Combating desertification a major challenge - environmentalists

Pakistan, with 90 percent of its land classified as arid or semi-arid, is facing a growing threat from desertification through drought and soil degradation, environmentalists warned while marking World Environment Day (WED) on Monday. “A variety of natural and human factors are contributing to desertification across the country, including dwindling vegetation cover, excessive depletion of underground water resources, population explosion, overgrazing, reduced fresh water flows and increased sewage and industrial pollution,” Nasir Ali Panhwar, of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. In Sindh province, a substantial decline in fresh water from the River Indus, which runs the entire length of Pakistan, has led to a rapid sea intrusion in the Indus delta region in the Arabian Sea, raising salinity levels in underground water and spurring cattle migration to irrigated areas, environmentalists noted. “The arid coastal strips and mangrove areas are under increased environmental stress from reduced fresh water flows, sewage and industrial pollution and overexploitation of other natural resources,” Panhwar added. Recognising desertification as a severe and growing problem, Pakistan’s environment ministry together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is preparing to launch a national project to address the pressing issue: ‘Sustainable Land Management to Combat Desertification in Pakistan’. “The US $17 million project will accelerate ongoing initiatives to protect our land from degradation and desertification and further assist to restore the ecosystem,” Faisal Saleh Hayat, Pakistan’s federal environment minister, said on Monday while addressing a national roundtable meeting convened by IUCN to mark environment day, in Islamabad. To combat desertification in Pakistan, the IUCN has also started two mangrove rehabilitation programmes. “The one in Sindh involves pilot testing of bio-saline agriculture and aquaculture techniques, while the Balochistan project focuses on the promotion of appropriate water conservation methods, including efficient irrigation and innovative water recharging techniques,” Panhwar said. The 2006 WED theme, ‘Deserts and Desertification’ with the slogan ‘Don't Desert Dry lands!’ emphasises the importance of protecting drylands, which cover more than 40 percent of the planet’s land surface. TS/SC