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Allforesters listserv and the Leopard Issue:
All foresters Forum
A daylong training on the Root Causes of Deforestation in Pakistan was organized by LEAD Pakistan in December 2002. It was a very unique gathering comprising of Foresters from the Government, NGOs, Advocacy Groups, Nazims and CBOs. Many new issues emerged during the discussions.
During the training Mr. M. Yousaf (IUCN Peshawar) proposed that this consultative process should continue and sought inputs from all the participants. Based on the recommendation of Mr. M Yousaf, Mr. Mehmood Nasir (Fellow, Cohort 5) gathered all the CVs of the participants and brought names of many foresters on this list and Mr Ali Tauqeer Sheikh (CEO & National Program Director, LEAD Pakistan) offered LEAD server to host this list. Later the philosophy that “We all are Foresters” was implied on this list and people with interests in conservation and other such issues linked to forests and were included in this list. Some organizations and individuals were made a part of the list for knowledge networking and sharing, irrespective of the fact that they possessed forestry degree. The number of national and international members is more then 300 individuals on this list serv.
Mr. Mehmood Nasir says that the credit for initialing this list goes to Mr. M. Yousaf and the active members like Mr. Saleem Ullah (Fellow, Cohort 9), Inam Ullah, Raja Ataullah and Dr Javaid Afzal who made this list a success story. Mr. Mehmood Nasir later took over the responsibility to gathers members on this forum. The list has been useful for sharing information and developing partnerships, helping the forestry sector at large. It has also been used to discuss issues such as the looming fire season in the Margalla National Park, latest Global Information system and Remote Sensing, books and articles on forest policy.
This forum is a platform for different institutions and individuals to come up with policy recommendations which will help in achieving MDG goals and PRSP recommendations. The MDG goal for environment states “Ensure Environmental sustainability “. With its first target to “Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources”. These Principles could only come into existence when people like Mr. Z.B Mirza (Designation, organization), Vaqar Zakria (Hagler Baily) and Khurshid Rustam (NWFP Wildlife Department), joined the debate on issues and after brainstorming come up with brilliant ideals which can become policy recommendations.
The latest on this forum is the issue of Leopard and human conflicts in Galliat region. This is an ongoing discussion until they come up with some plan of natural resource management.
Below you will find a structured discussion which was taken out from different emails and comments by allforester members.
Leopards and Ecosystem
Since the creation of earth and living beings its always been a cycle of larger animal killing smaller being to feed themselves and balance the ecosystem.
Leopards are smaller forms of the four very opportunistic animals and have an extremely flexible diet. They will consume protein in almost any form, from beetles up to antelopes twice its own weight. It readily eats carrion, and caches sizeable kills in trees, returning nightly to feed on them. Their main diet consists of over 30 different species including: medium sized antelopes and the young of larger species as the primary food sources, with hares, birds and small carnivores rounding out the list. They have even been known to include the occasional monkeys in their diet.
As human populations expand and natural habitats shrink, people and animals are increasingly coming into conflict over living space and food. The impacts are often huge. People lose their crops, livestock, property, and sometimes their lives. The animals, many of which are already threatened or endangered, are often killed in retaliation or to 'prevent' future conflicts. Human-wildlife conflict is one of the main threats to the continued survival of many species, in many parts of the world, and is also a significant threat to many local human populations. And, if solutions to conflicts are not adequate, local support for conservation also declines.
Leopards in Pakistan:
Pakistan is home to two of the world's big cats, the common leopard (Panthera pardus) and the snow leopard (Uncia uncia). To the east of river Indus, in Azad Kashmir, Kaghan valley, Galliat areas and Murree hills the Indian Leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) is found.
While much attention nationally and internationally has been focused on the conservation of snow leopard in Pakistan, none of this has happened with the common leopard. The recent killings of 6 women by man eating leopards in the Galliat areas of N.W.F.P, Pakistan has brought the common leopard in the limelight. During the past 4-5 months there have been increasing reports of leopard-man conflict in the Galliat areas, with casualties on both side. While depredation on domestic livestock by leopards in common, this is the first time leopards have turned man-eaters in Pakistan. There has never been any recorded instance of leopards turning man eaters in Pakistan. Out of fear the authorities have started a shoot to kill policy, without taking into consideration the negative effect of this.
