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CHAPTER 3. NCS IMPACTS 1992 – 2000

3.1 This chapter presents the bulk of findings about NCS performance. We have divided the chapter into seven sections. The first is an overview of how the NCS fits into the political economy of environment and development/conservation concerns within Pakistan. This is important for, as noted in the 1993 NCS action plan, the NCS had already “begun to shape our very approach to governmental decision making…away from direct administration and towards partnership.” The second is awareness raising. Third is the critical issue of institutional development, including capacity-building, within the three sectors. Fourth is examination of outcomes (not simply outputs) arising from the commitments of this past decade. This is, of course, a difficult but essential element of the review. Fifth, a review of how gender integration has occurred in both programmatic and institutional terms. Sixth, a summary of views arising from public consultations is included for comparison with the observations derived in other ways. And, seventh, the subject of Monitoring, Reporting and Evaluation (MRE) is examined. Taken together, these sections characterize the NCS today and lead us to think about what might be desirable in the future.

NCS and the Political Economy of Conservation in Pakistan

Creating New Space and Coalescing Agendas.

3.2 While the first phase of NCS action has not produced many tangible outcomes where the environment is demonstrably improved, or sustainable development implemented, it has led to successes in certain areas, and especially in creating institutions and awareness as well as a platform for policy debate and formulation. Within government, perhaps the main achievement of the NCS is the development of a policy framework, including the 1997 Pakistan Environmental Protection Act (PEPA)fn 19, the designing of the national environmental quality standards (NEQSs) through a consensus building process, the agreement to levy a pollution charge on industry (thus giving substance to the “polluter-pays-principle”), the establishment of environmental tribunals, the formalization of the rights of citizens to protect collective environmental rights through the judicial system, and a framework for providing fiscal stimulus to environmental activities. This process has helped to enhance mass awareness of environmental issues, which is demonstrable at various levels of society.

3.3 The working relationships between Pakistan and the international community were strengthened in the preparatory period leading up to UNCED and afterwards. The preparation of the national report for UNCED involved unprecedented cooperation between government and civil society, as did the follow-up action on the conventions, especially the CBD signing and the biodiversity action plan produced afterwards. Undoubtedly these activities were aided by the working relationships established during preparations for, and later, during implementation of the NCS.

3.4 The NCS process opened up a new space outside of the one traditionally occupied by a coalition of feudal lords, powerful elites, and the government bureaucracy. The coming together of a number of groups of widely varying business, development, social and governance interests around the environmental agenda, has created a sense of goodwill and partnership between government agencies, the private sector, and the independent sector. While this would not have been possible without an injection of external direct financial support to the government by donors, the drive towards such action came mostly from the independent sector and built on change agents within the government wherever they were available. Indeed, the institutional structures of the independent sector—including transparency, inquiry, cooperation, participation, and continuity—were a key factor in opening up a new type of space between the government and its citizens.

3.5 Despite failed, and, in retrospect, over-ambitious expectations in terms of a projected doubling of environmental investment (expected to reach 1.7 percent of GDP), the practical significance of the NCS document is not exclusively in terms of its stated quantitative goals. Rather, it lies in the framework it provided, the baseline information that was collected under its auspices, the model of participatory strategy development it introduced, and the network of stakeholders it mobilized. In addition, the implementation of the NCS helped create and strengthen key institutions, and thus provided an opening for subsequent initiatives.

The Role of Policy Communities in Shaping NCS in the Future ^{fn 20}

3.6 Since conservation cannot succeed without political will and strong stakeholder support, the NCS process should continue its effort to generate strong political support. This would happen only if the environmental programs speak to the socio-economic agendas of the country — which are represented by many powerful networks. These networks include (1) economic and trade liberalization networks, consisting almost exclusively of economists and business interests promoting market solutions; (2) the poverty eradication network which is united around community empowerment, development and institution building; (3) the agriculture network which consists of agronomists united by the green revolution's promise of dramatic yield increases; (4) the energy network, united for a long time around the unrealised potential of hydro power; (5) the urban agenda network, united almost exclusively by the vision of real estate development; and (6) the international NGOs and donor networks which combine a multitude of visions, ranging from pure conservation, social transformation, development effectiveness, and opening up markets and business opportunities. By and large most of these networks still operate at cross-purposes much of the time, with limited consideration of sustainable development.

3.6 NCS experience so far has shown that the community development and conservation/environmental NGOs, which form the backbone of the environmental and sustainable development policy network, still have a major role to play in bridging the gaps with other powerful policy community networks. This should become one of the stated core objectives of the NCS, and not an incidental one. Mainstreaming the environment and focusing on the links between economic growth, poverty eradication and human development would help bridge many of the gaps between the environmental agenda and the goals of the more traditional and powerful policy communities. Over time the outcome should be developing synergies between different programmatic objectives, strengthening of the environmental policy community, and improving resource mobilization and overall effectiveness for sustainable development.

