Through hunting fees paid by "eco-hunters" and with the financial assistance of various non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the local communities in the Federally Administrated Northern Areas (Fana) were generating income for the development of their remote areas, laying special emphasis on education, health and conservation of wildlife.
The local communities in the Bar Valley and Hunza Valley, located in Gilgit District, informed this to a group of Lahore-based journalists during an eco-visit to the Northern Areas arranged by the Forum of Environmental Journalists Pakistan (FEJP), Punjab Chapter, in collaboration with World Wildlife for Nature Pakistan (WWF-P).
They were of the view that this was a unique way of checking depleting number of wildlife in the area and developing downtrodden areas of Fana. They said that hunting has been a "cultural heritage" of local residents, plus it was a source of food and part of income through sale of stuffed animals, skin and heads.
They also said that during their rule, the British introduced trophy hunting in the mountainous region, in which they used to keep the head of their hunt as a trophy and was continued till this day. Ibex, markhor, blue sheep, etc, were the animals that were hunted in the areas and the most after sought trophy was of markhor, they added.
According to them, over the years a number of foreigners and nationals from other parts of the country used to come to the area to hunt ibex, markhor and blue sheep, and many find thrill to hunt on the snow-capped mountains, as it proves a challenge for the hunters to hunt in the rigid terrain.
Since there was no control on hunting, the number of these species decreased significantly, in fact, they had become endangered species, and with its possible extinction the balance of ecology of the Northern Areas was put in danger.
The reduction in the population of ibex, markhor and blue sheep had left a direct impact on the population of snow leopard, a predator, as it lives on the these animals. Moreover, hunters also vigorously hunted the wildcat, as it was considered the most prized trophy among the hunters.
They said that introduction of Kalashnikov in the 1980s made hunting easy, which unfortunately helped in abating the population of wildlife.
As a matter of fact, Kalashnikov had put the wild animals on the verge of extinction.
"There exists no law against the hunting and the population of these animals were numbered to hundreds. The locals were not aware about its impact that would have a direct bearing on their livelihood. But they should not be blamed, as these people were trying to survive in a harsh environment and living in backward areas," they added.
According to them, Fana Wildlife Department took conscience of the alarming situation and in collaboration with the WWF-P and Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), a most active NGO in the area, launched a wildlife conservation project in 1990 in the Bar Valley, 49km away from Gilgit.
The project was based on "sustainable trophy hunting", which was later extended to other areas where these animals were found.
The idea was to control the abating population of wildlife through controlled or organised hunting activities.
Under the project, the government only permits hunting of ibex and markhor, that too to those who were issued with a hunting licence.
The licences are issued to the local communities by the government that was later sold to the hunters. The hunting season starts in December and ends in March, and hunters were only allowed to hunt mature ibex and markhor.
They said that 80 percent of the licence fee was given to the local communities for development purposes, while the government retains the remaining amount. For both foreign and Pakistani hunters, hunting licence fee for markhor stands at $25,000, while for ibex it was $2,000 for foreigners and Rs 20,000 for the Pakistanis.
Highlighting a fascinating fact about the organised hunting, they said that hunters could only take one shot at an animal, and if they miss, the hunt was over and moreover the licence was only valid for one week. "Local volunteers keep a check on illegal hunting and those caught are handed over to the local police, who could face two-year imprisonment or Rs 20,000 fine or both if found guilty," they added.
At Bar Valley, the local community had set up a Trust for Conservation of Natural Resources Bar Valley, which was headed by Rahmat Ali, a local inhabitant. Rahmat said that sustainable hunting project has changed the mindset of the local people, now they hunt and conserve wildlife.
Since the introduction of the project, the population of ibex, which was a predominant animal in the area, has increased, and simultaneously income generated from trophy hunting licence fee was contributing to the socio-economic development of the valley, he said.
"The aim of the project was to make local communities of the Northern Areas self-reliant," he added.
He said in addition to the income from trophy hunting, various NGOs, including AKRSP and WWF-P have provided funds under the Northern Area Conservation Project (NACP), which was launched in 1999 for education, health and conservation projects.
The Trust has managed to complete many projects under NACP, and furthermore the collection of hunting fee, donations and loans from various NGOs, including AKRSP, have been put in fixed deposits.
The returns from fixed deposits help in paying teacher's fees and running other development programmes.
They have formulated spending ratio of their funds, 40 percent for conservation, 40 percent for education and 20 percent for health.
Ali Gohar, a local volunteer, highlighted the progress of the Bar Valley. There were three government schools for boys, three English medium schools for both girls and boys and two coaching centres that impart training to women artisans and run literacy classes, the later two was being run by the Trust.
Both local and non-local teachers have been hired for schools who teach around 1,000 people.
Around 80 percent of the children in the valley go to school and the literacy rate has increased. Surprisingly, in the English medium schools the number of female students was high (351).
The schools fees ranged between Rs 100 and Rs 200, while orphans and poor children were given free education. There was also a health centre run by the Trust extending medical facilities ranging from first aid to delivery cases. Two lady health workers remained available round the clock.
Ali also said that during winter the local inhabitants used logs to warm water, which was putting pressure on the already depleting forest in the area. "To counter that a Rs 800,000 worth project was launched to ensure provision of water from warm springs to 325 houses in three villages, which has indeed decreased the use of logs.
The Trust contributed Rs 200,000 to the total cost, while the rest was met by the federal Environment Ministry," he added.
On trophy hunting, he said that on an average each year they were issued one or two hunting licences, despite the fact that they have the highest population of ibex in the region.
He suggested that the government should encourage eco-hunters to hunt in this region. Moreover, he complained that the District Forest Office did not release the hunting fee on time. Last time they took nine months, hence, they were deprived of nine months profit that they would earn through fixed deposits.
The government needs to ensure timely delivery of hunting fees to the local communities, he added.
Ali informed the newsmen that they were now focusing on how to survive once the funding from NGOs stops.
Thus, they were working on creating self-reliant source of funding so that they could generate their own funds to continue with the development work and uplift of the local inhabitants, he added.
At Gulkin in Hunza Valley, the pace of development was higher than in the Bar Valley. However, it ran on the same pattern that of the Bar Valley.
The local community has set up an Educational Social Welfare and Nature Conservation Gulkin Area, under which various developmental projects were being run.
They too rely on two sources of funding, trophy hunting and NGOs. They have streamlined their education and health systems and also have introduced English medium schools. The percentage of school going children was remarkably 100 percent, while the ratio of female students was very high.
Muhammad Aman, the president of the society, said that their aim was to promote sustainable development in the area, by conserving renewable resources.
He said that they have managed to strike a balance between development and conservation of nature.
He was of the view that Gulkin experience could be adopted in other parts of the country with modifications to control environment degradation and simultaneously promote development. "Eco-tourism has also generated economic activity in the region. Many local eco-guides, trained by WWF-P, were earning handsome amount," he added.
Meanwhile, Fana Wildlife Secretary Sanaullah said that since the introduction of controlled hunting, the population of ibex had increased to 6,000, which was widely refuted by the local NGOs.
He said that the government was playing its part in the development of the Northern Areas and conserving the wildlife. He was of the view that without the government support the NGOs stood nowhere, thus, the success in the Northern Areas should be jointly credited to the government and NGOs.
He said that the hunting fees were being released on time to the local communities. Although the secretary said that the hunting procedure have been formulated and sent to the federal government for approval, but the local NGOs argue that such procedures do not exist.