Construction projects pose threats: Country fails to tap into tourism potential of mangrove forests

Despite rich diversity of mangrove forests, Pakistan has failed to tap into its tourism potential as these forests have been popular tourist attraction in other countries. Pakistani mangroves are located mainly along the delta of the Indus River that is the Indus River Delta-Arabian Sea mangroves eco-region.
Major mangrove forests are found on the coastline of the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. However in the provincial metropolis Karachi, these forests are facing great threats as construction projects have led to the cutting down of mangrove forests for commercial and urban development at the cost of degradation of ecosystem and environment.
Although, Naveed Ali, environmental expert at Wetland Center said: "Despite of 25 per cent of forests in Pakistan, deforestation takes place countrywide creating alarming situation about deforestation, flooding and endangering of wildlife. As far as mangroves are concerned, they are greatly important in numerous ways, and their depletion is causing a variety of problems, not only to the environment but also to the country at large. Devastating impact of deforestation of mangroves can destroy natural habitat as mangroves are the nesting ground for many marine lives, including small fish, crabs, and shrimps."
On the other, he said mangroves are the natural stabilisers of beaches as it reduce sea disturbance and intrusions and a great source of timber, fuel, railroad ties and tannin. It acts as a natural barrier and protects coastal communities and cities from cyclone and tsunamis. It helps in scaling down intensity of storms. Reduction of mangroves from Pakistan is become real danger, it is high time for concerned authorities took action to preserve these valuable forests before they become extinct, he added.
He said unlike many other countries of the world, Pakistan has failed to tap into the tourism potential of mangrove forests, because of the rich diversity of life, these forests have been popular tourist attractions which Pakistan could utilise as a source of revenue generation.
Furthermore, mangroves are of huge and immense economic as well as environmental importance to Pakistan, despite this fact, these forests are being faced to climatic change, socio-economic pressures and disturbance caused by natural and anthropogenic factors has significantly depleted and degraded this ecosystem, over last decades.
An ecologist at Friends of Indus Forum (FIF) said: "Laws and rules on the management of forest are not adequately restrictive and prohibited in Pakistan, particularly given the country's low and decreasing forest cover. This has resulted in misuse of forest land and their conversion to non-forestry use. The highest rate of deforestation has been found in Indus Delta mangroves, which have depleted at a rate of 2.3 per cent per annum.