Contents lists available at Journal homepage: http://twasp.info/journal/home Research Impact of Natural Events and Anthropogenic Activities on the Biodiversity of Margallah Hills National Park Islamabad (MHNP)
Sadam Hussain Chandio*1=, Sanjrani Manzoor Ahmed2=, Seerat ul Ain Bhutto3, Muneer Ahmed Sanjrani4, Nafees Ali Khaskheli5 1,3,4School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China 2School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, China 5School of Geophysics, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China
= Authors contributed equally
*Corresponding Author : S H Chandio Email: [email protected]
Published online : 28 Feb, 2019 Abstract: Margallah Hills National Park is one of the ecologically significant areas in Pakistan occupying an area of 17386 ha. It is a diverse Park having dense biodiversity of Plants, Animals and Birds species, water courses flowing through the Heart of this National Park from Kurang River and its tributaries to Soan River. Margallah Hill National Park is a home of 600 plants species, 250 birds’ varieties, 38 mammals’ species and 13 species of reptiles. MHNP has a different recreational spots that attracts the tourists to visit. In the past few years, the problem of unsustainable tourism, solid waste and wildfire (both natural and anthropogenic) has affected the biodiversity of this Park by changing in the wildlife behavior, damaging their habitats, vulnerability to disturbance in the breeding seasons and juvenile stages of their offspring. The primary and secondary data collection method through participatory approach were used to collect the information includes FGD, s, interviews and questionnaire. More than 100000 people visits the trails (5 and 6) for hiking, and almost 200000 people visits the recreational spots. In the last few years, tourist’s pressure, restaurants and huts has increased the solid waste in the recreational spots causing contamination of water courses and deteriorated the aesthetic value of this park. Natural wildfire has burnt 205.8 acres area in the last four years, which burnt all the floral species and severely impacted the wildlife and its habitat. 90% of the wildfire is caused by the anthropogenic activities except fire season (April to July). After detail analysis of the area, solid waste management plan, awareness campaigns, installation of waste bins, and up gradation of the firefighting techniques and construction of ecological bridges in the national park were proposed for the area. Keywords: Margallah Hills National Park, the Biodiversity, Anthropogenic Activities,
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Wildlife, Ecology Introduction The Margallah Hills National Park (MHNP) is one of the ecologically significant protected areas in Pakistan. It is located in the foothills of the Himalayan range. MHNP is a diverse park having an area of 17386 hectares (173.9 km square). Margallah Hill National Park is a home of 600 plants species, 250 birds varieties, 24 mammals species and 13 species of reptiles, including mammals (like Asiatic leopards, Gray gorals, Barking Deer, wild boar, golden jackal, red fox, white pigs, pangolin, monkeys, fruit bats), Reptiles such as (Russell’s viper, Indian cobra, snakes, saw scaled viper), vegetation like (deciduous and evergreen shrubs, pine and oaks forests), Birds such as (sky larks, Black grouse, pheasant, the Egyptian vulture, falcons, Indian sparrow hawk, black partridge and eagles)( WWF., 2010, WWF- Pakistan 2009, The Islamabad Wildlife 2016). MHNP was declared a national park on April 27, 1980 under section 21(1) of the Islamabad Wildlife Ordinance (IWO) 1979, and also affirmed as Wildlife sanctuary. According to this section, any commercial activity and settlement in the area is prohibited. But a chain of restaurants, small huts, settlements of people and tourism is affecting this diverse park and its biodiversity by loss of its habitats, disturbance in the breeding seasons, destroying the species of flora and forcing the animals to migrate. Moreover, solid waste generated by the restaurants, huts and tourists have increased the pollution and deteriorate the aesthetic value of this National Park. Most of the waste includes polythene bags, food packages. plastic bottles, wrappers, metals, glass, oil, sewage water etc. contaminating the water courses, roots of plants and trees, animals that drinks contaminated water and feed on the solid waste thrown by hotels and tourists. Plastic bottles and polythene bags are non-biodegradable and persist for longer period of time and affect the fertility of soil (WWF-Pakistan 2009, The Islamabad Wildlife 2016, Sanjrani MA 2019). Wildfire is a key factor in disturbing the biodiversity, damaging the flora and affecting the wild animals (fauna and avifauna) due to habitat loss. Illegal urban encroachments, poaching, and tree chopping is affecting the ecosystem of this park. (NCP 2017)."The whole purpose of a national park is to conserve and protect. Ideally, there is very little to no human activity in the core areas of these parks and it is usually limited to research. Development and Construction of roads has resulted in the decrease of wildlife interaction and established a physical barrier on two sides of the roads. Research centre, (Dr. Fakhar Abbas of the Bio resource Research Centre ) has documented that in 2003, approximately, 40 grey gorals has been sighted in MHNP. Due to anthropogenic activities and excessive tourism, there were no
