National Children Mountain Conservation Meet (NCMCM) launched last year by Adventure Foundation Pakistan on the occasion of International Year of Mountains held once again this year from 1st to 10th July in Kaghan Valley. Under the program 130 children selected from all over Pakistan along with a team of 30 experts and resource persons met in scenic Kaghan Valley to undertake various activities aimed at improvement of Mountain areas environment. As UN has declared the year 2003 as the year of Fresh Water, theme of this year Meet was "Mountains: Source of Life Giving Fresh Water".
The opening ceremony of National Children Mountain Conservation Meet- 2003 was held at SOS Children Village Dhodial, Mansehra on 2nd July. After the opening ceremony, a comprehensive orientation session was held to brief the children about forests, environment and wildlife conservation and different Eco-System of our mountain areas as well as problems faced by these areas.
On 3rd July participants were taken to Kaghan Valley where they stayed for the next 7 days in Camps established at Shogran and Naran. During there stay in Kaghan Valley, participating children visited different places and hold meetings with the local school children and people of mountain communities to discuss issues related with the conservation of mountain environment, In an effort to restore the natural beauty of lake Saifulmaluk which is losing its charm due to the pollution left behind by the tourists, children conducted a clean up operation of lake Saifulmaluk to collect and dispose off waste lying around the lake. Under the guidance of two field scientists of Pakistan Natural History Museum, children carried out survey of Flora and Fauna and collected useful information on the biodiversity of mountain areas. Participating children also planted saplings of pine trees at selected site near Naran to create awareness about the protection of mountain forests. Beside educational and environmental work, they will also participate in number of outdoor activities to experience the mountain wilderness environment and to know how to become an environmentally responsible tourist. A cross cultural evening will also be held in Naran in which children will make cultural presentation of their respective regions.
The highlight of this year meet was the launching of a campaign under the title of "Saiful Maluk Naran Pollution Control Programme" by involving local community and Tehsil government of Balakot. Main objective of this programme was to introduce a proper waste collection and disposal system on self-help basis to keep Naran and Saiful Muluk area clean and to protect River Kunhar from indiscriminate waste dumping. For this purpose, local community was facilitated and trained by Adventure Foundation's volunteers in waste management techniques. Large size waste bin were installed at various location at Naran and Saiful Muluk Lake. A waste-dumping site was prepared with the help FWO, which is involved in the road construction in Kaghan Valley. Three locals were hired by the contributions from local hotels to collect waste from the newly fixed waste bins on daily basis. They were provided waste collection trolleys and uniforms from the funds raised by the participants of this meet. A Clean up day was celebrated in Naran in which all the participants along with the local hotel/restaurant owners and shopkeepers participated and removed all the waste from the bazaar of Naran town. In the evening an awareness walk was held which was led by the Tehsil Nazim of Balakot, Mr. Junaid Qasim and other dignitaries of Kaghan Valley.
The Closing Ceremony of the NCMC-Meet 2003 was held at Islamabad on 10th July. Federal Minister for Environment Maj. (R) Tahir Iqbal graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. The major event of the Closing ceremony was " Children Mountain Forum" with the theme of "Mountains: Source of Life Giving Fresh Water".
In this forum selected participant children presented their papers based on their personal study & observations during the Meet and made number of recommendations to improve the environment of our mountain area and the life of the people living in these areas.
This year National Children Mountain Conservation Meet was supported by WWF- Pakistan, LEAD-Pakistan, IUCN-Pakistan, NWFP Wildlife and Forest Departments, Pakistan Natural History Museum, and Tehsil Government Balakot. Premier Kufpec Pakistan, Packages Ltd. Kodak Pakistan Ltd., Serendip Production, Union Sweets were included in the sponsors and co-sponsors on this meet.
