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Protected Areas Initiative (Pakistan)

The Protected Areas Initiative (PAI) is a programme of the Government of Pakistan, launched in 2020 under the federal "Green Stimulus" scheme. It aims to expand and improve the country's protected areas, strengthen their management, and create employment opportunities in conservation through the establishment of a proposed National Parks Service. The first phase o the initiative focused on fifteen national parks, nine newly declared and six existing, covering over across Pakistan.

Background

The initiative was announced in mid-2020 under the government's Green Stimulus package as a response to the socio-economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was designed to generate employment in conservation, enhance ecosystem resilience, and increase national protected-area coverage. The programme is implemented by the Ministry of Climate Change in collaboration with provincial governments and the IUCN.

The Prime Minister's Office described it as a step towards creating a new "National Parks Service," training thousands of young people in ecosystem restoration, park management, and eco-tourism, while moving toward IUCN "Green List" certification for high-performing sites.

Objectives

The initiative's main goals were to:

  • Establish or rehabilitate 15 national parks as model sites of conservation and eco-tourism;
  • Create approximately 5,000 green jobs for local communities through a new National Parks Service;
  • Expand Pakistan's protected-area coverage from 12–13% to 15% of national territory; and
  • Strengthen management plans, monitoring systems, and law enforcement across existing parks.

Implementation

The Ministry of Climate Change earmarked approximately Rs. 4 billion (US$24 million) for the first three years of implementation, of which 80% was directed to community employment and conservation works.

In December 2020, the Prime Minister inaugurated two new high-altitude national parks in Gilgit-Baltistan: Himalaya National Park and Nanga Parbat National Park, covering about , roughly 5% of GB's area.

The PAI was also used as a framework for provincial initiatives such as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa National Park Service, launched in 2020-2022, and the Punjab Protected Areas Act, 2020, which provided a new legal basis for park designation and management.

List of model parks (Phase I)

Independent and official sources indicate that Phase I comprised 15 national parks (nine newly declared and six older sites made functional), though a single consolidated list is not publicly available. The following are parks explicitly named in reliable sources as part of the PAI or its Phase-I "model parks" portfolio:

<small>Notes: Government and international partners consistently reference 15 Phase-I parks totaling >7,300 km², though a consolidated federal list is not publicly available (as of 10 October 2025). </small>

Regional coverage and related designations (Sindh, Balochistan, AJK)

Phase I was framed as country-wide, covering sites "from Khunjerab … to the area around Astola Island on the Arabian Sea coast."

  • Balochistan (coastal/MPAs): The Astola Island Marine Protected Area management plan was endorsed in 2025, and Miani Hor was declared as Pakistan's third MPA, strengthening marine conservation in line with PAI's expansion of protected-area governance.
  • Sindh: The UNEP's report on the PAI highlights Sindh's mangrove systems and coastal wetlands within Pakistan's protected-area expansion. Sindh strengthened its legal framework through the Sindh Wildlife Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management Act, 2020, although no Sindh park has been explicitly listed among Phase-I model parks.
  • Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK): AJK already hosted Pir Lasura National Park and Poonch River Mahaseer National Park, the latter considered Pakistan's first aquatic protected area. While these reflect the region's conservation progress, no reliable source connects them directly to Phase-I of the PAI.

Reception

The initiative received broad international support. UNEP and IUCN described it as a "landmark step" in Pakistan's biodiversity policy, while analysts noted persistent challenges in financing and staff capacity.

Legacy

By 2023, national protected-area coverage had risen to 13.9%, with a target of 15% set in the National Climate Change Policy 2021/22. The PAI's principles were integrated into Pakistan's biodiversity reporting under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Aichi Target 11 dossier.

See also

References