The Construction of National Parks in GB Opposed

The opposition leader in Gilgit Baltistan (GB) Assembly, Amjad Hussain Advocate, has expressed his disapproval over the construction of national parks in GB since they fail to protect the rights of the local people over their natural resources.

Mr. Amjad further stated that he would take this issue up in the GB Assembly and claimed that the recent decision to establish the Himalaya National Park covering 1,989 square kilometers area in Diamer, and Nanga Parbat National Park covering 1,196 square kilometers area in Astore and Diamer without devising a mechanism to protect local people’s rights and without taking GB representatives into confidence would be strongly opposed.

Moreover, he further said that the people in GB depend on their land for cultivation and rearing livestock; once these national parks are built, people will not be allowed to construct houses or carry out any cultivations on their land. “Under the decision, residents of the national parks can neither uti­lise her­bal products nor cut firewood,” he said.

“We fear haphazard constructions in the name of tourism promotion through outside investors in the national park areas,” the GB opposition leader claimed. Amjad Hussain questioned what would be the fate of the hundreds of local people serving in the wildlife department to protect forests and wildlife at paltry Rs1,500 per month under the community conservation concept. According to him, there was no way to make the community conservation effective.

According to international laws, indigenous people have the most rights over their land and natural resources- but the creation of the national parks in GB would deprive people of its economic benefits. “The GB people have already been deprived of their commercial and agricultural lands in the name of state land, and now they would lose pastures after the national parks were set up.”

The opposition leader said the federal government focused on the natural resources of GB but never protected the people’s rights and the creation of national parks will be a clear violation.

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