Chitral Association for Mountain Area Tourism

The Students of Centennial Model School Go on Exposure to Booni/Qaqlasht Festival 2011

2011-06-30T06:12:00.000-07:00

An exposure visit for the students of Centennail Model School Chitral was organised through the support of Tourism Corporation Khyber Pukhtunkhwa under its project titled 'Revival of Indigenous Cultural Heritage (RICH). As many as 36 students were taken on one day trip to participate in the Qaqlasht Festival 2011.

The purpose of the exposure visit was to introduce extracurricular initiatives at school level so that maximum learning opportunities could be afforded to young students who have to shoulder the responsibilities in future.

Qaqlasht Festival 2011 Celebrated

2011-06-30T05:40:00.001-07:00

Jashan-e-Qaqlasht 2011(Qaqlasht Festival) was organised from April 14 to 18 this year. The mega event of the people of northern Chitral attracted a great many local, national and international toursits and media personnel. The event was somehow marred by intermitent rain. But the overall weather condition was ideal in uper Chitral and the festival venue.

The purpose of the festival is to revive the old-age cultural heritage of the people of Chitral.

A range of traditional sporst such as free style polo, tug of war, bodi dik, falconry in addition to a series of new games that were introduced during the festival.

The festival was sponsored by Tourism Corporation Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (TCPK) to be implemented by Chitral Association for Mountain Area Tourism)

Please visit the following website link for details:

http://chitralupdate.blogspot.com/2011/04/qaqlasht-festival-continues.html

A Day for Cuisine and Culture Show on Nauroz Day

2011-03-26T10:37:00.000-07:00

The Tourism Corporation Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa(TCKP) and Chitral Association for Mountain Area Tourism (CAMAT) joined hands to celebrate Navrouz and, with it, to honour the beauty of Chitrali culture and cuisine.

A festival of indigenous cuisine and local music was set up here in Chitral town with a purpose to market the local culture through the tourism industry. Shoshp,Chhira Shapik,Ghara,Shoshpalaki,Chamborogh,Sanabachi,Mol and Lajeik were showcased.

Cooking and food generally associated with women in the entire region and linking this sort of tradition with mainstream economic activity would primarily translate into empowering women of Chitral economically. This will also help to aggrandise the interest of the women in the Home Economics.

On the other hand, it is a general observation that the mountains areas of Pakistan are going through identify crises as globalization; modern communications and economic mobility have brought in external cultural trends that easily can wash out the indigenous originality. Lack of awareness has taken the youth away from their identity. Most of the people of Chitral have forgotten the names and tastes of the traditional foods. The purpose of the activity on Navrouz was to catch up that deficit.

Discussions were made among the participants and visitors about how originality, hospitality and quality service can be patched up with Chitral tourism. Suggestions were made that formal training about cooking and smart service skills should be initiated. Arrangements were made by CAMAT with the help of volunteer work by the Girls Guides of Dolomoch, Chitral town.

Evening was festive too as Music and Cultural dances were arranged. A large number of people participated and enjoyed the evening. Folk singers; folk dancers, instrumentalists filled the air with tunes and melodies.

Folk dancers whirled with some forgotten dances like Anaphari, Tatali,Wawali,Chon Rigishi and Barwazi. The music of pasture flutists also featured in the musical show. The instrument is played by shepherds while herding the cattle in the summer pastures. Its plaintive notes echo in the rocks and makes melancholic resonance that enthral the listeners.

Climate Day Celebrated in Booni, Chitral

2010-10-14T09:24:00.000-07:00

10/10/10 International Day of Climate Change was celebrated in Booni, Chitral, Pakistan, through the facilitation of Destination Management Organization (DMO) Chitral and 350.org. The theme of the day was 'Breaking of Booni Glacier, Its Relation to Climate Change'. As many as 500 people from different walks of life participated.

The day has had significance for the people of Booni as they have recently witnessed a flood destroying their valuable property and causing them major health problems, psychological twists and infrastructure disruption.

The objective was to join the worldwide communities in highlighting climate problems—breaking of glacier, untimely melting of snow, frequent floods and unpredictable climate conditions—in the Hindu Kush Mountains.

To begin with, speeches highlighting the prospects of climate change in the Hindu Kush Mountains were delivered. Mr Sadruddin, the principal of Orion School of Learning (OSL) impressed upon the participants to save the Booni village by protecting natural environment. This challenge could be successfully tackled by offering environmental-friendly education/values to children within the family right from their childhood. In turn, this will make the task easier for teachers, once they are admitted to schools. He also said that ecology/ natural biodiversity had to be included into the curriculum of government/ private schools as a compulsory subject from class 1st. Meanwhile; teachers need to be imparted skill enhancement training regarding natural environment.