Leopards Panthera pardus have relatively larger home range i.e. large area in miles where they can be anywhere at any time of the year. There cannot be 12 to 24 leopards in Ayubia or 3 to 4 in Margallah Hills National Park. In fact there is no resident leopard in Margallah. It usually visits Margallah in winter. Leopards usually avoid humans in their home range, but domestic livestock can be preyed upon when opportunity arises. Even a solitary human venturing in its core zone is at high risk. In its home range the leopard feels secure, finds its prey and performs the rituals of natural behavior, which also includes courtship and breeding. The breeding territory is smaller part of the home range. It is defended against other male leopards. Within the home range leopard has high security area where it has its den or where it spends daytime resting. This high security area is very dangerous to visit. As the cubs grow to sub-adult stage these are pushed out of the territory to disperse to some other habitat. If a corridor of habitat leads to another habitat large enough to have potential of providing home range is present, it is favorable for the dispersing leopards. Leopard’s corridors in Pakistan, may have some porcupines, monkeys or domestic animals and some humans. Unfortunately there are very few corridors, which are disturbance free.
If a leopard is unable to find a prey in its home range or it is aged one and has worn out teeth it may then look for easy prey near human habitations. This can be a dog or cattle or even a lonely human in wilderness. So a leopard sighted during dispersal or a hungry leopard attacking a human or livestock due to difficult time on it, does not mean that its population has risen because of legal protection. If there are leopards in a habitat and if that habitat apparently looks fine to a non-technical person, but it has reduced carrying capacity due reduction in food availability or due to temporary migration of prey animals, the leopard may be compelled to stray out of its normal home range in search of food. For example, in Ayubia National Park leopard’s most common prey animal is monkey. In summer season monkeys remain at the roads and near the hotels because the tourist influxes feed them. Naturally the leopard has to climb to that height to hunt. It has been seen several times on the pipeline road. It does not mean that they have increased to an estimate of 12 to 24. There may not be more than six leopards in whole of Ayubia N.P. Leopard has gone for good from Salt range and Khirthar National Park about a couple of decades ago. The mere reason for this is that common public considers it an enemy species, like a wolf or a snake. Once reported in an area panic prevails. So it has to be killed. It is also killed for the pride of bravery. Sardars get it killed as they assume that it will kill the Urial or Ibex of their area.
Leopard Issue in Galliat:
So far 2 leopards thought to be man-eaters have been shot, even though laboratory tests have negated the wildlife department’s claim of man-eaters. Now the provincial environment department is considering a wildlife directorate proposal to introduce leopard trophy hunting in the Galliat region, according to official sources. The wildlife department insists that since the population of common leopards in the Galliat region has doubled in the last five years, leopard trophy hunting would entail dual benefits for the local communities as it would help them earn foreign exchange as well as lower the threat posed to human life. This is totally ill-founded and unsubstantiated. There is still not a viable population of leopards in Galliat areas and it is still a protected species. Besides there are other viable options to solving this problem instead of killing them in cold blood. Placing the common leopard on the schedule of game animals will not only aggravate the problem but will expose the animals to the threat of illegal hunting.
Peoples Concerns and All foresters forum of discussion:
People of Public sector and Civil sector showed deep concern on this issue. LEAD Pakistan has a forum of All foresters with 260 members The members are national and international audiences from public private and civil society organizations. Nature conservation organizations like WWF and IUCN, Ministry of Environment are the key members of this forum.
The debate was initiated by sharing the sad news of killing of a leopard on this forum. People had grieved about the killing of such rare specie of leopard which is getting extinct in Pakistan. The main questions which rose in every message was that
“Was this the only remedy?”
Later this question was answered when more attacks took place on humans.
According to a member’s observations and records, the official statement by Dr. Muhammad Mumtaz Malik in Geo TV is not 40-50 pairs rather the entire population in Galliat is approx. 40-50 individuals.
The increased attack on the humans is the non-availability of an easy prey for the leopards due to the movement of Rhesus to the roads due to an increase availability of food from the tourists.
This year the unexpected weather and snowfall has hindered the dispersal of common leopard to other adjoining areas which has resulted in their accumulation in a small area ultimately led to the loss of some precious human lives. It is also recorded that a person can kill an animal when he has got no other option to survive.
