KARACHI: Environmental experts are worried that a lack of freshwater from Kotri downstream has become a major cause of mangroves deforestation.
“We should not play with nature,” said Habibur Rehman Solangi, the assistant director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s legal department. “Either the flow of fresh water from Kotri downstream should be ensured or we must prepare for greater disasters in the future.”
At a workshop conducted on Thursday by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the experts from the forest department, the provincial agriculture department, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission and local NGOs stressed on creating awareness among the communities.
“Lack of fresh water, camel grazing and sea intrusion are major causes of the deforestation in coastal areas of Sindh,” said divisional forest officer Arif Ali Khokhar. Fuel consumption was one the reasons why people cut mangrove trees, “but that is not as serious of an issue because people do not rely only on mangroves for fuel consumption”.
ICIMOD is planning to introduce the United Nations Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-Redd) Plus project. According to the UN-Redd website, the programme goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. Since the concept is relatively new to Pakistan, a series of workshops will be held across 10 districts in the country.
“The local communities understand their issues better and know the best way to tackle them,” said ICIMOD national project manager Muhammad Sohail.
Other participants pointed out that the situation in Karachi was not very positive, with massive contamination in Malir and Lyari rivers.
“The involvement of local communities and existing policies can also make a difference,” suggested WWF’s Muhammad Ibrahim.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2012.
COMMENTS (15)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1712071304-0/image-(14)1712071304-0-270x192.webp)
We have reached 2013 still discussing. Hope we can do something practical in next year
Together we can make some difference
Ha Ha people say REDD will save our forests
Talk and more conversation not conservation on environment WILL SOME ONE DO SOMETHING OR SEE ALL MANGROVES DROWN
Yes we must move forward with clear roadmap
Perhaps leading NGOs like LEAD, IUCN and WWF can jointly provide a platform
I agree we must engage with legislators, who will take the lead ? do we have a platform where the legislators and other stakeholders can come on a common platform?
Thanks to the Tribune for highlighting these issues of concern for our future generations. But these cannot be addressed only by the locally vulnerable forest officers. It is high caliber legislators like Senator Raza Rabbani who could guide this process of bringing back the forests of Sindh to the condition they were three decades ago
If we could address the main issue of Conversion of forest land to other uses we would solve half the problem. This can be done if there is a will
Perhaps the Indian model for dealing with forests by both the federal and provincial government is a good lesson. The Indian federal forest conservation Act 1980 enables sharing of power between the center and the the State. The Center has no role except policy and agreement with the state when forest land is transferred to any other purpose. Thu there is hardly any forest land converted to other uses including housing and golf courses
We need to create awareness as step one only then there is a pathway to solve the problems. Can the Senators take up this issue?
These are serious issues and need a national level consultation to find the bast way out. I wonder lessons form other countries can help us
Well if a poor man grazes camels that is crime but if DHA Housing makes landfill by clearing mangroves to make a golf course that is okay. Ironically the leading environmental consultants do the EIA for DHA and it was approved. When the government officers share spoils of forest land in the name of Yak Sala Lease (one year lease) in name of rural women that is also okay. Now most of Sindh forests lands are gone. The Forest department has changed definition of forests and now consider banana, palm and jatropha plus coconuts as forests. Also the fisheries department has issued pro poor fishing cards/ no control on breeding season fishing or care for turtles or dolphins. What is needed is votes for the upcoming elections. Long live those who made the EIAs and the advisers who are there to sve forests.
Hahaha. Dear Sameer, how many people have access to potable drinking water?? You may find hundreds of thousands in cities, let alone rural area. Non-releasing River Indus water downstream Kotri has devastated Thatta and Badin in particular. The fertile land of these two districts in line with Karachi have become saline and waterlogged. Hundreds of thousands of acres of agricultural land are not fit for agrarian purpose. It is cruel joke that people ignore the colossal and huge losses to human beings. So, leave it to the NGOs class of society who choose to care about pets, mangroves, etc. Please file stories on what I have pointed out. How about Hitler Ki Deedi, the great Sheehn maai?
Mangrove forest is the "canary of the coal mine" whose death give signal of deadly & poisonous gases that soon will kill the people in the area too if not handled quickly. Just like a human body can't survive if it's outlets are closed so is any other living body of nature. Actually it's the sign of an already dying body of nature, the nourishing path of sustenance for millions__ Pak rivers, without which there is no survival for millions. Most fish species found upstream in pak rivers originated in these mongrove forest. Dying mangrove forest not only kill fish, shrimp, local creatures and birds by killing their habitatal habitat it will also spread back to eastern and northern areas over time which eventually result in the disappearance of majority of fish in Pak rivers. All Pak areas that the rivers flow through that feed this coastal mangrove forest must participate and let go enough sweet water down the river and eventually into the sea to save their own life and fish in the local rivers. Holding all the water from going down is suicidal compared to consuming the whole crop and left nothing for sowing next season.