National Parks of Pakistan
Pakistan has 29 protected areas known as national parks (Urdu: پاکستان کی ملی باغ). As of 2012, 22 of these are under supervision of respective provincial governments and remaining are in private care. Only some of these are under the conservation scope of IUCN. Protection and conservation of the environment of Pakistan was included in the concurrent constitution of 1973. As a result, Environment Protection Ordinance was enacted in 1983, which was mainly regulated by the Environment and Urban Affairs Division. Later, a new system of 'Modern Protected Areas' legislation began at the provincial level which assigned the protected areas with designations such as national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and game reserves. Further recommendations of the national parks of the Indomalaya ecozone were highlighted in the IUCN review of 1986. Nevertheless, the development of national parks was mainly carried out by National Conservation Strategy of 1992. Due to more awareness about their importance in conservation of biodiversity, 10 national parks have been established during the time period from 1993 to 2005.
According to the 'Modern Protected Areas' legislation, a national park is a protected area set aside by the government for the protection and conservation of its outstanding scenery and wildlife in a natural state. It is accessible to public for research, education and recreation. In order to promote public use, construction of roads and rest houses is permitted. Use of firearms, polluting water, cleaning of land for cultivation, destruction of wildlife is banned in these areas. The oldest national park is Lal Suhanra in Bahawalpur District, established in 1972. It is also the only biosphere reserve of Pakistan. Lal Suhanra is the only national park established before the independence of the nation in August 1947. The main purpose of this area was to protect the wildlife of Cholistan Desert.Central Karakoram in Gilgit Baltistan is currently the largest national park in the country, spanning over a total approximate area of 1,390,100 hectares (3,435,011.9 acres). The smallest national park is the Ayub, covering a total approximate area of 931 hectares (2,300.6 acres).
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