Daily Times

December 11 is marked every year as the United Nations (UN) International Mountain Day (IMD). This year's theme is ‘Mountains Matter for Biodiversity’, and it is aimed to refresh our pledge protecting mountain biodiversity. In alignment with the 'Biodiversity Super Year' and negotiation of the post-2020 biodiversity framework, the Day will celebrate mountain biodiversity and seek to increase understanding of the threats that it faces.

The year 2020 has been widely termed the “Super Year of Biodiversity”, what the United Nations Environment Programme calls, “a make or break year in which key international meetings will set the tone and agenda for environmental action in the decade ahead”.

The conservationists and environmentalists are pinning high hopes in the conferences like the World Biodiversity Forum in February next year and the IUCN World Conservation Congress in June 2021. It is believed that these international forums will culminate in October’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Conference of Parties 15, where a post-2020 framework for biodiversity will be adopted.

Keeping in view the importance of mountains for every living object, the United Nations General Assembly designated 11 December as “International Mountain Day” at the concluding event of the International Year of Mountains 2002. As of 2003, IMD has been observed every year to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life and to build alliances that will bring positive change to mountain peoples and environments around the world.

Mountains loom large in some of the world’s most spectacular landscapes. Their unique topography, compressed climatic zones and isolation have created the conditions for a wide spectrum of life forms. Half of the world’s biodiversity hotspots are concentrated in mountains. Mountains are home to one-third of all plant species; 45 000 plant species have been found in the tropical Andes alone. The Hindu Kush Himalaya is home to 330 important bird areas.

Climate change, unsustainable farming practices, commercial mining, logging and poaching all exact a heavy toll on mountain biodiversity

A large portion of the world's most precious gene pools (for agriculture and medicine) are preserved in mountains. Mountains are home to thousands of varieties of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, seeds, nuts, animal breeds, fish, honey, insects and fungi. Crops that are important for food security, such as maize, potatoes, barley, sorghum, tomatoes, beans and apples have been diversified in mountains and an array of domestic animals – sheep, goats, yaks, llamas and alpacas – have originated or been diversified in mountains. Other crops, such as wheat, rye, rice, oats and grapes, have found new homes in the mountains and evolved into many varieties. Coffee and tea, with their roots in Ethiopia and the Himalayan region, are mountain crops as well. Medicinal plants are one of the most valuable resources from high altitudes. In the Andes, for example, farmers know of as many as 200 different varieties of indigenous potatoes and, in Nepal, they farm approximately 2 000 varieties of rice.

Climate change, unsustainable farming practices, commercial mining, logging and poaching all exact a heavy toll on mountain biodiversity. In addition, biodiversity loss, land use and land cover change, and natural disasters, contribute to creating a fragile environment for mountain communities. Ecosystem degradation, loss of livelihoods and migration in mountains can lead to the abandonment of cultural practices and ancient traditions that have sustained biodiversity for generations.

The sustainable management of mountain biodiversity has increasingly been recognized as a global priority. This rich biodiversity holds cultural, ecological and economic value and the Sustainable Development Goal 15 target four is dedicated to the conservation of mountains’ biodiversity in consideration of its global relevance. As governments prepare to negotiate a post-2020 global biodiversity framework for adoption this year at the UN Biodiversity Conference, we need to look at mountains as key to a sustainable future.

What is the biodiversity situation in Pakistan while the world has termed 2020 a ‘super year for biodiversity’? Ironically, the mafia took advantage of the pandemic and did massive tree cutting particularly from the high mountains including valleys of Chitral, Dir-kohistan and other upper parts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Gilgit-Baltistan has become heaven for the land and timber mafia despite having a directorate of GB government to protect Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP). The aforementioned national park directorate is decaying due to having no funds that shows the actual priority of the government to protect biodiversity treasures.

On World Environment Day, speaking at a webinar organized by the Development Communications network (Devcom-Pakistan) the experts urged the federal government to activate national coordination forums among provinces and adopt and implement environmental awareness, conservation and protection strategies. Advisor to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam participated as chief guest. But we see no step taken in this regard.

Environment and biodiversity seems to be the least priority agenda for all governments except tree plantation. Pakistan has no fresh studies on the loss of environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity. In the absence of baseline data and situation analysis, no appropriate action plan could be derived. The absence of technical staff to handle cases of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), financial resources and capacity to handle local environment management plans need to be addressed
on priority.

After devolution of environment to provinces, it has been put on the back-burner and has weakened environmental awareness, conservation and protection regime in Pakistan. Covid-19 has been a blessing to the environment by restricting people to their homes, stopping almost all types of transportation that resulted in cleaner air and natural resources. But, we could not stop the timber and land mafia that played havoc to the green cover in Pakistan.

Not only we need to revisit environmental legislation and build the capacity of EPAs to understand relevant laws while approving development projects, we also need to have community-based interventions to protect local biodiversity and natural resources. The government projects should have proper EIAs to avoid huge impact on the environment and biodiversity. Unfortunately, we have no national regime intact and active for the last many years to prevent environmental degradation.

The writer is a freelance journalist and broadcaster, Director Devcom-Pakistan, an advocacy and outreach think tank in Islamabad. His email: devcom.pakistan@gmail.com Twitter: @EmmayeSyed