Pakistan News June 2003

Ambassadors from European Union, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands  along with their family and President and the Director General of WWF Pakistan visited the Palas Conservation and Development Project, which is operating in Palas Valley, Kohistan. The three days visit took place from 29 to 31 May, 2003.

The Purpose of this visit was to highlight the partnership between the local community and the PCDP for safeguarding the biodiversity of Palas as a globally recognized Biodiversity Hotspot to familiarize the visitors with the difficult working environment and show project achievements towards conservation and development of this unique valley of northern Pakistan.

Palas valley is still relatively inaccessible as it population lives above 2200m high and has therefore been able to retain the wealth of its natural resources such as the habitat for the largest population in the world of the Western Trago Pan pheasant which is listed as vulnerable under CITES and one of the last tracts of primary Western Himalayan Temperate Forests. Palas valley has also been proposed by conservationists as Unesco World Heritage Site.

Source: Asghar Ali Porik JASMINE TOURS Department of Tourist Services License #333 jasminetours.com