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Help Bilal to secure DPhil at Christ Church Oxford
Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Aim: I am the first Pakistani who got an offer for a DPhil in Biology from WildCRU, Oxford. However, I need the required funds to secure a place.
The Conservation Funding Gap
There is a huge conservation funding gap globally, and multiple forms of revenue streams are required for effective and equitable conservation. There are often deeply polarising debates about the role and impacts of different wildlife-based land uses, in terms of impacts on wildlife species and the communities living closest to them.
Study Region
Gilgit-Baltistan, known as the Third Pole, hosts five of the world’s fourteen 8,000-metre peaks and the largest non-polar glaciers. Its Himalayan-Karakorum-Hindukush ranges support iconic wildlife like Snow Leopards, Markhor, Himalayan Ibex, and Brown Bears. Historically a destination for 19th-century British explorers, the region saw growth in mountain tourism after Pakistan’s independence, with the opening of the Karakorum Highway in the 1990s.
(A family of four Snow Leopards and Skardu Markhors, a subspecies of Astore Markhor, taken by BWCDO camera traps in Central Karakorum National Park)
Research Problem
Over the past three decades, different types of tourism in Gilgit-Baltistan has surged from 10,000 visitors in 1995 to nearly 2 million in 2024. Around 20000 foreigners visited GB, and a total revenue of 270 Million Rupees was generated. This presents both development opportunities and conservation challenges amidst climate change and glacial melt.
Proposed Research
Through my DPhil in Biology at the University of Oxford, I will investigate the socio-economic and ecological impacts of community-based mountain tourism in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. My research will focus on three key sites—Central Karakoram National Park (the Highest National park in the World), Khunjerab National Park (home to the world’s highest border crossing), and Deosai National Park (the second-highest plateau on Earth)—utilising three decades of tourism data.
(Right: Baltoro Glacier with 4 eight-thousanders, by Sir Eric Shipton (RGS-1930) Left: Documenting locals’ views about wildlife tourism with BWCDO in CKNP)
My research will compare the impacts of different types of tourism on local culture, wildlife perceptions, and revenue distribution within communities. Ecologically, I will assess the impacts of different types of tourism on key species—snow leopard, Himalayan wolf, brown bear, lynx, ibex, and Astore markhor—especially in the context of climate change and subsequent habitat shifting. In the final chapter, I will explore the potential of emerging nature-based activities like wildlife viewing and photography, which are gaining popularity in the region as seen through social media trends.
Funding
I have applied to the Steppes Travel and various other scholarships for partial funding, and through this fundraiser, I am seeking to cover the rest. Additionally, the local NGOs and Wildlife Department have pledged in-country support for field activities.
As the first Pakistani in nearly forty years to join Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Linnean Society of London, I am uniquely positioned to lead this 1st of its kind impactful research that brings forward the Pakistani perspective on the impacts of tourism on mountian biodiversity and communities.
Landscape of the 2nd Highest Plateau on Earth- Deosai National Park