pg. 21 signs of grey gorals in 2011. Barking Deer, which were huge in numbers, are also disappearing from the area, not only due to habitat loss but also by poaching. Hundreds of cars travelling on the roads towards restaurants and spots have been disturbing the wildlife and its habitat due to light and noise. There are many lights on the road even during late at night which is seriously disturbing the wildlife at the national park. Several animals have been hit by the vehicles on the roads, among them wild boar is common. Unscientific solid waste management, open defecation and poor condition of septic tanks; and direct disposal of solid waste in the water courses or on the exposed surfaces, were major sources of bacterial contamination. Pollutants and microbiological contamination in water bodies were found and anthropogenic activities and hazardous practices such as solid waste dump sites, open defecation, and poor conditions of existing septic tanks are suggested as possibly affecting water quality (Manfredi 2010, Sanjrani MA 2017, Ghimire 2013, Sanjrani MA 2018, Sanjrani MA 2018b) There are obvious direct impacts of recreation and tourism such as clearing of vegetation for infrastructure or damage from trampling, horse riding, mountain biking and off road vehicles. As well, there are less obvious but potentially more severe indirect impacts. This includes self-propagating impacts associated with the spread of some weeds from trails and roads. It also includes the severe impact on native vegetation, including many rare and threatened plants (Pickering 2007). This Study was conducted to know the Impact of Natural Events and Anthropogenic Activities on the Biodiversity of Margallah Hills National Park Islamabad (MHNP). The primary and secondary data collection method through participatory approach were used to collect the information includes FGD, s, interviews and questionnaire.
Biodiversity of Margallah Hills National Park: There are several animal, plants and birds in Margallah Hills National Park, which is the beauty of this park, given in table no. 1.
Table 1 Biodiversity of Margallah Hills National Park:
Common Leopard Indian Wild Boar Barking Deer
Indian Wolf Grey Goral Asiatic Jackal
Jungle Cat Rhesus Macaque Common Red Fox
Small Asiatic Desert Hare Yellow Throated Marten Mongoose
Small Indian Civet Grey Mongoose Indian crested
Mammals Mammals of Park HillsNational Margallah
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Porcupine
Indian Pangolin Kashmir masked Small Kashmir Palm civet Flying Squirrel
Hedgehog Northern Palm Hill Fox Squirrel
Rodents Shrew False Vampire
Mango Kachnar Khajoor or Date
Palm
Chir or Pine Ber Dhaman
Amaltas or laburnum Bohr or Banyan Phulai
Sheesham Baid or Willow Pine
Common trees Margallah of Park National Hills Lantana( Marijuana (Bhang) Papper Mulberry PanchPhulli) (vilayatee toot)
Carrot grass Common cocklebur Castor Oil plant (
(Gandibooti) (Kandiari) Arind or Harnoli)
Invasive Invasive plant species of Margallah hills national park Yellow-bellied house Spiny-tailed ground Spotted Indian house gecko lizard gecko
Asian garden lizard Indian fringe-toed Himalayan skink sand lizard
Fat-tailed gecko Keeled rock gecko Striped grass skink
Agrorevally rock Punjab snake eyed Yellow bellied mole Lacerta skink
agama
Lizards Lizards hills park national Margallah and turtles of
Indian cricket frog Southern Asian toad Skittering frog
Marbled balloon frog Bull frog or tiger frog Indian burrowing frog
Murree frog Indus valley toad Ant frog
Amphibians Amphibians of Margallah hills park national Indian roller Short toed eagle Indian tree pie Indian
Oriental white –eye Small minivet Indian blue robin
Rusty-cheeked Crested lark White crested kalij pheasant
scimitar babbler
Northern hobby Black crested tit Hoopoe
Common Margallah hills birds national park of
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Eurasian sparrow Golden oriole Blue throated barbet hawk
Pine bunting Yellow ramped Leaf
Mock strawberry Creeping wood sorrel Prostrate bindweed
Speedwell False mallow Philippine violet
Dwarf morning glory black eyed geranium Hibiscus
