ISLAMABAD, Jun 15 (APP): Denmark’s Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy, Dan Jørgensen on Thursday visited the scenic and famous hiking Trail-5 of Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP) and planted an Amaltas (Cassia fistula) Tree to highlight nature conservation significance to fighting climate change.
The Danish Minister along with the Ambassador of Denmark Jakob Linulf visited the Trail-5 to view the biodiversity-rich national park.
Chairperson Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) Rina Saeed Khan briefed the Danish delegation on the history of MHNP, conservation and protection efforts, biodiversity potential and plant and animal species existing in the national park.
The Danish delegation did a brief walk on to the Trail-5 and was presented a detailed briefing on the camera trap videos of leopards and pictorials of various birds and exotic species.
Speaking on the occasion, the Denmark’s minister thanked the IWMB Chairperson for her briefing and visit to the beautiful nature-rich national park.
He added that it was an honour for him to visit and plant trees at Trail-5.
He hoped that the next time his team return they would have green trees blooming at the Trail-5.
The Danish minister was pleased to hear about conservation efforts and termed it an extremely important work.
“Preserving nature and biodiversity is critically important, especially for the country facing climate change. We as a nation will support Pakistan at all levels to achieve eco-friendly and sustainable transformation. As true transformation and preservation needs to go hand in hand focussing public, civil society and government nexus working together,” he added.
The Danish minister called the MHNP a model that not only preserved nature but rather engaged local communities to take ownership of the nature preserve which was unique and successful.
Responding to APP’s queries, the Danish minister said the factor that the National Park was a community-engaged and owned protected area was also good for nature protection and changing people’s mindset to contain littering and damage to nature.
He mentioned that the Danish government was able to launch a new collaboration on green development with Pakistan that would ensure cooperation in green energy transformation.
He added that Denmark had vast experience of green energy transformation as it started its journey back in 1970.
“We need to focus on clean and environment-friendly development as it appears to be a cost-intensive endeavour but it is a long-term investment that will pay back for generations. We have expertise in wind power, energy efficiency and water management and we will also share our waste-to-energy technological experiences,” he added.
The minister to another query replied that the waste should not be looked as a useless or discarded item but rather a solution.
The chairperson IWMB said the Danish Minister came especially to visit Trail-5 which was not only full of nature but well protected and looked after by the civil society.
She thanked the sponsors and others for assisting IWMB in managing the national park and also expressed her gratitude to the media for supporting IWMB’s protection efforts against encroachments and other threats to the national park.
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