View of Margalla Hills from Shakarparian, Sunset

The Margalla Hills () are a hill range within the Margalla Hills National Park on the northern edge of

Islamabad Capital Territory The Islamabad Capital Territory ( ur, , translit=Vafāqī Dār-alhakūmat) is the only federal territory of Pakistan. Located between the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it includes the country's capital city of Islamabad. The t ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, just south of Haripur District,

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...

. They are part of the Himalayan foothills. The Margalla range has an area of 12,605 hectares. It is a range with many valleys as well as high mountains.

Infrastructure

Khayaban-e-Iqbal, arises on the north east side from the 4th Avenue (Nur Pur Shahan), runs between E and F sectors, and ends at Service Road West of F-11 and E-11 ( Golra) sectors in the south-east. It will be extended up to Grand Trunk (GT) Road in the near future.

Paleontology and archeology

According to the research carried out by scientists and archaeologists of the project "Post-Earthquake Explorations of Human Remains in Margalla Hills", the formation of the Margalla Hills dates to the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

epoch. The dominant

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

of the Margalla is mixed with

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

and occasional minor beds of

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especiall ...

. The archaeologists of the project have also found two human footprints over one million years old here, preserved in sandstone.

Flora and fauna

Original GT Road between Margalla and kala Chitta

There are around 250 to 300 species of plants on the Margalla Hills. As many as two-thirds of them are used by the people for their medicinal effects to treat or cure various diseases. The Margalla Hills are home to various species of wildlife, including

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

s, exotic birds and

carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other s ...

s such as the rare and presently endangered Margalla

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...

. Much less common are leopards, which occasionally come down from the Murree area but usually remain high up in the hills. Villagers dwelling in the Margallas do report sighting of leopards off and on.

Recreation

Bird watching

The Margallas are an excellent place for

bird watcher Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

s. The area is home to a large number of birds, including robins, sparrows, kites, crows, larks, paradise flycatchers, black partridge, shrikes, pheasants, spotted doves, Egyptian vultures, falcons, hawks, eagles, Himalayan griffon vulture, laggar falcon,

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey bac ...

, kestrel, Indian sparrow hawk, white cheeked bulbul, yellow vented bulbul, paradise flycatcher, cheer pheasant, Khalij pheasant, golden oriole, spotted dove, collared dove, wheatears and buntings. The cheer pheasant, indigenous to the

, was being reared in Margalla Hills as a part of conservation campaign by the World Pheasant Association and Capital Development Authority.

Hiking trails

There are several hiking trails in the Margalla Hills. Trail 3 and 5 are the most popular ones, starting from the Margalla Road opposite sector F-6 and ending at the Pir Sohawa Road.

Environmental conservation

The ecology of Margallas faces threats from quarrying by stone-crushing plants, deforestation, illegal encroachments, and buildings, and poachers. Crush plants situated around the hills near

Taxila Taxila or Takshashila (; sa, तक्षशिला; pi, ; , ; , ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area a ...

are busy eroding the hills for extracting building material.

Deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

is resulting from fires and illegal felling of trees.

Margalla Hills Society

The Margalla Hills Society was established in 1989.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Pakistan

The WWF-Pakistan's 'Green School Programme', in collaboration with the Capital Development Authority (CDA), carries out 'Eco-Adventure Activities' on the Margalla hills to raise awareness in the school children regarding the conservation of natural environment and about the importance of being environmentally responsible.

Events

* On 28 July 2010,

Airblue Flight 202 Airblue Flight 202 was a scheduled Pakistani domestic passenger flight from Karachi to the nation's capital of Islamabad. On 28 July 2010, the Airbus A321-231 jet airliner serving the flight crashed into Margalla Hills, north of Islamabad's Ben ...

crashed in the Margalla Hills. * On 6 January 2012, snowfall over Margalla Hills. * On 11 February 2016, snowfall over Margalla Hills.

Places in Margalla Hills

* Daman-e-Koh * Pir Sohawa * Shahdara, Islamabad

References

{{PunjabGeography Hill stations in Pakistan Hills of Pakistan Landforms of Islamabad Climbing areas of Pakistan Mountain ranges of the Himalayas Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests