President urges protection of wetlands

President Asif Ali Zardari, reaffirming the commitment to the conservation and sustainable management of wetlands, urged citizens—particularly youth, local communities, and policymakers—to value, protect, and sustainably manage wetlands as vital cultural and ecological assets.

"This day marks the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands, also known as the Ramsar Convention, in 1971. Pakistan is a signatory to this landmark agreement, which promotes the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands and their resources for present and future generations," the president said in a message on the observance of World Wetlands Day on February 2.

He said the World Wetlands Day 2026 theme, "Wetlands and Traditional Knowledge: Celebrating Cultural Heritage," reminded them that wetlands were not merely ecological systems.

"They are living cultural landscapes shaped over centuries by local communities. Across Pakistan, traditional knowledge and practices linked to wetlands have supported livelihoods, food security, biodiversity conservation and a balanced relationship with nature," President's Secretariat Media Wing, in a statement, quoted the president as saying.

President Zardari said water security in the region depended on responsible and lawful transboundary cooperation. "Pakistan remains concerned over unilateral actions by India affecting the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, a legally binding agreement that has governed equitable water sharing in the Indus Basin for decades," he added.

He noted that the suspension of treaty mechanisms, including the sharing of hydrological data, undermined trust and predictability when climate pressures required greater cooperation.

"Water must never be used as a tool of coercion, and the weaponisation of water as an instrument of war against Pakistan must be rejected, as the disruption of river flows threatens millions of lives, livelihoods, and food systems in a country reliant on the Indus Basin," he emphasised.

The president observed that healthy wetlands reduce floods, protect coasts, sustain livelihoods and cut emissions, adding that neglecting them multiplies climate losses, while restoring them delivers high returns for resilience, the economy and ecology.

He observed that Pakistan was among the countries least responsible for climate change yet most exposed to its consequences. "Our wetlands are frontline climate defenders against floods, droughts, heatwaves and sea-level rise," he added.

Pakistan's diverse wetlands, the president said, played a critical role in biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation, water regulation and disaster risk reduction.