‘Conservation of natural resources a necessity’
KARACHI:
We need to protect and conserve natural resources in Sindh that are depleting at a fast pace, Environmentalists, conservationists, wildlife experts and other members of the civil society debated at a seminar, organised by the World Wildlife Federation-Pakistan (WWF-P)under its Indus for All Programme on Sunday.
The environment has already faced extensive damage and must be protected against further destruction, speakers said at the launch of the documentary, titled “Flowing Indus River Forever”, where they also referred to a study, titled “Traditional Ecological Knowledge”, as well as manuals on “Better Management Practices for Cotton and Wheat” to stress on the need of creating awareness regarding the importance of the Indus region as well as the “priority sites” across the province.
“The video documentary and written material will be of great help in spreading ecological knowledge among the people. It is important to involve them in protecting and conserving the environment and natural resources,” said WWF-P conservation manager Dr Altaf Abro.
“Sindh is bestowed with unique kinds of fauna and flora. Unfortunately, some of it has already been lost to unhealthy human activities and our attitude towards the environment,” said WWF-P Indus for All Programme coordinator Nasir Panhwar.
“Our forests are being chopped down by some unscrupulous elements, causing irreversible damage to the environment and wildlife,” said scholar Qalandar Shah, who added that, “An unchecked cutting of trees has led to the extinction of a number of species, including birds and other wildlife.”
He said that the “ecological folk knowledge” is an asset that should be preserved for the coming generations and people should be persuaded to play their role in the protection of natural resources.
“An unnecessarily increased use of chemicals in farming has led to the erosion of the agricultural ecology,” said Sindh Abadgar Board president Abdul Majeed Nizamani, who added that the agricultural productivity of the province has become stagnant due to poor cultivation techniques.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th, 2010.
We need to protect and conserve natural resources in Sindh that are depleting at a fast pace, Environmentalists, conservationists, wildlife experts and other members of the civil society debated at a seminar, organised by the World Wildlife Federation-Pakistan (WWF-P)under its Indus for All Programme on Sunday.
The environment has already faced extensive damage and must be protected against further destruction, speakers said at the launch of the documentary, titled “Flowing Indus River Forever”, where they also referred to a study, titled “Traditional Ecological Knowledge”, as well as manuals on “Better Management Practices for Cotton and Wheat” to stress on the need of creating awareness regarding the importance of the Indus region as well as the “priority sites” across the province.
“The video documentary and written material will be of great help in spreading ecological knowledge among the people. It is important to involve them in protecting and conserving the environment and natural resources,” said WWF-P conservation manager Dr Altaf Abro.
“Sindh is bestowed with unique kinds of fauna and flora. Unfortunately, some of it has already been lost to unhealthy human activities and our attitude towards the environment,” said WWF-P Indus for All Programme coordinator Nasir Panhwar.
“Our forests are being chopped down by some unscrupulous elements, causing irreversible damage to the environment and wildlife,” said scholar Qalandar Shah, who added that, “An unchecked cutting of trees has led to the extinction of a number of species, including birds and other wildlife.”
He said that the “ecological folk knowledge” is an asset that should be preserved for the coming generations and people should be persuaded to play their role in the protection of natural resources.
“An unnecessarily increased use of chemicals in farming has led to the erosion of the agricultural ecology,” said Sindh Abadgar Board president Abdul Majeed Nizamani, who added that the agricultural productivity of the province has become stagnant due to poor cultivation techniques.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th, 2010.