The Pakistan National Conservation Strategy (NCS), approved the government on March 1, 1992, provides a broad framework for addressing environmental concerns in the country. The strategy was formulated though a three-year long process of consultation between individuals, groups and organisations representing a broad spectrum of views and interests in the issue. Because of its consensual nature, it shall enable effective coordination between the actions of federal and provincial governments, NGOs, the private sector, local bodies and local communities in pursuit of sustainable development.

The document placed below presents a plan of action for the implementation of the NCS during the...

The NCS begins with a diagnosis of the country's environmental problems (including the action to date) and goes on to prescribe a number of remedies for their amelioration. In recent years, environmental problems have begun to acquire increasing salience both within the government and in public discussions. While the NCS is the cutting edge of the response to these concerns, it is by no means the only one. Indeed, a major element in the implementation of the NCS is the need to incorporate and integrate the sundry other policy measures introduced from time to time into a coherent and effective...

While granting approval to the NCS on March 1, 1992, the Federal Cabinet decided to establish an Ministerial Committee to oversee the implementation of the strategy, the committee had the following members:

1. Sen. Anwar Saifullah Khan, Minister of Environment and Urban Affairs, Coordinator

2. Sen. Sartaj Aziz, Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs

3. Syed Fakhar Imam, MNA, Minister for Education

4. Mr. A. G. N. Kazi, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission

5. Secretary, Environment and Urban Affairs Division

Simultaneously with the governmental approval of the NCS, a number of other recommendations of the strategy were also put into action. These include the establishment of...

All studies carried out to evolve a mechanism for the implementation of the NCS have laid strong emphasis on the obvious need for strengthening of the institutional system. the following types of institutions need to be strengthened:

a) Policy and planning institutions, including the key policy making institutions in the federal government -- the NCS Unit, EUAD, the Environment Section in P&D--and in provincial, municipal and local government, as well as policy support institutions in the non-government sector.

b) Regulatory institutions, covering not only the federal and provincial EPAs, but also normal legal and judicial institutions.

c) Technical Institutions, including...

Besides appropriate institutions, the shift towards sustainable development requires the creation of mechanisms that would induce economic agents to undertake the desired actions on their own.

In terms of policy, these mechanisms include a proper regulatory and legislative framework, and a system of incentives.

As for the legislative framework, Pakistan does have several laws on the on the statute books whose ultimate intent is to protect the environment. The most of important of these is the Environmental Protection Ordinance, 1983, but there are many laws predating the EPO. Because of a number of failings, however, they were not being implemented...

The third component of the proposed action plan is a coordinated communications campaign for mass awareness. The change in popular consciousness through this process is a necessary precondition to a gradual but permanent change in attitude and behaviour. The communications campaign should use all elements of the mass media, including the print and electronics media, as well as such small scale or informal channels as lectures, seminars, workshops, school classes, sermons, advertising, theatre, film and plays.

An important component of the awareness campaign is the institutional and skill development in the mass media. Many earlier communications programmes tended to exhibit...

Under the instructions of the Implementation Committee, a revised list of projects in the fourteen core programme areas of the NCS has been prepared in consultation with the various agencies of the federal government as well as the provincial governments, and prominent environmental NGOs. Given the desire of the government to initiate swift action against environmental degradation, it was decided to prepare an exhaustive list of projects rather than limiting it only to ones that are at an advanced stage of development. As a result, the projects included in the list range from some at the pre-feasibility stage to others...

This section describes the overall problem that the NCS seeks to address, namely the state of the environment in Pakistan and the institutions and policies that effect it. The objective is to set the stage for the actions that have already been initiated in response (Part II), and the proposals for the future (Part III).

Although environmental concerns in Pakistan have only a recent history, they have grown in importance very rapidly. A major reason is that the combination of high rates of economic and population growth, which has caused the economy to begin hitting against its natural resource constraints....

This section describes the initiatives already undertaken by the government and other agencies to implement the NCS. There are two components to this section of the paper: ongoing activities of relevant government, NGO and private sector agencies in this areas. The basis of this section is the federal and provincial ADPs for 1992-93. It enables an approxiamte value to be attached to the ongoing expenditure in areas relevant to the NCS.

Documenting ongoing activities in the area of the environment is more complex task is apparent at first sight. First, a number of actions, such as salinity control and reclamation...

Economic development is a function of three types of capital: human, physical and natural. In earlier years, primary emphasis was placed on the accumulation and maintenance of physical capital. Recently, attention has shifted towards human capital formation, particularly in the light of East Asian economic success. Costs to natural capital, however, have been neglected. Sustainable development is concerned with the productivity and maintenance of all three forms of capital. Policies should be formulated that devote resources to the development and maintenance of natural and human capital. These form the subject matter of two inter-sectoral development initiatives currently under way in...