Chinji National Park on ground after 33 years: Amin

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam Monday inaugurated the long ignored Chinji National Park lying in the heart of salt range which was established after 33 years since it was declared a reserve forest.

Addressing the inauguration of a state of the art information center and watch tower established at Chinji National Park , he said the National park was declared a forest reserve in 1987 and only existed on papers where the Ministry of Climate Change in cooperation with the provincial Forest Department materialised the forest reserve project.

Amin said the national park was sprawling over 15,003 acres land with picturesque trails, green cover, a small dam newly built under the project and it also had a jeep track as well. "It is one of the national parks being established under Prime Minister Imran Khan's protected area initiative under which the existing 30 national parks have been scaled up to 45 with a 50 percent increase."

He said the information center was a modern facility developed at the pattern of global national parks with all necessary information pertaining to flora and fauna existing in the Park.

A watch tower built with stones was also set up with indigenous building material that provides a beautiful and complete view of the national park extended before its observer, he added.

He added that there were around 12 security guards hired to provide facilitation and monitoring of the park.

The SAPM said local communities were given green jobs under this initiative whereas no hunting was allowed in the national park.

He added that a track and trace system would also be developed at the national park to ensure navigation of the park guards and visitors.

The SAPM was also given a special briefing on the project and Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) project.

The initiative was a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded project under supervision of the Ministry of Climate Change in collaboration with the provincial Forest Department.