January 23, 2006: The President of the World Conservation (IUCN), Mr. Valli Moosa, who is visiting Pakistan from January 24-26, would strongly advocate for undertaking the huge post-earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation initiative on sound environmental principles and practice. While the country and its people have suffered immensely by the death and destruction caused by the recent earthquake, it has also provided an opportunity for carrying out rehabilitation of the affected ecosystems through building sustainable livelihoods of the people inhabiting them. There is now a greater recognition of the fundamental link between environmental health and ecosystem integrity on the one hand and future prospects for long-term recovery, sustainable socio-economic development, human security and wellbeing, and disaster preparedness on the other.

He would discuss this in his meetings with the Acting President of Pakistan, the Prime Minister of AJK, the Federal Minister and the Minister of State for Environment and other high ranking officials of the Governments of Pakistan and AJK. Highlighting the significance of sound environmental management in mitigating the impacts of natural calamities, he would also offer IUCN's expertise to address the environmental damages and needs in the wake of the catastrophic earthquake. Based on field assessments of environmental risks and needs in the wake of the earthquake, IUCN has formulated a medium and long term strategy for recovery from the affects of the earthquake.

He would visit the earthquake affected areas in AJK, and possibly, in NWFP; and would also meet key representatives of the civil society, especially the member organizations of IUCN in the country. He would deliver a keynote address on the “Role of Environment in Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery: the IUCN Perspective” before a select gathering of senior administrators, policy planners, key representatives of the civil society, corporate sector, academia and media.
Mr. Valli Moosa belongs to South Africa and had held the position of Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism of the Republic of South Africa from 1999 - 2004. He is an environmental leader who is passionate about democracy, sustainable development and freedom. An anti-apartheid activist, he became Minister of Constitutional Affairs in 1994 and was Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism from 1999-2004. Mr. Moosa was one of the key negotiators of the African National Congress during the drafting of South Africa’s new constitution and the country’s transition to a new democratic order.

Mr. Moosa has won acclaim both in South Africa and abroad as a competent and insightful mediator, especially during the preparation process leading to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg in 2002 and the Vth IUCN World Parks Congress in Durban in September 2003; both events were held in South Africa largely due to his initiative and effort.

IUCN in Pakistan has been the initiator of multi-stakeholder, environmentally sensitive planning exemplified by the National Conservation Strategy, and later, provincial conservation strategies; more recently, it has helped formulate district level Integrated Development Visions for a number of districts in the country. It works closely with the governments at the national, provincial and district levels as well as with the wider civil society, and has a unique convening capacity of bringing diverse stakeholders from the government, civil society and the corporate sector on a shared platform to discuss issues of common interest and thrash out joint action plans.

In the wake of the earthquake, IUCN has been proactively engaged in bringing the environmental aspects of the tragedy to the fore, through all available forums including the use of public media. At least partly due to its efforts, environmental aspects were adequately incorporated in the damage and need assessment report jointly prepared by the Government of Pakistan, Asian Development Bank and World Bank for the Donors’ Conference on November 19, 2005. Apart from the preliminary assessment and the risks and needs assessment reports, it has released alert bulletins highlighting the most critical post-earthquake hazards and how to deal with them – for relief administrators as well as the general public.

For more information contact:

Hasan Rizvi, IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Pakistan.
Tel: (021) 537 4072/73/74, e-mail: hasan.rizvi@iucnp.org.

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