The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has declared Pakistan’s young athlete Mahnoor Saleh as its Youth Ambassador.
IUCN helps to ensure biodiversity conservancy and community-based eco-tourism in the Northern Areas of Pakistan.
IUCN-Pakistan has acknowledged Mahnoor Saleh, Pakistan’s youngest athlete, as the Youth Ambassador for Environment in Gilgit Baltistan on Tuesday, praising her efforts to break the restrictions and become a professional female winter sports player.
During a ceremony, the IUCN-Pakistan applauded Mahnoor Saleh’s astonishing contribution, greeting her from a remote part of the mountainous GB region, which is home to some of the world’s largest peaks, glaciers, and original biodiversity under risk from environmental degradation.
The young athlete had made the whole nation honored by winning a silver medal.
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Mahnoor has earned the title of the country’s youngest athlete at the age of just four years and seven months in the national winter sports, according to Country Director Mahmood Akhtar Cheema.
Moreover, he stated that the IUCN-Pakistan had been operational in the Northern Areas for four decades to preserve biodiversity conservation and community-based eco-tourism and that it had made partnerships with local and international partners to effectively carry out its objective.
He added, “IUCN’s experience of linking its conservation efforts to winter games in GB was an interesting experience that led to unearthing the hidden gems of the northern areas and untapped potential in the adventure sports.”
“Mahnoor is an inspiration for all of us to focus our efforts on environmental conservation and community development with a new and reinvigorated approach,” Mr. Cheema said.
Meanwhile, Mahnoor’s father acknowledged the IUCN, the Italian Agency Office for Development Cooperation (AICS), and his family for facilitating his daughter to learn skating. The proud father stated that the path was not easy and that local people had to face significant opposition because of social taboos.
“I and my wife brushed off all criticism and stayed the course to let our daughter achieve her goal”, he added.
