Radio gaga: Environmental experts go on air to bridge the communication gap

The coastal community project started with an investment of $40m.

KARACHI: Although radios have become old school, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is bringing them back to spread information and awareness on environmental issues in Sindh, especially the coastal districts.

The programme kicked off last month and has gained popularity in Thatta and Badin. It is a part of the Coastal Communities Development Project (CCDP), funded by the Asian Development Bank and the government of Sindh.

“The main purpose of the project is to reach out to as many people as possible,” said deputy project manager and the natural resources management expert at the IUCN, Ghulam Qadir Shah.  “The radio was selected because most people in rural areas do not have a television set or access to other media. The radio is still popular there.” He added that the shows were recorded in Sindhi and the content was specifically designed with the communities in mind.

While talking about what will go on air, the deputy project manager said that there were several models of the programme series. The first model was recorded discussions and will be aired from Radio Pakistan’s Hyderabad station. They hope to attract people from the community and government officials to come and discuss their problems and experience on the air. According to Shah, this would help bridge the communication gap. For the other model, the IUCN has identified experts from the fisheries, forestry, mangroves conservation, agriculture, pesticides and pollution to educate the communities.

While talking to The Express Tribune, IUCN’s coastal ecosystem’s senior adviser  Tahir Qureshi said that they had learned that it was better to give people short and effective messages in the form of slogans or catch-lines as they can be retained better. He added that the lines that really motivated them were ‘Grow a mangrove to save your house or if there are no mangroves, there will be no fish’.

There are a total of 559 programmes planned for this year and that includes 30-minute interviews and discussions, about five-minute interviews of the coastal elders, officials and experts, 20-minute dramas and 30-second spots.

Qureshi said that in 1999 when a cyclone hit the coast, Keti Bunder, Shah Bunder and Badin were affected the worst. This happened because, years ago, before the Sukkur Barrage was constructed, the people in the area had started to cut the mangroves and grow rice instead, as it earned them more money. The CCDP was a five-year project and started in 2009 with an investment of $40 million from the Asian Development Bank.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2012.