Objects of desire in the Northern Areas

In a flurry of activity over the last 18 months, Pakistani administrators have established three new high mountain national parks in the Northern Areas. Previously there was only one, the Khunjerab National Park, established in 1975. The governmental action to bring more areas under protection, under the aegis of the Northern Areas Wildlife Act of 1975, seems directed at heading off an uncontrolled rush to develop the alpine meadows of the Northern Areas. With the extension of the Karakoram highway over the Khunjerab Pass to China in 1982, the area has experienced more than a decade of steady growth. The summer grasslands, valued over the centuries only for livestock grazing, have now become the object of desire of many competing interests - resort hotels, polo tournaments, adventure tourism, big game hunting, and military bases. Two of the new parks have been established by the Chief Commissioner of the Northern Areas. They are Shandur-HundrupNational Park, and Deosai Plateau Wilderness Park. Shandur is where over 50,000 people converge on the high meadows for an annual polo tournament. By declaring the area a National Park, the Chief Commissioner with one stroke reigned in the polo players and fans, a group that was not prone to be the most respectful towards the fragile mountain ecology. Future tournaments will have to clean up their trash.