Awareness Raising

3.7 The NCS has created awareness about environmental protection and management needs, and, to a lesser extent, about ways in which environment and economy link, and about social impacts of environmental damage. The basis for these observations comes from interviews in the major sectors, monitoring of media stories, past evaluations of organizations influential in the implementation of the NCS, and actual instances of environmental action, including advocacy campaigns. Many of those consulted during the MTR consider awareness raising to be the single most important achievement of the NCS. It is also pointed out, however, that the NCS was not alone in creating this awareness. The expanded interest of the international community and of global media certainly would have raised the profile of environment and sustainable development to some extent even in the absence of the NCS. And other organizations such as the Family Planning Association of Pakistan take messages about environmental health and sanitation to local villages quite independently of any connection to the NCS.

3.8 Unfortunately there are no reliable surveys of how far the NCS has penetrated at the community level, nor of which messages are being absorbed by either rural or urban populations. Thus the basis for building mass awareness campaigns is quite weakly developed, and a strategy for national environmental education is lacking.^{fn 21} Some environmental awareness activities in Pakistan do not profess a connection with the NCS, although their objectives are in line. Government units such as the forest and wildlife divisions do not directly refer to the NCS when justifying their work.

3.9 Bailly, in its review of mass awareness conducted for the NCS, observed that “behavioural change does not just support the NCS environmental awareness campaigns—it is the NCS.” This comment should be kept in mind, for it succinctly expresses an important message. Without significant behavioural shifts within institutions and on the part of individuals, the objectives of the NCS will never be fully addressed. In Box 4 key findings from the Hagler Bailly report are summarized. They reveal a situation where there is limited appreciation of the range of tools available for mass awareness and a disconnect between this theme and the limited efforts for environmental education within schools. There is also a suggestion based on monitoring of media clippings by SDPI that environmental stories peaked in 1997 and have dropped some 30% in frequency since. To some extent these observations follow patterns in other countries, where public interest peaked just before the 1992 Earth Summit.

Mass awareness:

• At least 35 awareness raising campaigns on specific issues have been undertaken nationally or locally by government or civil society organizations.

• National level campaigns were undertaken by the NCS and through MELGRD, the latter with considerable EPRC financial support. In both cases, while useful materials were developed, there was lack of coordination and of continuity since they were project activities with a fixed life span.

• Mass awareness and education initiatives are in various stages of development and implementation in provinces even where there is no PCS but there is a definite value arising from the efforts in those areas with a conservation strategy process.

• WWF plays an important role in all media and in on the ground resource centres.

• Role of communications officers and environmental information centres (IUCN, SDPI are extremely important.)

• Frontier Forum of Environmental Journalists (FFEJ); Journalists Resource Centre (JRC) formed in 1988, tries to use Urdu press, radio and TV (JRC became the communications unit of IUCN-P.)

• NCS Bulletin became The Way Ahead with investigative reporting on SD issues.

• Monitoring of SDPI environmental press clippings revealed that number of stories peaked in 1997 and has dropped at least 30% since.

• Houbara Bustard Campaign to stop foreigners hunting a bird designated under CITES but permitted by Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the “effort is the closest that Pakistan has come to a systematic awareness-raising program.” Also, the Kirthar National Park Highway Campaign – “first instance where the pressure of civil society forced the government to rethink its options and modify a project against its will.”

What works (and doesn’t): Communications training could focus on communication as a process: drawing, photography, puppetry, and street theatre; plus advanced themes such as TV production. Radio is the key mechanism for reaching most people. Non-traditional: ulemas and jirga, already acted upon in SPCS: hujra (daily meeting of men); godar (area where women gather). A major weakness of SPCS (like the NCS) is that it was difficult to get government to take full ownership of a communications strategy. SPCS, however, has long list of interesting short-term mass-awareness goals that could serve as a source of ideas and experience for others.

“An institutional development plan, to assign individuals responsibility for taking action. These individuals and agencies must exist and be capable of taking action, if not, they must be created. Sustainable development is a new paradigm, requiring action on previously neglected environmental and collective issues. Hence institutional development is necessary. A monitoring and evaluation plan, to allow on-going and periodic assessment of progress.

”The NCS called for the strengthening of the existing institutions through capacity building and creation of new ones where necessary. It recommended improved collaboration and coordination among key relevant institutions.

• technical staff to assess and monitor emission controls;

• trained extension staff with government and NGO;

• a cadre of environmental social scientists, including economists;

• primary scientific research staff; and

• well-trained administrative professionals who combined organizational efficiency with technical knowledge.

Public Sector (Box 5)

3.17 The performance of the national governmental institutions can be summarized very succinctly: the institutions were set up as anticipated but they are not functioning well.^{fn 22} In this section we examine some of the problems that have emerged with key implementing bodies at the national level (and in the case of the EPAs, also at a provincial level). There are other issues that are not treated here, including relationships among government units, leadership failures at the cabinet level, and provincial action. These points will be discussed at a later point in this chapter.

