Syed Asad Ali Conservation Award
World Wide Fund for Nature – Pakistan launched the Syed Asad Ali Conservation Award in 2000, in loving memory of celebrated conservationist Syed Asad Ali, who passed away in 1999.
The award aims to recognize conservationists who have made outstanding contributions in line with the nature conservation priorities of Pakistan. The winner will be awarded Rs. 50,000 cash, a medal and a certificate of appreciation.
Selection criteria:
• Dedication and contribution to nature conservation in Pakistan.
• Significant fieldwork and past achievements.
• Discovery of new facts and efforts towards their dissemination.
Individuals / organisations are invited to nominate suitable candidates by sending the candidates’ CVs and one-page descriptions of their conservation achievements to:
The dates for submission of the applications will be displayed at the website of WWF – Pakistan.
Award Winner 2007
Abdul Rehman
Abdul Rehman Angaria, a local resident of village Sangal, started his career in Forest & Wildlife Department of Balochistan in District Lasbela as a Deputy Ranger in 1994. Rehman untiringly spent days and nights inside the Hingol National Park to conserve its precious wildlife such as Ibex, Urial and Chinkara. In those days accessibility to the area was difficult and there was little surveillance. Hunting offences were common. He took initiative to conserve the area. During his services he took action against influential politicians and government servants. He withstood pressure even though he was proposed to be transferred on many occasions. He contributed in conservation of wildlife and in sensitising the community. In the on-going GEF funded Protected Area Management Project: Hingol National Park (Balochistan) component, he is providing his services in studies, surveys, community awareness, community mobilisation and even in conflict resolution.
Master Abdul Rashid
Master Abdul Rashid is a government school teacher by profession. An inhabitant of Sonmiani village, he helped WWF establish its Field Office there. With his hard work and passion for nature conservation, Mr. Rashid was able to organise the community on a platform of a Community Based Organisation viz. Sonmiani Development Organisation (SDO), established in 1999. SDO has worked with WWF - P since its establishment and gained considerable experience in mangrove plantation, nursery raising, monitoring and sustainable harvesting of mangroves. One notable achievement made by Abdul Rashid and his team is the ban on the use of harmful nets for fishing which has been causing unsustainable harvest of fishery resources, leading to their depletion in the fishing grounds in Miani Hor.
Award Winner 2005
Moulvi Fazlullah
Moulvi Fazlullah has been working as a social worker for over six decades in the community of Thingsheng, to which he belongs. Keeping in view the deteriorating situation of Chitral Gol National Park, he along with his colleagues launched a campaign to discourage the indiscriminate hunting and uncontrolled grazing in and around the park area and was successful in evacuating illegal occupants as herders and timber mafia from the National Park in 1993. The communal ban on goat grazing is effective since then and has played a key role in keeping Chitral Gol as one of the pristine National Parks. Recently, he has been able to prevail upon the villagers to impose a complete ban on the hunting of migratory birds in his village. He has also been extremely supportive of the Protected Areas Management Project of WWF-P.
Abdul Qayyum Raisani
Abdul Qayyum, Deputy Ranger Wildlife, Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, Quetta, started his career as a Game Watcher in the Park. The park area was not only susceptible but there were many openings in the fence from where hunters could illegally enter into the park and hunt the Chiltan Markhore. Mr. Qayyum put all his efforts in the protection of the Markhore and was able to increase the population of the Markhore from 100 to 1000 over the last 20 years.
Award Winner 2003
Abdul Latif
A simple man by nature, Abdul Latif comes from a remote village called Pekhonakar in the Kalabagh forest range of Abbotabad District. He is something of a legend. From the early age of 23 he took upon himself the responsibility of safeguarding the Guzara forest of Pekhonkar. After 40 years of hard work and struggle, the deserted land, consisting of 400 kanals of forest, now comprises naturally growing flora and is an important habitat for wildlife and birds.
Award Winner 2002
Gulbaz Afaqi
Gulbaz Afaqi hails from Ugali Village of Soan Valley in the Punjab Salt Range. In his mid forties, he has already carved a niche in the history of natural resource conservation in Soan Valley - a renowned Ramsar wetland site with a unique and indigenous sub-tropical scrub forest.
Mr Afaqi initiated the Soan Valley Development Programme in Nowshera - a village of district Khushab. He began a campaign to help the farmers of the Valley understand that water is a finite resource rapidly diminishing in the Valley and that the conservation of water entails the conservation of the forests that surround the basin shaped Soan Valley.
Award Winner 2001
Shahzado Bahyo
Inspite of his limited formal education, Shahzado Bhayo, has been commendably performing his duties at the Indus Dolphin Reserve for the last over twenty five years. He joined the Sindh Wildlife Department as a Game Watcher in 1968 when he was only 23 and is still working there as Game Officer. In association with Giorgio Pilleri and other renowned scientists, he carried out biological studies of the Indus Dolphin - a rare endemic species of Pakistan. In recognition of his valuable services towards nature conservation he was also awarded a merit certificate from His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. His immense courage and dedicated efforts stand as a beacon of hope and inspiration for future conservationists.
Award Winner 2000
Essa Khan Samalani
With a diploma from the Game Watcher Training School in Lahore, Essa Khan joined the Balochistan Forest Department as a game watcher in 1984. Later, he was promoted to Deputy Ranger, a position he still holds. Essa Khan is an amateur photographer and a keen filmmaker with extensive footage of the Chiltan wild goat to his credit. When he joined the Forest Department the number of Chiltan wild goats was 300 but due to his ceaseless endeavors it now exceeds 800.
Rafiq Ahmad Rajput
Despite his limited formal education Rafiq Rajput has been commendably performing his duties as Deputy Ranger with the Sindh Wildlife Department for the last one decade. He was an active team member in the Himalayan Wildlife Foundation in Deosai. He has the unique distinction of tagging quite a few Brown bears in Deosai. He is remarkable when it comes to the identification of endangered, threatened, and rare bird species. With his encyclopedic knowledge on bird identification, particularly the birds of Sindh, Rafiq Rajput could design a flawless bird identification programme. His special interests include bird watching, and study of reptiles and mammals of Pakistan.
