Govt moves to curb tree cutting in Kirthar National Park

JAMSHORO: In a move to curb the menace of tree cutting and smuggling of timber in Kirthar National Park, the administration has come into action.

After ADC Tariq Kaka’s letter to the chief secretary, Sindh’s Forest, Wildlife and police departments have been issued orders for strict action against timber thieves.

A committee has been constituted to curb the practice of tree cutting and smuggling of timber from the Kirthar National Park.

The authorities have decided to setup five checkposts and wildlife, forest departments and police personnel will be deployed at these posts.

These check poss will be setup at Bola Khan Interchange, Nooriabad, Wonder City, Siri Interchange, Lakk Interchange and Halarki, sources said.

The Kirthar Protected Area in Sindh is one of the Pakistan’s largest national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and game reserves and was an important habitat for a variety of mammals, birds and reptiles where an estimated 276 species of fauna had been recorded.

It is a protected area under the Sindh Wildlife, Protection, Preservation and Conservation Act 2020.

A petition under the hearing of the Sindh High Court submitted that due to illegal activities of land grabbers, lifting of sand and other encroachments, the biodiversity and ecology of the Kirthar Park has been endangered. They said that deforestation, relentless sand and gravel mining, erosion of riverbeds, silting of rivers, loss of topsoil, and reduction of water retaining capacity of the region was rendering Karachi to unprecedented heatwaves and increasing the risk of food insecurity and floods.