Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Army helicopters are being used to hunt endangered wildlife and officials are doing nothing to prevent it, a Senate body was told on Wednesday.
A sub-committee of the Senate Standing Committee on Environment, presided over by Senator Yasmeen Shah, directed the Environment Ministry secretary to discuss the issue with Defence Ministry secretary.
Committee members said the army should concentrate on defending the country’s borders.
Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) Senator Jamal Khan Leghari raised the issue that army helicopters were being used to hunt endangered animals.
Recommendations: The sub-committee expressed its surprise that no wildlife department existed in Balochistan, suggesting the government establish one for the conservation of wildlife in the province. It also recommended a special allocation be made in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) to establish a wildlife fund for Balochistan, and a ban on the hunting of endangered species.
The meeting was informed that the Forest and Wildlife departments were simultaneously monitoring forests, multiplying the problems of wildlife preservation as the two departments’ jurisdiction overlap. The sub-committee has invited the Law Ministry and the Forest Department to its next meeting to resolve the issue.
The committee said there was a need to reform the National Council for Conservation of Wildlife (NCCW) because of its “ineffective role”, and suggested that the NCCW be placed under the control of the Environment Ministry instead of the Forest Department.
The sub-committee was briefed about the endangered wildlife species in Pakistan. The committee said it would help the Wildlife Department in removing procedural delays for the quick implementation of policies aimed at protecting wildlife.
