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PRESS RELEASE

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IUCN PAKISTAN’S AGREEMENTS WITH GOP AND UNDP MARK SIGNIFICANT STEP FOR THE ENVIRONMENT IN PAKISTAN

ISLAMABAD, Pakinstan, July 21, 1999 -- The World Conservation Union, Pakistan today signed agreements with the Ministry of Environment, Local Government and Rural Development and the United Nations Development Programme on the Mountain Areas Conservancy Project or MACP. The project— funded by the Global Environment Facility and the United Nations Development Programme and executed by the Government—will be implemented by IUCN Pakistan.

The agreements are a landmark in Pakistan’s progress to conserve its natural resources, especially in the mountain areas of the country. The project aims at protecting the biological diversity of the mountains by following a unique approach: by involving the local communities in conservation, by promoting long-term and sustainable (instead of short-tem) use of natural resources of the area and by creating a conducive policy structure. To this end, the project is in line with the international Convention on Biological Diversity, signed by Pakistan in 1992, and the Pakistan National Conservation Strategy. MACP will involve IUCN, the Federal government, the government of the Northern Areas and the NWFP, donors, partner NGOs and the local communities in its implementation.

Mr. Sikandar Hayat Jamali, Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Local Government and Rural Development was present at the signing ceremony and expressed his optimism in a seven-year project involving the collaboration of three agencies. Mr. Harumi Sakaguchi, Acting Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme expressed the similar hope that the project will not only result in environmental conservation but also in a trusting relationship between the UNDP, Government of Pakistan and IUCN. Ms. Aban Marker Kabraji, Country Representative, represented IUCN at the ceremony.

IUCN is an international union of sovereign states, governmental agencies and non-governmental organisations with a mandate to promote the sustainable use of natural resources. It has 953 members, including representation from 140 countries. In Pakistan, IUCN has developed the NCS, the Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy and is involved in several natural resource management projects throughout the country.

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