Hairy gerbera daisy Yellow berried Field bindweed nightshade
Sweet violet fold wing Dandelion
Swamp dryflower Creeping lanuaea Star tulip
Wild Wild flowers of hillspark national Margallah Common Worm Indian Python Dhaman or Rat Snake Snake
Common Kukri Common Wolf Snake Checkered –keelback
Snake
Tree Snake Common Indian Central Asian Cobra Krait
Indian Cobra Russel’s Viper Sa- Scaled Viper
Snakes Snakes of Margallah Hills Park National References: Himalayan Wildlife Foundation(HWF)
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Study Area The study Area of our research Project was Margallah Hills National Park. MHNP is situated in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). It occupies an area of 17386 hectares and exists at 33.74o N latitude and 73.02oE longitude. The geography of the area is uneven, with several
valleys and steep slopes. The area is excellent for hiking and the best season for the tourists is from February to November. The area is drained by the River Kurang and its tributaries, which flow into the Soan River. The altitude of MHNP ranges from 1,347ft to 3,907ft. Some of the popular picnic spots of MHNP are: Daman-e-Koh, Pir Sohawa, Saidpur Village, The Islamabad Zoo, Shakkar Parrian, Rawal Lake, Shah Darra etc.
Materials and Methods The materials and methods used in this research project are qualitative and fact finding. Different techniques and tools were used to collect the authentic data and information such as (i) literature review (articles, journals, books) (ii) discussions with teachers, classmates and other people, focus group discussions (FGDs) in the field survey
pg. 25 with officials (Directorate of the Environment (DoE) CDA, Forest Guards) and visitors were the main sources to get authentic information and data, (iii) questionnaire was made to get visitor’s opinion about the impact of solid waste, wildfire and tourism on the biodiversity of Margallah Hills National Park, (iv) field survey (FS) was conducted in the study area, (v) observation and note taking, and (vi) photographs.
Results and Discussions Day by Day, cases of fire are increasing and no steps are taken. Fire causing several acres of bushes burnt. The year 2016 was worse, fire incident burn more than 130 acres. Detail is given in table no. 2.
Table 2 Fire Occurrence in MHNP during fire season-2013-2016
Sr. No Years Location Cause Damage Burnt Area
1 22 May,2013 MF And RF Malicious Bushes 11.45 Acres to 7 June Areas and 2013 Accidental
2 6 Jun,2014 to MF And RF Accidental Bushes 39 Acres 14 July,2014 Areas
3 5 May,2015 MF And RF Accidental Bushes 20.6 Acres to 16 Areas Jun,2015
4 16 Apr,2016 MF, RF, MF Accidental Bushes 134.75 to 25 NR, MF SR, Acres Jun,2016 MF GR, RF BR, RF NR, RF SR, RF GR Areas
Source: Directorate of Environment CDA
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Detail of Solid waste Dimension on Trail 5&6-2016 After the detail analysis, it is observed that for long hiking and traveling, tourists
Figure 1 Solid waste bring food and beverages to get refreshed and energized. Most of the waste that has been seen on the Park is Wrappers, Plastic bottles and polythene bags. Proper place to put waste is
Figure 2 Types of waste found in park either missing somewhere and also people do not care to throw waste in park randomly. Several types other waste was found, detail is given in fig. 1 & 2. Detail of social opinion through participatory approach
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During the field survey, 25 people were interviewed through questionnaires to know their opinions. 56% of the tourists were from Islamabad and 44% of them were from outside
Figure 3 Question (Who is responsible for clean environment for park) the capital, Interview was taken from the people who were quite educated and knew the importance of biodiversity and protected area. 85% people were agreed that visitors are responsible to keep the environment safe and clean and it is important issue for the biodiversity, given in figure During survey and information collection, it was observed that more than 60% of the visitors dispose their waste in the waste bins while rest of the visitors throws their waste in the open area. During survey, it was observed that plastic bottles and wrappers were used in excessive amount by the tourists. Majority of the visitors visit the National park to see the beauty of nature and to do adventure and the seasons they visits the most are summer and winter. After the field survey, it was concluded that majority of the tourists are aware of the effects of anthropogenic activities and they thinks that excessive anthropogenic activities are not only disturbing the wildlife but also cause the wildfire. From the local tourists, we got to know that the wildfire also affects the local climate of the area.
