Environmental policy and administrative management

The objective of the proposed documentary series is to leverage the work done for the Green Pioneers book, to reinforce the messages it contains and to increase the impact of these messages by presenting them to a much wider audience in visual form. The following nine projects have been short listed for the documentary series, out of which six have to be selected during the scheduling phase. This will determine the final filming and travel schedule including the edit dates. i. The Himalayan Wildlife Project Deosai Plateau near Skardu (Ideal Filming Time: July-September). The Deosai Plateau is a vast wilderness of rolling grass that lies 35km south of Skardu. Until the establishment of the Himalayan Wildlife Project, the most threatened mammal on the plateau was the brown bear. These bears were often hunted for their body parts, which were exported across the border to China. The wildlife project was initiated by Dr. Anis ur Rehman, a dentist and Vaqar Zakaria, a consultant who both shared a passion for trekking. In 1987, the two decided to trek through the Deosai for the first time. They had heard that there were a lot of brown bears in Deosai, but they didn t even spot one. Driven by curiosity, they eventually discovered that only 19 bears were left in Deosai. Alarmed at their decreasing numbers, the two friends formed an NGO and lobbied the government to declare the Deosai Plateau as a national park. With GEF assistance, they developed the park s management plan and began efforts to protect it with the collaboration of the Wildlife Department. Today, the population of the bears has increased to 28. Deosai s unique brown bears now have a chance to survive, thanks to the efforts of these two green pioneers. ii. The Conservation and Rehabilitation Centre Uch Sharif (Ideal Filming Time: Nov-March) Architect Yasmin Cheema has spent the past 15 years studying the magnificent ruins of Uch in the Cholistan Desert of Southern Punjab. Uch was an ancient trading post that later became eminent as a centre for Islamic Sufi teaching. Together with Masood Khan, a professor of architecture at MIT, Yasmin set up the Conservation and Rehabilitation Center with a field office in Uch. They realised that Uch is not a city of ruins, but represents a living tradition of an ancient way of life. A city of 20,000 residents, the people, crafts, streets and monuments of Uch depend upon pilgrims who flock there to imbibe the profound spiritualism that is offered by this city of shrines. Instead of limiting themselves to architectural conservation, the group at CRC realised that to save the monuments of Uch, the sanitation problems plaguing this ancient town would have to be addressed. Seepage from unlined sewerage channels is damaging the foundations of these precious monuments. They started on a difficult journey to mobilise the residents of Uch. With assistance from the UNDP s LIFE programme, the CRC has convinced local citizens to lay down sewerage pipes and dispense of their solid waste in an organised way by coordinating with the local municipality. They have drawn upon the successful model of urban sanitation pioneered by the Orangi Pilot Project in Karachi in order to save the architectural gems of Uch. iii. Himalayan Jungle Project Palas Valley near Kaghan (Ideal Filming Time: June-August) The Western Himalayan mountain ranges are known for their lush forests and valleys these are home to five different species of pheasants Koklass, Monal, Western Tragopan, Khalji and the Cheer pheasant. In Northern Pakistan, a growing timber demand is rapidly reducing the forests so important for the country s replenishment of water and soil resources. One way to scientifically judge the locus of forest decline it to keep a track of the pheasant population. The decline in pheasant population has attracted the attention of the World Pheasant Association. Rob Whale, a young Welsh ecologist was invited to Pakistan by the WPA. Whale and the WPA decided that the best way to start saving pheasants in the wild was to observe and record changes in pheasant numbers and habitat in the northern region and pinpoint factors responsible for their decline. A detailed survey of the pheasant population was conducted in the Hazara division of the NWFP, funded by the UNDP s GEF/SGP. During one survey, Rob and his team managed to film the rare Western Tragopan in the Palas valley this is the only known video footage of the pheasant. Rob s love of nature and wildlife has led him to settle down in Pakistan he has now converted to Islam and is married to a Pakistani. iv. Society for Torghar Environment Protection Torghar Hills near Kila Saifullah (Ideal Filming Time: Sept-Oct and March-May) In the rugged tribal areas of Balochistan, the Suleiman Markhor and the Afghan Urial were disappearing due to hunting. In 1985, Sardar Naseer A. Tareen founded the Society for Torghar Environment Protection. A trained film-maker, he says he became an accidental environmentalist when he discovered that Balochistan s rich wildlife was on the verge of extinction due to indiscriminate hunting and overuse of soil and water. With the help of experts from the US Fish and Wildlife Service a conservation plan introduced trophy hunting for the first time in Pakistan. This plan provides incentives for local tribesmen to protect these animals from poachers by serving as wildlife guards. In 1995, the GEF/SGP funding was provided to improve their livelihoods by increasing the yield

Pakistan