Torghar is located in Killa Saifullah District, Balochistan Province, Pakistan and is the northern most part of Toba Kakar Range. The area is approximately 90 km long and 20 to 25 km wide. The altitude varies between 2,500-3,300 meters.

There is a strong seasonality in climate, both in temperature and precipitation. Summer temperatures are hot, up to 35 C. winters are cold-sometimes as low as - 15º C, there is a strong variation between day and night temperatures. Precipitation during the winter (end December to end February) mostly occurs as snow. Rainfall is light and variable, with the annual average about 200-250 mm. March and April are the rainiest months, and some summer rainfall is received in July and August.

Area is characterized by "steppe" types of vegetation, which vary with elevation and substrate. The lower slopes (1,000-2,000) of the hills have largely been denuded of trees and shrubs. Those trees which remain are widely scattered and consist primarily of Olive (Olea ferruginea), wild pistachio (Pistacia khinjuk), juniper (Junipers macropoda or excelsa), and ash (Fraxinus xanthoxyloides). Tamarisk (Tamarix sp.) trees border the streambeds. Overgrazing of the valleys has resulted in xerophytic scrub vegetation dominated by Acacia sp., Artemisia sp., Haloxylon sp., and Rosa sp. Rugged slopes have received less grazing pressure, and still have bunch grasses. Higher elevations (2,000-3,300 m) have Juniper.

The key species are Sulaiman Markhor (Capra falconeri jerdoni) and Afghan Urial (Ovis orientalis cycloceros) besides these, Wolf (Canis lupus), Jackal (Canis aureus), Pallas's Cat (Felis manul), Steppe Wild Cat (Felis silvestris ornata) etc. and many small mammals especially Afghan Mole Vole (Ellobius fuscocapillus) have also been recorded from the area. About 78 bird species, many of them breeding, have been recorded from the area to date (see Appendix II ).

Inhabitants of Torghar are indigenous groups living since centuries in these mountains. They are Pashtun and belong to the Kakar tribe ? one of the largest tribes of Pashtuns. Kakars are divided into two principal sub-tribes, the Sanzar Khail and Sanatya. The Sanzar Khail are further sub-divided into the Jalazai, Mardanzai, Abdullazai, and other groups. The Jalalzais are divided into a number of clans, that which are represented at Torghar are: the Jogezai, Khudzai, Mirozai, Shabozai, Shahizai, Hakimzai and Mehmanzai. Shaizai are further divided into Hussain Khail and Pahlawan Khail sub-clans each of these clans/sub-clans owns a specific area of the mountain, hills, and plain. This ownership is further sub-divided into individual family plots.

The total population of Torghar is about 4000 people. The Principal settlements in the Torghar Hills are Tanishpa, Kundra, Khaisore, Tor Gh'berg and Tubli. Individual residences are scattered throughout the Hills. The largest village is Tanishpa with nearly 25 households.

Torghar society is marked by extreme poverty. The people of Torghar are semi-nomadic pastoralists who tend large flocks of sheep and goats. There are virtually no formal sources of permanent or temporary employment in the Torghar Hills. Shepherds are sometimes hired seasonally to tend sheep and goats. Most families have permanent residences in the mountains, where some members of the family live year-round while other members of the family move seasonally with their flocks. In early spring, herders move their flocks out of the mountains to the plains of Kakar Khorasan to the north, where early autumn with much-reduced flocks, having sold surplus animals in the market.

A few small agricultural fields and orchards have been developed in Tanishpa where there is adequate level ground and a source of water for irrigation. In some places, land has been cleared and leveled by bulldozers to create fields and orchards. Agricultural crops include various vegetables. Orchard fruits include apples, almonds, apricots, and mulberries. Tribal people supplement their diet and income by collection of wild products i.e., wild pistachios, resin from certain trees, and various medicinal plants.

