively a new concept and acceptance of new ideas is always a long process. In fact, it could take
until the retirement of the holdouts and the influx of younger and more open minds for the new idea to become
accepted. The physicist Max Planck has summed up the issue with this maxim: “New scientific truth does not triumph
by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a
new generation grows up that is familiar with it.” Therefore it is important to equip the younger generations with the
knowledge, the science base and technologies relating to biodiversity, its values, functioning, status and trends, and
the consequences of its loss.
The Biodiversity Action Plan recognized the need for a comprehensive strategy for communication and outreach to
raise biodiversity awareness. Although BAP was prepared through a process of broader consultations with the
provincial governments and other stakeholders, and widely circulated, its implementation suffered due to lack of
effective communication strategy. National level knowledge management, outreach and communication strategies
should involve key stakeholders for each of the targets and any other important groups as appropriate to provide a
targeted and comprehensive input to the implementation to ensure the holistic implementation of the NBSAP at the
appropriate scale. Communication alone may not be sufficient to achieve the desired results and may need to be
linked with economic incentives and legal frameworks as a means of achieving change, especially when there are
economic or structural barriers to overcome.
7.2. Strategies
The following strategies and actions are contemplated to make people aware of the values of biodiversity and the
steps they can take to conserve and use it sustainably:
Strategy 1. The mass media especially the print and audio-visual media shall be mobilized to
create public awareness of the values of biodiversity and consequences of its loss.
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8. Mainstreaming Biodiversity
8. 1. Context
The CBD focal points and NBSAP coordinators have to seek the cooperation of other stakeholders in government
(e.g. other ministries and departments) and other segments of society (e.g. land owners, communities, NGOs, media,
corporate sector, etc.) to implement a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. However, politicians, policy
makers, planners, and high level administrators and technical staff in agriculture, irrigation, energy, mining, financial,
tourism and economic planning sectors lack awareness about the technical aspects of biodiversity issues and the
links between biodiversity conservation, economic development and poverty eradication. Since politicians, policy
makers and planners give little attention to biodiversity loss, the financial allocation for biodiversity conservation
remains inadequate. NBSAP coordinators are faced with a serious need to invest in making contact with these
departments and stakeholders, to fill this knowledge gap and to find ways to work together with stakeholders to bring
about the changes required in the policies and practices of such groups. Unfortunately, the national and regional
NBSAP coordinators lack coordinating mechanisms and capacity to mainstream biodiversity to other levels of
government and society.
Even though reports, memos and other publications are regularly distributed, these are not effective tools of
communication, and there is no guarantee that they are read, understood or agreed with. Biodiversity experts also
tend to believe that the way forward is to educate politicians and decision makers is by organizing workshops. From a
communication perspective it is necessary to ask: Do decision makers have time for this? Do they feel the need and
desire to be educated? Do they see the relevance of such workshops? Will such workshops even be counter-
productive? Experience has shown that trying to make all politicians and decision makers biodiversity experts can be
futile, and that it is more effective to accept their level of knowledge and interests and concentrate on how best to put
biodiversity on their agendas. To gain this cooperation with stakeholders and to place biodiversity on the agenda of
other Ministries, other levels of government or other sectors in society, a range of communication, education and
awareness interventions are needed.
Action:
1. Capacity of the Biodiversity Directorate will be strengthened by 2016 to implement a well-planned
biodiversity education and communication strategy to create public awareness of the value of biodiversity,
and target high level policy makers, planners and administrators in selected important development
sectors that impact or depend on components of biodiversity, and the business sector. (ABT 1)
2. A focus group comprising of ‘opinion leaders’ representing print and audio-visual media shall be
constituted to prepare and implementing a communication strategy and action plan by 2016 to engage the
media for implementing NBSAP. (ABT 1)
3. A cadre of environmental journalists who act as ‘biodiversity champions’ for print media shall be created
by 2017 and supported to contribute articles to print media, produce audio messages for radio, and video
clips for TV. (ABT 1)
Strategy 2. The knowledge and values of biodiversity and the consequences of its loss will be
introduced in the curricula of schools, colleges and universities.
Action:
1. A task forces comprising of CBD Focal Point, Ministries of Education and Science and Technology, and
Food Security will be constituted by 2017 to incorporate biodiversity in curriculum of universities, colleges
and schools. (ABT 1)
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The two main modalities for this are formal and informal communication. In general, informal communication is the
exchange of information on a personal basis. It is not bound by the rules and standards that apply to formal relations
between organizations or between organizations and individuals. Informal communication is very effective to
establish and maintain relationships, to discuss sensitive issues and to gain better and more detailed personal
feedback. Informal communication takes place at face to face meetings; often in informal settings such as in the
corridors of the workplace, the office canteen, or at social functions. The formal communication involves networking,
establishing working relations, and defining common goals, updating knowledge and influencing decision making
processes.
Not all members of a stakeholder group are the same. It is therefore important to identify the opinion leader/s in each
group, and involve them in planning the interventions to engage the entire stakeholder group so as to minimize the
risk of stakeholders not cooperating. Opinion leaders are people, who other people would follow, are trusted for the
value of their information, are involved in many different networks, and have skills and interest to connect with people.
The opinion leaders may not be experts in biodiversity, but their views and beliefs should be treated with the utmost
respect.
8. 2. Strategies
The following strategies and actions are contemplated to mainstreaming biodiversity values:
Strategy : A well-planned continuous dialogue will be initiated with high level policy makers, planners
and administrators at central and regional levels) in important development and business sectors that
impact or depend on components of biodiversity.
Actions:
1. The revised NBSAP will be adopted by 2015, as a policy instrument by the national, provincial and regional
governments and implementation and monitoring mechanisms shall be put in place. (ABT 17).
2. A support group comprising of ‘opinion leaders’ from among the policy makers and planners will be
constituted by 2016, to prepare and implement a strategy for increasing the biodiversity knowledge of
decision makers and act as a change agent through informal communications. (ABT 2)
3. The capacity of National School of Public Policy (NSPP), National Institute of Management (NIM), National
Defense College, and Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Studies (PIPS) will be built by 2017, to incorporate
biodiversity consideration in their training courses for decision makers of mid-career and senior managerial
levels. (ABT 2)
4. Studies shall be commissioned by 2017 in selected ecosystems to demonstrate the value of biodiversity
and provide a basis for dialogue initiated with the Ministry of Finance for inclusion of biodiversity in national
accounting and reporting systems. (ABT 2)
5. The financial resources from all sources will be mobilized by 2018, for a substantial increase from the
current levels for effective implementation of the NBSAP (ABT 20)
6. A dialogue will be initiated by 2017with the Planning Commission, and Ministries of Food Security, Science
and Technology, Culture and Tourism, for integration of biodiversity considerations into their policies and
plans. (ABT 2)
7. A national consensus will be built by 2018 for signing the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic
Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization. (ABT 16). )
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9. Terrestrial Ecosystems
9. 1. Context
Pakistan is bestowed with a rich natural heritage of biodiversity due to diverse physiography, soil types and the
climate. Terrestrial biomes of Pakistan range from desert in the south to the mountain ranges of the Himalayas,
Karakorum, and Hindu Kush in the north and west. Of the total land area, 62.7 percent area constitutes wilderness –
the area that is neither suitable for agriculture nor for commercial forestry. The area comprises of deserts, arid lands
and mountains. While a small percentage of these lands are privately owned, majority of the area is either
communally owned or state lands with undefined tenure. There is no management authority for these lands and the
predominant land use of the area is grazing and fuel wood collection. The ecological health of these ecosystems has
not been assessed, but it can be safely said that the ecosystems are heavily degraded under the ever increasing
anthropogenic pressure. Despite their poor health, these ecosystems meet subsistence needs of the landless and
poor, making significant contributions to the national economy with a potential for economic development and growth.
Despite the economic significance of these assets, there is no reliable baseline information to guide effective policy
making. A 2007 World Bank report estimates a loss of seven billion rupees as a consequence of degradation and
deforestation of natural ecosystems.
There has been no systematic mapping and description of the ecosystems of Pakistan. Roberts (1991), based on
secondary sources of information, divided the habitats into 17 vegetation types based on physiognomy, while Ahmed
and Ahmad (2000) recognized 17 ecosystems based on the NOAA satellite imagery. Pakistan is endowed with many
endemic species of flora and fauna and a large number of relatives of crops found in the wild. Two terrestrial
ecosystems of Pakistan are included in the list of global 200 priority ecosystems of the Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment. These ecosystems and their conservation status is shown in table 1.
Table 1. Terrestrial ecosystems of Pakistan included in Global 200 Eco-Regions
Global 200 Eco-region Conservation Status Representation in PA
System
Western Himalayan Temperate
Forests
Critical or endangered Adequate
Tibetan Plateau Steppe Vulnerable Adequate
There are a large number of species of flora and fauna with a restricted range are found in Pakistan. Among the
plant species, five monotypic genera (Douepia, Sulaimania, Kurramiana, Wendelboa and Spiroseris) and 400 species
belonging to 169 genera and 45 families occur in Pakistan (Ali, 2008) are restricted to northern and western
mountains. The fauna includes some endemic mammals like Indus River Dolphin (EDGE), the Balochistan Forest
Dormouse (ZFMK pdf file), and the Pale Gray Shrew (IUCN Red List). The Balochistan Pygmy Jerboa (Rodent-
Info.net) represents an endemic genus. The Woolly Flying Squirrel Eupetaurus cinereus (WWF Pakistan), the sole
member of its genus, may survive only in Pakistan. The Punjab Urial (WWF Pakistan) has recently been elevated to
a full species, while the Chiltan Wild Goat Capra aegagrus chialtanensis (Wildlife of Pakistan) is an endemic
subspecies. Except for a few species (Snow Leopard, Wooly Flying Squirrel, Indus Dolphin, Markhor, Himalayan
Ibex, Blue Sheep, Urial, Black buck and Chinkara), no efforts have been made to conserve the species that are
threatened with extinction.
