The World Wide Funds for Nature-Pakistan congratulates the Punjab government on scrapping the New Murree Development Scheme and dissolving the New Murree Development Authority. An organisation spokesman said on Saturday that the land under the proposed scheme should be managed properly since it was an ecologically significant area.
The organisation says the land should be returned to the Forest department and declared as forest reserve. The area is an important catchment area for the Mangla and Simli dams, guaranteeing better quality water with lower levels of sediments and pollutants. The area is also home to many plants and animals species and depicts a rich habitat. The fragmentation of such a habitat could have resulted in the destruction of an important ecosystem.
The country's rate of forest degradation is the second highest in the world. The total land under forest cover being less than 4 percent. The organisation says it would like to assert that in the future projects like NMDP violating the existing laws and disturbing the already fragile ecosystem should never begin. "WWF-P appreciates the decision of the Punjab government and hopes that it will continue its pro-environment stance," Director General Ali Habib said.
Comments
Comments are closed.