But there came another observation from Dr. ZB Mirza that Leopard population depends on space and prey. Reduce prey. Leopard will reduce in number. Reduce area; there will be lesser home ranges and lesser number of leopards. Leopard is considered enemy species if their number is shown in access. There are many hunters who would like to target leopard in self defense and for this reason the number is shown in access. And if we take this hypothesis that leopard population has increased then the possibility of trophy hunting of Leopards will be thought of seriously and it will make this endangered specie extinct from the Himalayas.
Another possibility is within the home range, some where there is security zone of leopard, where it rests during the day or, it has a den or cubs. Any body entering that area is vulnerable to an attack. Leopard won't tolerate an intruder in its security zone. Leopard did not intend to eat women. The leopard attacked blackbuck in their enclosure in Islamabad. People were alarmed not to travel on foot in Margallah Hills National Park etc. Bait traps were set but it could not be caught.
Suggestions / Conclusion by the forum:
Instead of attempting to catch the animal, the animal may be alarmed and scared away by 8 or 10 search beams for two or three nights by strong-hearted wildlife guards. After traps were set the anima was not reported again from the Margallah Hills National Park. May be it sensed danger. Let there be fact finding exercise to know what are the reasons that Leopards attack humans and that too only women.
The discussion brought into light that if we have an effective Protected Area network, provided with adequate corridors, the leopards may never go out in the villages, and even if they do, they will never be that dangerous to human lives. Before anything like this happens again, it is high time to review the existing protected area system, assessing the habitat needs and food requirements of the animals they support, and start the implementation of measures that would improve such habitats to the desirable level. This will greatly curtail chances for leopards to do any damage like this.
The Government of Pakistan, NWFP Wildlife Department, the affected local communities and other stakeholders need to come up with a solution that not only protects these cats but also respects the right of people to survive. We have already lost the Lion, Tiger and the Cheetah from Pakistan. Lets make sure this symbol of the Galliat forests doesn't follow in their footsteps.
The discussion brought out the conclusion that animals that have adopted such behavior should be removed from the problem zone. However, if these are killed out rightly, which might, at times, be the only option; the science will never reveal that information which is essential to avoid such incidence in the future.
LEAD Pakistan suggestions:
More and more organizations working on biodiversity and conservation like WWF and IUCN should take active part in such discussions and should share their ideas and views with the all foresters group.
Name: Zahoor Bazai
1. 1.How did it help you grow professionally?
Prior to joining LEAD’s LDP I had ample experience of working with international development agencies in their participatory development projects. I felt that I required more knowledge and skills. Therefore, I searched for a break to augment my knowledge base of the sustainable development and leadership. When I accrued LEAD fellowship I sensed that it was the correct moment to opt for educating my leadership and management skills. I believe it helped me to bridge my knowledge and skill gap in the processes of resource management and an insight into an overall professionalism.
2. Briefly write about the Leadership skills you were able to practice (after getting LDP training give an example)
To Demonstrate grace under fire and defuse tension, Overcome resistance to change, Motivate followers and inspire them to action and to become a more effective communicator—and leader were all the skills acquired by me after getting LDP training. And this was proved after I become the youngest and successful Vice President of Academic Staff Association of Balochistan University.
3. Did it help to sensitize you on environmental issues. (what were your previous level of sensitization and how much LDP contributed towards better sensitization.)
Previously I was teaching Environmental Biology and only sensitized up to curriculum related theoretical aspects. Nature study in the nature was integral part of LDP training and it provided opportunity to study environmental ecosystems, economics, regulation, ethics, law, and management issues and environmental policy.
4. State you Job improvement (promotions, better job in some other organization)
Started working as freelance consultant and accomplished many consultancies concerning environmental and social issues.
5. Has your experience with LEAD allowed you as an individual to make a greater contribution to sustainable development?
My research publications, position as a trainer for Environmental Education do contribute considerably towards the achievement of sustainable development.
6. Briefly state one of your achievements after getting LEAD training.
I have done my M. Phil on "CHEMICAL EFFECTS OF POLLUTED WATER ON GERMINATION, GROWTH AND NUTRIENTS UPTAKE OF VEGETABLES" This is the same topic i selected for my LAPs. After completing my LAPs I decided to take this research further and hence i am doing it in my MPhil.
