Essay
A Khunjerab Workshop Gone Awry
Why did the participants of a workshop discussing the future of the spectacular Khunjerab National Park (in Northern Pakistan) recommend that a rigid system be adopted which would ban the local villagers' traditional access to grazing lands within what is today the Park area?
Knjerab National Park in the Karakoram mountains of Northern Pakistan was set up by the Pakistani Government in 1975. Adjacent to the Taxkorgan Wildlife Reserve in China, the 2,600 sq km park is one of the highest in the world. Scenically attractive, it is a sanctuary for many high-altitude mammals in need of protection, the foremost among them being the Marco Polo sheep, the snow leopard and the Tibetan wild ass.