Nadeem Khalid elected president of WWF-Pakistan
KARACHI: The Board of Directors of WWF-Pakistan have elected Nadeem Khalid as the new President of WWF-Pakistan. He is preceded by Ahmer Bilal Soofi, a renowned lawyer, who was the incumbent president from April 2015 to April 2021.
Profile of Khalid Nadeem
Nadeem Khalid son of noted Left wing leader Saif Khalid is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Herbion Group of Companies since 1995. He holds a Master’s degree in Engineering from People’s Friendship University, Moscow, Russia.
Khalid has long been associated with WWF-Pakistan and has served twice as a board member of the organization while also heading the HR committee.
Nadeem is an avid sailor and scuba diver with a passion for nature conservation. He is also the Honorary Consul General of Mongolia in Pakistan and Commodore of Karachi Yacht Club.
He is also serving on the Board of Peace Niche/T2F and VASL (Artists Collective).
Outgoing president Ahmer Bilal Soofi
During the leadership of Ahmer Bilal Soofi, the organization took strides in the areas of tackling illegal wildlife trade, promotion of alternative energy resources, freshwater stewardship, climate change, alternate livelihood interventions, improving forest cover and marine and coastal protection initiatives.
During his tenure, Soofi provided strategic support and suggested policies for long-term solutions to freshwater challenges in Pakistan and exclusively wrote about the transboundary water conflict be- tween Pakistan and India.
Soofi also took up pro-bono cases in major environmental causes and supported WWF-Pakistan by representing it in both the High Court and the Supreme Court in matters such as the new Murree case, Murree forest case, protection of Surla Wildife Sanctuary near Chakwal and several other issues of considerable importance.
Over the decades, WWF-Pakistan has been headed by noted Pakistani philanthropists and businessmen, who have guided the organization to make it one of the most prominent environmental and conservation organizations in the country.
Hammad Naqi Khan, Director General WWF-Pakistan, thanked Ahmer Bilal Soofi for his continuous support and unrelenting efforts for environmental protection and conservation in Pakistan.The outgoing president welcomed his successor and hopes the organization will benefit from the passion, experience and vision of Nadeem Khalid.
Message of new president
In his message, Nadeem Khalid expressed his strong commitment to protect biodiversity, improve marine environment along our shoreline, enhance the forest cover throughout the country and take efforts to address plastic pollution, which is polluting rivers and freshwater bodies.
He said that the country is facing myriad of challenges caused by unsustainable human activities, which need to be addressed through collaborative and holistic approaches while also emphasizing that the development agenda should incorporate environmental considerations at multiple scales.
“COVID-19 is a grim reminder of how humanity has left a damaging stamp on nature, which needs concerted efforts to change.
Bringing nature conservation to the forefront of how we live our daily lives is imperative otherwise we are not going to be able to ensure human wellbeing and planetary health.
Nature provides sustenance for humanity, which is why we need to act prudently as the future of our coming generations depends on how we treat it today,” he remarked.
