12 September, 2013

Italian move revives interest in K2


Islamabad – Reviving Italy’s hundred years love for K2 which first began with Filippo De Filippi’s 1913 expedition to the majestic mountains, an enlightening event was held here at National Art Gallery in Islamabad that comprised of a photo exhibit, film festival and a scientific conference.

The photo exhibit ‘Rediscovering the abode of snow’– a tribute to scientific expedition by Filippo De Filippi – features some 300 high resolution enlargements of the original photographs depicting the natural landscape and the pioneering scientific works of De Filippi. The Exhibition is part of the four-day event (Sept. 9-10 in Islamabad and Sept. 12-13 in Skardu), jointly organized by the Ev-K2-CNR Committee, the SEED project, Karakorum International University (KIU) with the patronage of the Italian embassy in Islamabad to celebrate the bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Italy.

Upper Baltoro - Photo taken by Filippo De Filippi (1912) -
Photo Courtesy: Italian Embassy Facebook Page
“The Karakorum range and the K2 have been familiar names in Italy for very long time, creating an ideal bridge between our two countries” shared Head of the Cultural Affairs at the Italian Embassy, Federido Bianchi recalling great Italian explorers like the Duke of Abruzzi and Count Ardito Desio.

07 September, 2013

Accord to motivate Nature friendly Business in Pakistan

Sana Jamal

Islamabad – In a bid to incorporate biodiversity friendly practices into business policies, an Agreement has been signed by IUCN Pakistan and the Climate Change Division, Government of Pakistan in Islamabad. The agreement aims to stimulate market demand for nature-friendly products and to enhance institutional capacities to scale up biodiversity and business in Northern Pakistan over a period of four years under a GEF/UNDP funded project titled: ‘Mountains and Markets’. The GEF Project seeks to support ongoing biodiversity conservation efforts in northern Pakistan by using market-based mechanisms to strengthen community co-management of Pakistan’s biodiversity-rich mountain ecosystems.