It is commendable to see that the Senate’s Standing Committee on Climate Change is rightfully shedding the spotlight on the country’s essential environmental assets. Mangrove cover in the Indus Delta is one such valuable natural ecosystem that we have. Conserving and preserving it will have many ecological as well as economic benefits for the region. Indus Delta hosts the seventh largest Mangrove forest. Mangroves are carbon sinks as they absorb three to five times more carbon than any other usual plant.
Land grabs and land allotments for commercial use are, however, endangering this cover that we need to conserve at all costs. The problem exists around Karachi’s coastline particularly. While the cover has increased in the Indus Delta since 2010, it has shrunk around Karachi. Landing on the poorest air quality matrices for two consecutive days just recently, conserving Mangroves around Karachi should be a priority. Deforestation must be compensated with afforestation just like it was done in Balochistan’s coastal margins to make up for the reduction in Mangrove forest cover due to China Pakistan Economic Corridor’s (CPEC) infrastructure.
Mangroves are not only a natural cover against sea tsunamis and cyclones, a large biodiversity thrives within these stretches. The forest also ensures a healthy ecology of the waters that are otherwise frequently polluted by sewage and industrial wastes. The waters of the Indus Delta are a big market of shrimps and fish. Disturbing Mangrove cover will directly impact the flow of sea-bourne market commodities. On the contrary, taking care of the habitat by preserving this forest will earn us Carbon credits. Pakistan has unjustly been paying the cost of other countries’ excessive carbon emissions.
Under such climate change duress, our priorities should actively revolve around preserving natural ecosystems within our reach. It is good to see that a convergence of action exists among various departments such as the provincial Forest Department and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Pakistan. The need is to acknowledge Karachi’s land grabs as a critical environmental issue, directly threatening our very own carbon sink. Stakeholders involved in land allotments must be briefed on the threat that their decisions pose, and action should be taken where necessary. Mangroves have a special protected status in International Climate Protocols. So, it is to our best advantage that we stay true to these commitments as well as to our ecosystem.