Commencing the second leg of the TREK initiative, Nestlé Pakistan, World Bank, GDA and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government launched the communication campaign for raising awareness on responsible tourism for a waste-free future in Nathiagali earlier on Thursday.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had unveiled the logo for TREK (Travel Responsibly for Experiencing Ecotourism in KP) along with the KP government back in December. It has been listed amongst the federal government’s key achievements of 2020, and is part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Integrated Tourism Development (KITE) project, in line with the prime minister’s vision to promote tourism in the northern areas.
The event featured an awareness walk, highlighting the importance and need to protect the ecosystem, preserve heritage and promote sustainable tourism. Reusable bags were distributed amongst dignitaries who also inaugurated new signboards that feature public service messages for awareness in the region.
On the occasion, Raza Ali Habib, Director General, Galiyat Development Authority said, “The GDA in collaboration with Nestle, KITE World Bank and Tourism Department is making all out efforts to promote responsible and sustainable tourism in Galiyat under the TREK initiative. This includes massive fruit tree plantation drive, anti littering campaign, distribution of reusable cotton bags and a nationwide awareness campaign.”
Meanwhile, Samer Chedid, CEO Nestlé Pakistan said, “At Nestlé, our vision is that none of our packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfill or rivers. To achieve this, we have set ourselves the commitment of ensuring 100% of our packaging is reusable or recyclable by 2025.”
“We are excited for this partnership on responsible tourism: we will be shaping a waste-free future by driving new behavior that contribute towards a cleaner environment.”
Tauseef Khalid, Project Director, KITE said, “TREK is an initiative under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Integrated Tourism Development (KITE) project being implemented in partnership with the World Bank Group and Nestlé Pakistan.”
“Activities within TREK include provision of solid waste management equipment, awareness campaigns for tourists, that will be launched, installation of information boards and training of local communities on waste minimization and collection, apart from provision of restrooms for tourists’ facilitation under KITE,” he said.
Kiran Afzal, Senior Private Sector Specialist, of the World Bank Group conveyed that the occasion marks an important phase of TREK’s implementation, and “we expect to see more contributions from the private sector towards responsible tourism.”
Nestlé Pakistan’s commitment to TREK includes 2 pillars: A Massive Awareness
Campaign focusing on Reduce, Reuse and Recycle and a Community Engagement plan which includes activities that will help in countering the issues of waste, pollution and destruction of wildlife.
