'Bird trapping'checked -letter

Through your esteemed daily, I would like to highlight the successful campaign that CAMAT launched to put a halt to the cruel practice of bird trappers who used to come to Qaqlasht plateau, in northern Chitral, for the last 15 years to trap the precious birds of prey.

‘Qaqlasht’, which literally means ‘barren plain’, is situated 75 km north of Chitral town; it is 13 km long and 2 km wide at the most. The location suitably placed for the pursuits of bird trappers, surrounded by the mountain chains of the Hindu Kush and Hindu Raj, on the cliffs where rare bird species such as sakers falcons, shaheen and eagles, etc. perch for the prey to emerge. The bird-mafia, composed of more than 13 groups at times, used to stay in the locality for over 3 months every year and wreak havoc on the eco-system and natural biodiversity. They constructed bunkers—as if they were at war with the saker falcon—to hide themselves after launching the decoy bird, either a pigeon or lagal [Punjabi name for a low-bred bird of prey used as bait]. The pigeon decoy—a cruel practice—is interlaced with plastic loops on its back, its eyes stitched and wings clipped to check its long distance flight capacity lest it should disappear or tire trappers when searching for it. Alternatively, a feather ball, fixed with hideous plastic loops, is fastened underneath the lagal to give the illusion it is carrying prey that induces the saker falcon into the trap. Once trapped, the poor bird was transported all the way to Peshawar market under torturous temperature and onwards under intolerable conditions that often led to the death of the bird.

One should not lose sight of the fact that such unwarranted and wanton killing of the rare bird species is ultimately a great loss for the natural eco-systems and biodiversity of the area, indeed, the whole world, as birds are the property of humankind.

The story does not end here. The bird trappers had vehicles at their disposal for delivering food items, aside from just transporting the birds to market down country. The vehicles, ploughed across the length and breadth of the Qaqlasht plain, paid no heed to the specified vehicle tracks they should have to use. Furthermore, for fuel purposes, they uprooted shrubs and wild bushes that turned the soil into dust, which transformed into a heavy mud slide as torrential rains lashed the land. Locals say that the floods of unprecedented magnitude they have had experienced in recent years was related to the environmental-unfriendly indulgence of the bird trappers. For the last three years, the prospect of flooding has intensified and caused great damage to the Charun-Booni metaled road, while also destroyed crops, plants and embankments in the villages of Junali Koch, Booni, Muzhgol and Bombagh.

Decidedly, it was a major challenge for CAMAT as well as other Civil Societies in the area to put a halt to the practice of bird trapping and to protect the natural environment and ecosystem of northern Chitral. All of them took concerted efforts and the bird trappers have been ceased to come to the area for the last 2 years. CAMAT used the festival as an alternative media where to raise awareness amongst the locals through banners and megaphone speeches aside from organizing speech competition amongst the school students. Luckily all the efforts turned out to be fruitful and the practice of bird trapping has come to end for the last two years.

At the end, all the participants of the festival are requested to please firmly commit themselves to the protection of natural beauty and environment of Qaqlasht if we have to attract more tourists. The festival can go a long way to this end.

Shams Uddin,

Project Manager CAMAT,

Chitral.