9. 2. Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity
The customary communal management of natural resources has weakened under the disintegrating communal
institutions, resulting in open access to common property resources. The deforestation and degradation of
ecosystems accelerated after the breakdown of traditional management practices. Consequently, uncontrolled
grazing and collection of fuelwood, breaking of land for cultivation, and indiscriminate hunting caused large scale land
degradation and loss of productivity. There has never been a comprehensive national assessment of biodiversity, its
status, and trends in Pakistan.
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In Pakistan, the wildlife related laws have primarily focused on regulating hunting, shooting, and protection of game
species. Similarly some laws and rules were made to regulate harvesting of non woody plants of economic
importance, for example mazari (Nannorrohps ritchiana). In recent years, trade in all kinds of non-game species of
fauna has increased and many attempts have been made to smuggle live species with heavy mortality during transit.
Attempts have also been made to export some species or their parts under false certificates. Some recent examples
of such incidents that came in news include fresh water turtles, turtle meat, different reptiles, and even insets like
scorpion. Some of these species are included in various CITES appendices, but none at the request on Pakistan.
Many species of fauna and flora on CITES appendices are abundant in Pakistan, and can be safely harvested under
proper management.
The work on establishment of a network of game reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, and national parks started in 1974
and since then the numbers of such areas have steadily increased. The initial selection of sites for notification as
game reserves and wildlife sanctuaries was not based on any ecological considerations but comprised of sites well
known for game hunting. Except for stricter enforcement of wildlife laws to control hunting, none of these sites, except
a few national parks, are managed under a plan. However, a few habitats of endangered but high value trophy
species are being successful managed by local people and communities.
Protected areas are established to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services
and cultural values. The protected area list of Pakistan is comprised of all game reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, and
national parks spread over approximately 11% of the area of Pakistan. The protected area system review of 2000
found that many protected areas of Pakistan do not meet the globally accepted criteria, and a study undertaken in
2012 found many representation, ecological and management gaps in the protected area system of Pakistan. In
order to fill these gaps, implement the CBD programme of work on protected areas, and achieve the Aitch
Biodiversity targets, following strategies and actions are proposed.
Strategy 1. The institutional and regulatory framework will be improved to address the challenges of the
21st century for conservation of biodiversity, its sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits.
Actions:
1. Institutional effectiveness and efficiency of the Directorate of Biodiversity shall be enhanced by 2017 to ensure
effective management and monitoring of the biodiversity resources. (ABT 17)
2. A biodiversity conservation policy shall be formulated, and adopted by 2017. (ABT 17)
3. A policy and guidelines for trade in species of flora and fauna including those listed on CITES appendices
shall be prepared and widely disseminated by 2017. (ABT 12)
Strategy 2. The natural habitats will be conserved through the expansion and effective management of a
network of protected areas and integrated with the landscapes through community empowerment.
Actions:
1. A national list of protected areas comprised of only those sites that meet the internationally recognized
definition of a protected area shall be prepared by 2016. (ABT 11)
2. The protected areas network shall be expanded by 2018 to complete representation of ecosystems and
habitats especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity. (ABT 11)
3. An integrated landscape management pilot project will be launched by 2018 in at least three different sites of
particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem service to test the efficacy of positive incentives that would
significantly reduce and ultimately halt the degradation and fragmentation of areas. (ABT 3)
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10. Forest Ecosystems
10. 1. Context
There is no credible data of forest cover in Pakistan. The official statistics of forest area represent the physical area
and not the forest cover. The Forestry Sector Master Plan (FSMP) Project, 1993, reported the forest cover at 4.2
million ha which represents 4.8 percent of the of the total land area. The Economic Survey of Pakistan (2001-02)
shows that forest area has increased over the time, from 3.46 million ha in 1990 to 3.79 million ha in 2002. In
contrast, FAO in State of Forests (2001), reported the total forest area of Pakistan (sum of natural forests plus forest
plantation) decreased from 2.75 million ha in 1990 to 2.36 million ha in 2000 or a 1.5% an annual rate of
deforestation over a ten year period. On the other hand, The Asian Development Bank claims that forest cover
dropped from 3.6% of the total land in 1990 to 3.2% of the total land in 1999. The Global Forest Watch initiative of the
World Resources Institute (WRI) has reported that Pakistan lost 10,000 ha of forest between the years 2000 to 2012
and gained less than 1000 ha in the same period in the form of plantations. Irrespective of the differences in reports
on forest area or forest cover, one thing is obvious that the forestry capital of Pakistan is relatively small and the
forest cover is shrinking due both to deforestation and degradation.
The forests of Pakistan are grouped into five physiognomic classes – Conifers, scrub, riverine, mangroves, and
plantations. The area of different forest types and percent annual change in cover over 5 and 10 year period is given
in table.2 (GoP, 2013).
Table 2. The change in area of different forest types 1992-2004.
Forest Type Forest Cover(‘000 ha) Rate of change %
1992 1997 2004 5Yr 10Yr
Conifer 1913 1479 1512 4.54(-) 2.09(-)
Scrub 1191 1652 1323 7.74(+) 1.11(+)
Riverine 173 144 150 3.35(-) 1.33(-)
Mangrove 207 159 158 4.64(-) 2.37(-)
Plantation 103 165 174 12.04(+) 6.89(+)
Total Forest 3587 3599 3317 0.06(+) 0.75(-)
Rangeland 28505 22645 23546 4.11(-) 1.74(-)
Total Types 32092 26244 26863 3.64(-) 1.63(-)
The natural forests represent diverse ecosystems including the Western Himalayan Temperate Forests – one of the
global 200 priority ecosystems. In addition Balochistan has world’s second largest compact forest of Juniper, of its
kind considered living fossils. While all forest ecosystems are threatened, the edible pine nut –Pinus gerardiana
Strategy 3. The knowledge, the science base and technologies relating to biodiversity, its values,
functioning, status and trends will be improved and conservation status of known threatened species
will be improved
Action:
1. Pakistan’s natural habitats will be defined and mapped by 2016 for assessing the biodiversity status and to
identify conservation priorities and opportunities. (ABT 19).
2. Recovery plans are prepared and implementation to improve the conservation status of at least six selected
threatened faunal species. (ABT 12).
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forests, found primarily in the community controlled areas are under serious threats of disappearing due to logging by
local people as a means of supporting livelihoods.
A wide variety of medicinal plants grow in abundance in temperate forests of western Himalayan and Hindukush
mountain ranges. A survey by Pakistan Forest Institute (1989), reported that 500 tons of medicinal plants are
produced in Hazara and Malakand, 16 tons in Murree Hills, 38 tons in Azad Kashmir and about 24 tons in Gilgit-
Baltistan. These plants are collected from the wild, dried and processed and sold in the local markets or exported to
other countries
The forests are like small islands in a vast ocean of rapidly growing population and consequently faced with a number
of threats. In addition, in many forests, local communities are entitled to a percentage of share from sale of timber
and thus they pressurize the government for logging. Due to short supply and growing demand for construction,
prices of timber are high and timber mafia in collusion with the right holders indulges in all sorts of tactics for sale of
timber including illegal logging practices. The people living near forests also depend on fuelwood for cooking and
heating their homes in the winter. After having run out of fuelwood on their own or communal lands, the pressure is
now on the forests. A recent study concluded that 80 percent of deforestation in KP was due to cutting of trees for
fuel (Inter Cooperation, 2010. The local people also let their animals loose to graze in forest areas, which hampers
natural regeneration due to trampling and browsing of seedlings. The magnitude of various threats estimated on a
scale of 1 -10 in different forest types is shown in figure 7.
10. 2. Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity
Although the stated objectives of forest management include multiple use, for example, ecosystem services like
water, clean air, non-timber forest products, recreation, and meeting needs of local people, yet in actual reality the
focus has always been on logging on sustained yield principles. Any forest areas that are degraded are set aside for
protection and sometimes natural regeneration is assisted by seeding and planting saplings. Harvesting of medicinal
plants and mushrooms is ether regulated through permits for a fee or royalty, or rights for collection are auctioned.
The ecosystem approaches and biodiversity considerations have not been mainstreamed in forestry in Pakistan.
Many forests have been notified as protected areas under the wildlife laws which are administered by the Wildlife
Departments. This has created conflict of interest between the two agencies, and so far there is no mechanism for
joint management of such protected areas. Under the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in 2005,
Pakistan committed to increase its forest cover from 4.8 to 6.0 % by 2015. Pakistan is obligated to report on the
status of forests in a transparent manner to various international conventions and UN agencies. WWF Pakistan has
been entrusted with task of forest mapping to estimate the national forest cover based on district maps.
Figure 8. Level of various threats in different forest types.
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The following strategies and actions are proposed to implement the CBD Programme of Work on Forest Biological
Diversity and contribute to the implementation of Aichi Biodiversity Targets 2011-2020.
11. Inland and Coastal Wetland Ecosystems
Strategy 1. An enabling institutional environment will be created for mainstream biodiversity
considerations in the forestry sector policy and planning processes so as to provide a sound basis for
conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity.
Actions:
1. A baseline of the health (deforestation) and condition (degradation) of forests and its impact on biodiversity
and ecosystem services will be established by 2017, using a GIS based system and monitored at regular
intervals. (ABT 5)
2, Forest and forest-related laws and regulations will be reviewed by 2018 to provide a sound basis for
conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity. (ABT 7)
Strategy 2. The forest biological diversity including the ecosystem services shall be protected and
restored through adoption of an ecosystem approach for management of all types of forests.
Actions:
1. Representative forest areas of special importance for biodiversity will be designated as Forest Biodiversity
Reserves by 2016 and effectively managed integrating with the wider landscapes. (ABT 11)
2. Suitable ecosystem approaches will be developed by 2016 for different forest types; and training workshops
held for managers for their application. (ABT 7)
3. A project will be developed by 2017 and implemented for piloting and demonstrating the ecosystem approach
in three different forest ecosystems and exchange related information nationally and regionally (ABT 7).