Mr Shams Uddin, the Coordinator of DMO Chitral and the key organizer of the event, upheld that nature has the characteristics quite like those of a loving mother. Nonetheless, the difference is that ‘mother’ along with her children is dependant on ‘mother nature’ for healthy life. Nature feeds us with a variety of cereals, fruits and vegetable. It provides us with oxygen and clean water to mention a few. Bearing this in mind, we have to take great care of nature, the manifestation of which could be the adoption of environmental-friendly manners and values by the entire society.

Mr Uddin maintained that the natural beauty of Chitral is an asset, which we can market to attract more tourists. Unfortunately, climate change/ global warming is going to erode the base natural resources and environment. From tourism standpoint, climate change that destroy natural environment—a valuable tourism product— is even a greater loss.

Advocate Amir Akber Khan, himself a social worker, said that we did not have to loose time waiting for another catastrophe to happen. We have to stand united to tackle the future floods in the following ways. First, proper canalization of the stream bed is greatly important. Second, 'as charity begins at home’, there has to be hectic and coordinated fund raising campaign in the Booni village. “In order to save the village from further destruction, we have to contribute a sizable amount sell out livestock. With this money we can canalize the stream bed and construct protective walls along the stream line”, he said. Meanwhile, grazing on the Booni Gol rangeland needs to be restricted for ever. Without dealing the problem on self-help basis, we should not expect government and NGOs to play role in this regard.

He said that people had witnessed something unforgettable being unfolded that was the breaking of the Booni glacier, which he termed as an ‘eye-opener’ for the local communities.
The students arranged theatre centering on the Booni flood and its aftermath. The play they enacted depicted social, political and cultural complexities in times of crisis and highlighted the helpfulness of modern technology. For instance, mobile phone was used as an instrument of Early Warning System (EWS) by volunteers high up in the Booni stream. Similarly, they played of individuals who remained oblivious towards natural hazards as they basically lacked the inbuilt knowledge to assess the enormity of a natural disaster. Likewise lack of medical care, non-existence of portable water that led to widespread water-born diseases was effectively highlighted. Further, women’s drudgery of fetching water from long distance for cattle and household use constituted an interesting component of the play. The participants appreciated the efficiency of the students in preparing and executing the play.

The students sang songs of nature and the serene beauty of the Chitral valley, its lakes, snow-capped peaks, forest, alpine meadows, flowers, medicinal herbs, fruits and crops, all of which sustain on a suitable natural climate. The singers mourned the missing of the valuable bird species from the ecological chain. Such birds used to live when most of the participants were young people. It was indicated that climate change has been responsible for the migration/ extinction of the bird species.

‘Don’t turn my heaven into hell’ was the theme of poetic session. The student poets wisely couched the issues of climate change into poetic language. They appealed to the sentiments of the audience to keep the natural environment from being degraded into a sort of ‘hell’ by becoming unbearably hot. Further, funny anecdotes related to nature were shared with the participants. Pieces of engaging wits were skillfully blended into making the cause of climate change more motivating. It must be noted that Khowar poetic sessions have been used as an effective tool of campaign to critically analysis the local politics, poverty, corruption and forced marriage and other social issues.

A placard bearing walk of parents and students through the Booni village was taken out from OSL, which ended as it reached near the Booni Market. The purpose of the walk was to spread the message of International Day of Climate Change amongst the villagers.
The participants of IDCC in Booni, Chitral, northern Pakistan, put forward the following recommendations:

• That there has to be an effective fund raising campaign by the local communities to save Booni from the catastrophe of natural calamities in future. To this end, every household has to contribute a sizeable amount even if they have to sell out their livestock.

• The environmental-unfriendly practice of irrational grazing of Booni Gol rangeland by the nomads with as many as 6000 goats and sheep has to be halted forthwith.

• Standard research work by reputed glaciologists and environment scientists is what the participants recommended to properly evaluate, understand and establish authentic baseline data on the deteriorating condition of natural environment in the mountains of Chitral.

• In order to protect Booni from the spillover of mud-flood in future, check dams need to be constructed in the side valleys high up in the Booni Gol rangeland.

• Protective walls have to be constructed at different points where the flood has already broken into villages. However, such protective walls have to be technically sound with their foundation deep into the ground.

• Deforestation of juniper, birch and shrubs in the Booni Gol rangeland has to be immediately stopped and plantation on a wide scale has to be undertaken by communities/ school students.

• The bed of the Booni stream needs to be canalized to provide permanent course for the water. This way materials that the flood deposited all along the stream bed, could be washed into the Mastuj River.

