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 Why ECHO?
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Lack of Basic Facilities
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Endangered Species
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ECHO‘s Primary Goals
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Permission for Vocational     Schools
Pledge of the Communities
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2005 Earthquake
 Positive Impact on Wildlife
Effect on Endangered Wildlife
 ECHO‘s Expectations
Future Plan
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Communities

The designated communities of ECHO are situated around the peripheral sides of Deosai National Park:

  1. The village of Skardu is on the eastern boundary of the park
  2. Bubin, Murrat, Yagum, Bumrooi and Gudai communities are located in the pasturelands to the Northwest of Deosai.
  3. Dass Kharium, Kharium Daree, Bass Bala, Dass Paeen, Palnnat, Dirlay, Haji Noor Khan Chuck, Zing Utze, Chilam Dass and Sher Kuli villages are situated along the southeastern to southwestern border of Deosai National Park.

Winter is a very harsh season in this area and lasts from 6 to 7 months. Snowfall starts from the beginning of November, and approximately 8 to 14 feet snow covers the whole landscape. Herders look after their livestock, and devote most of their time to shoveling snow from their houses and livestock hut roofs, feeding and milking goat and sheep, cows and yaks and collecting firewood. Often they have to clear the trails in order to bring water from the iced river for cooking and for their livestock.

At the beginning of the winter season, men come out in search of ungulates for their "Nasalow." Most of the men prefer to have an easy and inexpensive wild Nasalow, instead of spending thousands of rupees to buy a big animal. What effect does this tradition have on the endemic ungulates? These ungulates (wild goat and sheep) are the prey species for the snow leopard and brown bear. Therefore, the decrease in numbers of ungulates results in a diminishing population of carnivores.

In the summer most of the people have one growing season annually; potato and wheat are the only major crops. From the first of April to the 30th of May, the people of the area are busy with cultivation. Also, herders take their livestock for grazing in the pastures from June to September, while the older people stay at home in order to look after the children. After harvesting their crops and clearing their fields, the villagers take their livestock back to the communities at the lower elevations for the winter.

Then, the men go to the higher elevations for wood collection at their particular village￿s designated areas. Meanwhile, the women thrush the grains for winter preparation before the snow start to fall.