Mangrove Conservation.

It is commendable to see that the Senate's Standing Committee on Climate Change is rightfully shedding the spotlight on the country's essential environmental assets. Mangrove cover in the Indus Delta is one such valuable natural ecosystem that we have. Conserving and preserving it will have many ecological as well as economic benefits for the region. Indus Delta hosts the seventh largest Mangrove forest. Mangroves are carbon sinks as they absorb three to five times more carbon than any other usual plant.

Land grabs and land allotments for commercial use are, however, endangering this cover that we need to conserve at all costs. The problem exists around Karachi's coastline particularly. While the cover has increased in the Indus Delta since 2010, it has shrunk around Karachi. Landing on the poorest air quality matrices for two consecutive days just recently, conserving Mangroves around Karachi should be a priority. Deforestation must be compensated with afforestation just like it was done in Balochistan's coastal margins to make up for the reduction in Mangrove forest cover due to China Pakistan Economic Corridor's (CPEC) infrastructure.

Mangroves are not only a natural cover against sea tsunamis and cyclones, a large biodiversity thrives within these stretches. The forest also ensures a healthy ecology of the waters that are otherwise...