IUCN Pakistan

This is a story about how development assistance can conserve biodiversity and improve the lives of rural people. It documents changes in the awareness and capacity of the people of the rugged mountain terrain of Northern Pakistan, and how their enhanced livelihood security has contributed to conservation of biodiversity of the region.

The mountainous region of Chitral, which recently became the first district in Pakistan to have a conservation strategy, is renowned for its rugged landscape and unique culture. What is perhaps less well known is that the area possesses a rich tradition of customary law and indigenous statecraft. This heritage, spanning a period of nearly 700 years, encompasses a wide range of subjects from defence and civil administration to land tenure systems and natural resource management.

Customary laws, established by communal practice and usage for generations and passed down through oral tradition, are familiar, effective and continue to be practiced to a greater or lesser extent throughout the Northern Areas. And yet few of them have been documented so far.