Karachi’s forest in peril

Conservationists, fishermen urge govt to protect mangrove forests

KARACHI:

The mangroves - the lifeline of the port city - are being cut gradually. The danger looms over the city. The timber mafias have hacked away thicket after thicket of mangrove trees lining the coast, leaving the people vulnerable to threats brewing at sea.

“We need to save these trees. They provide us oxygen and protect the ecosystem,” said Architect and Filmmaker Tariq Alexander Qaiser. In his documentary titled ‘A Forest In Peril’ aired on the Express TV, Qaiser tried to sketch a clear picture of the mangroves near the city.

He tries to introduce the value of flora and fauna. Qaisar has been visiting the mangrove forests for last about 15 years and see them being reduced regularly.

PHOTO: EXPRESS

“This jungle is near to the city,” he said. “We need to protect it. The law is there but not being implemented.” It is estimated that 90 per cent commercially important tropical marine species, like prawns, spend some part of their life in the mangroves. In 1998, the IUCN had warned that if mangroves deplete, up to 250,000 tons of fish caught off the Sindh coast will be at risk.

According to Flora of Pakistan, eight species of plants have been identified along the coast of Pakistan, out of which four have completely disappeared. Meanwhile, three species are on the verge of extinction and only Avicenna Marina is surviving in the Indus delta.

The experts said that due to urbanization and industrialization, the growth of mangrove shrubs has been affected badly. “It’s necessary to protect and preserve these forests for generations to come,” Qaiser urged. “I caught crabs in these forests during my childhood,” Ismail, a fisherman, commented.

PHOTO: EXPRESS

He also witnessed mangroves being cut and sold in the market. Mangrove locally called ‘Timar’ not only protects us from natural disasters, but also provide shelter to the marine life which earns the local fishermen a living. “They produce oxygen for us,” Qaiser said.

Conservationist and Photographer Taimor Mirza said: “Karachiites spend all their life within homes made of concretes. They do not have trees or had already cut them,” he said.

These mangroves, he pointed out, is a natural gift to the people of Karachi. Qaisar briefed that the law allows local communities to collect the wood from the forest. “But the mafia exploits it and I see them cutting mangrove trees regularly in last two years.”

PHOTO: EXPRESS

He said that those who cut mangroves were poor people. “But the mafia behind this is powerful.” “The wood is being used in factories,” Waqas, a fisherman said. Another fisherman said that: “we have fish and prawns because of these trees. He also pointed out that deforestation is common. “The government should take appropriate measures,” he demanded.

Qaiser said that the demand of mangrove wood was going up because of the shortage of gas. On the other hand, about 7,000 tone garbage and 400 million gallon sewerage water is being released into sea regularly. Even the hospital waste is thrown in the sea. Similarly, the government and the non-governmental organization have been trying to plant mangroves at different spots along the coast. But, Qaiser said, the only to preserve mangrove forests near Karachi city is to declare mangroves as natural reserves.

PHOTO: EXPRESS

“There should be a complete ban on the sale and purchase of mangroves in the market,” he suggested. “These are protected forest,” he said.

Though the local communities are aware of the value of having mangroves around them and they have been cutting them for decades. “But the commercial demand is a recent phenomenon,” Tariq said.