Environmentalist asks govt to shun plan of construction at Bundaal, Bundu islands

Islamabad: The experts have urged the federal government to avoid construction projects in the two islands Bundaal and Bundu that are habitats of the local biodiversity and the habitats of the migratory birds too. Under the Ramsar Convention and Convention on Biological Diversity and many other international and multilateral treaties signed by Pakistan government, we need to fulfil our national and international commitments that are more important for us as a nation than obliging a few influential elites.

Speaking at a webinar on ‘Migratory Birds: where we stand now’, the experts urged the provincial governments to take necessary measures to protect the ‘guest birds’ from the over hunting, ensuring safe flying through Pakistan and resting on the lakes and ponds.

The webinar was organized by the Development Communications Network (Devcom-Pakistan) on Saturday to mark the World Migratory Bird Day that falls on October 10. The experts included EV-K2 CNR Scientific Representative on Biosphere and Climate Change Ashiq Ahmed Khan, IUCN Pakistan Country Head Mahmood Akhtar Cheema, WWF Pakistan Director Sindh and Balochistan Programme Dr Tahir Rasheed, Secretary Agriculture and Wildlife (Sindh) Abdul Rahim Soomro, Biodiversity and Habitat expert and former staff of the Ministry of Climate Change Umeed Khalid, Project Manager Biodiversity (Gilgit-Baltistan) IUCN Pakistan Saeed Abbas, Cholistan Institute of Desert Development Shazia Anjum and Prof Saleem Azam, a longtime hunter. The webinar was hosted and conducted by Devcom-Pakistan and DTN Executive Director Munir Ahmed.