Poor water quality besides short supply of fresh water, land clearance, over harvesting of resources are among major risks to the Indus delta ecoregion, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Pakistan).
The nature conservation watchdog also identified socio-economic conditions preventing or leading to access to natural resources, weak implementation of policy and legal framework and seawater intrusion as other threats to the area.
Deputy Director General WWF-Pakistan Dr Ejaz Ahmed talking to APP here on Sunday called for a rapid implementation of a multi-dimensional approach strategy for conservation and up-gradation of IDER where public sector organisations' individual and collective role should be marked.
The NGOs, CBOs and the local communities should be given due participation to achieve the targets within shortest possible time.
MAIN FEATURES: Dr Ahmed said the main features of this conservation plan should be representation of all distinct communities living within conservation landscapes and protected area networks; maintenance of ecological and evolutionary processes that create and sustain biodiversity; maintenance of viable populations of species; conservation of natural habitats large enough to be resilient to disturbances and long-term changes.
He said the planning process should comprise reconnaissance, biological assessment, socio-economic assessment, root-cause analysis, stakeholder identification and assessment, biodiversity vision, conservation targets and milestones, roles of partners, communication strategy, eco-regional plan, monitoring and evaluation framework and long-term funding.
WWF-Pakistan's senior environment scientist deliberating upon the proposed IDER planning process said taxonomic would include amphibians, birds, fishes, invertebrate, mammals, reptiles and vegetation. The objectives are species, habitats, processes and livelihoods.
IDER should be divided into sub-regions of Guddu, Sukkur, Kotri and coastal belt. While the main partners could be the Sindh government and the Federal government departments of Forest and Wildlife, Irrigation and Drainage, Environment, Planning and Development, and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Pakistan).
He also underlined the need for a balance between partners and level of intervention.
PRIORITY AREAS: Dr Ejaz Ahmed said under the proposed "Forever Indus Conservation Plan 2025", initiated by WWF-P, 15 priority areas of global, eco-regional and sub-regional significance had been identified, while 10 conservation targets for next 10 to 20 years and 43 milestones for next three to five years were set.
Five action plans had also been marked to build relationships for efficient resource utilisation for effective results.
He presented Forever Indus Programme -Vision as "Mankind coexisting with nature, in complete harmony, within a network of inter-linked wetlands where dolphins/otters thrive in their habitats and raptors/waterfowl inhabit lakes and lagoons. Aquatic flora and associated biodiversity flourish on the bank s and the newly hatched marine turtles safely journey to sea,"
He informed that IDER Action Programme Steering Committee (APSC) with representation from WWF-Pakistan and other NGOs, CBOs and government departments had been formed in July 2004 to execute the IDER conservation programme.
Highlighting the importance of ecoregion based approach, he said, "it includes all major eco-systems within a region. It considers human use and ecological linkages on a wider scale, recognises ecological processes and species, harmonises conservation actions with polices, and facilitates sustainable use over long-term basis.
He said IDER accommodates around 80,000 hectares of mangroves that makes 97 percent of Pakistan's total mangroves, containing four species of mangroves. It is the largest arid zone mangrove system in the world.
The riverine area of Sindh had 138,000 hectares of forest, which makes 43 percent total forest area of the province.
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