4. The Code for the preparation of management plans shall be revised by 2018 to incorporate the ecosystem
approaches for sustainable management of forests and biodiversity (ABT 7).
5. Landscapes that provide essential services related to water for major dams, and contribute to health;
livelihoods and well-being of local communities will be restored by 2020 and safeguarded. (ABT 14)
Strategy 3. The knowledge, the science base and technologies relating to forest biodiversity, its values,
functioning, status and trends will be improved to prevent loss of forest biodiversity, and mitigation
measures adopted including by reforming the rights and concessions of local people.
Actions:
1. 1. A forest classification system will be developed and maps prepared by 2016, using agreed international
standards compatible with remote sensing technologies that include broad indicators of forest biodiversity. (ABT
19)
2. A pilot project will be launched by 2017 in different ecosystems to test collaborative forest management
approaches for reducing the anthropogenic impacts and developing livelihoods of local people based on
sustainable use of components of the biodiversity. (ABT 7)
3. Joint forest management projects will be developed and implemented by 2017 for carbon sequestration through
reforestation of at least 15,000 ha of forests and 5,000 ha of community forests (ABT 15)
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11.1. Context
The inland water ecosystems of Pakistan comprise of streams, rivers, numerous natural lakes, manmade reservoirs,
Indus river delta and wetland complexes of the Indus basin. The lakes include high altitude alpine and glacial lakes,
freshwater and saltwater lakes. The inland water resources of Pakistan are dominated by the Indus River System,
comprising of the Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej, all originating in Western Himalayas, flow from northeast
to south and drain into Arabian Sea through the Indus Delta. Kabul River originating in Afghanistan drains into the
Indus, near Attock. Other than the Indus River system, there are some small rivers in Balochistan province such as
the Hub River, Gudri River, and the Nal River, all of which drain into the Arabian Sea on the Makran coast. Pakistan
has one of the world's largest man-made canal irrigation systems, which consists of a number of large dams,
barrages, and a network of irrigation canals and waterways. The following wetland ecosystems of Pakistan are
included in the list of global 200 priority ecosystems of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (Table 3)
Table 3. Wetland ecosystems of Pakistan included in Global 200 Eco-regions.
.Global 200 Eco-region Conservation Status Representation in
PA System
Rann of Kuchh Flooded Grasslands Critical or endangered Adequate
Indus River Delta Critical or endangered Inadequate
The wetlands complex consists of a continuum of braided and meandering river channels, oxbow lakes and
seasonally flooded depressions in the Indus basin. There is no accurate assessment of the total area of all the
wetlands, but the wetland complex between the town of Chashma in the north and the city of Sukkur in the south is
estimated to be 9,70010
km2. The streams and rivers are not only the lifeline of agriculture and hydropower
generation, but also provide livelihoods to thousands of people through artisan fisheries, and serve as a refuge for
large numbers of wintering migratory birds. Around 225 places have been identified and listed as significant wetland
sites, which are distributed all over the Pakistan from sea coast in the south to high mountains in the north. Major
wetlands are shown in figure 8.
Pakistan has more than 670 species of birds, of which one third are water birds, with most of these being migratory
species, including geese, ducks, swans, waders and other water birds. Species that require urgent attention include
Siberian Crane Grus leucogeranus, Sarus Crane Grus antigone, Dalmatian Pelican Pelicanus crispus, Sociable
Plover Vanellus gregarius, Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus and Pallas’s Fish Eagle Heliaeetus
leucoryphus.
The fish fauna is distributed in these water bodies according to the optimum requirements of the physic-chemical
factors of these water bodies. The freshwater fish fauna consists of 198 species, including 12 introduced species.
The fish fauna is predominantly south Asian, with some west Asian and high Asian elements. Fish fauna found in the
northern areas of Pakistan comprises of 20 species and is completely High Asian component restricted only to the
Gilgit Baltistan province of the country. Major component of the fish fauna especially the warm water fishes are
restricted to the Indus plain comprising about 140 fish species. The genus Schistura is restricted to sub-mountain
areas while the genus Triplophysa is mainly confined to high altitude areas of the country. The snow trout are found
in the Himalayas, Hindukush and Karakoram mountain ranges and not represented in the Indus plain. Other than
sport fishing, fishing rights in inland waters are auctioned every year for duration of the fishing season. The rainbow
trout and brown trout are a potential threat for the highly specialized local cold water fish fauna. The introduction of
Tilapia fishes is a real threat to the local fish fauna of warm waters.
Aquaculture is a rather recent activity in Pakistan and is still in its infancy and the fish fauna is rich but only seven
warm water species and two cold water species are cultivated on a commercial scale. Trials experimenting with
shrimp culture have been carried out in the Indus delta region but it did not succeed due to the non-availability of
10
http://www.wwfpak.org/ecoregions/CentralIndusWetlandsComplex.php
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hatchery-produced seed. With the exception of trout culture in KP and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), virtually all aquaculture
currently carried out in Pakistan is pond culture of various carp species. In the past, most fish farmers stocked their
ponds only with indigenous species such as catla (Catla catla ), rohu (Labeo rohita ), mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala ) and
common carp (Cyprinus carpio ). More recently, two fast growing species, the grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus
) and silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix ), have been introduced for culture under modern polyculture systems
to increase the fish yield per unit area. These two species have good economic values; have gained a reputation and
became popular amongst the producers as well as consumers. Two species of trout namely brown trout (Salmo trutta
) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss ) are cultured in KP, AJK and GB.
Figure 9. Map of Pakistan showing major wetlands.
While many lakes in the highlands have no management at all, the rivers, manmade reservoirs, canals are managed
for irrigation and hydropower generation by Irrigation Departments and Water and Power Development Authority
respectively. The fishing and hunting are regulated by the Fisheries Department and Wildlife Departments. All these
agencies act independently without and coordination. The discharge of industrial affluent and municipal waste and
untreated water are serious threats to the health and condition of aquatic life. Diversion of water for agriculture and
construction of dams for hydropower generation have resulted in drying up of many wetlands and created
impediments for fish migration. Overfishing, and use of destructive fishing methods including illegal nets, and
dynamite and poison fishing are other serious threats.
11. 2. Conservation and Sustainable Use of Wetlands Biodiversity
Pakistan is a range country of the Central Asian Flyway (CAF). There is an urgent need for science-based and
internationally coordinated conservation measures, ensuring the survival of species and their habitats as well as
sustainable benefits to people Of the major wetlands, only 46 sites have some sort of protected status in the form of
national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and game reserves. Pakistan ratified the Ramsar Convention in 1975 and 15
March 23, 2015
24
wetlands of international importance have been designated as Ramsar Sites. Pakistan prepared an action plan for
conservation of wetlands in 2000 but not implemented. The CMS Action Plan (2008) for CAF provides the basis for
the 30 Range States to take individual and coordinated region-wide activities to conserve water birds and their
habitats. It covers 175 species of divers, grebes, pelicans, cormorants, herons, storks, ibises, flamingos, geese,
cranes, rails, sun grebes jacanas, crab plovers, oystercatchers, stilts and avocets, pratincoles, plovers, scolopacids,
gulls and terns. Thirteen of the species are listed on Appendix I of the Convention.
The Action Plan contains provisions for species and habitat conservation, single species action plans and emergency
measures. Priority issues for conservation of migratory water bird and their habitats, include the lack of information on
population status and trends of water birds, information on precise migration routes of populations, limited capacity of
local agencies and communities to monitor and manage wetlands and the need to balance the needs of conservation
against the needs of local people. A draft policy for conservation and sustainable use wetlands biodiversity was
prepared in 2010, but has not been approved as yet.
The conservation and sustainable use of wetlands received first comprehensive attention through a GEF project “
Pakistan Wetland Programme” which started implementation in 2005 with a focus on creating enabling environment
through establishment of sustainable institutions; enhancing planning and land-use decision-making; development,
adoption and implementation of a National Wetlands policy; enhancing the technical competence of government
agencies and communities; raising nation-wide wetlands awareness; and securing long-term financial sustainability of
wetlands conservation initiatives. In response to the need to generate practical, replicable examples of viable
wetlands conservation practice in Pakistan, four demonstration sites were established by the Project in different eco-
regions for development. The sites included Makran Coastal Wetlands Complex, Central Indus Wetlands Complex,
Salt Range Wetlands Complex, and Northern Alpine Wetlands Complex. The Indus wetland complex in Sindh also
received attention through WWF’s programme called “Indus for All” launched in 2007. The programme addressed
the issues of natural resource management, pollution, sea erosion, and loss of species, deforestation, hunting of
birds and animals, and poverty.
While basic foundation for conservation and sustainable use of wetlands biodiversity has been laid, the efforts need
to be continued to achieve fruitful results. The following strategies and actions are designed to implement the CBD
programme of Work “Inland Waters Biodiversity” and Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
Strategy 1. Conservation of fish and other aquatic organisms, and equitable sharing of benefits
shall be ensured through sustainable management of fisheries by incorporating biodiversity
considerations in the legal, regulatory and policy frameworks of coastal and marine fisheries
sectors.
Actions
1. A mechanism will be created by 2016for coordination among agencies responsible for managing
water, fish, and wildlife resources in wetlands. (ABT 6)
The inland Fisheries laws and regulations will be updated and appropriate policy instruments formulated
by 2017 to incorporate biodiversity considerations, and equitable sharing of benefits from sustainable
fisheries. (ABT 6)
2. A baseline survey will be undertaken by 2017 to assess the biodiversity of key inland wetlands and
establish a system to monitor the status of species most in decline at regular intervals (ABT 19).