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Figure 4 Interview (from Islamabad and other people from different cities)
Discussions The Biodiversity of Margallah Hills National Park (MHNP) has been a victim of Natural and Anthropogenic Activities from the last four years. Wildfire, Tourism and solid waste generated by restaurants, huts and settlements of people in the heart of National Park affected the flora and fauna and their habitat. In the last four years, 205.8 Acres area with its entire floral species has been burnt in the fire seasons (April to July). Of it 134.75 Acres area is burnt in 2016. From the month of Aug to March, when fire season is off, 90% of the fire events is caused by the anthropogenic activities. Cooking, smoking, B.B.Q by the tourists and local people are the main causes of fire. More than 1, 00,000 tourists visit the national Park every year. Of it 60% of the people are the residents of Islamabad. Most of the visitors don’t know about sustainable tourism and many of them don’t know whether MHNP is a protected area (PA) or not. Noise pollution, waste pollution and other unwanted activities, disturbs the wildlife especially in the breeding seasons. Due to this reason, Grey goral, Barking deer which were excessive in numbers in the last 5-6 years has been disappeared and many of them has migrated towards upper regions. This National Park (NP) was established to conserve and protect gray gorals, barking deer and other species of animals. But unfortunately, due to excessive tourism, they have migrated and disappeared from the area due to their unsafe habitat. Solid waste has changed the feeding habits of animals like monkeys and wild boar. They have started feeding the waste thrown by restaurants, huts and people, instead of feeding on their natural food. Solid waste has also affected the water
pg. 29 courses by contamination. Stream coming from Margallah Hills (MH) to Saidpur village has been contaminated completely with waste and sewerage water coming from the settlements and huts. It also has affected the aesthetic value of this area because it is full of smell and sludge. Moreover, there are no waste bins in the trails of Margallah Hills National Park, which is the main cause of waste generation and that’s why people throw their waste in open areas.
Conclusion Tourism is the main cause of wildfire (except fire-season) and solid waste generation in the study area. During our visit, it was analyzed that most of the tourists were well educated and knew the worth of protected area and National park. Capital Development Authority (CDA) has been doing excellent job in maintaining and managing the National Park. But still there is a plenty of work to do to make this park a protected area with dense biodiversity of plants and animals species. During our visit to study area, interview was taken from forest guard he briefed that technical equipment and tools are not being used to control the fire. To get rid of excessive loss and damage in hectares (ha), CDA have to upgrade their firefighting techniques. Margallah Hills National Park has not only a National Park but also affirmed as Wildlife Sanctuary (WS), which means any commercial or anthropogenic activity (AA) is strictly prohibited. Wildlife also needs shelter, water, food, comfort, noise free area, pollution free area as human do. So, it’s a huge responsibility of Directorate of Environment and CDA to take notice of all the excessive anthropogenic activities and take actions to protect this National Park and its biodiversity.
Recommendations The management of the national park should enhance and update the firefighting techniques and tools. The fire fighter should properly be trained and armed with latest technology of firefighting equipment especially in the fire season, so that they can control the fire. The Waste bins should install inside the National Park so that the visitors can dispose their waste easily. Management should deploy the workers to clean the bins on the regular basis before the sunset. The ecological bridges should be constructed in the national parks so that animals can cross and move everywhere easily without any road accident.
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To know the importance of Biodiversity and National Park, Pamphlet should be distribute to every Visitor/Tourist. CDA should launch the monthly cleanup scheme programs at the National Park. Deforestation is one of the problem especially at the southern foothill of the Park, the Laws should be strict and well implemented over the timber mafia. Like trail 5&6, proper check and balance, education Centre should be installed on the other trails and tour guides should be deployed to reduce and prevent exploitation of MHNP by the tourists. Trail 1,2,3,4 should be banned and removed by the Management of Margallah Hills National Park, if these are not managed properly.
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© 2019 by the authors. TWASP, NY, USA. Author/authors are fully responsible for the text, figure, data in above pages. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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