• There have to be awareness raising seminars, workshops and conferences on climate change and its impacts on the mountainous communities of Chitral. • Last but not the least; the participants thanked the organizers of International Day of Climate Change, which the local community so urgently needed.

Booni—the Day the Glacier Broke

2010-08-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

Booni is a village 80 kilometers to the north of Chitral town. Just like the rest of the villages in the Hindu Kush region, Booni is also a fan-shaped landmass formed by glacial deposit at the mouth of what is called ‘Booni Gol’ or the stream of Booni, which cultivates the tracts of crops, vegetable, fruit bearing trees of apple, pear and grape and so on.

On July 26, 2010 in the afternoon, a huge flash flood that originated from Booni zom glacier, smashed road networks, telephone and water supply lines depriving the local communities of the basic life amenities. The jeep-able road that once connected Central Booni to Molgram in the south vanished in a flash and the blacktopped road cleanly swept. The proportion of the flood was so immense that the wide span of the stream course could hardly accommodate it. Consequently, the overflow entered the settlements destroying houses, orchards, and washing everything on its way including a Jamat Khana. The irrigation channels branching off the main stream have been badly disrupted. This has left standing crops of rice, maize, and fruit bearing trees, orchards, and kitchen garden without water for more than a week, the cost of which for the locals, who largely depend on subsistent agriculture for their livelihood, could be immeasurable.

The topography of the post-flood Booni Gol presents an unattractive and unacceptable look. The green patches of crops/grasslands and the leafy overhanging trees that once decorated the line of the stream could be seen uprooted. This also means the life-time fantasies of the locals woven into the serene beauty of the stream have also been washed away by the worst natural calamity of our time. You will find the grief-stricken villagers standing at the edge and fearfully gazing into the abyss of the flood bed pondering over the factors that provoked the disaster.

It would be pertinent to mention that global warming-related flash flood have become a commonplace in the Hindu Kush mountains. Four years ago, the village of Sonoghor was totally destroyed whereas Brep—another village in the north—was partially plastered. Still in another instance, forty people in the Washeech village of Torkhow valley were died when an unusual snow avalanche buried them in a harsh winter of early February.

The socio-psychological trauma of the flood for the local communities has been enormous. The entire population was panic-stricken when they knew about the natural disaster being unleashed. Obviously, the trouble of those living near the epicenter of the flood was pathetic. Ladies ran amok with their children pressed under their arms. Young daughters just engaged in collecting household utensils and tending livestock into safe places. Male family members started running with valuables whatever their hands could lay on in the premises of the household. In no time, then, a large number of displaced people reached at Gahli playground, embarrassed and grief-stricken. They preferred to stay under the open sky in a torrential rain for the sake of their life. Many of them took refuge with relatives and family members in the nearby villages.

The next morning tent village for the affectees was established at Gahli stadium across the river right in front of the village. Some people still prefer to have night stay in these tents to avoid the risk of being washed along the flood. To add salt to injury, the community was advised to remain cautious and alert after the aerial survey of the hazard-prone glacier by a team of experts.
In the meantime, the police and volunteers from the local community have been inducted in the upper region with a mission to send early information in case of another bout of flood, which is perceived to have been lurking somewhere in the glacier.

Till now no aid package has been arranged by government and non-governmental organizations. There is wide spread possibilities of cholera, typhoid and malaria and other water-born diseases. The road links leading to the Chitral district and Booni have been cut-off, which means there is rampant price-hiking for the locals in the month of Ramadan.

Shams Uddin,
Booni, Chitral, Pakistan
Email: camatchitral@yahoo.com
Mobile: +92 302 5975059

Broghil Festival 2010

2010-07-22T11:03:00.000-07:00

The three-day Broghil festival 2010 is set to be organized from July 28 to 30, 2010 at Teri Dast, the scenic venue near the Chiantar glacier in the Eastern Pamir region. The objective of the event is to create income earning opportunities for the Wakhi communities by attracting tourists in addition to protect the indigenous culture of the unique community along Wakhan Corridor.

The festival will be categorized in to two broader segments i.e. indigenous sporting events and traditional Wakhi music. The sporting events will be:
1. Wakhi free style polo
2. Central Asian buzkashi on sturdy Badakhshi ponies
3. Horse race
4. Yak polo
5. Yak race
6. Tug of war
7. Mountain marathon

The cultural events including:
1. Traditional Wakhi folksongs such as ‘bilbilik’ etc
2. Wakhi folkdances
3. Central Asian violin [ghirzhak]
4. Playing ‘gharba’ with religious songs
5. Food festival
6. Exhibition of Wakhi handicrafts

Broghil is recognized for the colorful culture of the Wakhi community in addition to enormous trekking/ photographic opportunities and horseback/ yak riding.

