News
Monday, November 19, 2012Mangroves’ conservation stressed
KARACHI: “The task of educating and informing people about their importance of mangroves is immense. There is much to learn from the experiences of different countries in mangroves and costal conservation efforts. Coasts are conflict zones in terms of the state, communities and corporate interests and it requires dexterous management to find a balance between conflicting interests.”
These views were expressed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) former vice president Javed Jabbar, while addressing as a chief guest at inaugural ceremony of the 9th Mangroves for the Future (MFF), featuring enhanced regional cooperation and action, held here at a local hotel on Sunday morning.
Representatives of the eight MFF member countries, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam convened in the coastal city of Karachi to discuss and present the progress in coastal management efforts in their respective countries. They were joined by MFF outreach countries Bangladesh, Cambodia and Myanmar. The theme for the year 2012 is: Coastal Resilience in the Wake of Climate Change through Private Sector Engagements.
Further speaking to audience, Javed Jabbar said, “Communities must be educated and in some cases persuaded to change their rapacious appetite for resource extraction.”
IUCN Regional Director Asia, Aban Marker Kabraji, briefed the session about escalating pressures from human development on coastal ecosystems, she said, “Human activities are contributing to the vulnerability of coastal systems and communities to the effects of climate change,” she said. “In countries like Thailand for example, more than 70% of the mangrove areas have been cleared for economic activities such as shrimp farming”.
Coastal and community resilience will be a major focus of the MFF initiative in the coming days. Stressing the need for proactive engagement with the private sector, she added, “Private sector interests in costal zones are diverse and have a strong impact on coastal zones. Success in coastal management will depend largely on the will of the private sector to move towards sustainable practices and MFF principles.”
Earlier, MFF Coordinator, Dr Steen Christensen said, “All over the world, coastal ecosystems are faced with climate change challenges and this is particularly true for developing countries”. Nearly half the global population lives in coastal areas and about 70% in East Asia depend on coastal resources for their livelihoods. “It will require collective efforts from all possible sectors to mitigate these effects and ensure protection, food security and adequate livelihood opportunities for vulnerable communities” he added. He applauded the Government of Pakistan for taking commendable measures in good governance for coastal ecosystem management since becoming a MFF member country in 2010.
Talking to Daily Times, chief guest Javed Jabbar said, “Jewels of coastline are present. It is integral relevance to the health of coastline.” He said that mangroves protection was the challenge. He said 70 percent of human waste go into sea, which affect mangroves as well as sea life, he added. Jabbar further said that so many countries were doing very excellent work in this regard. “It is good that foreigners are coming Pakistan, they will come to know that how Pakistanis are improving itself in mangroves sector.” He stated, “In mangroves, Pakistan has set world record, and others countries should also learn from it.”
Indian Joint Secretary of Environment and Forests, Hem Pande Ias said, “MFF has taken a great initiative.” “Pakistan and India both have huge coastline area and we have to protect mangroves,” he said adding that both countries government, NGOs, private sectors and all others should join hands together in this noble cause. He emphasised that all people of both countries need to associate in this in protection of mangroves.
Bangladesh, Chief Conservator of Forest Younus Ali said, “We have two types of mangroves such as natural and artificial. 6,000 square kilometers area is based on natural mangroves while 180,000 square kilometers area based on artificial mangroves.” He expressed that mangroves had many threats like climate and cutting of mangroves was the main problem. “We have programmes to protect forest and mangroves,” he added.
Mangroves and Ecosystem Services: Mangrove ecosystems were chosen as the flagship of the Mangroves for the Future Initiative as they provide a wide range of ecosystem services. These include provisioning services such as food, timber and medicine, including supporting vital processes like water cycling and providing refuge and breeding grounds for fish, crabs and birds.
Furthermore, coastal vegetation has proven to provide natural protective barriers against storm surge and erosion and tidal intrusion as free services for coastal communities. They provide natural solution for building coastal resilience in the face of climate change.
Mangroves and coastal wetlands also store up to five times more carbon per equivalent area than mature tropical forests. The MFF Initiative aims to build coastal resilience through its Programmes of Work in order for these valuable ecosystems to continue to provide such invaluable services.
Mangroves For The Future Initiative: Mangroves for the Future (MFF) is a unique partner-led initiative to promote investment in coastal ecosystem conservation. In December 2006 President Bill Clinton planted the first mangrove tree to launch the MFF initiative at a fishing village on Phuket Island, Thailand. At the launch of the Tsunami Legacy Report (2009) in the United Nations in New York In April 2009, Bill Clinton said that MFF has been one of the most positive and forward-looking developments since the tsunami. MFF provides a collaborative platform among the many different agencies, sectors and countries who are addressing challenges to coastal ecosystem and livelihood issues, to work towards a common goal. It initially focused on the countries worst-affected by the tsunami; India, Indonesia, Maldives, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. MFF member countries now include Pakistan and Viet Nam. staff report
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk