Parks & Wildlife
The Parks & Wildlife Circle works with communities and conservation partners to protect wildlife, habitats and the protected-area network.
Conserving wildlife.
Working with communities.
The Parks and Wildlife Circle works under the Forest, Wildlife and Environment Department of the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan. It is the line department with the custodial and management mandate for conserving wildlife and its habitat, to improve economic benefits locally while improving ecological services globally. It works in close collaboration with local communities, NGOs and other departments and ministries.
The department provides legal, technical and financial support to community-based institutions and other partners for research, conservation and sustainable management. With its partner organisations, the Circle has run trophy hunting programmes in Gilgit-Baltistan and used the revenue for the betterment of local communities.
A connected network of landscapes
Protected areas include national parks, game reserves, wildlife sanctuaries and community managed conservation areas.
National ParkCKNPCentral Karakoram National ParkPakistan's largest protected area, set across the Central Karakoram mountain range and its extensive glacier systems.Explore park: Central Karakoram National Park
National ParkDNPDeosai National ParkA high-altitude plateau south-east of Skardu, protected in 1993 for the Himalayan brown bear and its alpine ecosystem.Explore park: Deosai National Park- Photo not availableNational ParkKNPKhunjerab National ParkA high-elevation national park in Upper Hunza on the Pakistan–China border, first established to protect Marco Polo sheep.Explore park: Khunjerab National Park
- Photo not availableNational ParkHNPHimalaya National ParkA protected area in Astore notified in 2021 for musk deer and other high-mountain wildlife.Explore park: Himalaya National Park
- Photo not availableNational ParkNPNPNanga Parbat National ParkA protected mountain landscape in Diamer and Astore notified in 2021, including habitat for Ladakh urial.Explore park: Nanga Parbat National Park
- Photo not availableNational ParkQNPQurumber National ParkA high-altitude protected valley in the far north-west of Gilgit-Baltistan, established in 2011.Explore park: Qurumber National Park
- Photo not availableNational ParkHSNPHandrap–Shandur National ParkThe Shandur–Handrap protected landscape in Ghizer district, declared a national park in 1993.Explore park: Handrap–Shandur National Park
Explore wildlife in Gilgit-Baltistan
- FaunaSpecies profiles and the department’s summary of the region’s mammals.Explore fauna: Fauna
- BirdsEight bird species named and illustrated in the department’s gallery.View birds: Birds
- Community conservationHow trophy hunting and community managed areas support conservation.Read programme details: Community conservation