Afghanistan Times
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On Tuesday the World Wildlife Day was observed across the planet, except Afghanistan, despite the fact that the country provides rich habitat to hundreds of species and where hunting is continued despite ban imposed by the former president Hamid Karzai. The good excuse for the relevant officials to come up would be that the day could not observe because the nation is mourning over unbearable human and financial loss in the recent spate of avalanches and floods. State machinery is focused on provision of relief goods and rescue missions in the natural disaster hit areas. No doubt, we should be concerned and lament over the national tragedy, but it is no denying that nothing considerable has been done for protection of the wildlife. This country belongs to the wildlife too because they also live here and evolved themselves to maintain the ecosystem. If we want to prevent or lessen affects of the natural disasters such as floods and heavy rains, we should be concerned about habitat of the wildlife because we depend on each other.
After recovering from the natural disaster, the government should focus on wildlife conservation as well. The authorities should draft comprehensive laws to protect species that need our outmost attention. Unfortunately, in Afghanistan laws are approved but not implemented. Another dilemma is that wildlife has no share in the national budget despite the fact that many species are on the verge of extinction. We need wildlife to maintain the ecosystem and protect environment. Wildlife protection would not only help us to attract tourists but will also build positive image of Afghanistan in the world. To save the wildlife the government should prevent public from cutting forests because the greatest threat that various species are facing is the destruction of their habitat. There is no denying that timber smuggling and bringing of more areas under cultivation have resulted in serious irreversible changes such as alteration of local climatic conditions and desertification. Recent floods and heavy snowfall could be linked to the change in climatic condition. In Afghanistan there are scores of species standing on the verge of extinction due to habitat destruction.
Therefore, the government should build more reserves and parks to keep the habitats untouched. Awareness campaigns in this regard should be launched in the local communities so people could know how important wildlife is for sustainability. Moreover, organizations working on wildlife protection should be facilitated and invited to protect the endangered species and their habitat. It would help the government in financial and technical terms. It will also provide an opportunity to the Afghan officials to learn from experiences of the experts.
