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Eight professionals receive Pakistan Mountains Pride Award

25.04.2022

Eight professionals have been awarded the Pakistan Mountains Pride Award (PAMPA) for their service to mountain communities and dedication to conservation and sustainable mountain development.

Mountain Partnership member Development Communications Network (DEVCOM-Pakistan) organized the second PAMPA awards ceremony in March 2022 as the final event of the eleventh Pakistan Mountain Festival. Well-known biodiversity experts, mountain communities and students from universities and colleges participated in the ceremony.

The PAMPA winners included Zahid Baig Mirza and Khwaja Lashkar Hussain Azad who won the Agostino Da Polenza Mountain Conservation Award for their work in mountain ecosystems. Bibi Hussan and Hasina Haider won the Shoaib Sultan Khan Community Development Award for their work to empower mountain women. The Nazir Sabir Mountaineering Award was given to the young Pakistani mountaineer Sirbaz Khan, who has scaled 8 of the 13 highest peaks. Finally, the Muhammad Iqbal was awarded the Ashraf Aman Sustainable Mountain Tourism Award for his 45 years of service to promoting mountaineering and adventure trekking in Pakistan. The winners of the Ustad Jan Ali Mountain Music Award will be announced soon.

Speaking on the occasion, Devcom-Pakistan Executive Director and PAMPA founder Munir Ahmed said, “The PAMPAs pay tribute to living legends for their lifelong service to promote sustainable mountain development and conservation practices, adventure tourism, mountaineering, community development, and culture. We need to recognize the services of individuals and organizations that have played a key role to inspire others for mountain conservation and development.”

Ashiq Ahmed Khan, Senior Scientific Advisor of the Mountain Partnership member organization EvK2CNR of Italy, said, “We are losing the ecosystems of our mountains quickly. A comprehensive ecosystem restoration plan is needed if we want to save our communities and their livelihoods.”

The eleventh Pakistan Mountain Festival was supported by the National Rural Support Programme, Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd Corporate Social Responsibility programme, Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi, Punjab Arts Council Rawalpindi, Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, and the Westminster Academy Islamabad.

News and photo from DEVCOM-Pakistan