The NCS Unit was established soon after the adoption of the NCS but it failed to carry out the rather ambitious tasks assigned to it for various reasons. The observed weaknesses are:

• Position within a ministry with relatively weak influence to date (MELGRD);

• No real powers other than “persuasion”;

• Burden of administrative work—the Joint Secretary is also JS Administration;

• No clear monitoring mandate, and yet the NCS should have been learning from pilot activities, and evolving to deal with emerging trends;

• Short-term staff, with rapid turnover (5 Joint Secretaries in 8 years) – but who have been given a long-term responsibility (the NCS having a long time horizon);

• Contract staff who do not know the government system well – and yet are supposed to influence many parts of government, federal and provincial;

• Mainly generalists on staff, who therefore cannot engage with technical people from other bodies;

• Small size of staff – in relation to the large scope of NCS activity.

3.18 Largely as a consequence of these constraints, the NCS Unit has not properly communicated its role, promoted the NCS to the provinces, screened development projects for environmental soundness, or given assistance for developing environmental regulations. Indeed, the MTR was the first opportunity for some time for it to get out into the provinces. The NCS Unit is so ill-equipped that many staff seem to have forgotten their mandate. Stakeholders in the BCS, for example, complained that there was inadequate briefing on the NCS contents and approach.

3.19 The Environment Section in the Planning and Development Division was created in 1993. This section has experienced a high turnover rate of its Chief. It faces merger with another section during the on-going “right-sizing” exercise. Recruitment of project funded consultants, slow initially but adequate now, has created a somewhat hostile working environment in the section. Stakeholders within the Government Sector complain that the Section in fact has been a hurdle in the formation and processing of NCS related projects. The expectation that the Section will positively influence annual and national development plans remains under question.

3.20 Federal and Provincial EPAs were already in place prior to the NCS adoption. The 1997 Act assigned EPAs the responsibilities to administer and implement the provisions of the Act, to prepare national implementation policies for approval by PEPC, implement these approved policies, coordinate environmental policies and programs nationally and internationally, promote public education and ensure the enforcement of the National Environment Quality Standards.

3.21 A number of donor assisted projects have attempted to strengthen the institutional capacity of both the Federal and provincial EPAs (in particular the World Bank EPRC Project) through providing professional/support staff and providing physical facilities and equipment etc., but the EPAs continue to face numerous challenges including: the issues of the regularization of their staff, shortage of funds for recurring expenses etc. EPA responsibilities are greater than their capacity to deliver, and they are mired with various organizational and structural issues, and low political commitment. On the other hand, unlike views about the NCS Unit, there is still a strong hope expressed by many people that the potential roles envisioned for the EPAs still can be achieved.

Private Sector (Box 6)

3.22 The Environment Technology Programme exists to promote the use of environmentally safe technologies for the production of environmentally safe products by Pakistan's manufacturing/industrial sector. This program is the key private sector component of the NCS, operated via the Pakistan Chamber of Commerce network. It emphasizes the adoption of measures for pollution abatement, waste management and recycling, chemical recovery, more efficient utilization of natural/economic resources, production and installation of instrumentation and control systems for utilizing the more efficient and environmentally safe production technologies. A mutually supportive relationship between industry, government, and research institutes seems to be developing slowly but with growing expectations for concrete results. More needs to be learned from where the private sector has adopted sustainable practices spontaneously—learning the lessons of effective policy and market signals that match with producer motivations.

NGOs and Community Organizations (Box 7)

3.23 SDPI was established in 1992 to serve as a source of expertise and advisory services for government, private sector and non-governmental initiatives in support of the NCS. Now, SDPI is facilitating the flow of international institutional knowledge and research on sustainable development into Pakistan in addition to contributing research on key public interests/policy/SD issues. SDPI has become a productive training ground for Pakistani analysts and experts and has undertaken several projects in the program areas recommended by the NCS, including the initial thrust of developing the environmental technology approach described above. SDPI needs to be made more effective through focusing its resources on selected core issues. It is certainly a success story in the making, with a substantial audience for its advice within and outside government, a growing international audience and collaborators.

3.24 IUCN-Pakistan is an older institution with international origins. The Pakistani organization was established in 1985 with the initial purpose of assisting the GOP in the development of the NCS. It played a pivotal coordinating role in the formation of the NCS and, more recently, has reoriented its project approach to a program approach. IUCN-P in the post-NCS period has expanded perhaps tenfold in terms of staff, funding, projects and programs. Its implementation portfolio has enlarged and geographical coverage enlarged. IUCN has actively assisted the development of provincial conservation strategies in the NWFP, Balochistan and Northern areas. Under PEP, six IUCN-P units have received support for institutional strengthening. IUCN-P now possesses very considerable management expertise and specialist skills and contributes to the annual and national development plans and provides technical expertise to many units within federal and several provincial governments. Throughout the NCS process, IUCN-P has proven itself to be a valuable networker, facilitator, convenor, and more recently, deliverer of field activities.

• Building a capacity to review major policies and large projects for environmental impacts, and some capacity to anticipate and mitigate them through policy revision or project redesign.

• The ability to establish authentically the conservation prices of critical resources, and some capacity to move towards those prices.

• Creation of an NCS Unit in the Environment and Urban Affairs Division (EUAD) now the MELGRD to act as staff agency to the Pakistan Environment Protection Council (PEPC) and secretariat to the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (PEPA).

