IUCN in Pakistan: The Largest Country Programme

After the formalization of the World Conservation Strategy in 1980, the Government of Pakistan requested IUCN to help develop a National Conservation Strategy (NCS). After a rather extensive process of, the NCS was eventually completed and approved by the Government of Pakistan in 1992. In 1982, an exploratory mission from the IUCN Headquarters laid the foundation for the IUCN Programme in Pakistan. In 1985, a one person IUCN Country Office was established in Karachi to initiate the implementation of the NCS. Since then IUCN Pakistan has grown into the largest country programme with five programme offices and a number of offices in the field.

IUCN’s mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.

To ensure sustainable development of Pakistan’s natural and local resources, IUCN Pakistan aims at:

- integration of environment and development;
- support to institutional and human resource development for environment;
- facilitation for the creation of a supportive policy and legal framework; and
- increasing popular support for the environment.

IUCN works closely with the government at the national and provincial levels as well as with civil society at large. Following a two-pronged approach, IUCN: advocates and technically assists the development of the conservation strategies; and, supports strategy implementation by providing assistance in policy and legislative reforms, capacity development, environmental assessment, awareness and education, and selected field projects.

Pakistan Programme: A Diverse Portfolio

IUCN Pakistan’s main projects include:

Pakistan Environment Programme– capacity building for implementation of the National Conservation Strategy,
Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy (SPCS IV)– assisting implementation.
Balochistan Programme– working on priority areas of Balochistan Conservation Strategy.
Northern Areas Conservation Strategy– strategy development.
Mountain Areas Conservancy Project (MACP)– community-based conservation in Pakistan’s mountain areas.
Environmental Rehabilitation of Northern Pakistan (ERNP)

In addition, IUCN Pakistan maintains core capacity and services in the form of thematic programmes as part of the Country Office. They are organized under three groups: Society, Environment and Economy (SEE); Education, Communication and Knowledge Management (ECK); and Ecosystems Management (EM). These programmes support the various projects to ensure timely delivery of quality outputs, and serve to internalize learnings.

Organizational Structure:

The Pakistan Programme is headed by the Country Representative who is based at the Country Office in Karachi. The Country Office has four main components: Policy and Constituency Development; Programme Coordination Finance and Operations and Human Resources. Given its extended portfolio, IUCN also maintains three programme offices and several field offices in other parts of Pakistan. These offices support and oversee projects in their respective geographical areas.

Members and Partners:

IUCN Pakistan’s membership has grown from eight in 1990 to 23 today. This includes the Government of Pakistan as a state member, 6 government organisations and 16 NGO members. Over 80 volunteers from Pakistan work on the six networks of IUCN’s Commissions. The collaboration includes participation in program planning; joint projects; correlating initiatives; collaborative advocacy for key issues, and support in fund raising. The relationship with the membership has further evolved following the formation of Pakistan National Committee (PNC). In addition to members, IUCN works with a variety of other partners. These include research and teaching institutions, government departments, chambers of commerce and industry, law networks, media, and NGOs.

Financing:

There has been a substantial increase in IUCNP’s portfolio in recent years. CIDA, SDC, NORAD, GEF, UNDP and RNE form part of the major pool of IUCN donors. A donor group namely, the IUCN Donor Coordination Group (IDCG) for IUCN’s work in Pakistan has also been functional for the last few years.

Progress and Direction:

IUCN Pakistan’s (IUCN-P) most important contribution to the environmental movement of the country, has been the development of the National Conservation Strategy (NCS). IUCN-P has also contributed to the new Pakistan Environment Protection Act (PEPA) 1997 and has contributed to the development of all key environmental policies including the National Environmental Quality Standards. IUCNP has also co-designed and facilitated most of the post-NCS environmental projects; helped in developing the Biodiversity Action Plan for Pakistan, and has successfully advocated a greater space for civil society in public policy and decision making. IUCN-P’s work on district and local strategies offers insights into the debates and possibilities needed to be explored to address the issue of good governance. Following the NCS, geographically specific and contextually apt strategies have been developed for Abbotabad, Chitral, Sarhad, Northern Areas and Balochistan.

In consonance with future priorities and challenges, IUCN-P developed a strategic plan that runs upto 2005. The general focus has been consolidation, meeting commitments, and ensuring financial sustainability. New opportunities will be selectively taken in areas of policy, economics and urban environment, as may be consistent with the aim of consolidation, knowledge management and learning.

The IUCN Programme in Pakistan is characterized by a mix of policy and fieldwork at the federal, provincial and local levels bringing together government, civil society and private sector institutions. The Programme centers around several themes, various conservation strategies and select field projects.

The themes deal with issues of business and the environment, biodiversity, communications, coastal ecosystems, environmental assessment, environmental education, environmental law, knowledge management and strategies support.

As part of the NCS implementation, IUCN Pakistan supports various sub-national conservation strategies that are in the process of either being developed or implemented. These include the Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy, Balochistan Conservation Strategy, Northern Areas Conservation Strategy, Chitral Conservation Strategy and Abbottabad Conservation Strategy.

The strategies themselves are essentially capacity-building initiatives complemented by other capacity building and demonstration projects implemented by IUCN. Notable among these are Capitalizing on Capacities (extension of Pakistan Environment Programme - PEP), Environmental Rehabilitation in the NWFP and the Punjab (ERNP), Mountain Areas Conservancy Project (MACP), and Mangrove Forest Rehabilitation.

Intersessional Programme:

IUCN pursues its overarching global vision of a just world that values and conserves nature through its mission of influencing, encouraging and assisting societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.

IUCN produces a global Intersessional Programme (IP) for the period between two consecutive World Conservation Congresses. The IP lays down aspirations and programme of work for the next four years. It is not a mere policy statement, rather a solid commitment to deliver upon what has been projected in the IP.

Pakistan started work on its IP in early 2003, through a situation analysis of environmental, social and economic trends in the country. Three workshops were held with staff before a draft programme framework was shared with members, partners and donors and their comments incorporated.