Shams Uddin,
CAMAT Chitral
camatchitral@yahoo.com

Paragliding as Tourism Product in Northern Pakistan

2010-01-17T08:49:00.000-08:00

“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return”, said Leonardo da Vinci.

Flying like birds has always been the earnest desire of men. The launching of HIKAP [Hindu Kush Association for Paragliding]—the first registered Civil Society Organization with a mission to promote paragliding in northern Pakistan—on December 6, 2009, is a big leap forward towards the realization of this unusual dream of the Chitrali youngsters.

The association has opened categories of professional and honorary membership with fee of Rs 1000/- for professional members. The beginners have to pay Rs 2000/- entry fee to learn the sport.

To begin with, Miftahuddin, ACO Chitral administered oath to the new office bearers of the association and wished the sport could be instrumental in the wellbeing of the entire region by highlighting it into an ideal destination and attracting more national and international paragliders on equal footing to Phokran in Nepal.

The speakers underlined the significance of paragliding as an innovative technology for tourism growth in future and ranked it as a budding product after the Kalash communities with mountaineering and free style polo to be ranked at third and fourth respectively.

Meanwhile the forum appreciated the step of the paragliders who, at first hand, learnt the sport without institutional supervision and now working assiduously to impart the gliding skills to other young people. The total number of senior pilots and new entrants is ten at present.
Given the perfect launching points and open landing spots coupled with clear blue sky, lofty snow-clad peaks and the buoyancy of the everlasting thermals keeping a pilot afloat for nine hours at times, Chitral could be the hub of both national and international paragliders.

Mr Saifullah Jan, himself a pilot and the newly elected president of the association shared his story of how he learnt to fly. He lamented the fact that in the beginning people discouraged him that the sport was life threatening and a difficult one. Despite all difficulties, he did not surrender. He saved some money, proceeded to Islamabad for some training and learnt it. Now he is recognized as a good trainer also.

“I can not find words to express the thrill that come when you fly through the air. It is a unique and unusual experience only to be appreciated by those who fly”, he said. He believes the sport is safe and easy for energetic youngsters to learn. “I was motivated for the first time when I saw a foreign paraglider who landed in Chitral polo ground twenty-three years ago. “On the inauguration of Jashan-e-Chitral 2004, five years ago, when I landed in the same polo ground for the first time, the crowd believed I was a foreigner. But when I took off my helmet, they were awe-struck to see a Chitrali paraglider”, said Mr Saifullah Jan. He thanked Shahzada Capt Siraj Ulmulk for the moral and technical support in the course of learning the sport.

We can not arrange international cricket or soccer events in Chitral given the deficiency in infrastructure and the huge budget that it involves, but we can easily organize an exceptional international paragliding contest as we don’t need any preparation or ground infrastructure for the sport. So why should we not use our favorable natural topography for promoting the sport and earn handsome income?

The participants termed the sport as an innovative sector of community development necessary to diversify people’s livelihood opportunities the way it has done in other parts of the world. They thanked the pilots to take adventurous initiatives to promote paragliding in region.

In his concluding speech, Mr Sartaj Ahmed Khan, Tehsil Nazim Chitral, appreciated the launching of HIKAP as a good omen for the future development of paragliding in Chitral and considered it not only an innotative area of entertainment but also a new sector of tourism promotion in future. He pledged his committed support from the Tehsil administration for the cause.

Adventure in the Eastern Pamir

2009-12-28T11:46:00.000-08:00

It is a bright morning on July 9, at the end of the Shandur polo festival that with a group of 6 people we start from Shandur over Chamarkand Pass to participate in the Broghil festival and to continue our trek over Darkhot pass further on to the Yasin valley. After night stay at the Chamarkand pass (4328m), we manage to get to the village Chapali (2500m), 8 kilometer north to Mastuj. This village is acknowledged for its traditional folksingers, folkdancers, solo sitar players and vocalists. We stay with Mr Akhtar Murad Khan, whose house perches atop the mountain overlooking the village.

The next morning we have a thorough visit to have glimpses of the women activities in handicraft, cooking and the rest of the household chore. We observe several women harvesting wheat crops. Many more are occupied with weaving traditional woolen carpet, goat-hair carpet and embroidered women cap. Every house we visit, we are warmly welcomed and presented with cherry and mulberry besides tea. Some of the group members buy the local woolen carpets and embroidered women caps. In the late afternoon we arrange a big cultural event in the wide orchard under the cool shadow of the fruit-bearing trees,, where ‘Lokzhore’ and ‘pasthok’—the two famous floksongs are showcased through the participation of the elderly folksingers and folkdancers. Some tourists also join the dance party and make a fun.

