17 July 2004	Saturday	28 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, July 16: All projects and schemes, particularly of mega nature like Coastal Highway and Coconut and Shrimp Farming, should be commissioned only after carrying out comprehensive environment studies to assess their impact on ecology mainly livestock and habitats.

This was recommended at the concluding session of a five-day workshop on "Indus delta ecoregion: biodiversity visioning and conservation planning", organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature, Pakistan, here on Friday.

The environment experts, participating in the workshop from within and outside the country, said that these schemes appeared attractive in the beginning but they could destroy environment and livelihood of local communities.

They were of the view that these projects were mostly pushed by those who did not have knowledge about the existing and future threats to ecology and the livelihood of local communities, and its preservation.

The WWF-Pakistan director general, Ali Hassan Habib, cited the examples of Malaysia and Sri Lanka where shrimp and palm oil farming had brought ecological hazards like destruction of forests, livestock and habitats.

He said that in response to the Sindh Additional Secretary for Planning and Development, Ghulam Sarwar Khero, who stated that the provincial government would revive a mega shrimp farming project spread over 18,000 acres, which was earlier abandoned due to non-utilization of the allocated land.

Ali Hassan said the government should keep strict check over such projects especially those initiated without comprehensive environmental studies. He called upon the government to provide maximum and timely funds and institutional support to the departments intending to launch projects aimed at preservation and upgradation of the ecology and livelihood of people.

He pointed out that the WWF-Pakistan had limited financial resources. "We don't have millions of dollars in kitty," he remarked adding that even for this workshop, the money was given by the Dutch government.

The director general urged participants of the international workshop to carry forward the recommendations harvested from here for implementation. "We should convert ideas into ground realities and take up the issue according to its priority," he added.

The Additional Chief Secretary for Planning and Development, Ghulam Sarwar Khero, eulogized the efforts of WWF-Pakistan towards conservation of nature and said that the action plan would help improve eco-system.

He said that the provincial government had invested Rs481 million in various projects to preserve and improve ecology of Indus delta. Ten projects were in progress while another two were in the offing, he said. For these new projects, he added, Rs48 million had been allocated to the forest department.

He assured of full cooperation in carrying forward the activities for eco-conservation and said that more efforts were needed to preserve palla fish, hog deer and green turtle.

For the conservation of Indus dolphin, he said that he had already presented the proposal to launch PILER project in Sukkur with arrangements for people to see these distinct species.

The WWF-Pakistan deputy director general, Dr Ejaz Ahmed, said that at least 13 Indus blind dolphins were rescued during the last three years. He said that there was dire need to identify the extinct and endangered species and information related to them must be circulated among area people in their local languages.

At the concluding session, a steering committee on Indus delta ecoregion (IDER) action programme was also formed.

Giving an overview of the action programme, WWF-Pakistan policy division's cheif Faisal Farooq Khan said that it would facilitate elaboration of biodiversity vision, development of the ecoregion response strategies and articulation and implementation of plans with cooperation of key partners.

Faisal Farooq announced that the provincial water, irrigation and power departments, besides the WAPDA, the Indus River System Authority (IRSA), the World Bank, and the WWF-Pakistan would be the members of the steering committee. More related departments would be included over the period of time as and when required, he said. "We have set a stage for others to join," he remarked.

Sindh Additional Chief Secretary for Planning and Development Ghulam Sarwar Khero would be heading the committee with objective to ensure coordination among the member government departments.

The committee would facilitate funding for various environment preservation and community building-oriented projects. While the WWF-P would serve as its secretariat, he added. The additional chief secretary said that the members of the steering committee would be formally announced next week. -APP