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Punjab Starts Regulated Partridge Hunting as Salt Range Villages Impose Local Bans

A Rs9.4 billion package for habitat restoration, eco-lodges, tourism infrastructure aims to give communities a stake in protection.

Overview

  • The first partridge season is underway from December 1 to February 15 with hunting allowed only on Sundays at notified sites under valid licences or permits.
  • Seven Community-Based Conservancies are registered with 80 designated hunting grounds, and limited permits include auctions with 80% of legal hunting revenue earmarked for local communities.
  • Authorities have announced a Rs10,000 reward for credible information on illegal hunting, particularly involving urial and chinkara.
  • Elders in Union Council Kohali and nearby Salt Range villages have announced permanent bans on hunting on their lands, keeping private property, grazing areas and crop fields off-limits.
  • The government has approved Rs9.4 billion for conservation and eco-tourism, including transferring 15 eco-lodges to community groups, establishing breeding and pre-release centres, a 300-acre reintroduction enclosure in Koh-e-Sulaiman, and developing an Eco-Tourism Salt Range National Park through June 2027.