From this village to Lashkargaz (3660), the venue of the festival, it is about 3 days travel. We arrange a 4X4 Jeep—the only dependable source of transport in the mountains of the Hindukush—upto the end of the Brep village where the bridge that connects the upper Yarkhun valley is broken and hence we have to carry the entire luggage through the narrow and rickety pedestrian bridge to the other side, where we bargain with Mr Dawood, the driver, who will charge us Rs 8000 for Kishmanja (3300m), the beginning of Broghil. Our travel is interrupted once as we stop for lunch at Pawer, the house of Mr Hakim Jan, the renowned personality of the area. He is also a first-class sitar expert and plays some of the oldest piece of music to the cheer and appreciation of the guests. This place is the best camping site but we don’t have it in our schedule to stay here. Rather we continue for Yarkhunlasht (3048) after lunch.

After traveling half an hour from Pawer, we reach at another unsteady jeep-able bridge connecting the village of Sholcoach (2700m) to that of Zhopo to the right side of the Yarkhun River. We choose to get down for our safety and let the jeep pass unloaded. The road from here onward leads us through a narrow valley with big boulders slowing down the vehicle’s speed. We reach at Darband, a place where a war was fought between Chitralies and some people coming from across the Wakhan Corridor in the olden times. The bunkers and other signs of war installations are still here. We reach Yarkhun by the evening and manage to stay with Mr Mehboob, a social activist and a hospitable gentleman. We pitch our tents in his vast orchard and the cook prepares dinner of chicken and rice. We go to sleep earlier with eagerness to start another challenging travel the next morning.
It takes us 2 hours to reach Kishmanja. You don’t have vehicle beyond this point. If traveling by foot, either from or to Broghil, then you have to compulsorily stay at Kishmaja whether or not you like the idea. Here we meet Mr Momin Khan, who speaks Dari Persian and Wakhi language and is proud of his Central Asian ancestors. He is dressed in the self-made raw leather coat and shoes called ‘Kon’. Here the cook prepares our lunch whilst we send for horses at Pechuztch or ‘the hot spring’ around which the village has developed. We arrive at Chikar for night stay and camp outside in the open meadow. By the night we listen to dogs barking, donkeys braying and horses neighing. We feel rather abandoned in a high and dry place under the bold shine of stars in the pitch-dark.
We awake to the yellow sunrays on the glacier of Chikar (3570m) to the south and in the adjacent pastureland. The nomads here just gather around and look at us in disbelief and some of them really shy away. Young girls play flute as they tend livestock further up the pasture. Smoke from the makeshift nomadic shelters makes a wavy column against the sky whilst children and elderly people sit lazily in the morning sun. As the sun in the nearby Chikar glacier presents an incredible view, we take a good deal of snaps.
We ride the sure-hoofed mountain ponies for Skarwarz (3510), the venue of the Yak Polo festival. It takes 5 hours before we reach this place, which is a big pastureland shared by the entire Wakhi communities. Yaks, horses, donkeys, sheep and goats are being grazed here. The landscape is beautiful with a range of wild flowers such as edelweiss, the sight of which brings a broad smile in the face of our Swiss group member who elaborates that edelweiss is Switzerland’s national flower. Golden marmot is also found in abundant here. They make underground tunnel and live in a family system. Broghil, the eastern Pamir region, is a wetland, appropriate for a variety of flora and fauna. It is one of the biggest peat bogs in the country and the locals dig out and get them sun-dried for fuel to be used in the harshest of 6 months long winter every year.
The three-day festival is truly a moment of pleasure. Some of the foreign friends just go for playing yak polo. It is an uphill task to mount the unruly creature and score a goal or two. On the final day of the yak polo festival, we arrange barbecue party to a big bonfire. The foreign guests and locals join together to have a big feast that everyone relishes.
The next day early in the morning, we start for Darkhot pass (4650m). The glacier is lengthy, steep and uneven and thus much tiring. One has to be much careful about the crevices filled with blue water many hundred feet deep. We clear the hurdles skillfully and ultimately reach the meadow of Darkhot in about 12 hours. For night stay we reach Darkhot village.
The next morning we awake to witness the long poplar trees and the nearby Darkhot glacier. The weather is quite chilly here even in midsummer. We take turn to the south and walk through the villages of Terset, Sandi and finally on to Taus, headquarter of the Yasin valley, where we avail public transport to Gupis and further on to the Gilgit city.
Thus one of our adventurous treks comes to an end.

Trekking Through the Nomads' Land

2009-12-28T10:21:00.000-08:00

Lonely Planet terms it ‘Chaghbibi—Gokhshal—Chimirsan—Rumbor Trek’. I would rather describe it ‘Trekking through the Nomads’ Land’ given the frequency with which one comes across the nomads in the course of his/her trek illustrated by scenic beauties—dense forests of pine, cedar and oak, milky streams, pure icy springs, colorful flowers and most noticeably an aura of pastoral life.

