KARACHI, Dec 19: Speakers at a workshop on Thursday called for measures to improve the environment and various habitats in the Indus Delta Eco-region over the next 50 years. They stressed the need for the restoration of an environment that existed half-a-century back.

Highlighting the issues leading to the degradation of Indus Delta Eco-region, they warned of an loss to the area unless immediate remedial measures were taken.

They were speaking at the concluding session of the four-day workshop on Bringing Stake-holders Together to Develop A Common Vision for the Indus Delta Eco-region, organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Nine focus groups were formed to discuss various aspects of the issue and put forward their recommendations. The groups are: (i) Fresh water resources; (ii) Fresh water and brackish wetlands of Indus Delta Eco-region (IDER); (iii) Riverine and coastal forests of IDER; (iv) Wildlife of IDER; (v) Fish resources of IDER; (vi) Invertebrates and insecticides of IDER; (vii) pollution in IDER; (viii) Stake-holder communities in IDER; and (ix) Economic value of IDER resources.

The most common issues raised by many of these groups was the continuous decline of fresh water reaching the Delta. They said that the quality of water, reaching the delta, was deteriorating fast.

They pointed out that while the natural resources were depleting, a very limited number of people had access to whatever were available.

They mentioned that the policy framework for the laws and rules, aimed at conserving the resources, is not being worked on in some regions and non-existing in other regions. At the same time, they added, the few laws at hand were not being complied with fully owing to lack of good governance, ineffective enforcement, poor law and order, weak institutional coordination and performance, corruption, and flawed dispensation of justice, etc.

The groups observed that the awareness on the issue in policy makers, politicians, and the public at large was not sufficient. They also indicated at the non-availability of required expertise and the problem of poor database which, they said, were hampering the efforts to improve the situation.

They feared extinction of wildlife species; devastation of habitats of global, eco-regional and national importance, decline in national revenue owing to the adverse effects on fisheries and other underwater resources, and worsened poverty among the stake-holders, such as fishing community, if prompt and appropriate measures were not taken in this direction.

The groups recommended a conservation strategy for the next 50 years for the Indus Delta Eco-region. They also suggested that in each and every conservation project, the communities and stake-holders should be made part of it. This was essential, they added, because the very stake-holders would have to carry forward the conservation work once the projects completed their term and foreign funding, scientists and experts withdrawn. They pointed out that the stake-holders and communities form the local residents, of the respective regions, who depend on the resources of the eco-system for their livelihood.

The Secretary, Forest and Wildlife, Shamsul Haq Memon, WWF chief, Brig (r) Mukhtar Ahmad, Ali Hassan Habib, Dr Ejaz, Dr Hassan Moinuddin and Richard Garstang were among those spoke on the workshop.