PALAS CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

PCDP consultancy T-21 – report on the workshop on

Conservation of Biodiversity through Rural Development
10th to 13th November 2003, Peshawar

Report prepared by
Safdar Ali Shah
Abbottabad
 LIST OF ACRONYMS

ALR Agriculture, Livestock and Rangeland Management

APO Assistant Programme Officer
BDC Biodiversity Conservation
COP Community Organization and Participation
EU European Union
HNS Health, Nutrition and Sanitation
IRD Infrastructure Rehabilitation and Development
NRM Natural Resource Management
NWFP North West Frontier Province
PCDP Palas Conservation and Development Project
PFM Participatory Forest Management
PO Programme Officer
SCF Senior Community Facilitator
WWF Worldwide Fund for Nature
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page #
Overview of the workshop on biodiversity conservation 1
through rural development
1 Expectations 1
2 Welcoming address 1
3 Objectives 2
4 Notes on lectures and modules 2
5 Closing remarks 3
Module 1 PCDP – Development and Conservation 4
Module 2 Themes and concepts used in wildlife management Part I 10
Module 3 Themes and concepts used in wildlife management Part II 15
Module 4 Module 4 – Biodiversity of Pakistan 21
Module 5 Role of Biodiversity 36
Module 6 Introduction to biodiversity of Pakistan 39
Module 7 The Convention of Biodiversity 79
APPENDIX I – List of participants 84
APPENDIX II – Itinerary 85
APPENDIX III – Reading material 87
Overview of the workshop on biodiversity conservation through
rural development
1. Expectations
Before the welcoming address, the participants were requested to view there
expectation of the workshop which are detailed below:

Name Expectation
Rab Nawaz Hope that people will understand something about
BDC
Saeed-uz-Zaman Hope that people will have raised awareness about
BD
Fazal Ahad Being an developmental officer, will learn the links
to conservation
Barkat Ali Conflict resolution between conservation and
development should be solved
Saleem Ahmed Same as above
Dr. Zulifiqar Ali How can we link all activities to BDC
Anees Ahmed Khan To learn about BDC from good resource people
and how we can make the links
Hanif Shah To learn what BDC is and how to link NRM to
development
Safdar Ali Shah Same as above
Tariq Shah How to address the conflicts between conservation
and development plus any new technologies in
BDC
Dr. Hanif To understand the concepts of BDC and how to
link them with HNS
Mughul Baz How to apply BDC in specific sectors, and reduce
the gap

2. Welcoming address
Muhammad Ayaz initiated the address by stating that is such a short notice, very
eminent conservationists agreed to attend the workshop and are here to clear up
any gaps that the participants have. He also requested that the workshop should
take an informal approach.

Welcome address by Ashiq Ahmed Khan

Bismillah-ur-Rehman-ur-Rahim. I welcome you to Peshawar. You have probably
all traveled along way to Peshawar with good expectations and it is good to have
this opportunity to do welcome you. On behalf of WWF Pakistan, I welcome you.

Inshallh we will learn something and I hope that by the end of the workshop
everybody will understand the concept of biodiversity conservation. Three things
basically make up biodiversity
conservation namely
environment, animal behavior
and biodiversity, all of which are
complicated topics within
themselves. Palas
Conservation and Development
Project is itself managing
biodiversity, something which
we will learn more about later.

3. Objectives of the
workshop
Rab Nawaz informed the
participants of the workshop’s
objectives, which were the following:

• To raise the level of awareness of biodiversity conservation and NRM in

PCDP staff through a series of lecture and Q&A sessions;
• Inform PCDP staff of how other projects are linking conservation and
development;
• To allow PCDP staff to ask questions and start discussions with the
resource people;
• Discuss how sectors can integrate to achieve the goal of conservation.
• Spend one week of Ramadan in a better environment than HQ.

Vote of thanks by Saeed-uz-Zaman

Though Rab Nawaz and Ayaz Khan have different background to the rest of the
staff, without good knowledge of biodiversity all you staff are simply workers. You
should all be knowledge workers for biodiversity conservation and we don’t want
your dominate style of your expertise, we want your back-up style i.e. that of
conservationists.