3. At least 7 major inland wetlands of national biodiversity significance shall be declared protected
areas by 2019 and together with the surrounding terrestrial areas managed effectively. (ABT 11)
4. The institutional capacity of fisheries departments will be strengthened by 2016 for effective
enforcement of laws against illegal and destructive fishing practices. (ABT 6)
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12. Coastal and Marine Ecosystems
12. 1. Context
Pakistan’s sea-coast lying between Sir Creek in Sindh and Jiwani
in Baluchistan measures 1098 km, with 768 km in Balochistan
and 330 km in Sindh province. The marine fisheries are a direct
source of livelihood for over a million people comprising more
than 125,000 households. There are approximately 15,000
fishing vessels of various sizes ranging from small to medium-
sized boats, large launches and trawlers engaged in fishing. The
boats are used for fishing in creeks and within the 12-mile
territorial limit which falls under provincial jurisdiction. The larger
launches go into deeper waters on extended fishing excursions.
Most of the fish catch is exported with little value addition. The
species exported are mainly shrimp (65%) and the rest are Indian
mackerel, ribbon-fish, tuna, sole and crab. Over-fishing, including
during the breeding season (June–August), has led to a steep
decline in shrimp catches. Sardines are caught as trash fish and
converted into chicken feed.
Three coastal and marine ecosystems of Pakistan are included in
Strategy 2. Appropriate measures shall be taken to prevent the introduction of freshwater
invasive species and control their spread to other areas, and where feasible, invasive alien
species will be eradicated in habitats of significant biological diversity.
Actions
1. The pathways for spread of alien freshwater species from hatcheries and aquaculture into natural
habitats will be studied by 2017 and appropriate controls will be put in place to control their spread.
(ABT 9).
2. Studies will be undertaken by 2020 to assess the impact of alien freshwater species in selected In
natural habitats of biodiversity significance. (ABT 9)
Strategy 3. The objectives of sustainable management of fisheries and aquaculture, and
equitable sharing of benefits are achieved through strengthening capacity of all stakeholders.
Actions
1. A procedure shall be designed by 2017 and implemented for sustainable harvest of inland fish stock
for minimizing impacts on threatened species and vulnerable habitats. (ABT 6)
2. The capacity of all stakeholders shall be built by 2017 for conservation of biodiversity and sustainable
management of inland aquatic habitats. (ABT 6)
3. Plans will be prepared by 2017 and implemented for recovery of depleted freshwater fish species.
(ABT 12)
Figure 10. Map showing Arabian Sea.
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26
the Global 200 Priority Ecosystems (Table 4). The ecosystems are comprised of the Arabian Sea (Figure 911
), sandy
and rocky beach ecosystems, estuaries, coastal lagoons, backwaters, and recently discovered corals in Astola
Island. The mangrove vegetation over 86,727 (IUCN, 2005) ha is mainly restricted to river estuaries with scattered
patches along the coast. Although mangroves play a useful ecological role, their economic value is not well
documented. Flora of Pakistan has reported eight
Table 4. Global 200 eco-regions represented in Pakistan
Global 200 Eco-region Conservation Status Representation in
PA System
Ran of Kutch Flooded Grasslands Critical or endangered Adequate
Indus River Delta Critical or endangered In adequate
Arabian Sea Critical or endangered No representation
species of mangroves; however, Avicennia marina is most predominant in mangroves of Pakistan. Anthropogenic
influences include excess nutrient input resulting in eutrophication, anoxic conditions and fish kill events The Indus
Delta is heavily polluted by a variety of industrial effluents, sewage, solid waste and nutrient-enriched irrigation water.
The mounting pressure of the rapidly increasing population has also led to the clearing of mangrove areas for
industrial and agricultural purposes as well as for urban expansion.
A 20 km stretch of beaches in Hawkes Bay and Sandspit are nesting grounds of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas)
and the olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea). In Balochistan, there are three major green turtle nesting sites:
Ormara, Astola (Haft Talar) Island (a small, uninhabited island about 6 km in length) and the Jiwani. In addition, a
small population also nests on the beaches of Hingol National Park to the east of Ormara. Nesting and hatching of
green turtles takes place all year round, with peak nesting in November and peak hatching in October. Marine turtles
in Pakistan face multiple threats, of which the major threats are egg predation and incidental catch in fishing craft.
Turtles have also died due to oil pollution from vessels. Other threats include depredation on green turtle hatchlings
by sea gulls, crows, foxes, jackals and stray dogs takes an additional toll. The development of Gwadar as a port city
and the operation of the Gwadar port is likely to take away many of the small beaches that serve as nesting habitats
for the turtles in the locality.
Climate change is a global issue, that can adversely impact the lives of the poor and marginalized communities
especially in developing or least developed countries, and Pakistan is no exception. In Pakistan the average annual
temperature has increased by 0.120C, and the annual rise in sea level is estimated at 1.1 mm causing more rainfalls,
sea intrusion, impacting agricultural output and extreme flooding. Climate change threatens the coastal communities
in Pakistan due to lack of coastal resilience to cyclones. The Climate Risk Index (CRI) for 2012 ranked Pakistan at
number 8 as the most affected country by climate change, and its impact could drive the already economically
unstable country further into poverty.
The oceans absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide emissions each day resulting in decline in their pH and change
in ocean chemistry, called ocean acidification, is already threatening habitats like coral reefs, and the future of
shellfish. According to Oceana (2012) Pakistan is among the top five countries least adaptable and 8th most
vulnerable nations to food security threats from climate change and ocean acidification. The adaptation to changing
ocean conditions, marine fisheries need to be healthy by reducing overfishing and bycatch. This would require
sustainable fisheries based on the status of fish stocks, setting catch limits on target species and creating long-term
bycatch reduction plans and stopping destructive fishing techniques such as bottom trawling.
In addition to climate change, progressive upstream diversion of Indus waters and the gradual depletion of freshwater
discharges and accompanying reduction in silt load is increasing salinity in Indus delta. The Development Review by
Government of Sindh (2009) reported that fresh water discharge from Indus declined from 49 trillion gallons 60 years
ago to 0.24 trillion gallons in 2006. In the absence of a considerable volume of such flows there is no decelerating
factor to check sea intrusion. IUCN (2003) estimated that the sea had intruded 54 km upstream along the main
course of the River Indus, Sindh.
11
:http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/arabiansea.htm)
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27
12. 2. Conservation and Sustainable use of Marine and Coastal Areas
The coastal and marine biodiversity faces numerous threats, some of which require action at national level while the
other requires global action. The national level actions include control of pollution to levels that are not detrimental to
biodiversity, sustainable fisheries, and establishing protected areas. The political economy and the socio-economic
problems cannot be dealt with laws alone and experience has shown that a ban on fishing to promote conservation is
not a feasible option. The communities who depend on fishing for their livelihoods traditionally had open access rights
to the fisheries.. Therefore policy measures to address the problem of loss of biodiversity must integrate access rights
and community-based management in the fishery management and conservation plans. The fisher folk usually have
the knowledge of the resources and their use and can take measures to perform the necessary management
functions such as limiting entry, fishing gear regulation, collection of resource rent, and benefit distribution. Marine
protected areas that are off limits to fishing and limit local pollution may help raise the resilience of local ecosystems
to climate change and ocean acidification. Protected areas can benefit both fisheries and tourism by preserving
important spots of marine biodiversity and fish spawning grounds.
The various turtle conservation initiatives, reforestation of mangroves, the GEF funded wetlands project. Indus for All
programme of WWF and Mangroves for Future of IUCN laid the foundation for conservation and sustainable use of
wetlands biodiversity. However, the efforts need to be scale up to prevent loss of biodiversity and make adaptations
for impending impacts of climate change, especially to protect the poor and marginalized. The following strategies
and actions are designed to implement the CBD programme of Work “Inland Waters Biodiversity” and Aichi
Biodiversity Targets.
Strategy 1. The coastal and marine biodiversity shall be conserved and made resilient to climate change
through a system of protected areas, and specific conservation measures aimed at recovery of
populations of species most in decline.
Actions
1. At least three major coastal and marine protected areas will be established by 2017 integrating these in the
wider landscapes and seascapes and managed effectively in an equitable manner on an ecosystem based
approach. (ABT 11)
2. The population of known threatened marine species particularly of those most in decline shall be monitored
regularly starting 106 and remedial measures taken to improve and sustain their population (ABT 12).
3. By 2020, the number of operating fleets will be capped to about 3,000 along Balochistan and 4,000 along
Sindh coast. (ABT 6)
4. At least 1,500 fishing boats will be modified by 2020 to improve the outdated fishing methods. (ABT 6)
5. A Climate Change Adaptation Plans will be prepared by 2018 for the coastal areas and capacity of coastal
communities developed to cope with the impacts of climate change. (ABT 10)
Startegy 2. The coastal and marine biodiversity resources will be conserved and used in a sustainable
manner through capacity development of coastal fishing communities.
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13. Agrobiodiversity
13. 1. Context
The agriculture sector, provides livelihood for two-thirds of the country’s population, contributes 22 per cent to GDP,
60 per cent to exports and 45 per cent to the labour force. Most of its contribution comes from crops and livestock in
almost equal proportions, although fruits and horticulture are increasing in importance. The main agricultural
products are cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits, and vegetables, in addition to milk, beef, mutton, and eggs. Almost
all of the irrigated areas, irrespective of farm size, are cultivated with high yielding varieties. .About 68 percent of the
farmers hold less than two ha of land which constitutes 22 percent of the cultivated area (PBS Agriculture Census
2010). Despite an impressive increase in agriculture production in last three decades, it has not resulted in improving
the living standards of the rural population to the extent desired (GOP Vision 2030). The dilemma is that being an
agricultural country, Pakistan is a net importer of agricultural commodities with annual imports total about US$2 billion
and include wheat, edible oils, and consumer foods.
