This is the first ever effort in Pakistan to conserve a specific fish species, in this case the
Mahseer, and its habitat in the Poonch River. As early as 1907, as is attributed to Rudyard
Kipling on the thrill of angling for Mahseer “There he stood, the Mahseer of the Poonch, beside
whom the Tarpon is a Herring and he who catches him can say he is a fisherman.”
The Poonch River and tributaries was declared a National Park in a letter from the AJK
Secretariat Forest/AKLASC/Fisheries (ref no: SF/AV 11358-7/2010 dated 15 December 2010).
Poonch River is unique in having warm water in its lower and middle reaches and cold water in
its upper reaches. It ends at Mangla Reservoir which is one of the major fish producing water
body in the country. Many channels join it in its way giving the fishes a lateral access for
breeding and feeding.
The Poonch River was declared as a national park due to its high fish diversity and importance of
supporting fish of both conservation and economic importance particularly the endangered fish
species (IUCN Red List 2013) Mahseer (Tor putitora) that is important both from the
conservation and commercial viewpoint. The (Tor putitora) has undergone a dramatic decline in
population in the last few years and the largest stable population of this fish in the country is
found in the Poonch River that also provides a breeding ground for it. In addition, the Poonch
River provides a breeding ground for the commercially important fish species of the Mangla
Reservoir.
Mira Power Limited (MPL or the Company) is an Independent Power Producer (IPP) which is
planning to develop Gulpur Hydropower Project (the Project) in the Azad Jammu & Kashmir
(the AJK). The Project will utilize the flow of Poonch River, the full length of which within AJK
has been notified as a national park by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries AJK.
The Project will be a run-of-the-river (RoR) type and will require construction of a 58 m dam on
a bend of the Poonch River. A surface powerhouse would be located about 1 km downstream of
the dam in the Poonch River. As a result of Project operations, approximately 0.7 km of the river
stretch between the dam and the power house will experience low water flow. A reservoir will be
created upstream of the dam and the total submerged area (including the present river) will be
approximately 5,884 kanals (2.95 km2).
A Critical Habitat Assessment of the Project site was carried out in January 2014 according to
the definition in IFC’s Performance Standard 6. It was determined that the Project is located in a
Critical Habitat in view of its location in a National Park (Poonch River Mahseer National Park)
as well as the presence of two fish species of conservation importance: Mahseer Tor putitora and
Kashmir Catfish Glyptothorax kashmirensis listed as Endangered and Critically Endangered
respectively in the IUCN red list. According to IFC’s Performance Standard 6, when any
developmental project is located in a Critical Habitat, the client is advised to include a
Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) as part of its mitigation strategy.
The BAP was designed to achieve net gains of those biodiversity values for which the Critical
Habitat was designated. In addition, a letter from the Directorate of Wildlife and Fisheries, AJK
(office of Director of AJK Wildlife and Fisheries Department) has granted permission to the
Company to construct and operate the Project on the condition that the Project will “demonstrate
achievement of betterment of the national park over the life of the Project compared to the
prevailing baseline conditions”. Therefore, the BAP was developed to address regional
biodiversity concerns and to achieve net gain for the biological resources of the Poonch River
basin as outlined in the IFC guidelines and as specified in the permission letter from the
Department of AJK Wildlife and Fisheries. In compliance with article VIII B of the
implementation agreement of the Biodiversity Action Plan agreement signed between
MPL and HWF on April 05, 2016
Objective
As part of the BAP for the Project whereby Himalayan Wildlife Foundation has been selected as
the Implementation Organization to implement and enforce the protection measures in
partnership with the AJK Wildlife and Fisheries Department (Department) as mentioned in the
document. Both parties have already agreed upon the existing threats, the costs to mitigate them,
and the reporting mechanism.
Implementing Organization Structure
The Himalayan Wildlife Foundation with over 5 years’ experience of protection activities on the
Poonch River has determined that the Department has to be provided adequate support to achieve
any measure of success in conservation Department of Wildlife and Fisheries AJK of ecological
resources of the river. The appointments of protection staff need to be made transparently and on
the basis of merit. While the Department has some capable staff in the field, it suffers from
shortage of staff especially at senior level who should be professionally educated and well
trained. Thirdly the protection staff is not supported in their work with basic transport and
communication equipment.