Day 1:
We start trekking from the Chitral town with quite heavy supplies—food items, utensils, clothes and sleeping bags—up to the Chaghbini Hut (2925m) of the Chitral Gol Natural Park and get here in about 7 hours. The watchers on duty are hospitable, friendly and easy going people, who welcome us into the compound of the hut with low boundary walls located in the forest overlooking the Terich Mir and Booni Zom to the North and the Broz village of Chitral to the south. Near sunset as the golden rays hit the landscape here transforms into a picturesque scene that prompts us to do some nice photography. We also scan the wood with binoculars to find markhor and see many of them whilst grazing far bellow the ravine. Take dinner early and go to sleep in anticipation of an arduous trek the next morning. After breakfast at 7:30, start for Gokhshal An (3720m). The trek is quite steep that zigzags up all the way to the base of the white rock before leveling across its face to reach the top and takes U-turn to the south, fall precipitously forming into a long scree defined by snow cover, moraine, grassy land and forest. Wild flowers greet us as we descend further down the valley. Here we go on the spree of mushroom searching, which the space is famous for and find 15kg of it before completing the trek to the hut of the nomads, who tend cattle up on the summer pasture in the midst of the forest called ‘Gokhshal’. For lunch, the nomads serve us with dairy products, their staple food. For night stay we go to the watchers’ hut just a little down to the nomads’ makeshift.

Day 2:
It is a reasonable stay with the hospitable and well mannered watchers from the Chitral town. They are generous and helpful to every bit. For dinner we have our delicious mushroom vegetable. This place, too, is idyllic with a great deal of photographic opportunities that we avail before sunset. The morning of June 22, we walk up the nose-touching steep of ‘surmabohto dahar’ across the river and then through a tangled and trek-less forest before getting to the Dooni pasture (3350m). We take lunch here to energize ourselves to cope with the uphill journey leading to Dooni An (3713m). ‘Alpinism’ not ‘trekking’ might better explain this part of the trek. You have to be a very good trekker. And Mr David is a good one indeed. Notwithstanding its difficult nature, the trek is the habitat for snow leopard, markhor, wild goats, snow cocks and partridges. We glimpse markhors with the biggest screwing horns ever seen. The songs of snow cocks/partridges mingle with nomads’ whistle and produce a pleasening echo in the mountains/valleys that makes the trek a rewarding one. The higher we get the more visible become the peaks of the Hindu Kush ranges with the Terich Mir standing lofty and clear. It takes us 8 hours to get to Dooni An. Once on the top we are elated with a sense of accomplishment and tough performance indicative of strong and healthy people that we are!

Day 3:
The sun is going down the horizon; we are exhausted and a little bit sore, with an urgent need to find a shelter at Chamarsan pasture with the Kalash nomads. They are equally hospitable, cordial and careful hosts, who afford us shelter, food and a place to spend the night. Nights are pretty cold here. From this point we see to the direction of the Rumbor valley to where our trek will end. We are excited about the upcoming trek, not a difficult one. We come across a range of nomads—mostly Kalash—in the forest of cedar, pine and oak. As we walk further down the valley, we see many people floating down logs along the stream to the roadside at Sheikhandeh (2250m). It takes us 5 hours to get to Sheikhandeh and an additional 2 hours to Saifullah’s at Balankuru, in the Rumbor valley. We get back to Chitral tired but elated with a sense of accomplishment about a very challenging trek plus enthusiastic to watch the final of the free style polo tourney that will be played on June 24 at 05:00 between the Sub-division Mastuj and Chitral Scouts teams in the Chitral town.