THE INITIATIVE

The wilderness of northeastern Balochistan has long been famous for its abundant and diverse wildlife; its mountains once contained populations of Sulaiman markhor, Afghan urial, leopard, and, in some places, black bear. The Torghar Hills were considered one of the most important wildlife areas of Zhob. Wildlife has been hunted there for a long time. Although a primitive weapons and the scarcity of ammunition limited the number of animals that were killed overall. Since the late 1970s, the Afghan war initiated a steady flow of refugees, weapons, and ammunition into the Zhob District of northeastern Balochistan. With modern weapons (e.g., Kalashnikov) and, especially, ammunition readily available, refugees, seasonal migrants, and local residents increased their hunting of local wildlife, indiscriminately killing all ages and sexes of animals. Wildlife populations dwindled throughout northeastern Balochistan, and Torghar was no exception. By the early 1980s its Sulaiman markhor and Afghan urial populations were reduced to remnants, and leopards have almost been extirpated from the region.

In 1984, the Government of Balochistan asked Naseer A. Tareen - a professional film-maker - to produce a film on the wildlife of Balochistan. Early on he felt that wildlife in the province was threatened with extinction. He was especially concerned about the Sulaiman markhor. Aware that the markhor was already considered an endangered species he was prepared to encounter difficulties in filming it, and went to every mountain known to have had Sulaiman markhor in the past. He found that there were virtually no Sulaiman markhor left anywhere in Balochistan. Worse still, he realized that nothing was being done to save the species from extinction.

The tribal areas in Balochistan are largely beyond the reach of Provincial and Federal laws; these areas are governed by tribal laws. Late Nawab Taimur Shah Jogazai twice petitioned the Provincial Government for assistance in protection of these areas without any result. Late Nawab discussed the problem with Mr. Tareen and finally gave him the responsibility to initiate wildlife conservation in his area.

After discussing the problem with Mr. David Ferguson of US Fish and Wild Service (US-FWS) in June 1984 at Washington DC. Mr. Tareen asked for some technical assistance. In December 1984, Dr. Richard Mitchell of the US-FWS?s Office of Scientific Authority traveled to Pakistan on their behalf to evaluate various projects supported by US-FWS. Mitchell was accompanied by Dr. Bart O'Gara, then head of the Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, and Dr. Bruce Bunting of World Wildlife Fund-US. They traveled to Quetta to discuss opportunities for initiating wildlife conservation activities in Balochistan with Tareen and provincial officials. These discussions led to development of a plan to initiate a "game guard" programme at Torghar. Although the idea was favorably received by the provincial wildlife department, they were unable to offer any financial or technical assistance. It was determined that the programme would be funded through the proceeds generated by a limited, controlled trophy hunt of Afghan urial.

Under the plan developed by Mitchell and O'Gara, the Torghar Hills was to be closed to all hunting - by locals and outsiders - and game guards selected from the local population would be hired to enforce the ban by protecting access to the area and reporting all trespassers. Surveys of large ungulates were to be conducted, and, when animal populations had recovered sufficiently, a limited number of permits for Afghan urial were to be sold to hunters - primarily foreign hunters. Controlled hunting of trophy animals was a critical component of the plan for two basic reasons. First, it was to generate the revenue necessary to support the game guard program. Second, it was to impress upon the game guards and other local tribes people that their economic well-being was directly tied to the abundance of markhor and urial, and would motivate them give full protection to those species. If wildlife populations did not recover to the point where they could be hunted - as a result of continued poaching or habitat degradation, for example- then there would be no funding for game guards and no ancillary benefits to other local tribes people.

After these discussion it was decided that Torghar would be closed for hunting of markhor and urial both by residents of Torghar and outsiders. The program was stared in 1985 by seven game guards. These game guards were former hunters who agreed to put down their weapons. Their initial duties were to prevent local from Killa Saifullah, Muslim Bagh Quetta and adjacent towns from hunting in Torghar.

The project continued to advance slowly as the years passed. Systematic hunting took place every year from 1986 on and the proceeds used to fund the project. Additional game guards were hired every year. New roads were constructed and existing roads were graded. Local people received various types of assistance (financial, medical, agricultural, etc.).

In April 1994, the Torghar Conservation Project was converted into an NGO - the Society for Torghar Environmental Protection (STEP) - and registered in Balochistan.