Pakistan has diverse agro climatic conditions and a good natural resource base for agriculture. The vision of
government is to have an efficient and competitive sustainable agriculture ensuring food security, and with ability to
contribute to the economic development for Pakistan (GoP Vision 2030). Total cultivated area of Pakistan is 426, 225
km2 which is 53.54% of the total land area. The scant rainfall over most of the country makes about 80 percent of
cropping dependent on irrigation from one of the world's largest irrigation systems. Of the total cultivated area, about
31,840 km2,
largely in northern Pakistan are dependent on rain for agriculture. An additional 2,188 km2 are cultivated
through spate irrigation, or floodplains, or by diverting water from springs and streams.
Actions
1. A pilot project shall be prepared by 2017 and implemented to develop and test approaches to organize,
empower, and build capacity of at least five different coastal communities for sustainable harvested of all fish
and invertebrate stocks. (ABT 6)
2. All mangrove forests shall be managed by 2018 on ecosystem approach under plans prepared and
implemented jointly with custodial communities for restoration of degraded mangroves and their sustainable
use. (ABT 5)
3. Indus delta will be sustainably managed through collaborative management by 2018 to conserve biodiversity
and make sustainable use to safeguard the livelihoods and well-being of local communities. (ABT 14)
Strategy 3. The coastal and marine fisheries regulatory and institutional framework will be improved to
address the challenges of the 21st century for conservation of biodiversity, its sustainable use and
equitable sharing of benefits.
Actions:
1. Laws, regulations, and policies shall be updated or formulated by 2016 incorporating biodiversity concerns and
effective management of coastal and marine fisheries on sound ecological basis and to prevent threat of
extinction of utilized species. (ABT 6)
2. Institutional effectiveness and efficiency of the Sindh and Balochistan Fisheries Departments and Directorate
of Marine fisheries shall be enhanced by 2020 to ensure effective management and monitoring of the coastal and
marine biodiversity (ABT 4)
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Pakistan is rich in indigenous crop diversity with an estimated 3,000 taxa of cultivated plants and around 500 wild
relatives of cultivated crops. The northern and western Pakistan comprises one of the world centers on the origin and
diversity of cultivated plants (BAP, 2000). Many wild and local cultivars survived in Pakistan up to the era of the
Green Revolution and after the introduction of high-yield varieties, local cultivars are rare to find on farms.
Recognizing the importance of preserving crop genetic diversity, the government started collecting indigenous plant
germ plasm in the early 1970s and today there are over 15,600 germ plasm accessions.
Livestock sector is the mainstay of farming communities and has an exclusive position in the national agenda of the
economic development. Livestock is a source of livelihood at rural level, helping to reduce disparity in income, and
provides security in case of any untoward eventuality of crop failure. It plays an important role in poverty alleviation
and can uplift the socio-economic conditions of our rural masses. Livestock contribution to agriculture value added
stood at 55.9 percent while it contributed 11.8 percent to the national GDP during 2013-14.
Pakistan livestock includes cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, camels, horses, asses and mules. The Indian subcontinent
was one of the first places to domesticate cattle, buffalo and chicken. Pakistan now has two breeds of buffalo, eight of
cattle, one of yak, 25 of goat, 28 of sheep, one of horse, four of camel, and three of indigenous poultry. The buffalo
breeds Nili-Ravi, Azakheli, and Kundi are dairy breeds. Among the cattle, there are three dairy breeds (Sahiwal, Red
Sindhi, and Cholistani), five draught breeds (Bhagnari, Dhanni, Dajal, Acahi, Gibrali, Lohani, Rojhan) and one dual-
purpose breed (Tharparkar or Thari). The pure-bred animals are believed to constitute only 20-25% of the cattle
population. Of the sheep breeds, 14 are thick-tailed and 14 thin-tailed. Almost 75-80% of Pakistan’s domestic
livestock breeds are derivatives of established breeds and the proportion of ‘non-descript’ livestock to pure stock is on
the increase (BAP 2000).
13. 2. Conservation and Sustainable Use of Agrobiodiversity
The focus of agricultural policies in Pakistan has been maximization of yields through introduction of improved
varieties of crops, use of agrochemicals and exotic breeds of livestock and poultry, and artificial insemination and
cross breeding are the common factors that are eroding the natural heritage of agro biodiversity. Pakistan is the 8th
most vulnerable country to climate change, and it is likely to impact the farming systems in Pakistan. The impact will
be more pronounced in mountains and arid regions where agriculture depends on rainfall. Therefore, traditional crops
and varieties will be require as coping strategies for adaptation to changing conditions and sustaining rural peoples'
livelihoods.
There are no policies and laws for conservation of agro biodiversity or to regulate the introduction of new varieties
and breeds. Furthermore, the agriculture and livestock departments lack awareness, capacity, and financial
resources to effectively manage the agrobiodiversity resources. In order address these issues and to contribute to
CBD programme of work on agrobiodiversity, and implement Aichi Biodiversity Targets 2010-2020, the following
strategies and actions are proposed.
Strategy 1. Appropriate policy and legal measures shall be adopted to promote the positive and
mitigate the negative impacts of agriculture on biodiversity and wellbeing of the people.
Actions:
1. The agriculture policy shall be reviewed, and appropriate rules and regulations framed by 2017 to conserve
genetic diversity of crops, fruits and farmed animals, and to prevention of the introduction and eradication of
Invasive alien species (ABT 13).
2. The knowledge on agrobiodiversity shall be incorporated by 2018 in the curriculum of agriculture
universities, and extension and research work plans of agriculture and livestock sectors. (ABT 1)
Strategy 2. A comprehensive assessment shall be undertaken of the status and trends of the local
varieties of crops and breeds of the domestic animals including the local knowledge of management of
agro biodiversity, and measures initiated for in-situ and ex-situ conservation.
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13. Environmental Protection
13. 1. Context
An Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) was established to enforce the Pakistan Environmental Protection
Act,(PEPA) 1997, approve Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Initial Environmental Examination (IEE), and
establishment of environment labs. Pak-EPA was mandated to prepare or revise, and establish the National
Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) with approval of Pakistan Environmental Protection Council (PEPC); take
measures to the prevention of pollution, protection of the environment, and sustainable development. The Pakistan
Environmental Protection Act (PEPA) contained provisions for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and
considerations were integrated in the EIA and IEE guidelines. However, after the 18th amendment in the constitution,
the functions of Pak-EPA were delegated to the provinces.
13. 2. Strategies and Actions
The following strategies and actions are proposed to be taken for implementation of Aichi Biodiversity targets.
Strategy: The environmental laws and regulations shall be strictly enforced to control pollution and
ensure major economic development projects do not contribute to loss of biodiversity,
Actions:
1. The professional and operational capacity of Environment Departments will be strengthened by
2020 to enforce environmental laws and regulations especially safeguarding critical biodiversity
habitats and well-being of people. (ABT 8)
2. Studies will be commissioned to assess water pollution and its impact on habitats of special
biodiversity significance by 2016 and measures will be taken to control it to safe levels. (ABT 8)
3. At least 25 percent of the regular development budget will be dedicated for the implementation of
the NBSAP targets. (ABT 20
4. Projects will be prepared by 206 to seek bilateral and multilateral donor support for fully achieving
the NBSAP targets. (ABT 20)
Actions:
1. The diversity of local varieties of crops, fruits, and breeds of livestock and poultry and local knowledge of
their management shall be documented by 2017 and disseminated. (ABT 18)
2. The gaps in the in-situ and ex-situ conservation of the agro biodiversity shall be assessed by 2017 and
measures taken to fill the gaps. (ABT 13)
Strategy 3: Promote management practices, and policies that mitigate the negative impacts of
agriculture on biodiversity, and enhance productivity to sustain livelihoods, through the multiple
goods and services provided by the different levels and functions of agricultural biodiversity.
Actions:
1. Appropriate models of sustainable agriculture ensuring conservation of agrobiodiversity shall be developed
by 2019 and tested in at least five different agro-ecological zones (ABT 7)
2. An outreach programme developed and launched to raise awareness the farmers and their organizations
regarding the value of agrobiodiversity and the need for its conservation. (ABT 19)
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III. IMPLEMENTATION, MONITORING, AND EVALUATION
14. Introduction
A strategic plan, no matter how good it is, will not achieve the desired results if sits on the shelf, and failing to
implement is not only waste of time in planning, but also hurts the organization, the team, and individuals.
Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity is not only our international obligation but also a national
need of preserving natural heritage, and ecological integrity of the environment we live in, and well-being of our
people. Therefore the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) must be considered as part of the
whole process of results, and all the efforts made in its preparation will go waste if not implemented. Effective
implementation will require working with and building capacity of the stakeholders at national, provincial, regional and
local levels; communicating reaching out to mainstream biodiversity values in the policy and planning processes, and
for people to conserve and use it sustainably; and mobilizing resources for its implementation.
15. Implementation of NBSAP
A matrix showing of Achi Biodiversity targets showing proposed national actions, timelines, and funds required and
agency responsible for implementation and monitoring indicators is given in annex 1. While many actions will be
taken at the provincial or regional levels, there will be some cross cutting themes that will be best addressed at the
national level. Implementation of ABTs at provincial and regional level will be through their own Biodiversity
Strategies and Action Plans prepared as part of the NBSAP revision process.
A Coordination Committee will be set up at the national level for coordination among Ministries, and to facilitate
implementation of NBSAP in different federating units, monitor progress, assist in removal of bottlenecks is any, and
provide guidance for resource mobilization, etc. Similarly, Steering Committees will be established in every
federating unit for coordination among different sectors, facilitate cross-sectoral integration, monitor progress on
implementation, and help in resource mobilization.
During the process of consultation with the stakeholders it was realized that most stakeholders lacked and
understanding of the biodiversity and its values and therefore building their capacity for implementation of the NBSAP
will be crucial for the achievements of the results. This will first require strengthening the capacity of the Biodiversity
Directorate in the Ministry of Climate Change which will in turn build capacity of other stakeholders. This will be done
through a serious of thematic workshops to increase their knowledge of biodiversity, the exchange of experience,
enhance their understanding of the NBSAP, and train them in the use of relevant tools and mechanisms. The
workshops will provide an opportunity for the stakeholders to identify ways and means of overcoming challenges in
the implementation of NBSAP.
