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DFO Abdul Faraz given farewell party
By Zahiruddin
CHITRAL: In a ceremony to bid farewell to retiring
divisional forest officer of wildlife Chitral Hakim Abdul Faraz
Khan, the speakers eulogized his efforts to introduce community
participatory approach for the conservation of bio-diversity in the
district and saving the kashmir markhor from going to extinction.
The presidents of different conservancies Shahzada Amir
Hasanatuddin and Safdar Ali Khan said that Chitral has been endowed
with rich biodiversity but its preservation on scientific lines was
a distant dream with the result that many species including the
national animal of the country (kashmir markhor) were declared most
endangered ones. They said that the officer, for the first time
organized the communities into village conservation committees in
1998 and clustered them into conservancies which was a practical
measure to achieve the end of conservation. They said that over a
short span of time, the generation of kashmir markhor multiplied
and the provincial government started auctioning the hunting
permits to the foreigners whose 80 percent share goes to the
respective communities which they spend on their community
development. They said that the hunting permit of the markhor is
sold at as high price as 80,000 US dollars. They said that now the
VCCs have millions of rupees at their disposal which they can use
at their discretion. Zainul Abidin, Abdul Wali Khan advocate,
Jahangir Jigar also spoke on the occasion. Shahzada Amanur Rehman
presided over the ceremony.
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