MoCC Launches Survey To Prepare Endangered Wildlife Species' 'Red List'

Ministry for Climate Change (MoCC) Tuesday launched the survey to prepare the first-ever Pakistan-specific Red List of the wildlife species that are on the verge of extinction across the country

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Oct, 2019 ) :Ministry for Climate Change (MoCC) Tuesday launched the survey to prepare the first-ever Pakistan-specific Red List of the wildlife species that are on the verge of extinction across the country.

The data would be collected in collaboration with globally recognized wildlife conservation organizations of the country, a press release said.

Lack of adequate data about status of wildlife species and their habitats had been a major stumbling block for ensuring their conservation and protection in the country, said MoCC Secretary Hassan Nasir Jami.

"The Pakistan Red Data List will be the most comprehensive inventory of the wildlife plants, animals, and other organisms of global importance that will help guide and boost initiatives for conservation and protection of wildlife species, threatened with extinction risks of varying degree in Pakistan," he remarked.

He said the data collection for the Pakistan-specific Red List would be based upon precise criteria being practiced globally to evaluate the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies.

Acting Inspector General Forest at the Climate Change Ministry, Muhammad Suleman Khan Warraich said that nearly 50 wildlife scientists and biodiversity experts, researchers, surveyors, university students from International Union for Conservation of Nature-Pakistan (IUCN-Pakistan), World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P), Zoological Survey of Pakistan, Wildlife Conservation Society Pakistan, had been engaged for the data collection.

Suleman Khan, who is also a team leader of the Pakistan Red List Initiative, said that their teams were visiting various parts of the country for evaluating the threats to the survival of existing wild animals, plants and other organisms.

Before sending the teams in the fields, he said they were imparted capacity-building training on modern lines.

"The Red List will be a critical indicator of the health of the country's biodiversity, which is beset with various risks to their sustainability," he said while terming the list as a powerful tool to inform and catalyse action for biodiversity conservation and policy change.

"It will also provide information about range, population size, habitat and ecology, use or trade, threats and conservation actions that will help take necessary conservation decisions," Suleman Warraich added.

IUCN-Pakistan's country head Mehmood Akhtar Cheema said, the Climate Change Ministry's efforts for rolling out a first Pakistan-specific Red Data List would go a long way in conservation and protection of the wildlife species, particularly those which were at heightened risk of extinction.

He pledged to extend every possible support to the ministry forformulating Red Data List.