Pakistan is blessed with several natural beauties including indigenous wildlife, beautiful mountains of Himalayas, deserts of Cholistan and Thar, Man-made forests like Changa Manga forest as well as several natural resources from the Balochistan trails. It also holds the second tallest mountain K2, which is a challenging tourist attraction in terms of mountain climbing ng. Four seasons bloom each year to their fullest, and an average rainfall of 12-14 inches per year leads to making Pakistan a very fertile agricultural land. But despite its enormous beauty, a number of animal and plant species are threatened or endangered due to over-exploitation and loss of natural habitat. Rapid human population growth is increasing pressure on the country's natural resources. Increased poverty has forced rural people to exploit biodiversity at unsustainable rates. Factors like deforestation, overgrazing, soil erosion, salinity, and water-logging are posing major threats to the remaining biodiversity of the country. The continuing loss of forest habitat, which is associated with flora and fauna, will have serious implications for the nation's other natural and agricultural ecosystems.

Perhaps the best known of Pakistan's endangered mammals is the snow leopard, which makes its home in the mid-level elevations of the Himalayas. Threatened by poaching and loss of habitat, the snow leopard is iconic among endangered species in the Himalayan Range. In the lower subtropical regions of Pakistan, a small population of tigers still exist. Other endangered land mammals in Pakistan include The Asian elephant; hog deer, Asiatic wild ass; woolly flying squirrel; Kashmir musk deer; and the fishing cat. Markhor, the national animal, is on the brink of extinction, too. This wild goat is classified as "near threatened" by the International Union for the conservation of nature.
The bird most at risk of extinction in Pakistan is the red-headed vulture. Another vulture species found in the region, the Egyptian vulture is also globally endangered. Another, the white-headed duck, maintains a population stronghold in Pakistan as its declines in other countries. Similarly, the Indus River. There is a serious threat to this species because of the water regularly barrages constructed on the Indus River. Shortage of water and water diversion to meet agricultural needs of the country resulted in the extirpation of Indus River dolphins. Accidental mortality of Indus River dolphins is attributed to entanglements in fishing nets as bycatch of fish, unsustainable fishing practices, and entrapment in the irrigation canals. Contamination of river water due to agrochemicals and industrial waste significantly contributes to the deterioration of the Indus River dolphin's core and potential habitats.

Likewise, Balochistan's forests are one of the most extensive and oldest juniper ecosystems in the world. These provide habitats to many unique birds, mammals, and species of plants that have a very restricted range of distribution. This extensive open woodland is spread between 2100-3000 m. Juniper is an extremely slow-growing species and attains only one-inch diameter growth and one cubic foot in 50 years. At higher elevations, the trees have become stunted and dwarfed and form large prostrate patches on rocks, especially on wind-exposed slopes in the Ziarat, Zarghun, and Harbor Ranges.
Juniper forests include some of the oldest trees in the country. Unfortunately, this national heritage is facing threat from a parasitic disease caused by a small plant-the dwarf mistletoe. This parasite is expanding in the Ziarat juniper tract and it needs immediate attention to protect the ecosystem, which is providing habitat to several endemic species of the shrubs and herbs in the forest undergrowth.
Against this backdrop, the government of Pakistan has short-listed 6 parks for the protection of biodiversity. These include Lal Sohanra National Park (Bahawalpur-Punjab), Kirthar National Park(Sindh), Khunjerab National Park (Northern Areas), Chiltan Hazarganji, National Park (Balochistan), Margalla Hills National park (Islamabad), and Chitral Gol National Park (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). Further, Pakistan has 14 National Parks,99 Wildlife Sanctuaries, and 96 Game Reserves with the aim of preserving and conserving biodiversity. Kirthar National Park has the distinction of being the first park on the UN list of protected areas.
There are certain challenges that Pakistan is facing, these are; political instability, lack of technical and institutional capacity, lack of financial resources, lack of awareness, insufficient access to local knowledge, legal impediments, limited public and stakeholders participation, lack of mainstreaming of biodiversity with other sectors, lack of transfer of technology and expertise, inadequate engagement of the scientific community, poverty, increasing population, climate change, and natural disasters. It is high time that we act now otherwise the biodiversity will vanish and the next generation would see only pictures, movies, and stuffed toys of biodiversity.

Thanks.