Taming the terrain: GIS to boost wildlife conservation in Sindh

KARACHI: The Sindh wildlife department has acquired the Geographic Information System (GIS), announced Sindh Forests and Wildlife Secretary Mushtaq Ali Memon at the equipment’s inauguration ceremony.

The GIS node was set up with the support of the Pakistan Wetlands Programme, World Wildlife Fund, Pakistan.

“This initiative will help us carry out scientific assessments of protected areas in Sindh,” said Dr Ghulam Akbar, National Programme Manager of the Pakistan Wetlands Programme.

Similar nodes have been set up at all provincial wildlife departments in the country. These nodes are connected to a main GIS laboratory, based in the federal environment ministry’s National Commission on Conservation of Wildlife (NCCW) in Islamabad, he added.

There are 225 significant wetlands in the country, out of which 18 are Ramsar [a global environmental convention] sites and 10 of these Ramsar sites are located in Sindh. “Therefore, the GIS facility in Sindh’s wildlife department is of immense importance to conserve these globally significant wetlands,” he said. Dr Fehmida Firdous, the Sindh wildlife conservator, emphasised the use of the GIS system and remote sensing techniques in documenting and planning for important wildlife habitats.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st,  2011.