Kirthar National Park (KNP) was established in 1974. Situated
in the Sindh Province about 120 km north of Karachi, it covers
more than 300,000 hectares and remains Pakistan's largest National
WildlifePark.
In 1999 the Park's
managers - the Sindh Wildlife Department - contracted Melbourne
Enterprise International (MEI) to undertake the first baseline
study of KNP since 1974 . Through its association with the University
of Melbourne, MEI invited university staff to conduct a collaborative
project with researchers from Pakistan. The goal was to compile
a broad inventory of the Park's natural environment and human
resources.
There is keen public
interest in Pakistan about Kirthar. Researchers in the Baseline
Study believed it was important that information collected about
KNP be open to public scrutiny. As a result, this website
was established. It was developed in parallel with
the analysis of field data and frequently amended and
updated.
The main components
of the study are listed in the left-hand panel. Click
on an image for a link to that site. None of the information
is copyright but - if you use it - please acknowledge the source.
Lastly, our thanks
to all those people who assisted with the study. In particular,
the Sindh Wildlife Department, the field support teams at Karchat
and Khar base camps and the many residents of Kirthar.