The mighty mountain regions of Himalayas, Karakoram, Hindukush and Pamir have been the natural habitat for a number of species of rare wildlife including Himalayan Ibex (Capra ibex sibirica) Blue Sheep (Pseudois nayaur) and Flare-horned Markhor (Caprafalconeri).
Trophy-hunting was introduced in Gilgit-Baltistan as part of a number of activities for Natural Resource Management (NRM) in collaboration with Aga Khan Rural Support Program, local communities, WWF and Gilgit-Baltistan government’s Wildlife Conservation Department. Key objective was to protect wildlife in Gilgit-Baltistan and particularly those species which are proven to be extinct because of excessive hunting by local hunters and security personell along the border regions.

“In terms of purity, verticality governs the appreciation and perception of the environment. The river gorge is considered as the habitat of adders and less esteemed than the high-lying pastures and glaciers under the reign of fairies (pari), where ibex (Capra ibex), Marco Polo sheep (Ovis ammon) and blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) are to be found. In many ways the environment and its perception used to be highly structured with precise attributions of land use and property to each parcel of land, with unrecorded water rights that were known to everybody, and with spiritual estimations that identified individual access and user rights. It is this canon of order and belonging that has been amended and transformed by demographic, historical and political developments. “
~Hermann Kreutzmann

In order to involve local communities for this conservation and rehabilitation program, community game watchers have been appointed who are trained professionals and given the full authority to prevent illegal hunting. Technical equipment was provided to watch closely the movements of wildlife and keep the close records of population of various species, within the territories, assigned to them. Various regions like Khunjerab area in upper Hunza, Shimshal and Deosai plateau were declared National Parks and minimized the human interaction to wildlife at a lowest level possible.
In the second phase of this conservation program which has already brought tangible results within few years, a trophy hunting scheme was introduced, when the population of various species reached to a satisfactory and a sustainable level. A limited number of permits were auctioned every year to international hunters and hunting outfitters during the specified hunting season and the proceeds from these permits were distributed between the local community organizations and the government, with the ratio of sixty and forty percent respectively. This program benefited all three parties involved, wildlife conservation, local communities and the government, and numbers of wildlife species are increasing remarkably, the local communities getting the benefit at par and the proceeds from sale of these permits spent on various public projects like schools, drinking water and building and repairing water channels etc. Government organizations get extra funds through the permit fees to pay the game watchers well and provide professional trainings and technical equipments, to its field staff and game watchers.