Personal
What have been the most important impacts of LEAD on you as an individual?
Now I consider environmental compliance as a moral, political, and economic issue and demonstrate knowledge about environment more effectively.
2. How did you employ Leadership skills learnt at LDP to improve your personal life (give an example)
Thinking strategically about my role and Leading teams and individuals without direct authority and creating my own personal development plan.
3. What is one important thing which you learnt from LEAD Trainings which have become a part of your life.
TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More)
Lead Network:
On average, how many times per year do you meet up with other members of the LEAD Network (both professional and personal contacts)?
Regularly with fellows from Quetta and frequently from other province.
Does the network help you in professional tasks (if yes give an example)?
Yes it has helped me in many ways like I Published a research manuscript in India with the help of Indian LEAD fellow. His name is Dr. S. K. Barik Fellow Cohort-9 and a professor in Shillong University, India. The title of the manuscript is "The Floristic diversity of Juniper Forest in Ziarat, Balochistan, Pakistan".
Do you attend Lead Club meetings? And what do you think is the reason of low attendance of Fellows in club meetings?
It is quite disappointing to mention that Quetta LEAD Club is non functional. A joint meeting with all fellows from Balochistan in Quetta by the representative of LEAD Pakistan. The process of Club’s formation and modus operandi by other clubs in Pakistan can be shared along with the selection of a focal person from them to be responsible for regular meetings and report
Suggestions:
What is your vision about LEAD Pakistan?
Integral part of advisory, economic and regulatory approaches of national environmental issues.
How can we make the listserv more effective to your use?
It is efficient enough and I enfold no brainchild to share for making it more effectual.
Describe LEAD Pakistan in one sentence
LEAD Pakistan facilitates individuals and organizations to take initiatives in saving Earth the only common thing among homosapians.
Suggestions/Feedback:
Built greater buy-in, trust and loyalty and rally support in difficult situations
"Khalid Sherdil recently concluded a report for the Asian Development Bank, titled 'E-Governance at Local Government Level: Challenges and Opportunities.' The report, along with a 250 page study, describes the state of affairs of Information Technology at the Local Government level of Pakistan. The report also includes an original technical solution towards the common infrastructure for e-government at the provincial level. Khalid collaborated in this report with LEAD India, and its Director Programs, Mr Raj K. Verma. LEAD India had recently concluded an approach paper titled "E-Governance in Nagaland: Towards an operational framework.' Khalid's report draws parallels of e-Governance experiences between India and Pakistan."
By: Samra Hanif
The dilemma of not interacting with rural city people is when we sit here in big urban cities we lookdown at smaller cities and the people living there. We think we are makers and they are the followers. I wonder why this thinking comes in our minds.
I joined LEAD Pakistan in January 2005 and in 8 months I thought that I have landed in the best organization in every sense may it be professionalism or practicality of approach. Every one who was involved with LEAD’s project in Sukkur and Khairpur told me that they are better organized and more professional then head office, I never believed them. My egoistic sense could not accept that small city people can be more organized then the head office which is in the capital city Islamabad. I guess this egoistic approach and little shyness always kept me from interacting with these people whenever they used to come to Islamabad.
When I learnt that I had to go to Field (Sukkur & Khairpur) I was hesitant to go, I tried all the ways in which I could get a refuge and not go. But now I am really thankful to everyone who pushed me to go there and find out the realities of life.
My journey started two days before I was supposed to leave as I was packing every thing thinkable that I might need during my three day visit, including some biscuit packs, some chewing gums, toffees etc. I also took along two books as I thought I will be bored to death there so might have something to read when I don’t have anything better to do, little did I know that the whole trip will change my whole perspective of how to look at life.
We left Islamabad at 3:00 with a stopover of 45 minutes in Lahore reached Sukkur airport at 6:15. We were picked up by office cars. On our way to hotel we found out that our bookings couldn’t be done in the hotel of our choice and we are going to stay in Forum Inn. I was very disappointed to hear this. When we reached hotel before checking in I went upstairs to have a look at the rooms to find out how they were. Since we didn’t have any other choice so we checked in. First thing I did was put the sheets I brought from home on the bed and change the pillow covers. Scrutinizing every inch of the room and the washroom I got freshened up and then we all moved from hotel to have some dinner especially fish which is a specialty of that place.
