Author: Zainab Iqtedar
As the environment becomes more protected, governments are taking responsibility to prevent dangers that could affect many people. Nature, like land, water, and air, is considered something everyone shares, and it’s important for everyone, not just one person, to take care of it. So, governments are realizing that the usual ways of involving individuals and using the courts to protect the environment aren’t enough. They think that the public, people who care about the environment, and organizations should be able to join in when decisions are made about how to protect the environment. When the public’s well-being depends on environmental protection measures, and when the public has to follow those measures, the public should have a chance to say what they think and join in the decision-making process about the environment.
Pakistan faces a lot of challenges in conserving it’s natural habitat, with issues like floods, salinity, over-grazing, deforestation and more. But there are steps being taken by local communities to conserve our precious land.
Success Stories of Community-Led Projects
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government started a special forestry program called the Billion Trees Tsunami Afforestation Project. Its goal is to plant a billion trees in the province. They have already planted 750 million trees all around the province as of 2017.
Local communities have played a vital role in Pakistan’s successful mangrove restoration campaign. Riaz Wagan from the Sindh Forest Department highlights the importance of involving people and their local leaders in preserving and regrowing mangrove forests. To gain public support, they’ve partnered with local governments and environmental NGOs to raise awareness about mangrove restoration. Community engagement activities like planting trees, collecting seeds, caring for saplings, and protecting newly planted areas have been organized.
Saeed ul Islam, from WWF Pakistan, emphasizes that involving locals personally has been crucial. They’ve established mangrove nurseries with regional forest departments, providing jobs for women and youth who grow saplings sold to nonprofits and government agencies. This approach generates income in a region where many live in poverty. Mangroves have become a reliable income source for many households.
In the end, successful mangrove restoration requires a combination of factors, including solid science, strong government commitment, and the crucial support of local communities.
A lot of farmers use natural fertilizers for their crops which is better for the soil and environment as a whole, which is another way locals are conserving the environment.
In Karachi, there are a lot of beach cleanup initiatives by different NGOs which attract many environmental protection enthusiasts of all ages, promoting a love for the planet.
The Path Forward
It is high time that the government provides incentives for the citizens of our country to conserve and protect our environment in the best way possible. We all can play our part by volunteering for local NGOs in their cleanup drives and environmental protection initiatives.