Karachi:
Pakistan wetlands are faced with severe degradation due to water stress, unrealized industrial waste, landing of land and agricultural runoff, reducing their ecological value and threatening biodiversity, warned WWF-Pakistan in A press release published on the world day of wetland 2025.
The organization has warned that species such as the Dauphin of the Industry river, freshwater turtles and migratory birds were at serious risks due to the continuous destruction of wetlaw ecosystems.
Calling for immediate efforts of conservation and catering, WWF-Pakistan stressed that wetlands served as living lines for biodiversity, local communities and sustainable development.
Pakistan is home to more than 240 important wetlands, covering around 10% of the country’s area. These wetlands provide support for livelihoods to local communities and provide essential ecosystem services, including water filtration, carbon storage, flood control and housing for countless species, including Migratory birds and commercially important fish.
However, these fragile ecosystems are threatened due to the shortage of water, pollution, encroachment, unregulated development, climate change and the unsustainable extraction of resources, the press release informed.
Muhammad Jamshed Iqbal Chaudhry, Senior Director of Research and Conservation in WWF-Pakistan, noted that wetlands are a lifeline for millions of Pakistanis, in particular the communities based on fishing, the agriculture and tourism.
The wetlands classified by Ramsar in Pakistan, such as Lake Keenjhar, Lake Haleji, the Chashma dam and the coastal wetlands of Jiwani, are critical reproductive and food grounds for migratory birds, including ducks with White head, the flamingos, the cranes and the Siberian horn in critical danger.
The wetlands also serve as a buffer of nature against climate change, absorbing excess flood waters and reducing the impact of extreme weather events. “The conservation of wetlands is therefore not only an environmental imperative but a social and economic necessity,” he urged.
WWF-Pakistan is actively working to preserve and restore wetlands through various initiatives, including the implementation of community conservation projects in the Indus Delta, the wetlands of Punjab and coastal ecosystems of Baloutchistan. Initiatives, including the responsibility for water resources in Pakistan (WRAP) and recharge from Pakistan (RP), demonstrate the use of nature -based solutions (NBS) to meet the challenges of wetlands.