• Creation of an Environment Section in the Planning Commission, with linked cells in provincial planning and development departments (P&Ds) to facilitate development and conservation of the environment and to meet the need for environment-economic policy analyses that could be integrated into policy-making. These units were mandated to establish natural resource and environmental targets; scrutinize policies and programs of natural resource sustainability and environmental soundness and to participate in the annual and five-year planning processes of the government and promote environmentally sustainable development in sectors of the economy.

• Other Ministries and Divisions: focal points.

• The Provincial EPAs were to be strengthened for enhancing their environmental impact assessment capacities. In addition, their capacity building for effective collaboration with local governments in small industry waste collection and treatment and with provincial traffic police to control vehicular emissions was proposed.

• AJK and Northern Areas: Environment Departments, Environment Sections in Planning and Development Department and EPAS.

• The NCS Unit in the EUAD was entrusted with critical regulatory (and evaluation) the NCS in capital and revenue budgets, collaboration with other ministries in framing of environment regulations, plus screening of development projects for environmental soundness.

• Incremental installation of environmental analysts, first in resource-related Ministries, and then in Ministries overseeing large infrastructure projects. The EUAD along with provincial EPAs was charged with the establishment of standards for emission levels, licensing and policing existing industry to ensure environmentally compatible discharge standards and the overall development and maintenance of the capacity to monitor and assess the quality of Pakistan's environment.

• Enhanced inter-agency collaboration involving the Cabinet, Establishment and Management Services Divisions, along with provincial (S&GADs) and management consultants—to review external relationship protocols of involved agencies, making coordination/collaboration routine.

• The NCS envisaged institutional strengthening for increased inter-agency collaboration through two mechanisms: first, strengthening the external relationship protocols of each agency and second, strengthening and reorienting the existing coordination forums. Both approaches were to be followed simultaneously to achieve efficient, equitable and sustainable development.

The NCS envisaged the institutional development in the private sector through the creation of the capability in the leadership and consultative forums of organized industry and trade to identify, seek policy support for, and implement environmentally benign industrial processes, and to promote environmentally compatible products. The corporate sector was expected to play a role in emission standards setting and in the formulation of goal-oriented regulations for their enforcement. Numerous senior government-industry round tables were envisaged. NCS required industry to establish environmental committees in local chambers of commerce and their federations in order to encourage compliance with emission standards by members and to cooperate with local governments in pollution abatement and environmental clean-ups.

It was recognized that 9 out of 14 NCS program areas relied on community organizations for their implementation, while a tenth (supporting institutions for common resources) could only be implemented by community organizations, supported by catalytic agencies. This entailed carefully working out the institutional arrangements by which the catalytic agents were supported:

• NGOs registered under the laws of Pakistan were to be supported by federal, provincial and local governments to aid in the creation of grassroots institutions for common resources issues.

• Community participation programs were to be facilitated by government departments, supported by the grassroots institutions.

• Establishment of an independent and non-profit research Institute for independent analysis and advice on the implementation of NCS at Islamabad - the Sustainable Development Institute.

It was envisaged that a common set of arrangements for the release of funds and evaluation of performance would be followed for both the NGOs and for the community participatory programs.

• The NCS Unit in MELGRD has been unable to perform its task effectively for a number of reasons, including continuity in leadership and access to sufficient professional staff. To more effectively undertake coordination responsibilities and meaningful MRE, a Policy, Planning and Evaluation (PP&E) Section should be created within the Ministry under a Director General, but with direct links to the Secretary. This Section should be staffed by professionals in relevant sustainable development fields. Professional staff from the existing NCS Unit should be brought to the PP&E Section and new professional staff recruited, as required. Staff incentives should be strongly geared to performance in coordination and facilitation. Like other parts of the government, the NCS unit suffers from short tenure of staff at any particular job.

• The Environment Section in the Planning and Development Section has been functioning under “stop-gap” arrangements. Continuity has been missing; instead there are frequent “adjustments.” Recruitment Rules of the Environment Section have been approved. Regular professionals should be inducted into this Section as quickly as possible to continue building capacity there. The Section should retain its independent existence and not be made part of restructuring.

Assessing Outcomes

3.29 The NCS has had sufficient time for implementation so that it is fair to consider outcomes and impacts rather than focus on inputs, outputs, or indeed the processes that it has used. But the NCS document is hardly clear on this subject because timelines in some cases are very long (to 2021 for example) and with some degree of confusion between output and outcome. As already indicated, it is difficult to get the kind of quantitative and objective information that would provide adequate assessment. In this section we focus on four key approaches to assessing progress towards improvements in the relationships of environment, economy and social well- being. The first is our subjective review of 60 outcomes (labelled as outputs in the NCS document). Secondly, we have identified, and briefly discuss, interesting potential success stories that we believe are at the cutting edge of what can be accomplished within the umbrella of the NCS. The role of provincial and district conservation strategies is the third area for review. And finally, the important issue of gender integration within conservation strategies is examined.

