01/06/2021
is observed on 5th June. We at Wildlife Conservation Fund, YPJK will be joining hands with UN - Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, 2021-2030 as .
We, at will be launching , a dedicated campaign for stressing for Grazing Free Dachigam National Park.
As Grasslands are one of the most important ecosystems in the whole world. They support and help sustain numerous amounts of flora and fauna. Across the world Grasslands are protected, managed and promoted in order to preserve the wide diversity of unique species they sustain.
But in our part of the world, the protected Grasslands are constantly eroded with excessive grazing and burning which creates a Monoculture setup and invites growth of poisonous weeds and non-indigenous species of grass, herbs and shrubs which are mostly poisonous to our native wild fauna. Due to the uncontrollable growth of such non-indigenous species our Grasslands loose their uniqueness of being rich in Biodiversity and thus loose all the nutritional value they possess. The selective grazing by Goats and Sheeps have for decades deprived our “ ” like Nagerberan, Dachigam National Park from their Biodiversity and have promoted the growth of non-indigenous weeds like Stinking Willie which is poisonous for our pride “Kashmir Deer” locally known as ‘Hangul’.
In the month of April-May the hinds give birth to the Fawns and it is this crucial time period that the Fawns are most vulnerable to the external disturbances which might lead to their demise thus leading to the decline in Hind to Fawn ratio. The nursing Hinds in the same time period require nutritional grass to process the milk full of nutrients for the budding fawns who need strength in the early ages to fend off the challenges they face. It is imperative to understand that this ingress of domesticated sheep and goat have to be stopped once and for all at least in the 141 sq km’s of Dachigam National Park which is the last Bastion and abode of Hangul.
On this World Environment Day, let’s pledge to protect our Grasslands and Alpine Meadows which hold importance as far their unique Biodiversity is concerned, the species they support and most of all to protect the important habitat of our pride Hangul.
Aamir Wali,
Chief Executive Officer,
Wildlife Conservation Fund,
Jammu & Kashmir.