16. Communication and Outreach Strategy
Pakistan is the sixth most populous countries of the world, faced with the challenge of meeting the basic
socioeconomic needs of the people and building basic physical infrastructure for coping with the needs of growing
population. The limitations of financial resources and pressing needs for investments in socio economic sectors, the
investments in biodiversity are likely to remain a low priority. However, in order to the unintended negative
consequences of policy decisions on biodiversity, it is important that there must be a clear understanding of the
values of nature and presenting sectors with evidence of these values and their beneficial role will provide enabling
conditions for mainstreaming. Suitable training modules will be developed and introduced in the training programmes
senior policy makers, planners and parliamentarians at the National School of Public Policy (NSPP), National Institute
of Management (NIM), and Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Studies (PIPS).
In addition to training, mass and informal communication resources shall be mobilized for raising awareness and
mainstreaming of biodiversity. This will include formation of a cadre of environmental journalists who act as
‘biodiversity champions’ for print media and supported to contribute articles to print media, produce audio messages
for radio, and video clips for TV. The informal communications will focus on organizing a focus group comprising of
‘opinion leaders’ selected from amongst the policy makers, planners and politicians, who will spread the message in
informal settings such as in the corridors of the workplace, or at social functions.
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17. Plan for Resource Mobilization
Many actions of the NBSAP to achieve Aichi Biodiversity Targets will either neatly fit or will be accommodated in the
existing development budget of various biodiversity related sectors at the national, provincial and regional levels.
Simultaneously additional sources of funding shall be explored through innovative mechanisms available in the
Ministry of Climate Change (MoC), and other on-going donor projects, for example, project for REDD+
Readiness, the
System for Transparent Allocation of Resources (STAR) allocation under the Global Environmental Facility, etc. In
addition, bi-lateral and multilateral donor support shall be solicited to meet the short fall in the financial resources for
achieving the ABTs in an effectively and timely manner.
18. National Coordination Mechanisms
The Ministry of Climate Change shall have the overall responsibility of coordinating implementation of the NBSAP
through its Directorate of Biodiversity. The implementing partners will be the relevant ministries at the national level,
the provincial and regional governments and major international conservation organizations like IUCN and WWF.
Because of the diversity of sub-sectors at provincial and regional level, the Planning and Development or its
designated Department shall be a focal point for the CBD, coordinate among various stakeholders and act as a
liaison with the MoC. For the purpose of coordination with the implementing partners a Steering Committee shall be
established as follows:
Secretary, Ministry of Climate Change Chair
Inspector General of Forests, Deputy Chair
Secretary Food Security Member
Secretary, Planning and Development, Punjab Member
Secretary, Planning and Development, Sindh Member
Secretary, Planning and Development, KPK Member
Secretary, Planning and Development, Baluchistan Member
Secretary, Planning and Development, AJK Member
Secretary, Planning and Development, GB Member
Secretary, Planning and Development, FATA Member
Secretary, Planning Commission Member
IUCN Pakistan Member
WWF Member
Director, Biodiversity, MoC Secretary
The Steering Committee shall meet at least once every year and its functions shall include but not limited to the
following:
Suggest ways and means to ensure that biodiversity considerations are integrated in the policy and planning
processes and poverty alleviation programmes
Ensure that the financial needs implementation of NBSAP receive due consideration during the process for
allocation of funds;
Provide guidance to the stakeholders for effective implementation of the NBSAP;
Review the plans and progress of stakeholders for implementation of the BSAP;
Provide guidance and assistance in securing additional sources of funds from bilateral and multilateral
donors for implementation of the BSAP;
Deliberate on all emerging issues related to conservation, sustainable use of biodiversity and equitable
sharing of benefits and provide appropriate advice to the government for policy decisions.
19. Clearing-House Mechanism
The government of Pakistan in collaboration with WWF-Pakistan with the support of GEF and UNEP launched
Clearing House Mechanism website on the occasion of International day of Forest on March 7, 2013. It contained
useful information of biodiversity in Pakistan, and measures implemented to conserve and make sustainable use of
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biodiversity. However, the website remained active only for a short time because funding for its hosting expired, and
since then it is has been off line. The opportunities for finding a suitable host for the CHM are being explored and it is
hoped it will be functional and updated soon.
20. Monitoring and Evaluation
The progress on the implementation of the NBSAP shall be monitored on an annual basis through a flexible
framework of indicators keeping in view the national circumstances and priorities. A framework based on indicative
list of indicators contained in the annex to the CBD decision XI/3 is given in annex1.. The monitoring will not only
measure progress towards the achievement of NBSAPs and national targets, but also help in identification of
implementation issues, and in adaptive management for effective implementation of NBSAP. An independent mid-
term evaluation shall be commissioned, subject to availability of funds, to review the implementation of NBSAP and
make recommendation for achieving the national targets in an effective and timely manner. Final evaluation of
NBSAP will be combined with the preparation of 6th
National report. The monitoring and evaluation reports will be
presented to the National Steering Committee and Provincial Coordination Committees for their help in overcoming
the obstacles in successful achievement of the targets. It will also form a basis for national and international reporting
obligations as well as guide the national planning process. The monitoring and evaluation mechanism will be
established within the first year of the adoption of the NBSAP
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Inter Cooperation. 2010. Study on harvesting ban in NWFP. Pak. Swiss Integrated Resource Management Project,
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Khan, M. A., Munir, A., and Hassnain, S. H. 2012. Review of available knowledge on Land Degradation in Pakistan.
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Pak -SCEA. 2006. Pakistan; Strategic Country Environmental Assessment Report: Rising to the Challenges, May,
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Pakistan Water Sector Strategy (PWSS). 2002. National water sector profile, volume 5, October 2002, Ministry of
Water and Power, Office of the Chief Engineering Advisor. Available at http://waterinfo.net.pk/cms/pdf/vol5.pdf
Peter Blood, ed. Pakistan: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1994.
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). 2000. Industrial Policy and the Environment in
Pakistan. UNIDO, Vienna, Austria.
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36
Annexure 1. Matrix showing Aichi Biodiversity Targets and National Actioms
Thematic Area
Actions Target date
Cost $ (millions)
Indicators for Monitoring
Responsible Agency
Strategic Goal A: Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society
Target 1: By 2020, at the latest, people are aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use it sustainably
Aw
are
ne
ss
of
Bio
div
ers
ity
va
lue
s
1.1. Capacity of the Biodiversity Directorate will be strengthened to implement a well-planned biodiversity education and communication strategy to create public awareness of the value of biodiversity, and target high level policy makers, planners and administrators in selected important development sectors that impact or depend on components of biodiversity, and the business sector.
2016 1.0
Trends in awareness and attitudes Trends in public engagement with biodiversity
Directorate of Biodiversity
Aw
are
ne
ss
of
Bio
div
ers
ity
va
lue
s
1. 2. A focus group comprising of ‘opinion leaders’ representing print and audio-visual media shall be constituted to prepare and implementing a communication strategy and action plan to engage the media for implementing NBSAP
2016 0.25
Trends in communication programmes and actions
Directorate of Biodiversity
Aw
are
ne
ss
of
Bio
div
ers
ity
va
lue
s
1. 3. A cadre of environmental journalists who act as ‘biodiversity champions’ for print media shall be created and supported to contribute articles to print media, produce audio messages for radio, and video clips for TV.
2017 0.25
Trends in communication programmes and actions
Directorate of Biodiversity
Aw
are
ne
ss
of
Bio
div
ers
ity
va
lue
s
1. 4. A task forces comprising of CBD Focal Point, Ministries of Education and Science and Technology, and Food Security will be constituted to incorporate biodiversity in curriculum of universities, colleges and schools.
2017 0.25 Trends in inclusion of biodiversity in curriculum
Directorate of Biodiversity, Ministry of Education
Aw
are
ne
ss
of
Bio
div
ers
ity
va
lue
s
1. 5. An outreach programme developed and launched to raise awareness the farmers and their organizations regarding the value of agrobiodiversity and the need for its conservation.
2018 1.0 Trends in farmers’ engagement with biodiversity
Pakistan Agriculture Research Council
Target 2: By 2020, at the latest, biodiversity values have been integrated into national and local development and poverty reduction strategies and planning processes and are being incorporated into national accounting, as appropriate, and reporting systems
March 23, 2015
37
Ma
ins
tre
am
ing
Bio
div
ers
ity
2. 1 A support group comprising of ‘opinion leaders’ from among the policy makers and planners will be constituted by to prepare and implement a strategy for increasing the biodiversity knowledge of decision makers and act as a change agent through informal communications..
2016 0.25
Numbers of opinion leaders and active and trends in biodiversity knowledge of decision makers.
Directorate of Biodiversity
Ma
ins
tre
am
ing
Bio
div
ers
ity
2. 2. The capacity of National School of Public Policy (NSPP), National Institute of Management (NIM), National Defense College, and Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Studies (PIPS) will be built to incorporate biodiversity consideration in their training courses for decision makers of mid-career and senior managerial levels.
2017 0.25
The kind and number of courses that offer lessons on biodiversity values.
Directorate of Biodiversity
Ma
ins
tre
am
ing
Bio
div
ers
ity
2. 3. Studies shall be commissioned in selected ecosystems to demonstrate the value of biodiversity and provide a basis for dialogue initiated with the Ministry of Finance for inclusion of biodiversity in national accounting and reporting systems.
2017 0.25
The number of studies completed and presented to Ministry of Finance.
Directorate of Biodiversity
Ma
ins
tre
am
in
g B
iod
ive
rsit
y 2. 4. A dialogue will be initiated
with the Planning Commission, and Ministries of Food Security, Science and Technology, Culture and Tourism, for integration of biodiversity considerations into their policies and plans.
2017 0.25
Trends in integration of biodiversity values into sectoral and development policies.
