Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy - IUCN

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I N T R O D U C T I O N
The North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan
derives its name from its historical position in British
India during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Sarhad is the local word for ‘Frontier’. Its southern tip
is only 250 metres above mean sea level, while to
the north the elevation rises quickly, reaching the
high mountains of the Hindu Kush and Karakorum
within a few hundred kilometres. On average, these
mountains are 3,000 metres high; Tirich Mir in
Chitral District is the highest, at 7,708 metres.
The NWFP was carved out as a province in
1901. It is bordered by the Punjab in the east and
south, by Afghanistan and Balochistan in the west,
and by Afghanistan and China in the north. The
narrow Wakhan corridor in Afghanistan separates
the NWFP from the rest of Central Asia to the north.
The province is slightly larger than 100,000
square kilometres. Approximately three-quarters of
this area is under the administration of the provincial
government, and the rest is part of the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas. The area under the
administrative control of the province is divided into
seven civil divisions, which are further subdivided
into 22 districts.
The famous Khyber Pass from the NWFP to
Afghanistan has been the gateway to Central Asia
for millennia. It has seen many conquerors and
explorers come and go—among these were Cyrus
the Great, Mahmud of Ghazni, Tamerlane, the
Mughal Emperor Babar, Nadir Shah, and Ahmad
Shah Abdali. In the sixth century B.C., the NWFP
was home to the Buddhist Gandhara civilization,
and it later embraced Islam. These historical events
have created a rich cultural mosaic. And the mountain
barriers, which were largely insurmountable
until the modern communication age, have effectively
protected the province from many external influences.
Thus even today, language, dialect, dress,
customs, and farming practices vary with the changing
landscape.
The NWFP is home to approximately 15 million
people, most of whom are Muslim. Nearly twothirds
of the population trace their origin to
Afghanistan and Central Asia. They speak the
Pukhto language and write with an Arabic script.
They take pride in being Pukhtoon and are famous
6 SARHAD PROVINCIAL CONSERVATION STRATEGY
for their generosity. The other one-third speak
Hindko, Khowar, or different dialects of Kohistani
and Seraikee. Most people, however, understand
Pukhto and Urdu, the latter being the official national
language. Almost all belong to one of nearly 30
Pukhtoon tribes.
The people of the NWFP live in a productive
land that has sustained an organized society since
the rise of one of the world's first known civilizations
in the Indus valley. Indeed, in the more recent
past the land's productivity has been improved
through irrigation and other sophisticated technologies.
This has given an ever increasing population
the means for subsistence and a general increase in
welfare and the quality of civil society.
Yet it has become apparent in many ways that
limits have been reached and in some cases
exceeded. The rapid increase in population has led
to many problems, and in general to a reversal of
the positive trends established earlier in the twentieth
century. While the wealth and welfare of the
province were increasing, the accelerating rate of
population growth led to a decrease in benefits and
quality of life for individual citizens and to a decline
in and loss of respect for the forms and institutions
of governance. Unemployment and poverty are
increasing, and the overexploitation of many natural
resources is becoming increasingly obvious.
Environmental degradation and poverty are also
contributing to a general sense of civil unrest, so
environment and security are increasingly seen as
significantly linked.
Beside diversity in culture, landscape, and ecology,
the NWFP also carries an unusual blend of conservatism
and modernization. The tradition of purdah
(veil) by women is very strong in the province,
as is the system of marriages within the same families
and tribes. Minor issues can generate and perpetuate
large feuds. On the other hand, it is a society
built on the interaction of numerous cultures. It
has been hospitable and open to external influences,
and its Government and bureaucracy is considered
the most progressive in Pakistan. This combination
presents a unique challenge and opportunity
for the development and implementation of a conservation
strategy in the province.