Hazara Waterfalls In Jab Valley Set To Transform Into Eco-tourism Hub With Uk-funded Project, Linking Cultural Heritage And Natural Beauty Near Islamabad

Published on September 8, 2025

The Hazara Waterfalls successful Jab Valley, Haripur, are undergoing a transformative eco-tourism project, acknowledgment to a UK-backed initiative. Located conscionable a two-hour thrust from Islamabad, these stunning waterfalls are group to go a awesome tourer destination for nan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region. The task intends to supply safer entree to nan falls while preserving nan surrounding earthy environment. In summation to promoting tourism, nan task will item nan region’s taste heritage, peculiarly nan adjacent Bhamala Stupa, a important Buddhist monument. With important financial backing from nan UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and WWF-Pakistan, this effort is expected to boost section economies, protect nan environment, and connection a caller recreation circuit for visitors looking to research nan rich | history and stunning landscapes of nan region.

The Eco-Tourism Development Plan

The project, chiefly funded done nan UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), intends to heighten Jab Valley’s eco-tourism potential. An first finance of Rs5 cardinal will attraction connected constructing a safe stepping way starring to nan Hazara Waterfalls and establishing a mini tourer hut. This inaugural addresses nan existent accessibility challenges, wherever visitors must navigate a vulnerable way traditionally utilized by locals to carrier firewood. The caller way is group to beryllium completed by mid-October 2025, providing a safer and much sustainable way for eco-tourists.

The waterfalls, which dwell of 8 cascading falls pinch nan tallest being astir 400 feet high, are among nan astir awesome earthy attractions successful Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The site, which is located conscionable 45 minutes from nan celebrated Khanpur Dam, offers a unsocial opportunity to blend nature-based tourism pinch taste exploration. The region’s proximity to Bhamala, which is location to a 1,700-year-old Buddhist stupa, further enhances its entreaty arsenic a dual-purpose tourer destination.

Enhancing nan Tourism Experience

The improvement of Jab Valley arsenic a tourism hub is not conscionable astir infrastructure; it’s astir creating a sustainable exemplary for nan future. The project, spearheaded by WWF-Pakistan’s Water Resource Accountability Project (WRAP), will besides attraction connected biology protection. Ensuring that nan valley’s earthy resources are managed sustainably is simply a cardinal constituent of nan initiative. It besides offers section communities an replacement to harmful practices for illustration firewood collection, creating caller income-generating opportunities done tourism.

Visitors to nan area will beryllium capable to bask not only nan earthy beauty of nan Hazara Waterfalls but besides nan rich | taste practice of nan surrounding area. The Bhamala Stupa, which was discovered successful 2017, is considered 1 of nan astir important archaeological sites successful Pakistan and is expected to tie further liking erstwhile connected to nan recently developed tourism route.

Economic and Social Impacts

The tourism task successful Jab Valley is expected to importantly use section communities. By providing replacement livelihoods done eco-tourism, nan task intends to trim nan section reliance connected unsustainable activities, specified arsenic nan cutting of firewood. Furthermore, nan accrued travel of visitors is anticipated to create occupation opportunities for section youth, guides, drivers, and shopkeepers, fostering economical maturation successful nan region.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism Department has expressed support for nan project, emphasizing its imaginable to adhd caller and sustainable destinations to nan region’s tourism portfolio. If successful, nan exemplary could beryllium replicated astatine different under-explored earthy sites successful Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, creating a sustainable tourism model for nan full region.

Jab Valley: A New Alternative for Tourism

Jab Valley has nan imaginable to look arsenic a cardinal replacement to celebrated tourer spots for illustration Naran, Kaghan, and Swat, which are often overcrowded. With due readying and infrastructure development, Jab Valley tin go 1 of Pakistan’s premier eco-tourism destinations, offering a tranquil flight from nan hustle and bustle of much crowded areas. Experts successful nan tourism assemblage judge that nan operation of earthy beauty and taste practice will make Jab Valley a highly sought-after destination for some home and world visitors.

In summation to its earthy allure, nan project’s attraction connected sustainability and organization engagement will guarantee that Jab Valley remains an environmentally friends and culturally rich | destination for years to come. This equilibrium betwixt tourism improvement and biology preservation will group a caller modular for sustainable tourism successful Pakistan.

A Vision for nan Future

With building already underway, Jab Valley is group to go a recognized eco-tourism hotspot. The integration of some earthy beauty and taste practice makes it a unsocial destination for travelers seeking an immersive and sustainable experience. The semipermanent imagination for Jab Valley is to go a exemplary for responsible tourism, benefiting some visitors and section communities while preserving nan region’s vulnerable environment.