Booni Vigil Rally for Climate Change SOS Copenhagen

2009-12-11T08:52:00.000-08:00

A vigil rally in Booni, northern Chitral, Pakistan was organized through the facilitation of CAMAT [Chitral Association for Mountain Area Tourism]. The objectives of the placard bearing rally was to showcase support and show solidarity with the climate change SOS Copenhagen conference in addition to highlight the issues of climate change that has already posed a serious challenge to the communities in the Hindu Kush Mountains.
The participants were mostly students of government high school Booni and Pamir Public School apart from business community, political leadership, social workers and people from different walk of life. The rally, after walking for a kilometer, concentrated at the main Booni square where teachers, political leadership and business community representatives addressed the gathering. It was maintained that for the last three decades there has been a considerable change in the climate, which is inevitably linked to global warming. The destruction of the village Sonoghor three years ago resulting from glacier bursting is no doubt an eye opener in this regard. Similarly snow avalanches that destroyed the Washeech village in the Torkho valley and the annihilation of village Brep are directly associated with global warming.
The melting glaciers high up in the Eastern Pamir region, which are the vital source of cultivation for centuries in the entire northern Pakistan let alone Chitral, are melting very rapidly. If these natural water reservoirs get dried up, then the people here do not have any other option except to migrate to other places the way some of the valuable bird species have already done.
Likewise climate change has also severely threatened the habitat of the valuable natural biodiversity of the Hindu Kush region. Some of the rare birds species like the black throated thrush, finches, magpie, grey tit and golden eagle have almost disappeared as their ecological needs were no longer fulfilled in the given ecology. The population of wolf and fox has drastically shrunk and they are about to disappear. The disappearance of the substantial vegetative covering has had ever negative implication for the elusive snow leopard as it caused migration of the markhor and wild goats on the top of this ecological pyramid is always the elusive snow leopard. Now one can have very rare glimpses of the snow cat in northern Pakistan. It must have migrated to some other places better suiting his ecological needs.
The speakers at the rally maintain that students, being energetic and young people, have to be much focused whilst addressing the issues of natural environment. Moreover, it was emphasized that only within a healthy natural environment can we effectively adjust our social, political and economic needs for our broader welfare. If land resources are eroded and natural biodiversity degraded, then it will surely threatened our own very existence. It is therefore, the protection of natural environment and forming combined front against global warming must be the priority no one for the mountainous communities.
The livelihood of the people in the Hindu Kush Mountains is inseparably intertwined with healthy ecology and intact natural biodiversity, the disturbance of which has almost threatened the life standard of the communities in the region. As remedial measure, the participants of the rally unanimously passed the resolution as follows:
• That today on Dec 11, 2009, a vigil rally supporting the cause of global warming firmly pledge that we will continue our efforts for the protection of natural environment and our fight against global warming. To this end, we will harness the strength of schools, places of worship and other social centers in order to raise awareness and prepare workable plan to cope with the environmental issues at grassroots.• That developed and industrial nations are appealed to curtail the emission of carbon into the atmosphere so that the prospect of global warming would automatically be reduced and its negative impacts on the remote and less developed mountainous regions like ours would be minimized.• That there must be authentic research initiatives on the part of developed nations to measure the continuing damages to the natural environment of the mountainous communities in northern Pakistan. Based on such researches, awareness campaign will be mounted in the target communities and improved and coordinated strategy aimed at tackling the menace of global warming would be undertaken.• That effective awareness raising campaign with regard to natural environment and its importance for the living organism on earth needs to be initiated on regular basis for the broader stakeholders.• That courses on environment must necessarily be included in the curriculum of schools, both in the government and private sectors so that they will have proper knowledge and understanding about their natural environment and will resolve such problems based on their indigenous knowledge.• That student, being energetic young people, have the courage and strength to shoulder the responsibility of taking care for their environment if they have to be properly trained about natural environment.• That to fight against climate change; it is of paramount importance to stop deforestation in the southern Chitral and to increase forest everywhere in the district. With much greenery we can assure the health of our natural environment. To reduce pressure on the existing forest belt, the rally maintained, the provision of alternative source of fuel to the energy starved Hindu Kush region either in respect of natural gas from Central Asia or by generating electricity from its numerous rivers and streams could be helpful.
Best regards,

Shams Uddin,
CAMAT, Mountain Inn, Chitral
Pakistan

Tel: +92 943 413540

Website: www.ecoclub.com/c/blog/camatchitral

Kalash Celebrate International Climate Day of Action, Oct 24, 2009

2009-11-21T07:44:00.000-08:00

CAMAT [Chitral Association for Mountain Area Tourism] celebrated International Climate Day of Action, Oct 24, 2009 in the Kalash valley of Rumbor, district Chitral with a philosophy of ‘think globally, act locally’ in mind. The theme of the day was “The Impacts of Global Warming on the Kalash Communities”. Kalash ECOCLUB, school students, local leadership and woman representatives participated.

The day was observed in about 170 countries around the world aimed at awareness raising regarding the impacts of global warming on the natural environment and ecology that has already cast negative impacts on organisms living on the planet earth. The participants felt proud in being part of the noble cause being celebrated around the world on Oct 24.

In the meantime, they recorded their apprehension that the natural environment of the Kalash valleys—Rumbor, Burmborate and Birir—is certainly threatened due to climatic changes leading to longer summers, short autumns and short winters characterized by comparatively less snowfall and its early melting.