Directorate of Biodiversity
Target 3: By 2020, at the latest, incentives, including subsidies, harmful to biodiversity are eliminated, phased out or reformed in order to minimize or avoid negative impacts, and positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are developed and applied, consistent and in harmony with the Convention and other relevant international obligations, taking into account national socio economic conditions
Natu
ral
Ec
osy
ste
ms 3. 1. An integrated landscape
management pilot project will be launched in at least three different sites of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem service to test the efficacy of positive incentives that would significantly reduce and ultimately halt the degradation and fragmentation of areas.
2018 2.5
Number and kind of positive incentives provided and their impact
Office of Inspector General of Forests
Target 4: By 2020, at the latest, Governments, business and stakeholders at all levels have taken steps to achieve or have implemented plans for sustainable production and consumption and have kept the impacts of use of natural resources well within safe ecological limits
Fis
he
ries 4.1. An assessment of stocks and
limits of sustainable harvest levels of major species is determined and strictly enforced in coastal and marine habitats.
2016 0.5 Safe ecological limits determined for harvest of species.
Directorate of Marine Fisheries
March 23, 2015
38
Fis
he
ries
4. 2. Institutional effectiveness and efficiency of the Sindh and Balochistan Fisheries Departments and Directorate of Marine fisheries shall be enhanced by 2020 to ensure effective management and monitoring of the coastal and marine biodiversity.
2020 1.0 Trends in proportion of utilized stocks outside safe biological limits.
Fisheries Departments, Baluchistan, Sindh, and Directorate of Marine Fisheries
Strategic Goal B: Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use
Target 5: By 2020, the rate of loss of all natural habitats, including forests, is at least halved and where feasible brought close to zero, and degradation and fragmentation is significantly reduced.
Fo
restr
y
5. 1. A baseline of the health (deforestation) and condition (degradation) of forests and its impact on biodiversity and ecosystem services will be established using a GIS based system and monitored at regular intervals.
2017 0.25
Report on the assessment of health and condition of forests.
Forest Departments, all provinces, regions
Fo
res
try
5. 2. All mangrove forests shall be managed by on ecosystem approach under plans prepared and implemented jointly with custodial communities for restoration of degraded mangroves and their sustainable use.
2018 1.00 Trends in condition and vulnerability of mangroves.
Forest Department, Sindh & Baluchistan
Target 6: By 2020 all fish and invertebrate stocks and aquatic plants are managed and harvested sustainably, legally and applying ecosystem based approaches, so that overfishing is avoided, recovery plans and measures are in place for all depleted species, fisheries have no significant adverse impacts on threatened species and vulnerable ecosystems and the impacts of fisheries on stocks, species and ecosystems are within safe ecological limits.
Inla
nd
Fis
he
ries 6. 1. A mechanism will be created
for coordination among agencies responsible for managing water, fish, and wildlife resources in wetlands.
2016 0.05
Trends in coordination and cooperation among various agencies.
Lead role Wildlife Departments, all provinces, regions
Inla
nd
Fis
he
rie
s 6. 2. The inland fisheries laws
and regulations will be updated and appropriate policy instruments formulated by to incorporate biodiversity considerations, and equitable sharing of benefits from sustainable fisheries.
2017 0.1
The number of laws, regulations; and policies updated or formulated.
Fisheries Departments, all provinces & regions
Inla
nd
Fis
he
ries
6. 3. The institutional capacity of fisheries departments will be strengthened for effective enforcement of laws against illegal and destructive fishing practices.
2016 1.0
Trends in area, frequency, and/or intensity of destructive fishing practices.
Fisheries Departments, all provinces & regions
Inla
nd
Fis
he
ries
6. 4. A procedure shall be designed and implemented for sustainable harvest of Inland fish stock for minimizing impacts on threatened species and vulnerable habitats.
2017 0.1 Safe ecological limits determined for harvest of species
Fisheries Departments, all provinces & regions
March 23, 2015
39
Inla
nd
Fis
he
ries
6. 5. Plans will be prepared and implemented for recovery of depleted freshwater species.
2017 1.0
Trends in extinction risk of target and bycatch aquatic species
Fisheries Departments, all provinces & regions
Inla
nd
Fis
he
ries 6. 6. The capacity of all
stakeholders shall be built for conservation of biodiversity and sustainable management of inland aquatic habitats.
2017 0.5 Trends in collaborative management of fisheries resources.
Fisheries Departments, all provinces, AJK, GB
Co
as
tal
& M
ari
ne
Fis
he
ries
6. 7. Laws, regulations, and policies shall be updated or formulated incorporating biodiversity concerns and effective management of coastal and marine fisheries on sound ecological basis and to prevent threat of extinction of utilized species.
2016 0.25
The number of laws, regulations; and policies updated or formulated.
Fisheries Department, Baluchistan & Sindh, Directorate of marine Fisheries
Co
as
tal
Fis
he
ries
6. 8. A pilot project shall be prepared and implemented to develop and test approaches to organize, empower, and build capacity of at least five different coastal communities for sustainable harvested of all fish and invertebrate stocks.
2017 1.0
Trends in active participation of communities in sustainable fisheries.
Fisheries Department, Baluchistan & Sindh.
Ma
rin
e
Fis
he
ries
6. 9. The number of operating fleets will be capped to about 3,000 along Balochistan and 4,000 along Sindh coast.
2020 1.5 Trends in numbers of fishing fleets.
Directorate of Marine Fisheries
Ma
rin
e
Fis
he
ries
6. 10. At least 1,500 fishing boats will be modified to improve the outdated fishing methods.
2020 1.5 Trends in numbers of boats modified for improved fishing.
Directorate of Marine Fisheries
Target 7: By 2020 areas under agriculture, aquaculture and forestry are managed sustainably, ensuring conservation of biodiversity
Fo
res
try 7. 2. Suitable ecosystem
approaches will be developed for different forest types; and training workshops held for managers for their application.
2016 0.5
Trends in development and training in ecosystems approaches
Pakistan Forest Institute
Fo
res
try
7. 3. A project will be developed and implemented for piloting and demonstrating the ecosystem approach in different forest ecosystems and exchange related information nationally and regionally.
2017 2.5 Trends in proportion of products derived from sustainable sources
Forest Departments, KP, AJK, GB, Punjab
Fo
res
try
7. 4. A pilot project will be launched in at least six different ecosystems to test collaborative forest management approaches for reducing the anthropogenic impacts and developing livelihoods of local people based on sustainable use of
2017 2.5
Trends in anthropogenic impacts on forest ecosystems and forest based livelihoods developments.
Forest Departments, all provinces, AJK, GB
March 23, 2015
40
components of the biodiversity.
Fo
res
try
7. 5. Forest and forest-related laws and regulations will be reviewed to provide a sound basis for conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity.
2018 0.1 Trends in updating forest and forest related laws.
Forest Departments, all provinces, AJK, GB
Fo
res
try
7. 6. The Code for the preparation of management plans shall be revised by 2018 to incorporate the ecosystem approaches for sustainable management of forests and biodiversity.
2018 0.1 Trends in adoption of revised Working Plan Code..
Pakistan Forest Institute
Ag
ric
ult
ure
7. 7. Appropriate models of sustainable agriculture ensuring conservation of agrobiodiversity shall be developed and tested in at least five different agro-ecological zones
2019 1.0 Trends in proportion of products derived from sustainable sources
Pakistan Agriculture Research Council
Target 8: By 2020, pollution, including from excess nutrients, has been brought to levels that are not detrimental to ecosystem function and biodiversity
En
vir
on
men
t
8. 2. Studies will be commissioned to assess water pollution and its impact on habitats of special biodiversity significance and measures will be taken to control it to safe levels. (ABT 8)
2016 0.5
Number of studies completed and measures adopted to prevent pollution.
Environments Departments, all provinces, AJK, GB
En
vir
on
men
t
8. 1. The professional and operational capacity of Environment Departments will be strengthened by 2020 to enforce environmental laws and regulations especially safeguarding critical biodiversity habitats and well-being of people. (ABT 8)
2020 1.00
Trends in proportion of toxic solids wastewater discharged in aquatic habitats.
Environments Departments, all provinces, AJK, GB
Target 9: By 2020, invasive alien species and pathways are identified and prioritized, priority species are controlled or eradicated, and measures are in place to manage pathways to prevent their introduction and establishment
Fis
he
ries
9. 1. The pathways for spread of alien freshwater species from hatcheries and aquaculture into natural habitats will be studied and appropriate controls will be put in place to control their spread.
2017 0.5
Trends in invasive alien species pathways management.
Fisheries Departments, all provinces, AJK, GB
Fis
he
ries 9. 2. Studies will be undertaken to
assess the impact of alien freshwater species in selected In natural habitats of biodiversity significance.
2020 0.5
Trends in the economic impact of invasive alien species and on extinction risk trends
Fisheries Departments, all provinces, AJK, GB
Target 10:By 2015, the multiple anthropogenic pressures on coral reefs, and other vulnerable ecosystems impacted by climate change or ocean acidification are minimized, so as to maintain their integrity and functioning
March 23, 2015
41
Cli
ma
te
Ch
an
ge
10. 1. Climate Change Adaptation Plans will be prepared for the coastal areas and capacity of coastal communities developed to cope with the impacts of climate change, pollution, and overexploitation..
2018 0.5
Trends in pressures, pollution, climate change, and overexploitation.
Environment Departments, Sindh, Baluchistan
Strategic Goal C: To improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity
Target 11. By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water, and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes.
Pro
tec
ted
Are
as
11. 1. A national list of protected areas comprised of only those sites that meet the internationally recognized definition of a protected area shall be prepared.
2016 0.05 The revised list of PAs Inspector General Forest Office
Fo
res
try
11. 2. Representative forest areas of special importance for biodiversity will be designated as Forest Biodiversity Reserves by 2016 and effectively managed integrating with the wider landscapes.
