18 October 2004	Monday	03 Ramazan 1425

KARACHI, Oct 17: The mangroves forests along Ibrahim Hydri, Chashma Village, Rehri, Lat Basti and other coastal areas are facing threat of widespread destruction at the hands of timber traders who have been patronizing those indulged in tree-felling on a large scale.

The work force involved in cutting trees came from the poor fishermen community which has almost lost their livelihood due to a sharp decline in fish catch over the past decade. "We have tried our best to restrain the fishing community from causing damage to mangroves forests, but in vain because redundancy owing to a constant decline in fish catch has been forcing them to earn their livelihood through the timber trade," Akhtar Shaikh, a councillor of UC Rehri told PPI.

"There are some NGOs which have been working on the projects aimed at rehabilitating the forests through tree plantation in our area. However, we do not expect a remarkable achievement in this regard in the given situation," he added.

Right from Rehri to Ibrahim Hydri, the locality with biggest concentration of fishermen community, one may witness stockpiles of the trees, cut down for use as fuel, spread elsewhere across the coastal area. Trucks shuttle between the area and city markets to transport the timber.

Local population has absolutely no idea of the colossal loss being caused to the environment and ecology of their area through tree-felling. There is a need to create awareness about the importance of mangroves that appeared to be essential breeding grounds for shrimps and other fish species.

The activists and their organizations working for the rehabilitation of mangroves forests strongly believe that the timber traders and their proxy manpower have been playing havoc with the entire ecosystem of the region.

Mahmood Gabol, one such activist, said: "Certain fishermen families are indulged in this practice only to ease the economic burden on their home budget. They have resorted to cutting trees after facing poverty amid depleting fish stocks in the sea."

Mohammed Ali Shah, chairman of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, expressed his concerned over the growing trend of tree-felling in mangrove forests for commercial purpose.-PPI