KARACHI, Aug 1: The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency, in collaboration with the IUCN, has established the Sindh Sustainable Development Fund.

Speaking at a presentation, the EPA Sindh chief, Shafiq Ahmed Khoso, said the pollution charges, which would be imposed on the polluting industries would feed the SSD fund.

The head of IUCN Sindh Programme, Ali Raz Rizvi, informed the meeting that the IUCN had started its Sindh programme to consolidate its activities in the province.

An Environmental Profile of Sindh is being developed under the programme, which would be a guiding tool for the variety of stakeholders in the field of sustainable development.

The meeting was also informed of environmental education material in Urdu and Sindhi languages which has been developed, whereas multi-disciplinary study on impact of sea intrusion on Indus Delta has also been conducted.

Both the IUCN and Sindh EPA agreed to work jointly for the better environment of the province.

It was also agreed in the meeting that there are a number of areas, where IUCN and Sindh EPA can support and complement each other’s activities.

The meeting was also of the view that non single organisation can address increasing environmental problems of the province in isolation. Therefore, pragmatic collaborative efforts with holistic approach are essential to address the growing environmental issues of Sindh.

The preliminary areas identified for joint intervention include environmental education and awareness raising, environmental legislation, environmental assessment, water and wetlands.

The EPA team included Shahid A. Lutfi, Naeem Ahmed Mughal and Irfanullah Tunio, while IUCN was also represented by Tahir Qureshi, Najam Jamy, Ahmed Saeed, Nasi Ali Panhwar and Asad Ihsan.—APP