Karachi: Environmental conservation experts on Thursday recommended drafting a management plan for the protected Astola Island, according to a news report. This suggestion was made during a consultation workshop organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Pakistan.
During the conference, experts lamented the lack of any management plan for Astola Island, despite it being declared a marine protected area two years ago. This is Pakistan’s largest uninhabited offshore island, and is located 20 nautical miles east of Pasni.
Technical Adviser of Marine Fisheries at WWF-Pakistan Moazzam Khan declared that a management plan was necessary to protect the island and its associated biodiversity. The threats he listed to Astola Island’s environment were ghost nets, unsustainable tourism, introduction of exotic species, growth of invasive plants, and the extraction of corals and ivory shells.
He stated that Astola Island is home to 61 species of birds, 20 species of reptiles, 84 species of plants, and 6 species of cetaceans, including the endangered Arabian Sea humpback whale and the Indo-Pacific finless porpoise.
Secretary of forests and wildlife of Balochistan Dr Muhammad Saeed Jamali agreed that such a plan was the need of the hour and stated that the Balochistan government would offer WWF-Pakistan it’s full support in this venture.
Various experts and government officials discussed this management plan, and also talked about including local fishermen and other domestic stakeholders in its drafting. They also discussed the need to promote eco-tourism, so that the locals could enjoy some socioeconomic benefits. Officials also revealed that they would discuss the declaration of more marine protected areas in order to meet the Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 agreed upon in the Convention of Biological Diversity, which Pakistan was also a part of.
