Experts for protecting biodiversity

LAHORE

Eminent ecologists at a seminar Thursday said a strong political will was required to stop global biodiversity meltdown and restore the ecological equilibrium devastated by the human greed and unplanned urbanisation.

“Act before the nature takes its revenge on us for its devastation” they warned. 

They were addressing an international seminar “Ecosystems restorations in Pakistan - Global Call and Local Action” at the Government College University Lahore (GCU). 

The experts said restoration or assisted natural regeneration was not a magic bullet that provided instant ecosystems of the desired type, rather it was a developing science which needed sustainable efforts of environment experts backed by the governments, locals and international agencies.

The seminar organised by the Pakistan Botanic Gardens Network Secretariat (PBGNS), GCU in collaboration with the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Danishmandan Botanic Garden Lahore and Higher Education Commission (HEC), was aimed at highlighting role of worldwide botanic gardens in preserving plant biodiversity, importance of dry-land ecosystems, sharing innovative experiences and fortifying efforts for restoring the ecological equilibrium. 

In his key note address, BGCI Regional Director Dr Joachim Gratzfeld said the rapid global climate change was highly threatening as well as challenging, so there was a dire need to reconsider the feasibility and desirability of envisaged restoration targets. However, he strongly believed that any targets or goals could not be achieved without a strong political will and creating economic incentives for local people to engage them in restoration projects. He highlighted need for continued research and practical pilot projects to enhance the understanding of ecosystem functioning, especially in dry lands which are the significant proportion of the earth’s terrestrial surface i.e. almost 40 per cent.

PBGNS Director Prof Dr Amin-ul-Haq underlined the need for restoration of dry woodlands in the Indus plains of Punjab, saying these severely degraded natural forests needed urgent human intervention to initiate recovery. He suggested that restoration based on planting of juvenile of native climatic climax trees and integration of various adaptive management practices by setting up demonstration sites would provide effective solution to initiate recovery of these severely degraded areas. This form of assisted natural regeneration would help to restore degraded land facing persistent physical chemical and biological barriers to forest regeneration and may also catalyze forest succession by overcoming the barriers.

Prof Khan said working on standalone basis with no funding was seriously affecting the PGBN restoration projects. He also requested PGBNS members to develop a stronger voice in lobbying for mandatory funding for the conservation projects.

Malik Amin Aslam, the project head of Green Growth Initiative of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, said 113 million trees had been planted all over the province so far and overall a billion trees would be planted till year 2018. 

He hoped that under 'Billion tree tsunami' programme of KPK the provincial government could generate revenue up to 800 million dollars through earning of 'carbon credits'. He said the billion tree programme of KPK government was also presented in the recent Global Climate Change Summit held in Paris, and they have also taken the Bonn Challenge.

Prof Dr Abdur Rashid, an eminent botanist from University of Peshawar, explained the use of information technology in biodiversity conservation, while Dr Hassan Sher from University of Swat spoke about the economic development through medicinal and aromatic plants production and conservation. 

Speaking on the occasion, GCU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Hassan Amir said GCU and its team of ecologists would continue to play their role to sensitise the political leadership and common people about the importance of protecting biodiversity and restoring ecosystems. The seminar was followed by poster presentations by the GCU postgraduate students on their ecosystems' restoration projects at Harappa, Soan Valley and Shakargarh.