TAHIR Qureshi, whose name was synonymous with mangroves in Pakistan, passed away recently (Dec 29). I had a most productive relationship with him that lasted nearly a quarter of a century. He provided me with a motorboat to explore many of the creeks of the Indus delta.

It was part of his duty to facilitate media persons who wanted to see and explore the mangrove forests, and he took this duty seriously.

Had it not been for him and his sense of duty, the word ‘mangroves’ would not have been even heard by many Pakistanis. In the 1980s, ignorance was most widespread about this tree. Even the naval maps referred to these as marsh bushes. Thanks to the media campaigns and presentations on different forums, ‘mangrove’ became a household word. Even the naval charts began to call ‘marsh bushes’ as mangroves.

I once wrote an article, arguing that the biggest arid zone mangrove forest starts from Karachi. On two occasions, people got hostile towards me. One of them said: “Look, he is spreading prejudice”. The people who resented this fact were the ones who all their lives believed that nothing could grow in Karachi and here was someone who was saying that Karachi is home to the biggest mangrove forest in the world.

The credit for destroying prejudice against mangroves and bringing these to the public’s attention and, in fact, for all my work on mangroves in media goes to the late environmentalist. Hard working to a fault, he invariably went beyond the call of duty to achieve results.

When I wanted to explore the Kirthar National Park, it was Tahir Qureshi who was assigned the task to accompany me. He saw to it that everything of significance was shown to me in what was then the biggest national park spread over 1,100 square miles.

On four different occasions, he proudly showed me the large gaps in the mangrove forests in Port Qasim and beyond that were filled up under his supervision. The re-plantation efforts were entirely successful. He also took me to Sukkur to show me a riverine forest and what was being done to enrich it. He was extremely knowledgeable and always had the right answer to questions about environmental pollution. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

Azmat Ansari
Karachi

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2021