ERT Subjective Assessment of NCS Program Outcomes/Outputs

3.30 In Chapter 10 of the NCS a series of tables (10.1 to 10.14) provide quite detailed targets about what was expected to be accomplished via the NCS under the various program areas. In some cases the targets have been quantified, with expected results to be achieved by 2001. Mid-way through the ERT mission, team members, assisted by the MTR Coordinator, developed a simple scoring of whether the targets are likely to be met by 2001. While this assessment is subjective, we have confidence in it, and provide the full results in Annex 7. A summary of the results is provided in Box 8. The graph shows that few targets are expected to be achieved fully, while progress will be made on almost half. But for the largest number (29 of 60) little or no progress has been made. This observation among others has led the ERT to pose the apt question regarding NCS progress, “is the glass half-empty, or half-full?” We shall return to this question at a point later in the report. Successes appear biased towards natural resource conservation, with little progress concerning pollution and waste.

(* See Annex 7 in this report and Tables 10.1 to 10.14 in the NCS for further information on specific targets within each of the 14 core areas.)

Potential Success Stories

3.31 Through a combination of ERT field visits, focus groups, interviews and background information it was possible to identify a number of potential success stories of activities related to NCS themes at various levels: national, regional and local. We use the word “potential” because each is still at an early stage of demonstrating its full value in relation to sustainable development. Some undoubtedly will become models for replication in other settings, or become more fully developed. We are encouraged by the progress of each. There are other cases for possible inclusion that we have not described. So far no one in Pakistan has developed either criteria for, or an actual inventory of success stories. We strongly urge that this be done through the PEP partners.

3.32 It should be emphasized that the various stories are not totally unrelated “islands of success”. They are part of national processes that have been stimulated by the presence of the NCES. They will influence the future of sustainable development directions by their example, and, likely, the future course of the NCS itself.

National

3.33 Environmental Technology Programme for Industry (ETPI) promotes the use of environmentally safe technologies for the production of environmentally safe products by Pakistan’s manufacturing/industrial sector. It is a joint project of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and the Government of the Netherlands. In phase I (1996-1999), 18 environmental audits of selected industrial units from leather, sugar, textile, paper or pulp, fertilizer and edible oil and ghee sectors have been conducted to identify their environmental problems. Of these, 8 industrial units have been selected as National Demonstration Project (NDPU) and their action plans prepared. Environmental solutions in terms of cleaner production technologies, in-house improvements and end-of-pipe treatments have been designed and implemented. The program aims to comply with NEQS and ISO 14000; carry forward to action NCS recommendations; and identify improved process technologies. To come are environmental audits of other industrial sectors: steel, petrochemicals, industrial chemicals, pesticides and insecticides, dyes and pigments, cement, food processing, dairy, automobiles and polyester fibre and yarn sectors.

3.34 SDPI: Opening policy dialogue space. The development of SDPI is one of the success stories that may be most directly attributed to the NCS. It is a driver of ideas, opening “space” for discussions that were previously very difficult to undertake within Pakistan. Its research is not abstract but is attached to advocacy and training functions. These functions have helped it to build a reputation as the environmental “leader” amongst development research institutions in Pakistan, with considerable convening power. There is still more “intellectual push” from SDPI than there is a “demand pull” from government. And there is still a need to develop a continuous-improvement “cyclical” policy approach that commissions and considers research and then adapts accordingly. However, because of the lack of this, SDPI is adept at identifying the ‘leverage points’ for change within the government system. If SDPI has had to work on the outside more than it wished, this may explain several observations that it has now taken up too much of an adversarial position with government—critiquing loudly rather than working with all parties to explore and train for SD. A comprehensive report prepared by SDPI has documented its contribution to the NCS core areas.^{fn 23}

3.35 NEQS: Basis for effective pollution regulation. The point is made repeatedly by those dealing with pollution control that, if you can’t measure it, it doesn’t count in decision-making. The other side of this observation is that, if there are no effective standards, then pollution measures are meaningless. The need is more complex because standards should be related to specific industries and become an important element for enabling regulations, in this case for the 1997 Act. The National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) have been developed to meet these requirements for effective pollution control. They were defined in 1993 with little public consultation, and revised further in 1995 and 1999. Both new and existing industries were to be in compliance by 1 July 1996. This has not happened—not an unusual initial outcome if experience during early stages is compared with other countries.

3.36 There is need for an action plan for NEQS finalization for specific industries, and for their promulgation and implementation. It requires attention not only to the standards themselves, but also to certification of laboratories, self-monitoring and enforcement. There is a need for agreement with provinces, industries, and with municipalities on phasing of implementation. The NEQS will play an essential role in relation to the planned system of pollution charges. PEPA is responsible for their management and implementation and PEPC approves revisions. While widespread violation of the NEQS is still the rule rather than the exception, they have provided an important signal to industry that change will be necessary. It is an important lever to have these standards in place. The challenge now is finding effective mechanisms for implementation.

3.37 SDNP: Using the Internet for human sustainable development communication, awareness raising and problem-solving. The information revolution accompanying the establishment of the World Wide Web and introduction of e-mail could only be successful within countries if there was good connectivity available at a reasonable cost. Most organizations required a shift in corporate culture in order to make the transformation. In 1992 the Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP) was established through UNDP support. SDNP quickly became the country’s leading advocate for maintaining Internet access under reasonable financial terms, and established the early networks. It is reasonable to say that it pioneered the pathway to electronic information networking within Pakistan, especially for development organizations. SDNP presents much potential as a communication tool about NCS objectives and implementation.

