Bamyan – To celebrate the International Day of Peace, UN Environment and Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) hosted their 8th annual Peace Trek in the Koh-e Baba mountains of Bamyan. Students, teachers, community leaders, and government representatives gathered in Kamati village to raise awareness of the linkages between peace and the environment, all while enjoying a trek in one of the country’s most stunning landscapes.
The global theme of this year’s International Day of Peace was “The Sustainable Development Goals: Building Blocks for Peace.” In Afghanistan, where the ideals of peace are intimately linked to the country’s environment and natural resources, this message rings loud and clear.
This year’s Peace Trek kicked off with students from Bamyan University and Kamati school drawing flags of peace, that they then carried with them on the trek. The autumnal colors of Kamati valley brought serenity to the peace trekkers as they proceeded up Kamati’s high alpine community access trail.
Along the way, short speeches were made by representatives from Kamati village, Bamyan University, government, NGOs, and UN partners on the issues of peace, conflict over natural resources, climate change, natural disasters, health, and social inequality. Mr. Ibrahim Abrar, Project Manager of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), highlighted that “without peace we will not have a safe environment and without a healthy environment people will still fight for resources.”
The Governor of Bamyan, Mr. Tahir Zuhair, spoke with the villagers of Kamati and expressed that “environment and nature are the two most important factors that human beings rely on in terms of life and shelter. The Bamyan local government is dedicated to providing security and peace to ensure that projects continue in the future.”
UN Environment’s ongoing programme in the Koh-e Baba, in collaboration with local partners and communities, combines environmental science with on-the-ground interventions to build the resilience of rural communities and the ecosystems they rely upon. This includes strategic collaborations, landscape-scale scientific imaging and monitoring tools, community-based natural resource management, capacity-building trainings, and public outreach to increase environmental awareness and knowledge.
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