Pakistani fishermen have now joined hands with wildlife officials to defend the flagship species of Pakistan, the Indus River dolphin. The species, one of the rarest freshwater creatures in the world, has been driven to extinction as a result of excessive poaching, water pollution and climate change. It has been catergorised as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature after researchers noticed a significant fall — by more than 50% — in its population.
A dolphin monitoring network was set up with the help of WWF and the provincial wildlife department following a door-to-door awareness campaign with the local fishing community. It is heartening to see the locals actively involved the process. Such sustainable projects are rarely initiated, let alone implemented in Pakistan.
The most significant achievement of this project is that it has changed the mindset of the local fishermen, who viewed these dolphins as a means of earning money rather than as living creatures that coexists together with us. Even though concerted efforts by officials have helped these dolphins survive, the barrages on the Indus River have disrupted the movement pattern of these dolphins, who have had to restrict themselves to a 180km strip of waterway in Sindh. As a result, many often end up in dangerously low water levels. Even though fishermen are now quick to respond and bring them back to open waters, this is not the ultimate solution.
We must do away with any such infrastructure that causes harm to biodiversity. We must do everything within our means to conserve the natural habitat of these animals. In the wake of extinction, we must no longer look at nature and animals as merely resources used to meet our needs. Instead, these animals are a part of the same ecosystem, the same web of life that we are a part of. Once we learn to accept this, our whole outlook towards nature changes. Who knows, perhaps we might be the next in line for extinction.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 19th, 2021.
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