During these training days please use your back-up style for conservation and
don’t adopt your dominant style.

This workshop was made on short notice and we all thank you for coming,
including the resource like Safdar Ali Shah for coming from Abbottabad, no doubt
he will be speaking a lot (in absence of Dr. Mumtaz Malik. Advanced thanks to
Ashiq Ahmed Khan for finding time to visit and talk to us.

4. Notes on lectures and modules

The itinerary of the workshop can be found in Appendix II. Some adjustments
had to be made due to the absence of Dr. Mumtaz Malik. All the eight lectures
have been presented in this report as modules with space for note, envisaging
that participants will receive a copy of this report and make notes against each
module. Original presentations can be on a CD-ROM submitted with this report.

5. Closing remarks
Comments by Ashiq Ahmed Khan
I congratulate you all on holding this workshop on biodiversity conservation. It is
good to see such enthusiasm from all the PCDP staff in the effort to save
biodiversity in Palas Valley

Closing remarks by Dr. Mumtaz Malik

I congratulate and thank the staff of BDC Sector in arranging this workshop
which was an outstanding need of the project. I appreciate the efforts of all the
staff, including the scientific work
being carried out in the valley
which is recording new species
for the area. I also appreciate all
the other staff for coming and
participating in this workshop in
the month of Ramadan.

I know that the challenges that

you face in the field are arduous
but I again reiterate my request
that the project staff try to
achieve the PCDP objectives
within the given time-frame.
APPENDIX I
List of participants

Name Institution
Dr. Muhammad Mumtaz Malik Resource person/NWFP Wildlife Dept
Ashiq Ahmed Khan Resource person/WWF Pakistan
Richard Garstang Resource person/WWF Pakistan
Safdar Ali Shah Resource person/NWFP Wildlife Dept
Dr. Hanif Shah PO-PFM, PCDP
Dr. Muhammad Hanif PO-HNS, PCDP
Mughul Baz PO-IRD, PCDP
Rab Nawaz PO-BDC, PCDP
Barkat Ali Khan PO-SCF
Saleem Ahmed PO-COP
Fazalahad PO-ALR
Dr. Zulfiqar Qazi APO-ALR
Tariq Shah APO-IRD
Anees Ahmed PCDP consultant
Muhammad Ayaz PCDP consultant
Muhammad Israr Range Officer, NWFP Wildlife Dept
Arif Orangzi Range Officer, NWFP Wildlife Dept
Muhammad Arif Khan Range Officer, NWFP Wildlife Dept
Sayeeda Sahibzada WWF Pakistan
Shaheen Begum WWF Pakistan
APPENDIX II
Tentative schedule

Workshop on
Conservation of Biodiversity through Rural Development
10 – 13 November 2003

Day – 1 Arrival of participants in Peshawar (Shelton Guest

9 November 2003 House)
Sunday
Day – 2 10 November 2003 Monday
Inaugural Session

0900 – 0920 Introduction of Participants Participants

0920 – 0940 Welcome Note Ashiq Ahmed

0940 – 1000 Objectives of the workshop Rab Nawaz

1000 – 1010 Vote of thanks Saeed-uz-Zaman

1010 – 1200 Linking Development and Conservation Ashiq Ahmed

1200 – 1300 Definition of biodiversity Part 1 Safdar Ali Shah

1300 – 1400 Prayer Break

1400 – 1530 Definition of biodiversity Part 2 Safdar Ali Shah

Day – 2 11 November 2003 Tuesday
0830 – 1030 Biodiversity of Pakistan Mumtaz Malik

1030 – 1230 Role biodiversity Mumtaz Malik

1230 – 1330 Prayer Break

1330 – 1530 Discussion on definitions Safdar Ali Shah

Day – 3 12 November 2003 Wednesday

0900 – 1230 Convention on Biodiversity including principles of CBD Richard Garstang

and basic terms and definitions

1230 – 1330 Prayer Break

1330 – 1530 Discussion Richard Garstang

Day – 4 13 November 2003 Thursday

0900 – 1130 Biodiversity of Pakistan Richard Garstang

1130 – 1200 Closing Remarks Dr. Mumtaz Malik

APPENDIX III

Reading material

What is biodiversity?