This Watch and Ward Plan has been made in collaboration and consultation with the Department
with the intention to fill the gaps mentioned above and to introduce a level of acceptable
conservation that the stakeholders can be proud of.
The operations will be led by Dr Anis Ur Rahman, the CEO of the Foundation, member of the
AJK Wildlife Advisory Board and the Wildlife Conservation Fund. He also chairs the Islamabad
Wildlife Management Board. He in partnership with the Director Wildlife and Fisheries will be
responsible for the protection of the Poonch River basin. He will be entrusted to maintain a
working relationship with the Director, and the concerned Secretary in relations to larger policy
issues. He is expected to visit the site every 6-8 weeks and will maintain a close liaison with the
Operations Manager and the protection staff.
The principal staff on the ground will be the Operations Manager, a yet to be selected. He will be
responsible for liaison, and to receive instructions and guidelines from the CEO of the HWF at
all times. He will implement the protection strategy as laid down in the BAP. He will also be
responsible for liaison with the local Deputy Commissioner (DC) and Superintendent Police
(SP). He will be present on a daily routine staff meetings and patrolling with the supervisors of
the North and South sections. He will also visit communities and schools in the basin with the
Social Organizers to establish the views of the community on issues related to conservation. He
will manage the sediment mining operations with the Inspectors and their officers in Kotli. He
will be skilled in report writing.
There will be two Supervisors, one having duties from Titrinote to Kotli (North Zone), and the
second from Kotli to the Mangla Lake (South Zone). They will be provided with full time
transport, and a fuel allowance. They will be responsible for patrolling their zones of the river,
and managing the river guards in their area of work, including the Department staff. They will be
responsible for watch and ward, raids at all hours, apprehending violators, issuing challans and
reports for the local police station. They will also be responsible for issuing fishing permits in the
river as decided by the Department.
One very important component of the conservation program is to understand the relationship
with the communities. This will be led by the Social Organizers, who will visit the communities
and schools. The community support will translate into a level of protection which will be firmly
rooted in the ground and understood by the villagers’ and so they themselves will act as
informers for the protection staff.
The Mining Inspectors will undertake a complete survey of the mining industry on the Poonch
River. This will build upon the existing information available with HBP in its ESIA. The
conservation plan is to restrict the extraction of cobbles and sand from ecologically sensitive
areas and where the tributaries join the River. The issue of issuing licenses and a fee for mining
will be taken up in the Wildlife Conservation Fund meetings, as this can be a source of income
for the Department.
Project Activities:
Formation of Mahseer Hifaziti Tanzeems: This process is one of the key interventions of
Project. This platform will be used for conducting all the activities in the field for the protection
and conservation of Mahseer. MHTs are the representative of all Community and Village
Organisations in the catchment area of the Poonch River.
COs/VOs nominated their respective representatives for the MHTs. As a first step, the selection
of the office bearers (President and Manager) was then carried out. A total of 38 MHTs were
formed during the reporting period.
Baseline survey/assessment study: The preparation of village profiles and social assessments
was the first activity of the Project. The aim of these activities was to gather data related to
Mahaseer fish from the field. A format was designed to conduct social assessment/baseline
surveys Project staff was briefed about the method for conducting assessments. The assessment
of twelve villages out of a 23 has been completed.
Management Committee Meetings: Management Committee Meetings have been held in
HWF office in Islamabad. Issues covered and decision taken included finalization of project staff
organization, signage and posters, identity cards of the guards, offices of the MNP, plans for
ecological survey, and mechanisms for management of angling licenses.
Project Staff Training: An on the job training approach has been adopted where the staff is
being trained in monitoring the areas assigned to them for violations of park rules such as fishing
and extraction of sand and gravel from the river beds. The guards are being trained and
monitored by their respective supervisors.
Signboards and Posters: Sign boards and posters have been designed for the project. The
signboards have been installed at Palak Pull, Rajdahani, and Nala Baan and across Nala Baan.
Posters were also printed and distributed.
Ecological Baseline Survey: A methodology covering base maps of the project area, and
sampling locations and methods for fish, macro-invertebrates, and water quality was prepared.
Requirements for seasonal surveys were defined. The first survey was carried out in August
2011.
Community Awareness: Signboards were installed; posters were designed, printed, and
distributed.
