The government is committed towards restoring mangrove forests along the coastal belt of the country, National Disaster Management Ministry Secretary Javaid Malik reiterated Tuesday. He was talking with the media at a photo exhibition titled “Through Echoes of Tides” by a leading environmental journalist Jamshyd Masood at the art gallery of Pak-American Cultural Centre. He said all stakeholders have to understand that forests in general are prerequisite to buffer natural disasters consequent to climatic changes and global warming. “People also have to realise that the destruction of mangroves has widely devastated the country’s coastal ecosystem aggravating threats associated with natural disasters,” he said. The secretary appreciated the efforts of Masood, saying pollution, be it industrial, civic or domestic have desecrated pristine seawater with dire impact on dependent mangroves.
“The existence of mangrove forests is also an important component of our economy as the breeding ground for shrimps and many varieties of fish,” he added. Malik said the livelihood of millions of people is dependent on fishing sector that is again a crucial source to generate foreign exchange. “The multi-dimensional significance of our coastal ecosystem is urgently needed to be protected from any further destruction, be it natural or man made,” said the secretary. The exhibition comprising 36 photographs focused on Pakistan’s coastal ecosystem was organised as a Mangrove for the Future (MFF)-small grants funded activity. The MFF is an initiative to promote investment in coastal eco-system conservation for sustainable development.
Each of the 36 photographs, which covered the period from 1969 to early 2012, unfolded the panorama of the country’s coastline, bringing into focus the life dotted along it.
The exhibition communicated the hope for restoration of what had been lost due to massive indifference and also that nature has its own strength that needed to be exploited for sustainable development. There were thick mangrove forests along the Karachi coast in 1969. The destruction of the mangroves that crept in the belt stretched from the waters of Sindh to Balochsitan and its implications on coastal villages was also well depicted. But perhaps the most relevant was the regeneration of a plant, at a site where there once used to be the forest along the coast, rekindling hope of life and vitality for the dependents be they human-beings or water fowls or marine life.
In one of his recent photographs, Masood portrayed a woman planting saplings as a full-fledged community activity.
Inability at national level to make proper use of coral reef, mud scrappers and other internationally popular species, with little value at local level due to rampant ignorance, was also efficiently highlighted by the photographer. The haplessness of people, particularly those from the “sheedi” tribe was duly depicted along with photographs showing children from fishing villages going to madrassas. Growing popularity of cricket among the youth and how enterprising they could be by initiating a taxi service to help people visit from one island to another were also some of the very eye catching depictions on display.
