Pietrangelo: the Central Karakorum National Park is going to be created soon

Italy and the mountains of Karakorum are tied up by historical links as well as by recent events. Just a few weeks ago, indeed, it was proclaimed that the Italian Karakorum Trust project, coordinated by the Ev-K2-Cnr Committee, will be one of the main partners of the Government of Pakistan - together with the Hindu-Kush-Karakorum-Himalaya (Hkkh) international partnership project and Wwf Pakistan - for the start up and the management of the Central Karakorum National Park.  Here is an interview with Valerio Pietrangelo, Karakorum Trust project manager.

He has just come back from Pakistan, where he took part to some of the decisive meetings held for managing Cknp, which is going to become soon one of the world’s most spectacular protected areas.

Pietrangelo, your last mission to Pakistan yield a precious acknowledgment for Karakorum Trust...Yes, it is a result we have been working for since last November, when the Ev-K²-CNR Committee began negotiations with WWF Pakistan, the agency entrusted for formulating the implementation plan of Cknp. These negotiations ended up in a recently signed Memorandum of Understanding.

Are you talking about the plan approved some weeks ago?
Yes, even if “approved� is not the appropriate word.  We’d better say that the draft of this document, edited by WWF Pakistan, has been agreed with the Secretary of Forests of the Northern Areas. This document is still to be examined by a planning commission, that is evaluating the document in these days. As soon as the plan is approved, the Park implementation will start. The management plan will be one of the most expected results.

What is a management plan?
It is a fundamental step in this phase. It’s the legal document that defines how the area must be managed over the coming years. It contains information about the territory – history, geography, flora, fauna, culture, traditions, natural resources and allowed ways of using them -. Obviously there also indications about the staff that will be involved in managing the Park.

Which agency will be responsible for the management of the Park, eventually?
The general management of a national park is a task that should be clearly entrusted to the local administration. The administration can in turn delegate some activities to other organizations. In this case, many of the activities for developing the Cknp will be carried out by Ev-K²-CNR through the Karakorum Trust project. But this process will involve also other organizations such as Iucn and Icimod. These large international organizations, together with the Italian Ngo Cesvi and again the Ev-K²-CNR Committee, make up the team of Hkkh - Partnership for Ecosystem Management, an important international partnership project. The specific role of Ev-K²-CNR in this project is to develop scientific research and to promote training and capacity building initiatives.

Which will be the first steps, once the Cknp will be officially started? Each partner will contribute to the management of the park with specific activities. The Government of the Northern Areas will supply the administrative structure of the park: offices, means and staff. Karakorum Trust, during the first year, will surely deal with the waste management in the Baltoro area and in the Upper Braldo valley. Another important initiative is GARNet, the creation of a training center for gemstones cutting and their distribution, in collaboration with the Karakurum International University of Gilgit.

When is the Park going to start?
The workplan covers five years. Clearly the life of a national park is much longer. This is the reason why the Pakistani authorities have requested their partners to continue to support the Cknp management even after the five estimated years.

Which is the territory of the Park? The Central Karakorum National Park is an extraordinary natural area, as big as the Italian region of Lazio (more than 15.000 square kilometers). Some of the highest mountains of the world are there: above all Mt. K2, destination of thousands of climbers and trekkers every year. But, in spite of the impressiveness, this ecosystem is fragile and threatened by environmental changes. Beyond all this, the park comprises also a buffer zone, inhabited by approximately 800.000 people.

It seems an important territory for Pakistan…
Yes, it’s very important. One need only think that the Central Karakorum National Park was already notified in 1993 by the Pakistani Government through the administration of the Northern Areas, but it has remained only “on paper� until now. Fourteen years have passed, and finally the Park is going to start up. This result has been obtained thanks to the political will of the Pakistani Government, but also thanks to the commitment of international organizations and local Ngo, such as Ev-K2-Cnr Committee, WWF-Pakistan and IUCN.