We were walking towards the center point of Sukkur which was marked by British rulers with a Huge clock (Ghanta Ghar). I can mark that walk as first step towards changing my way of thinking.
In Islamabad I always saw very polished ways of doing drugs I always saw on TV and heard that how people do it while sitting at the side of roads but never saw it with my eyes until that night when we were walking in search of some fish. A very weak and meager man was sitting in torn clothes not concerned who is passing by him or who is looking at him just trying to last bits of cigarettes and some powder on a piece of silver coated paper. I stopped for a moment to see what he was doing and to see if he would react to my stopping by so near him but he kept himself busy with his passion of getting high. A few steps from this man there was sitting another man with torn pieces of newspaper wrapped and when he opened the wrap there was his dinner in it one roti and a small quantity of curry. It just hit me with a blow on my face that this man is so contented with whatever he has got to eat at the end of the day and we daily sit on dining tables with two three types of dishes and still make faces and this man is sitting on the side of the road and having his dinner not concerned if the pollution or the dust particles mixed with his food will have any effect on his digestive system. I had no plans of sitting on the road and having fish there but after looking at such different part of human I thought it wont hurt me at all if I sit and have food on the side of the road as well. Though we wanted to do it but again one of my colleagues from so called urbanized modern city didn’t want to sit there and have food so we got the fish packed and got to a hotel on a horse ride to eat it. One thing which I couldn’t leave during my whole visit was a bottle of nestle always tagged with me as I know water will make my whole upset down and I was not brave enough to take that risk.
I have stayed in a lot of good hotels but it has always been that first night I am never able to sleep that well and I always have a very disturbed sleep, I was prepared to have a bad night but that hotel room with small windows and dirty sheets and small beds was the first room ever where I slept a peaceful sleep after ages. I don’t know if it was the bed or was it the relaxation of letting go of a lot ‘brat’ habits (which I learnt during my upbringing) made me so comfortable there.
In the field:
The next two days I spent entirely in field and mingling with our extended LEAD family. The first visit was to our project office. We got out of hotel (Sukkur) and moved towards our project office in Khairpur which was 45 minutes drive away. But that drive was quite informative as on both sides of road there was land. On patches of land there were either palm trees or the land was destroyed because of water logging and salinity. The interesting factor was that one patch of land will have trees grown in it but the land patch next to it was water logged. Most of the trees had given up their fruits and people had taken them off but some people left it on some trees for the coming month of Ramazan so that they could feast on fresh dates while opening their fast.
It was very interesting phenomenon to know that the whole day the cafes of that area are filled with men of that area and they drink tea and chit chat all day while the females of the house go out for work and still at the end of the day men would come back home and being called as the head of the house would torture their wives to give them money for next day to be spent at the cafes. That made me wonder! Are men really the heads of the families or its just our social and cultural dogma that they are HEADS
Project office people greeted us with warm hearts and I felt so ashamed that whenever these people came to our office in Islamabad let alone greeting them with warm hearts we never even gave a smile to them.
We were introduced to all the staff of the PO and then briefed about the systems. The more they briefed the more I was going in an awe. I could not believe they had such excellent systems of filing and tracking their project and handling Taluka offices. It was astonishing to see that such systems exist in such remote part of our country where the information which one Taluka office will have the PO will have the same information.
Their information was not based on stories but hard facts in terms of data in the form of pie charts and tables. I salute them for keeping such a transparent way of record keeping.
My field visit included visit to schools where the grant money was approved and they were building on it to improve their quality of school inturn improving education.
There was one school which was shelter less, one room school. All the students from class one to five sit in one room and they get the lessons according to their respective classes. I was disturbed to see this as I think we are over burdening the students of class one and two who would learn their lessons as well and they have to listen to lessons of other classes as well.
After lunch my next visit was to Taluka office Kot Diji. Ms. Ambreen from Taluka office Khairpur accompanied me there and after meeting the team of Kot Diji Ms. Zakia Bhatti (social Mobilizer) took us to the field for a case study. We went into field to meet a woman(Kaz Bano) who offered a room in her house for school for girls until government approves of a building for girl schools.