• Biological diversity (biodiversity) is the term used to describe the variety of life on
Earth. This variety provides the building blocks for us to adapt to changing
environmental conditions; having more blocks available will provide more options for
adapting to changing conditions in the future.

• This Earth is an independent whole made up of natural and human communities

where the well-being and health of any one part depends on the well-being and
health of other parts. In this web, everything is interconnected.

• The basis of intelligent tinkering is keeping all the parts (Aldo Leopold).

• Biodiversity includes all animals, plants and microorganisms (tiny things) that live on
lands and water. So far, about 1.5 million different species have been described out
of an estimated 5 to 50 million or more.

• Biodiversity is usually thought of at 3 different levels: Genetics, Species and

Ecosystem Diversity:

1. Genetic Diversity refers to the variability of genes within a species;

2. Species Diversity is the variety of species within an ecosystem;
3. Ecosystem Diversity includes the variety of habitats, biotic communities
and ecological processes that in turn provide the life-support system for
humans.

Why is conservation of biodiversity important?

• It makes good economics sense:

o Biodiversity provides both goods (renewable resources) and services (soil
conservation, climate control, detoxification, etc.) worth many billions of
dollars every year. Biological resources currently provide all our food,
nearly half our medicines, much of our clothing and in some regions of
Pakistan, virtually all our fuel and building medicines;
o Biological diversity is like economic diversity in the city; it is essential for
long-term survival and a sound investment in the future. For example, the
potential to improve the cultivated pomegranate was only possible
because a few wild trees were saved in a botanical garden.

• It makes good environmental sense:

o Biodiversity plays a critical role in maintaining environmental quality
through processes such as water and air purification. The air we breathe,
the water we drink and the soil that support crop production are all part of
the complex interactions that occur among various species on earth;
o By carrying out ecological services such as oxygen production, water
purification and climate control, the world’s species and ecosystems
 maintain the physical conditions that make the planet habitable for all
species, including humans;
o Conservation biodiversity id fundamental to achieving sustainable
development. The diversity of life provides stability and adaptability for the
planets biological processes, and flexibility and options for our current
(and future) use of natural resources. Pakistan’s development in the
future will continue to depend on the foundation provided by this living
resource and maintaining biodiversity will ensure the foundation is strong.

What is the problem?

• We are losing biodiversity at an ever-increasing rate:

o Biodiversity resources have limits and we are exceeding those limits
daily through activities such as deforestation, over-grazing,
desertification, water pollution and the over-harvesting of plants and
animals;
o The current threats to species and ecosystems are the greatest in
recorded history and virtually all of them are caused by human
mismanagement of biological resources.

• It is usually the local people who have few other sources of livelihood
who must pay the environmental cost of over-exploitation of biological
resources:
o Market forces alone will often lead to depletion of many biological
resources at such rates that these are no longer renewable (e.g.
deforestation in mountain environments). This happens largely
because many of the costs are external to those doing the
exploitation; the exploiters gain the benefit without paying the full cost
of their exploitation thanks to misguided economics policies and faulty
institutions;
o For example, timber companies need not concern themselves with the
downstream siltation or down-slope erosion they are causing, or the
species they are deleting, because they do not pay the full cost (or
stay long enough to see the effects) of their exploitation.

• Conservation of biodiversity has yet not received enough publicity or

support:
o The conservation movement has been led by naturalists yet the
problems of conservation are not biological, but rather political,
economic, social and even ethical. Therefore, awareness must also
be promoted among politicians, engineers, economists, agronomists
and other development practitioners, as well as local resource users.

• It is difficult to put a price tag on nature!

o Standard economic models do not give sufficient weight to long-term
benefits nor are the adequate to assess the full economic value of
natural processes such as watershed protection.

• Currently there is only one Earth and we might not find anther one in
time.
Total recorded species by Phylum