GILGIT, July 29: Two injured French trekkers and their eight compatriots who were stranded on a glacier in the Yaseen area were rescued here on Saturday.

The Army and Northern Areas’ administration airlifted them to Gilgit by helicopters.

Sources said that both the injured trekkers had been admitted to the district headquarters hospital here and they would later be taken to Islamabad. The Frenchmen had been stranded for two days on a glacier in Yaseen tehsil of the Ghizer district, some 110km west of Gilgit. The trekkers were on their way to Chitral.

FOREST MANAGEMENT: After failure of all modern techniques to save forests, an NGO has revived traditional resource management practice for conservation of forests in Ghizer district of Northern Areas through capacity building of local institutions.

NGO Civil Society Support Initiatives (CSSI) is active in six selected villages of Gopis, 100 kms west of Gilgit, in upper Ghizer.

It has taken a new initiative, with the support of the UNDP, to conserve forests and introduced steps for reforestation. Ghizer is one of the backward and remote districts of the region with permanent shortage of firewood and fuel. Its residents have to spend a lot on high cost of transportation of firewood, particularly in winter.

The CSSI says it is seeking some powers and authority for local numberdars (village elders) over natural resources and other NGOs and government stakeholders are being convinced to support this traditional practice through advocacy.

It says that training of local artisans in willow handicrafts, proper marketing of such handicrafts, training of local women in knitting and stitching and establishment of herbal medicine plots, plant nurseries, yak farms, goat-sheep farms are being undertaken in Gopis to increase means of livelihood.

According to Abbas Ali Khan, the technical consultant of CSSI, the overall objective is to develop an environment that is conducive for implementation of sustainable initiatives through public-private partnership, NGOs, local management institutions and elected representatives.

When contacted, local numberdars said they were happy to see revival of traditional management of natural resources which they reminisced was one of the best systems as compared to modern techniques. They said without community participation, no agency could control deforestation.

They, however, said duration of the project should be increased from one year to ten years. They further said Rs5m budget was inadequate to achieve fruitful results, therefore, it should be enhanced considerably and scope of the innovative idea should be broadened.

They said donors must seriously consider enhancing grant for the project without which the initiative might be abandoned halfway.