The enthusiasm and conviction in Kaz Bano to let her daughter study and stand besides her sons with equal power and knowledge was really amazing. She convinced her husband to let her daughter study and when she saw the need that there are other girls who want to study as well but cant go to school because of co-education classes she offered her own house room. She is not very well off and has a very small house but she had a big heart. When I asked her if she gets any problems from the community she is living in she said yes the men come to my husband and tell him that you must have a very low self esteem that you have opened this school in your house and though still fighting with the village men still her husband sometimes thinks of closing it down, or will not let her daughter go to school once the school shifts to its building. Kaz Bano is adamant on getting her daughter educated and she says she will fight for it till the time she is alive. I never thought education would mean so much to some people who don’t have it. But looking at Kaz Bano and conviction I think there is so much stored in the females of our country we just need to explore it out and should utilize it at their level of living. Her conviction doesn’t end there, she herself wanted to study but due to born in an unfortunate family she was never given a chance. Now she is studying with her daughter.
This volunteer school is run by a student (Naseem Zehra) who has done her intermediate. She and her mother(Waseem Zehra) were always convinced on giving girls some sort of education. Her mother being the councilor of the area helped villagers to gather for village assemblies and talk their needs out. All the women complained that they don’t have a school for girls in their area and they want to get education too. Their plee came out in the form of a formation of CCB and getting a grant approved for a separate building for girls school.
Naseem Zehra initially started teaching with twenty rupees fee per person for a month but looking at the financial conditions of families living there she stopped taking fees and now she is voluntarily teaching. She is a young girl with determination and ambition. She has a guest book in which she gets remarks from all the visitors. She says that whenever I feel low and find it difficult to move one step further I just open this book and read all the comments and this gives me so much encouragement that when I finish reading it I get up with determination to start another day fighting with everyone and opening avenues for girls to get educated.
This school is more like adult literacy school and many older women come there to get education as well. One of the students Ms. Rashida is from a very poor family and she was the one who pushed Naseem Zehra and Waseem Zehra a lot for getting some kind of education. It was in time that LEAD Pakistan reached there with DEMO project and identified the group of enthusiastic people there and started working with them for achieving the goal of sustainable development through education. Rashida says that she wants to get education and then become a lady health worker and help his father in earning livelihood.
This school is an example of extraordinary Leadership qualities in each of its members may it be students, teacher or property owner.
My day ended there and I had this feeling of euphoria that I am working for an organization that is actually making difference in the lives of people. It is reaching out to people who are willing to take a stand for themselves and their rights. I would like to give credit to all the social mobilizers of our Taluka offices who work in the field daily and work so closely with the people who are actually needy.
My second day visit was to our Taluka office in Kingri. Kingri I had always heard was a very difficult area to work in. Due to dacoits and tribal system it was never easy to work there. There social mobilizers go in pairs so that if anything happens, some kind of support is available.
Bashira Bano is a social mobilizer and she with her colleagues was able to celebrate women’s day on 8th of March this year in Kingri. This is a great achievement for an area where if a girl goes out there is no gurantee that she will come back home. Where girls are being murdered in the name of Karo Kari. Where females just have an idea of the house as their whole world. In that area if women are gathered in a forum to celebrate a day to praise their existence then it’s a miracle and conviction of our team fellows working in that area.
When I was coming back to hotel from my field visit I was the happiest person on the face of this earth. The euphoria kept on building and sitting in my room I just pondered if I really want to work in cities anymore with all the comfort around me but being a part of such pseudo society or I wanted to work in a remote area where I will be close to people and get to know their problems and work for humanity? It still is a big question for me.
"I particularly liked the interview with Naseer Memon. I am always being challenged about the value of LEAD training - OK so the Fellows had a nice time and made lots of new friends, but so what? Is the world a more sustainable place as a result? Very difficult to quantify, but we must try, and I thought the interview told the story well about the difference he had been able to make as a result of his training". Simon Lyster
"It is, as always, most interesting reading." Sean Cleary
Events Dates Venue
Editor : Samra Hanif
Layout By : Imran Butt
Fellows and Associates can send us details of their job achievements, job alterations or any other news they wish to share with the LEAD Family. All contributions will be an asset to the bulletin. Write to us at shanif@lead.org.pk
For up-to-date information on LEAD Pakistan activities and services please visit our website www.lead .org.pk
© LEAD Pakistan 2005
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