Mr Saifullah, the Kalash community leader and social activist, discussed the significance of natural environment, forest belt and alpine meadow for the traditional culture of the communities in the valleys. It was pointed out that the population of goat—the religious animal of Kalash—is declining over the years, largely because of the shrinking forest belts, degrading alpine meadows and disappearance of vegetative covers resultant of climatic changes stemming from what we know ‘global warming’. In part, the session raised concerns; the illegal trade by the timber mafia has done great damages to the environment of the valley. It is worth noting that during festival and funeral feast, as part of religious obligation, the Kalash people kill goats ranging from 30 to 100 according the strength of goat raised within the family concerned. Thus one of the core values of the Kalash culture that largely depends on healthy biodiversity and intact ecology has been potentially threatened because of global warming.

The frequency with which floods destroy cultivable lands, orchards, irrigational channels and the Kalash cemeteries have never been experienced in the past, which means ‘global warming’ has had started tightening its relentless grip on the otherwise pristine natural environment in the Kalash valleys as well as the entire Hindukush region.

To reduce the negative impacts of global warming on the Kalash valleys, the session passed the environmental-friendly agenda as follows:
1. That government and NGOs in Chitral mandated with the protection of environment and natural forest belt must focus on the degrading environment conditions in the Kalash valleys. Afforestation need to be redoubled to this end.

2. Tourists have to be sensitized towards the fragility of the valleys, the spring, streams and nullahs there. Pollution of non-biodegradable plastic bags have already had reduced the productivity of cultivable lands. Here the responsibilities lie with tour companies and guides, who have to make arrangement for this.

3. The mafia involved in illegal smuggling of timbers from three Kalash valleys, have to be strictly monitored by the law enforcement agencies and forest department in particular at different exit points.

4. Check dams need to be constructed in steep places where flooding is likely to erode the landscape. Plantation in such places has to be carried out on war footing.

5. Local communities have to be the real owner and guardian of their resources. They should not look for the support of the so-called departments. Rather their life is inalienably linked to the valleys to where they are primary stakeholders and thus have major responsibility to look after forests, pastures and alpine meadows.

6. Last, but not least, the less developed regions e.g. Kalash valleys, are quite neutral so far as carbon emission into the atmosphere matters but they still bear the brunt of pollution caused by the leading industrial cities at national and international level. Thus, big industries should have it as their moral responsibility to initiate green projects in places such as the Kalash valleys so that damages to the natural environment would be compensated.

At the end of the session, waste disposal campaign through the participants of the meeting was undertaken.

Shams Uddin,
Manager CAMAT,
Mountain Inn, Chitral Town
NWFP, Pakistan
Email: camatchitral@yahoo.com
Website: www.ecoclub.com.c/blog/camatchitral
Tel: +93 (0)943 413540
Cell: +92 (0)302 5975059

Yak polo in Broghil, the Wakhan Corridor

2009-05-29T05:20:00.000-07:00

Yak polo is the famous cultural event of the Wakhi community in the Broghil, in the Pamir region of northern Pakistan. The sport has gained popularity amongst the national and international tourists. It is organised from July 17-19 every year by the Wakhi community. It is really an upheal task to mount the beast with mallet in hand and score a goal or two.

It must be noted that tourism has been the mainstay of the economy of the local community in the Wakhan corridor as the region is famous for sensational passes into different valleys such as Yasin and Ishokomon in the Northern Areas.

Aboout CAMAT

2009-04-15T03:32:00.000-07:00

CAMAT was established in 1998 by a wide spectrum of tourism stakeholders for the promotion of ecotourism in Chitral and Northern Areas. It is not-for-profit registered tourism company. The objective of the association is to diversify people’s livelihood opportunities by creating off-farm job opportunities so that pressure on land resources will decrease and natural biodiversity and ecology will restore. From 2003-7, CAMAT worked through the financial and technical support of UNESCO with a project titled ‘promotion of ecotourism in the mountainous region of Central and South Asia’. The project had eight partners from Central and South Asia. In Pakistan the project rested with CAMAT, which implemented the activities under the following themes to achieve the project's broader objectives:
1) Protection of traditional culture
2) Protection of natural environment
3) Capacity building
4) Network building
5) Advocacy campaign

Though UNESCO project came to an end, CAMAT is continuing its activities mostly by the voluntary support of its Board of Directors and cultural groups and natural club throughout the Chitral district. We would like the like-minded NGOs around the world to come forward and support CAMAT in its efforts to protect the virgin natural environment and traditional culture of both the Kalash and Khow communities. CAMAT’s BoD and the Kalash and Khow communities in the Hindu Kush are thankful to ECOCLUB for the generous support and guidance that will go a long way to protect the traditional culture and the unspoiled natural environment of the local communities. In the meantime, CAMAT is also thankful to UNESCO for supporting and giving direction and orientaion to our project and its future.