3.38 The large private sector Internet service provider (ISP) capacity has drawn attention away from SDNP’s original roles. Now SDNP is beginning to concentrate on how to ensure better access to information on sustainable human development, for example, by creating a major web site relevant to Pakistan’s needs, and by building a within-Pakistan Internet backbone that will reduce the costs of purchasing expensive international bandwidth. In the process SDNP is seeking to become financially self-sufficient through the sale of various services. None of this is easy, particularly since there are formidable obstacles to reaching out to client groups who live well away from established data-ready telecommunication systems and who are hampered by low literacy rates and poverty. Thus SDNP, judged a great success for what it has already done in creating awareness and actual connectivity, faces a future where it must re-invent itself in a fashion that will serve sustainable development information needs in a much more distributed way. Its future role could be an extremely valuable adjunct to the devolution initiative now underway, and also to backstop state of environment reporting and other information dissemination needs of MELGRD, of other units of government and of civil society and business organizations.

3.39 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG): Pilot efforts to introduce a clean fuel source. The operation of Pakistan’s fleet of trucks, buses and smaller vehicles such as motorized rickshaws contribute to heavy air pollution in cities and along crowded motorways. The problem is made worse by the import of cheap rebuilt engines for vehicles, lack of maintenance and inspection of vehicles, use of leaded fuel, and the import of low quality fuels. There are few examples of improvements in this situation. One is the vehicle emissions-testing laboratory established in Peshawar; another is the vehicular tune-up program of the National Energy Conservation Centre. However the only vehicular emission standard currently prescribed by EPA is for carbon monoxide.

3.40 A longer-term win-win approach will be to convert more vehicles to compressed natural gas. This fuel source is abundant within Pakistan, thus reducing the need for imported fuel, has a much lower level of harmful emissions, and should be a cheaper source for vehicle operators. There are several constraints to its widespread use: feasibility and cost of conversion, development of service facilities throughout the country, some safety factors in relation to use, and the inertia involved in any major transformation.

3.41 There are several promising initiatives underway, driven by various government units. These include the provision of a network of CNG refuelling stations (currently more than 60 with as many more under construction) strategically placed within cities and along major roadways. Secondly, there are individual federal and provincial initiatives. The Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan hopes to have 150,000 vehicles converted by mid-2000. In Lahore and Quetta there are pilot projects for equipping motorized rickshaws with conversion kits so that the engines can run on CNG. Over the coming five years much progress should be expected on the use of CNG, not only for vehicles but also in domestic and commercial uses. All of this is consistent with projections in the NCS. Indeed, it is one of the few themes within the NCS where an established target (network of filling stations) will be exceeded by 2001. But it is important that the transformation be done on an economically-sound basis, with minimum dependence on new subsidies.

Regional

3.42 Sindh: Orangi Welfare Project (Trust). A community based solid waste management project by OWP in partnership with Karachi District Municipal Corporation West (DMC West) was launched in 1998. The street sweeping and collection as well as disposal of household waste in the community bins were assigned to the OWP. DMC West took on the responsibility of keeping the roads clean and collection of waste from central waste bins. The OWP was delegated the responsibility to organize, mobilize and administer the activities at community level. OWP organized the people by establishing working groups at street level and assigned them the responsibility of keeping their area clean. Neighborhood infrastructure is being maintained via individual assessments into a common pool. This effort has led to numerous other initiatives as a consequence of the trust-building that has taken place, including development of reasonably-priced schools, plus water, electricity and gas connections earlier denied. The community, once labeled as violent, is now a more peaceful area. Additional opportunities for vocational training and for awareness-building on key issues such as women’s health are on the horizon through this cooperation of government and community.

3.43 Balochistan: Conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in Torghar, Killa Saifullah District. The mountains of northern Balochistan were once rich in wildlife , and held significant populations of Straight-horned Markhor, Afghan Urial, Leopard and Balochistan Black Bear. Uncontrolled hunting, exacerbated by the surplus of cheap automatic weapons related to the Afghan civil war, caused some of these populations to be either wiped out or at the verge of extinction by the mid eighties. The late Nawab Taimur Shah Jogezai, tribal chief of Torghar area requested initiation of a conservation plan that has become very community-oriented, with technical assistance from US institutions.

3.44 The plan was very simple and pragmatic. It proposed that all existing hunting by both locals and outsiders be stopped. A small number of game guards were to be selected from the tribesmen. It was decided that the programme would be funded through the proceeds generated by a controlled limited trophy hunting of Afghan Urial, primarily by foreign hunters. The controlled trophy hunting of animals was a critical component of the plan and had two key objectives: to generate sufficient revenue to underwrite a game guard programme and to create a strong linkage between the abundance of urial and markhor populations and economic well being of the local people. In 1994, the Torghar Conservation Project was converted into an NGO and was registered as the Society for Torghar Environmental Protection (STEP). The result has been: elimination of poaching; enhancement of local income; and awareness raising.

