Hunting of houbara bustard: FO sends 36 applications of foreign dignitaries to provinces

The Foreign Office sent 36 applications of foreign dignitaries to provinces in 2016-17 for approval of hunting of houbara bustard in their respective territories, as the issuance of permits and allocation of specific area for the hunting comes under their jurisdiction. This was informed to Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change here on Thursday. The meeting of the committee was held in the chair of Senator Mir Muhammad Yousaf Badini at the Parliament House.
The committee was informed that the Foreign Office received hunting applications from delegations of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain and they were subsequently forwarded to provinces for the approval. "Provincial governments issue permit for hunting of the houbara bustard. The Foreign Office just forwards the applications coming from the foreign dignitaries to the provinces for allocation of the hunting area and issuance of a formal permit," the official of Foreign Office informed the committee members.
The committee was also informed that the application remains valid for three months while permission for the hunting is given for only ten days. The hunting of the houbara bustard in different areas of the country is usually done from November to January each year.
The chairman of the committee, however, said the hunting teams arrive in the allotted areas for the hunting around a month in advance and the local population also helps them in the hunting.
He said the government should provide basic facilities like clean drinking water, dispensaries and schools in the hunting areas to benefit the local population and the visitors. Senator Samina Abid said the permission for hunting causes rifts within the local population and people in some parts of Balochistan are staging protests against the hunting of the endangered bird.
She said the government gives permission for hunting of the migratory birds instead of taking measures to conserve them. Federal Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid informed the committee members that the government has established a fund of Rs 250 million for conservation and protection of the endangered species like the houbara bustard.
The minister said the government has already set aside Rs 12 billion for conservation of forests and a National Forest Policy has also been approved to enhance the forest cover in the country. The committee decided to direct all the chief secretaries to inform the foreigners who come for hunting about problems of the designated hunting areas and also directed the Foreign Office officials to brief ambassadors of the respective countries too about problems of people in the hunting areas.
The Planning Commission officials briefed the committee members in detail about three projects initiated to free the country of environmental pollution. Two of the projects are in process while the PC-I for the third project is pending with the ECNEC for approval.
The federal minister informed the committee members that there is only one plastic bag unit in Islamabad and there is a complete ban in the federal capital on sale and purchase of the plastic shopping bags. He also urged the provinces to initiate action to reduce use of the plastic shopping bags in their respective territories, besides creating awareness among the masses about their negative impacts on the environment and human health.