Ayubia National Park facing encroachment threat

ABBOTTABAD: The Ayubia National Park has been facing various threats including encroachments on its demarcated area despite the fact that all the national parks are considered protected areas.

The Ayubia National Park is known for its natural beauty and is the most protected piece of moist temperate conifer forest. It was declared a national park in 1984. The declaration as a national park is the only legal tool to save our valuable forest but illegal move by different quarters has rendered even this tool ineffective.

Urbanisation, especially rapid construction under the umbrella of housing societies and development authorities, rush tourism, threats to ecotourism and timber extraction as well as the role of the Forest department are some of the potential threats to the Ayubia National Park.

The park has 104 species of plants. Some of the main floral species are Cedrus Deodara, yew, blue pine, horse chestnut, silver fir, and oak. The park has numerous species of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. The recent controversy to grab the precious land of Ayubia National Park started under an official umbrella when the Forest Department officially invited the Survey of Pakistan for the demarcation of boundaries at Dongagali. The move was aimed at facilitating an individual two-acre land known as “Hilda estate” owned by one Shujaat Azeem who allegedly purchased the documents of the disputed land against a huge amount.

The sitting employees and a former official of GDA become instrumental in maturing the deal who have managed to purchase the documents from one Mansoora Hassan, the daughter of Syed Abu Al Hassan, claimed the ownership of the said property being inherited property of her father Syed Abu Al Hassan. However, when she approached the Revenue department, it refused to have any record of the property.

Later she approached the court for relief but to no avail.

It was learnt that the woman had no option left except to involve some of the GDA officials who successfully managed to deal with one Shujaat Azeem and transferred the property documents in his name with the alleged connivance of the Registrar Tehsil Abbottabad, who was later suspended in another such case. Surprisingly, the Survey of Pakistan, in connivance with Forest Department and Galiyat Development Authority (GDA) demarcated the land illegally and the process was completed within half an hour, as claimed by Wildlife department KP in its letter dated 07/09/2022.

The Wildlife Department Section 35 & 36 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife and Biodiversity Act 2015 laid down the lengthy and cumbersome procedure for de-notifying any protected area or any alteration or change in the jurisdiction of the national park.

Sardar Taimur Hayat, a bio-environmentalist and senior manager in the development sector said some people were occupying positions of trust and were either ignorant or enacting acts of blatant criminality.