Wildlife Conservation in Pakistan: Legislation, Human Impact, and Islamic Environmental Ethics

Abstract

Pakistan’s rich biodiversity is under serious threat as socio-economic pressures, weak enforcement and human-wildlife conflicts have led to escalating wildlife law violations. This paper assesses the effectiveness of Pakistan’s provincial and national wildlife laws in the face of persistent violations by local communities and well-organized poaching groups. The root causes of hunting, habitat encroachment, and illegal trade are analyzed in this paper using qualitative desk-research methodology and data analysis between 2015 and 2026. The findings show that although comprehensive legal frameworks exist on paper, their implementation is impeded by corruption, lack of resources and institutional gaps. Moreover, non-compliance is compounded by the alienation of indigenous communities from conservation policies.

 The study finds that the future of wildlife in Pakistan is in moving from a purely punitive legal approach to an integrated community-based conservation model backed by rigorous judicial reforms.