KARACHI: Project for Indus eco-region’s conservation launched
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 29: The Sindh government is well aware of the development needs of Karachi and no project will be undertaken that may threaten the city’s environment or the biodiversity of the province.
Sindh Chief Secretary Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi gave this assurance at the launch of the ‘Indus for All Programme,’ an initiative of the World Wide Fund for Nature Pakistan, at a local hotel on Wednesday. The project is the first phase of a 50-year plan, the Indus Eco-region Conservation Programme.
The chief secretary said that the environment and conservation were important but, unfortunately, they had failed to receive due attention from successive governments. He also said that the government was very much aware of the development needs of Karachi and people should rest assured that no project would be undertaken that could endanger the environment.
He also expressed gratitude to the Royal Netherlands Embassy for providing funds for the project and assured the government’s full support to the venture.
Earlier, Dr Ghulam Akbar, Director of the Indus for All Programme, introduced the Indus Eco-region Conservation Programme and said that the plan had been developed in collaboration with the government of Sindh and other stakeholders for long-term biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation in the Indus eco-region.
“There are five eco-regions in the country. Home to about 20 million people, the Indus eco-region is amongst the 40 priority eco-regions of the world. It has one of the few species of freshwater dolphins worldwide and numerous species of endemic fish and encompasses critical habitats such as mangroves and freshwater lakes,” he said.
“At present,” he added, “four project sites that include Kinjhar Lake (district Thatta), Chotiari Reserve (district Sanghar), Keti Bunder (district Thatta) and Pai Forest (district Nawabshah) have been chosen for intervention and implementation of the first six-year phase.”
About their interest in the project, Mr Fred Smiet, First Secretary of the Royal Netherlands Embassy, said that what made them fund the project was the cause of poverty alleviation.
“Preservation of biodiversity is important. But more significant is support to the poor whose livelihoods are threatened by increasing salinity, steep decline in fisheries, sea intrusion and more recently by floods,” he remarked, expressing the hope that Pakistan’s experience in this project could become an example for other countries.
Ali Hassan Habib, Director-General WWF Pakistan, Ghulam Sarwar Khero, Additional Chief Secretary Planning and Development Department, and Dr Ejaz Ahmad, Deputy Director-General WWF Pakistan, also spoke.
Several stalls of local handicrafts were set up along with a display of 44 paintings of bird species and mammals at the venue. The website — www.foreverindus.org — was also launched.