3.45 Northern Areas and NWFP: Mountain Areas Conservancy Project. Through a remarkable coalition of communities, government organizations, NGOs such as IUCN-Pakistan and WWF, and donors such as GEF and UNDP, ecological integrity issues are starting to be addressed in four large ‘conservation areas’, two within NWFP and two within the NA. The objectives are to protect watersheds and important biodiversity elements within whole valleys, while building economic opportunity for people in local communities. The effort builds on models pioneered through AKRSP, but extends this effort to include decision-making up to the district level. Past programs have empowered village level institutions and created self-financing mechanisms. Conservation issues include the use of upper rangelands in the surrounding mountains, protection of endangered wildlife such as ibex, markhor and snow leopard, utilization and conservation of wild plants, local water resource development, park management and ecotourism in areas of traditional grazing and hunting activities. At the district level, conservation committees are being established to begin addressing a host of complex issues related to allocation of hunting licenses among communities, given that animals migrate; access to pastures; practical matters related to wildlife management, technical issues such as GIS use, and conflict resolution.

3.46 Punjab: Kasur tanneries project. This is an important case demonstrating what can be done for cleaner production when real demand, commitment, funding and management can be linked. All four elements are essential. Some 230 family-owned tanneries are concentrated within one large site, where about 15,000 people live and work. There are some 300,000 people living in the vicinity. Apparently, there is a high rate of cancers and other diseases. The tannery site is surrounded by artificial lagoons receiving untreated tannery wastes, including chromium salts. These lagoons drain into an irrigation drainage channel, eventually finding its way to a main river. Demand for improvement came directly from tannery operators. The cost of improvements is over USD10 million. After a poor start, tight deadlines, good community and government liaison, an experienced manager and external technical reviews (the project is being implemented via UNIDO) have combined to produce remarkable progress in the development of the necessary pre-treatment and treatment facilities for the lagoon wastes. In addition, a chromium recycling facility is being built within the tannery site. And the contaminated lagoon sites are being drained, rehabilitated and eventually may be returned to agricultural use. The system should be functional later this year. The Kasur tanneries project is becoming a model of interest to other tannery operators in Pakistan. Over time various cost recoveries will be introduced to make the operation as financially self-reliant as possible.

3.47 NWFP: Round Tables and Focal Points. While the ‘fora’ associated with the NCS effectively disbanded after its formal approval, under the SPCS separate round tables (RTs) have been set up for agriculture, industries, urban environment, environmental education, culture and tourism, NGOs and communications. This opening up of debate has allowed RT members to treat the SPCS tactically, subject to real demands and events, identifying issues that count, and neglecting those that they think do not count. As such, RTs hold promise for a strategic approach of regular debate, mobilizing networks, action and review. RTs have already provided a nexus for the various policy communities connected to SD to come together. They have influenced projects and information flows, as yet they have not really impacted on policy. However, there is no overall round table – the agenda has been disaggregated into set ‘core areas’ which may not all be of equal priority, and which need to be brought back together occasionally to sort out learning and new priorities. As yet, RTs have not met in the field to discuss real issues. Experience in other countries shows this can be the best way to share understandings and perceptions.

3.48 The SPCS introduced the promising concept of conservation strategy focal points within government. These are ‘insider’ posts within the various departments. Some are government staff, while others are IUCN staff. They link the various departments concerned to the SPCS Support Unit and to the relevant RTs (each focal point’s technical agenda more or less corresponds to one of the RT themes). The job of the focal points is to gain intelligence as to the plans and progress of the various departments, and to use expert and persuasion powers (and occasionally links to donors) to encourage a greater mainstreaming of environmental concerns. The counterpart is senior—the Additional Secretary. This is a simple way of trying to improve links, but it is certainly improving information flows and many focal points are gaining respect. There is a need for focal points, or other mechanisms, to maintain better links with the federal level.

Provincial and District Conservation Strategies

3.49 The ‘cutting edge’ innovations described immediately above derive from the Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy (SPCS). The NCS recommended that the detailed debate, planning and implementation of NCS recommendations at provincial levels should be through participatory provincial strategies. However, the hope of having in place a second tier of conservation strategies covering all provinces and areas of Pakistan has not been realized fully to date. This has not been for lack of effort. It was a goal that depended upon a great deal of cooperation and political willingness that varied considerably among the different parts of the country. It would appear that the larger and more mature the governance situation, the more difficult is the process. Thus the two provinces where the concept has so far failed to catch hold have been the largest in terms of both population, cities and administrative complexity: Sindh and the Punjab. By far the most advanced model is the SPCS in the NWFP, prepared in 1996 and now well into its implementation. The Balochistan Conservation Strategy is close to the implementation stage. It will face major challenges since it is very ambitious, complex and will operate within a highly traditional setting facing huge development challenges. The proposed conservation strategy for the Northern Areas is at an earlier stage, with extensive consultations on approach still underway. It appears to have considerable cross-sectoral support, although perhaps lacking in high-level bureaucratic interest. Initial dialogue is taking place in AJK. A useful summary of constraints and opportunities in the development of provincial conservation strategies is provided by Haroon Ayub Khan in a background report prepared for the MTR.^{fn 24}

3.50 Also of interest, especially given the current decentralization focus of government, are various experiments in district level conservation, particularly the Chitral and Abbotabad Conservation Strategies in the NWFP. Finally, it is somewhat surprising that little effort or progress appears to have been spent on building urban conservation strategies. Only Peshawar is formally included within a provincial strategy (and a local Agenda 21 is planned for this city).

