Islamabad Nature Conservation Act to enhance MHNP protection: Sherry Rehman
Abdullah Jan
Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Senator Sherry Rehman on Wednesday said the Islamabad Nature Conservation and Wildlife Management Act 2023 passed by the Parliament has become a law that would enhance protection for the Margallah National wildlife park which was under constant stress from unchecked development.
The federal minister took to Twitter to share the enactment of the much-awaited legislation required to ensure optimized protection of the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP). Senator Rehman wrote, “Passing the bill to provide for the protection, preservation, and management of nature in the Islamabad Capital Territory. It will now become law as the Islamabad Nature Conservation and Wildlife Management Act 2023.”
The minister tabled the landmark legislation at the lower and upper houses of the Parliament to meet the prerequisites of formulation of the law.
The basic objective of the Islamabad Nature Conservation and Wildlife Management Act 2023 is to upgrade the MHNP to international standards to demonstrate that the country could fulfill its international obligations relating to biodiversity and climate change and place it in a position to access emerging international financing and support available for protection of biodiversity such as Green Funds.
Moreover, it intends to introduce the concept of Nature (as opposed to only wildlife) which was all encompassing and in line with emerging best practices in the world for the protection of biodiversity.
The Board would be empowered to manage the MHNP and wildlife in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and which could not be subsumed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and it would also ensure financial strength and sustainability by empowering the Board to raise funds through collection of fees and charges and apply penalties for violation of national park and wildlife rules as was the established practice in the legislation of all the provinces and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
