ICIMOD and Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock of Afghanistan (MAIL) jointly organised a one-day meeting 5 August 2015 to explore developing the transboundary landscape initiative involving Wakhan National Park of Afghanistan and the surrounding region.

The objective of the meeting was to identify opportunities for transboundary collaboration for conservation and development in the management of Wakhan National Park through a landscape approach within the context of the Karakoram-Pamir-Wakhan region.

Twenty-seven representating ICIMOD, MAIL, National Environmental Protection Authority (NEPA), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Aga Khan Foundation (AKF),UNEP, and FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance(FOCUS) attended the meeting.

Mr Sayed Rehman Ziarmal, director of protected area department of MAIL presided over the meeting. In his opening remarks Ziarmal emphasized the importance of transboundary collaborations for the management of the Wakhan National Park. During the meeting, different agencies shared their current and future plans for the park. Key questions were:

• Is transboundary collaboration on conservation and development in Wakhan and its adjacent areas necessary?
• Is transboundary collaboration on conservation and  development in the park and its adjacent areas feasible?
• What are the potential areas for transboundary cooperation?

Participants agreed that transboundary collaboration was important for the effective conservation and sustainable development of Wakhan National Park and realistic fields of collaborations were identified.

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