Protect the mangroves

We were warned decades ago that unbridled growth would come with a heavy cost. We didn’t listen. Our ignorance has brought us to a point where our preparedness to tackle climate change-induced catastrophes is mostly ineffective. While Pakistan has been facing apocalyptic weather patterns for some time now, the situation became more pronounced in 2022 when floods submerged one-third of the country. Now, reports suggest the country is deliberately ignoring areas that can well protect it from climate challenges. Case in point: Karachi’s loss of mangrove cover. A recent report by WWF-Pakistan suggests that significant tracts of mangroves have been cleared to build commercial and industrial projects. It also adds that vast areas of land with mangroves have been cleared for housing schemes. These findings suggest that all that the Sindh forest department has been doing is useless.

Pakistan’s mangrove forest cover increased from 1,338.16km-sq in 2016 to 1,573.57km-sq in 2020, thanks to efforts by various government institutions. But the growing industrialization has completely ignored the importance of these natural lands. Mangroves act as a valuable source of flood protection for both people and property. For a country that is among the world’s top most vulnerable countries to climate change, the practice of cutting down mangrove plantations to make way for residential apartments and other concrete complexes is suicidal. Besides this, mangrove plantations also allow Pakistan to dominate the carbon credits market. In 2023, reports surfaced about Pakistan’s remarkable performance in this market. Its mangrove plantation project along the coast of the Indus Delta resulted, at the time of that report, in a sale of carbon credits worth $40 million. It is rather disappointing that instead of maintaining the momentum, the country has reduced its focus on its apparent golden egg.

That Karachi’s ever-expanding population demands extra land coverage is true, but this should not be at the expense of its forest cover. The alternative option for the government is to develop its other cities so that people can settle in other areas instead of relying on the eradication of forests and natural lands for their housing needs. In 2020, apocalyptic rains in Karachi showed the adverse effects of rapid urbanization at the expense of nature. We should not be repeating our mistakes. The city is vulnerable to torrential rains and the subsequent damage caused by them. In other Asian countries such as Malaysia, the government uses mangrove sites as a tourist destination, allowing boat rides to visitors. We could follow the same model to enhance our government revenue while simultaneously ensuring that our city can shed its vulnerability against climate challenges.