Cross Posted from TheNews.com.pk
Civil society organisations have lodged a strong protest against the controversial approval by former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to dispose of 4 million cubic feet of timber cut legally and illegally in the district Diamer of Gilgit Baltistan (Pakistan).
Talking to The News, members of the organisations said, “The approval puts the environment and bio-diversity of area at extreme danger and can cause severe conflicts among people due to royalty and other issues concerned. The critically vague decision without any timeframe, was granted vide ‘Order No. C-6(1)/2011GBC’ dated 15th March 2013.” Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Akhtar Hameed Khan Resource Centre (AHKRC), Bio-Resource Research Centre (BRC) and Sarhad Awami Forestry Itehad (SAFI) gathered the environmentalists, civil society representatives and members of local communities here to discuss and deliberate upon the issue and how to address the negative fallouts of the decision.
Speaking at the occasion, Fakhar-i-Abbas, Executive Director of BRC highlighted the issue with latest glimpses from local communities. The community representative from Diamer showed their grave concerns and requested all possible help to immediate make the order null and vide. Kanwar Muhammad Javed Iqbal, Senior Research Associate of SDPI, shared the technical aspects and said, “There is no mechanism in place to precisely measure 4 million cubic feet of timber in the area concerned.”
He said that the issue is also questionable in terms of ‘national legal framework’ and “international binding agreements”. He said, “The order is vague that not only allows illegal activities in Diamer but also poses threats to the boundary-line forest area of district Kohistan where movement of timber by smugglers has already been reported by local community representatives.”
Fayyaz Baqir, Director AHKRC and Bashir Ahmed Wani, former IG Forests agreed with all the deliberations and suggested way forward to take up the issue at various levels particularly with community and civil society organizations at large. Professor Afsar Mian, former Dean Forestry, Arid Agriculture University, Rawal-pindi and Muhammad Riaz, President, SAFI exchanged views on potential threats if the order was not withdrawn immediately. At the end, the participants decided to launch a campaign with coordinated efforts utilizing all possible means including media, protest demonstrations, forum meetings, hold seminars, and meetings with policy makers including politicians to withdraw the decision and protect environment in the area.