Sarhad Conservation Strategy

3.51 NWFP is an instructive case to examine. It has been a ‘frontier’ province in many ways for conservation strategies. The record is impressive. NWFP has undertaken the first:

• formal response to the NCS (the Chief Minister requesting a formal briefing in 1991);

• provincial conservation strategy;

• round tables (informed by the Canadian model);

• district conservation strategies (DCSs) – in Chitral and Abbotabad;

• draft provincial Environmental Protection Act;

• attempt to define ‘indicators for sustainability’ to measure progress;

• concepts for SD Funds; and

• the first liaison attempts between a PCS and private sector/DFIs.

3.52 Thus much experience in conservation strategies has accrued over time, in the order NCS, then SPCS, and now via the DCSs. While the NCS process within government has effectively stopped learning due to its very weak management at the centre, there is certainly continued learning through the SPCS and DCSs. It is IUCN-Pakistan, and to a lesser extent, the other PEP partners and some foreign donors, that are actively monitoring that learning.

3.53 Two basic questions were examined in relation to the link between the NCS and the SPCS:

· What have been the impacts of the NCS on NWFP?

· What lessons can we learn from the SPCS/DCS processes that could be useful in design for a future NCS, including making it useful for stimulating further provincial or more local action?

3.54 In essence, the original NCS led to broad awareness and paved the way to participatory policy and planning in the NWFP. It is still occasionally referred to in speeches and seminars. The SPCS process started off with considerable support, due largely to the NCS and charismatic high-level NCS ‘champions’. But subsequent changes in attitude and investment have been attributed to the SPCS – not the NCS. There has been almost no subsequent use of the NCS document, or communication between the NCS Unit and NWFP PE&D. Even though the Unit is invited to SPCS round tables, it does not even reply. The impacts of the NCS are now felt through the NCS. This leads to a view that the SPCS ‘translated’ the NCS for NWFP—and in response to the second question above, “why do we need to go back to the original ‘language’?”

3.55 There are certain lessons of the SPCS/DCS processes that NWFP stakeholders believe should be brought to bear on the next phase of the NCS. The principal lessons are institutional. SPCS implementation efforts include an attempt to create a better performing institutional landscape through establishing linkages especially via stakeholder round tables and via focal point officers representing conservation strategy knowledge and interests within departments. These two elements have been described in the NWFP Potential Success Story discussed earlier in the Chapter.

3.56 A revised NCS may in fact have value to the NWFP if it can help in the development of a system for continuously improving attention and policy on environmental matters. It would include expert support from federal and international levels to the NWFP and other provinces and departments, particularly in information and in understanding and approving projects, plus handling macroeconomic and international issues.

3.57 Future NCS implementation might also pay more attention to fostering learning between provinces: A useful idea from IUCN-Pakistan has been their own Strategies Support Panel to help learn from the various conservation strategies. There is a proposal that this should include the progressive construction of a ‘tool kit’ manual of proven approaches. The approach might be extended to all conservation strategy actors, not just IUCN-Pakistan.

3.58 Where interests may converge in a most significant fashion is around the need to develop better local governance. This need has been articulated forcefully by the current national government and it is a responsibility that will have to be reflected both federally and provincially, with a strong bottom-up approach and an enabling framework at the top tiers of government. Thus the two district conservation strategies initiated in the NWFP will provide experience valuable to the entire conservation strategy system. At present both are in an early stage of implementation and, not unexpectedly perhaps, are facing difficulties.

3.59 A major problem for the DCS in the NWFP is that there is no strong, client-oriented local administration with which to work. This also applies to the various line departments at district level, which should be responding to local stakeholders. On the other hand, the deputy commissioners, who have an integrated mandate, have been supportive of the DCSs. It has been difficult to tackle more than two district strategies. The prospects of running 22 DCSs simultaneously in NWFP are way beyond the current capabilities. Local institutional strengthening should be a strong element in any revised approach to the NCS and provincial strategies.

3.60 Another area of potentially general consideration is the need to recognize and balance strategic and comprehensive approaches. While the PSDN has “sampled” districts, covering less than 10 per cent of them, on an issues basis it is attempting to cover almost everything. It is trying to take a lead on nine ‘core areas’ through round tables and demonstration projects. This approach is too comprehensive. Being spread too thin means that few results on the ground are achieved, leading to frustration. It means that no one really gets to grips with the issue of tradeoffs and priorities. It means that monitoring is difficult and almost anything could be done in the name of the SPCS, including possibly damaging approaches. There are possible solutions:

• An umbrella round table could focus on identifying and ‘managing’ the top few themes;

• Major projects can be encouraged to implement pilot activities on priority themes (e.g. the GTZ/GoNWFP UIEP);

• A provincial ‘state of sustainable development report’ should point to, and investigate,