Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy - IUCN

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T O W A R D S T H E S A R H A D P R O V I N C I A L C O N S E R V A T I O N S T R A T E G Y
AGENDA 21: THE EARTH ACTION PLAN & PAKISTAN BOX 4.1
At the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, governments agreed to Agenda 21, a nearly 700page
action plan that is not formal international law, but a compendium of recommendations that are crucial to the
future of the planet. The various sections of Agenda 21 that are relevant to Pakistan are:
■ Combating Poverty
■ Stabilizing Population
■ Promoting Environmental Health
■ Integrating Environment and Development
■ Combating Deforestation
■ Sustainable Mountain Development
■ Conserving Biodiversity
■ Controlling Pollution
■ Action for Women in Development
■ Strengthening Non-Governmental Organizations
■ Supporting Indigenous Peoples
■ Cooperating with Industry
■ Education, Public Awareness, and Training
■ New Environmental Laws
■ Financing
The SPCS is being developed within this context, and many SPCS programmes are designed to implement not only the
NCS but also Agenda 21. The SPCS is four years newer than the NCS, and the two complement the implementation of
Agenda 21.
The North West Frontier Province decided to accept
this key role, and hosted the workshop on the role of
provincial institutions in implementation in Peshawar
on August 13, 1991.
At this meeting it was decided to go ahead with a
Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy. This was followed
by a series of meetings with senior officials of
the Government of NWFP, culminating in a briefing to
the Chief Minister, NWFP, and his colleagues on
November 17, 1991. Several ideas emerged during
these meetings, especially with regard to institutional
arrangements for undertaking the environmental programme
in the province. These ideas were assimilated
and included in a proposal that was approved by the
Chief Minister in December 1991. The foundation of
the NWFP's environmental programme was laid and
the basic decision to have a provincial-level strategy
was taken at this time. Thus the Sarhad Provincial
Conservation Strategy was formally conceived,
Sarhad being the popular term for the NWFP.
It was decided that the subject of environment
would be assigned to the Planning and Development
Department, which would be renamed the Planning,
28 SARHAD PROVINCIAL CONSERVATION STRATEGY
Environment and Development (PE&D) Department. By
the same measure, the NWFP EPA would be transferred
from the Physical Planning and Housing
Department to the PE&D Department, upgrading it
from a ‘project status’ to a regular organ or Attached
Department of the Provincial Government. The transfer
to the PE&D Department would improve EPA's access
to resources and provide it with the platform to grow
and gain strength. Since the PE&D Department is a
powerful department with no or little line function, it
would give the EPA the independence it needed to
enforce environmental laws and standards across all
departments and organizations, equally and with less
resistance. Eventually, when the increase in environmental
protection work warranted it, the EPA could
grow into an autonomous agency retaining only coordination
links with the PE&D Department.
It was also decided that an Environment Section
(ES) would be created in the PE&D Department. It
would be staffed by professionals and charged with
conceiving environmental plans and policies and integrating
environmental concerns in development planning.
This would be done by a system of environmen-