2016 1.5
Trends in extent of forest protected areas, coverage of key biodiversity areas and management effectiveness
Forest Departments, all provinces, AJK, GB
Pro
tec
ted
Are
as
11. 3. The protected areas network shall be expanded by 2018 to complete representation of ecosystems and habitats especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity.
2018 1.0
Trends in extent of representative natural habitats coverage in protected areas, and management effectiveness.
Wildlife Departments, all provinces, AJK, GB
Pro
tec
ted
Are
as
11. 4. At least seven major inland wetlands of national biodiversity significance shall be declared protected areas and together with the surrounding terrestrial areas managed effectively.
2019 1.0
Trends in extent of wetland protected areas, coverage of key biodiversity areas and management effectiveness
Wildlife Departments, all provinces, AJK, GB
Pro
tec
ted
Are
as 11. 5. At least four major coastal
and marine protected areas will be established integrating these in the wider landscapes and seascapes and managed effectively in an equitable manner on an ecosystem based approach.
2017 0.5
Trends in extent of marine protected areas, and management effectiveness.
Wildlife Departments, all provinces, Balochistan, Sindh
Target 12: By 2020 the extinction of known threatened species has been prevented and their conservation status, particularly of those most in decline, has been improved and sustained
Wil
dli
fe
12. 1. Recovery plans are prepared and implementation to improve the conservation status of at least six selected threatened faunal species.
2018 1.5 Trends in population of selected species
Wildlife Departments, all provinces, AJK, GB
Fis
he
ries
12. 2. Plans will be prepared and implemented for recovery of depleted freshwater fish species.
2017 1.0 Trends in population of selected species
Fisheries Departments, all provinces, AJK, GB
March 23, 2015
42
Fis
he
ries
12. 3. The population of known threatened marine species particularly of those most in decline shall be monitored regularly and remedial measures taken to improve and sustain their population.
2016 0.5 Trends in population of selected species
Directorate of Marine Fisheries
Sp
ec
ies
Tra
de
12. 4. A policy and guidelines for trade in species of flora and fauna including those listed on CITES appendices shall be prepared and disseminated widely.
2017 0.1 Trends in trade of species
Inspector General Forest’s Office
Target 13: By 2020, the genetic diversity of cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and of wild relatives, including other socio-economically as well as culturally valuable species is maintained, and strategies have been developed and implemented for minimizing genetic erosion and safeguarding their genetic diversity.
Ed
uc
ati
on
13. 1. The knowledge on agrobiodiversity shall be incorporated in the curriculum of agriculture universities, and extension and research work plans of agriculture and livestock sectors.
2018 0.1
Trends in integration of agrobiodiversity knowledge in education and research
Directorate of Biodiversity, Ministry of Education
Ag
ro
bio
div
ers
ity
9. 3. The agriculture policy shall be reviewed, and appropriate rules and regulations framed to conserve genetic diversity of crops, fruits and farmed animals, and to prevention of the introduction and eradication of Invasive alien species.
2017 0.5
Trends in review of integration of biodiversity considerations in of agriculture policies.
Agriculture and Livestock Departments, all provinces, AJK, GB
Ag
ro
bio
div
ers
ity
13. 3 The gaps in the in-situ and ex-situ conservation of the agro biodiversity shall be assessed and measures taken to fill the gaps
2017 1.5
Trends in assessment of agrobiodiversity. Trends in in-situ and ex-situ conservation
Agriculture Departments, all provinces, AJK, GB and Pakistan Agriculture Research Council
Strategic Goal D: Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services
Target 14: By 2020, ecosystems that provide essential services, including services related to water, and contribute to health, livelihoods and well-being, are restored and safeguarded, taking into account the needs of women, indigenous and local communities, and the poor and vulnerable.
Wa
ters
hed
14. 1. Landscapes that provide essential services related to water for major dams, and contribute to health; livelihoods and well-being of local communities will be restored and safeguarded.
2020 2.5 Trends in the condition of selected ecosystem services.
Forest Departments, AJK, KP, Punjab
Co
as
tal
14. 2. Indus delta will be sustainably managed through collaborative management to conserve biodiversity and make sustainable use to safeguard the livelihoods and well-being of local communities.
2018 1.0 Trends in the condition of selected ecosystem services.
Forest, and Fisheries Departments, Sindh
Target 15: By 2020, ecosystem resilience and the contribution of biodiversity to carbon stocks has been enhanced, through conservation and restoration, including restoration of at least 15 per cent of degraded ecosystems, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation and to combating desertification
March 23, 2015
43
Fo
res
try
15. 1. Joint forest management projects will be developed and implemented for carbon sequestration through reforestation of at least 15,000 ha of forests and 5,000 ha of community forests.
2017 2.0
Trend in extent and condition of habitats that provide carbon storage.
Forest Departments, all provinces, AJK, GB.
Target 16. By 2015, the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization is in force and operational, consistent with national legislation
Bio
div
ers
ity .16. 1. The Nagoya Protocol on
Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization is signed, ratified and implemented.
2018 0.10
Trends in access and equity of benefit-sharing of genetic resources
Office of Inspector General of Forests
Strategic Goal E: Enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity building
Target 17: By 2015 each Party has developed, adopted as a policy instrument, and has commenced implementing an effective, participatory and updated national biodiversity strategy and action plan.
Po
lic
y
Fra
me
wo
rk 17. 1. The revised NBSAP will be
adopted as a policy instrument by the national, provincial and regional governments and implementation and monitoring mechanisms shall be put in place.
2015 0.05
Trends in implementation of national biodiversity strategies and action plans
Directorate of Biodiversity
Ins
titu
tio
na
l
Fra
me
wo
rk 17. 2. Institutional effectiveness
and efficiency of the Directorate of Biodiversity shall be enhanced to ensure effective management and monitoring of the biodiversity resources.
2017 1.5
Trends in implementation of national biodiversity strategies and action plans
Directorate of Biodiversity
Po
lic
y
Fra
me
wo
rk
17. 3. A biodiversity conservation policy shall be formulated, and adopted.
2017 0.1
Trends in integration of biodiversity policy in sectoral planning processes.
Directorate of Biodiversity
Target 18: By 2020, the traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and their customary use of biological resources, are respected, subject to national legislation and relevant international obligations, and fully integrated and reflected in the implementation of the Convention with the full and effective participation of indigenous and local communities, at all relevant levels.
Ag
ro
Bio
div
ers
ity 18. 1. The diversity of local
varieties of crops, fruits, and breeds of livestock and poultry and local knowledge of their management shall be documented and disseminated.
2017 1.0
Trends in farming with traditional knowledge and use of local varieties and breeds.
Pakistan Agriculture Research Council
Target 19: By 2020, knowledge, the science base and technologies relating to biodiversity, its values, functioning, status and trends, and the consequences of its loss, are improved, widely shared and transferred, and applied
Kn
ow
led
ge 19.1. Pakistan’s natural habitats
will be defined and mapped for assessing the biodiversity status and to identify conservation priorities and opportunities.
2016 0.1
Mapping and assessment of ecosystems report Number of habitat and species inventories.
Office of Inspector General of Forests
March 23, 2015
44
Kn
ow
led
ge
19. 2. A forest classification system will be developed and maps prepared by using agreed international standards compatible with remote sensing technologies that include broad indicators of forest biodiversity.
2016 0.1
Forest classification and mapping report Number of habitat and species inventories
Office of Inspector General of Forests
Kn
ow
led
ge 19. 3. A baseline survey will be
undertaken to assess the biodiversity of key inland wetlands and establish a system to monitor the status of species in most decline at regular intervals.
2017 0.5 Number of base line surveys
Pakistan Museum of Natural History
Kn
ow
led
ge 19. 4. An outreach programme
developed and launched to improve the agrobiodiversity knowledge of farmers, local communities, and their organizations shall be improved.
2018 1.0
Trends in the knowledge on farm conservation of agrobiodiversity.
Pakistan Agriculture Research Council
Target 20: By 2020, at the latest, the mobilization of financial resources for effectively implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 from all sources, and in accordance with the consolidated and agreed process in the Strategy for Resource Mobilization, should increase substantially from the current levels. This target will be subject to changes contingent to resource needs assessments to be developed and reported by Parties
Fin
ancia
l
me
ch
an
ism
20. 1. At least 25 percent of the regular development budget will be dedicated for the implementation of the NBSAP targets
2020 NA Trends in mobilization allocation of resources for NBSAP.
All Provinces, AJK, GB
Fin
ancia
l
Me
ch
an
ism
20. 2. The financial resources from all sources will be mobilized by 2018, for a substantial increase from the current levels for effective implementation of the NBSAP.
2020 0.2 Trends in mobilization of additional resources
Office of Inspector General of Forests, All relevant sectors in the provinces, AJK, GB.
March 23, 2015
45
Annexure 2. Lists of Threatened Species of Fauna..
To be added
March 23, 2015
46
Annexure 3. List of Acronyms and Abbreviations.
ABT Aichi Biodiversity Target BWG Biodiversity Working Group CBD Convention on Biological Diversity GIS Global Information System CAF Central Asian Flyway CHM Clearing House Mechanism CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CMS Convention on Migratory Species CoP Conference of Parties CRI Climate Risk Index FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FSMP Forestry Sector Master Plan GBO Global Biodiversity Outlook GDP Gross Domestic Product GEF Global Environment Facility HYVs High Yield Varieties ITPGRFA International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature KP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa MDGs Millennium Development Goals NBSAPs National Biodiversity Strategies and Actions Plans NCS National Conservation Strategy NIM National Institute of Management NRM Natural Resource Management NSPP National School of Public Policy NSDS National Sustainable Development Strategy NWCS National Wetland Conservation Strategy PARC Pakistan Agriculture Research Council PBS Pakistan Bureau of Statistics PEPA Pakistan Environment Protection Act PIPS Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Studies PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers REDD
+ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation
TEV Total Economic Value UNEP United Nations Environment Program UNIDO United Nations WCS World Conservation Strategy WRI World Resource Institute WWF Worldwide Fund for Nature