Pakistan National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan
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March 23, 2015 Pakistan National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan Government of Pakistan 2015 i March 23, 2015 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 i March 23, 2015 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 ii March 23, 2015 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