Wildlife of Pakistan: Wildlife News (2005)

Project launched to protect cetacean species

The News, By our correspondent

11/23/2005

http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/nov2005-daily/23-11-2005/metro/k3.htm

KARACHI: A three-year project for the conservation of endangered cetacean species in Pakistan’s territorial waters was formally launched at the University of Karachi on Tuesday.

The conservation project for whales, dolphins and porpoises, which are key marine mammals in the country’s marine biodiversity, will be undertaken under the British government-funded Darwin Initiative Project. The KU’s Centre of Excellence in Marine Biology (CEMB), World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan and University of Marine Biological Station Millport in Scotland will jointly implement the project.

Dr Mauvis Gore, from the University of Marine Biological Station Millport Biological Station, who is also the Darwin project coordinator, told the audience of the project’s launching ceremony that around 20 species of cetaceans had been observed and identified in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Pakistan in the Northeast of the Indian Ocean.

Along with the launching of Cetacean Conservation Project, CEMB in collaboration with the British Council organised a seminar on Marine Biodiversity. The conservation project will be supported by the Higher Education Commission-British Council link between CEMB and University of Marine Biological Station Millport.

Dr Mauvis Gore said the project aimed to survey both Sindh and Balochistan coast for numbers and species of marine cetaceans and for collecting information about quality of their marine habitat.

She said the project would also devise sustainable livelihood methods for fishermen by non-destructive exploitation of the cetacean population through partner agencies like WWF-Pakistan.

She said the project would be supported by capacity building within Pakistan’s marine sciences community for training in conservation and management techniques of the marine mammals.

She said the marine mammal species of the country were endangered and yet they still know very little about how many we have off our coasts or whether our marine habitat could support the marine species sufficiently. "From work in adjacent Oman, we know that there are significant populations that feed off the coast and that are very likely to move back and forth to Pakistan as well," she added.

Dr Gore suggested formation of an active national cetacean conservation group involving the concerned government departments, agencies and non-governmental organisations for protection and management of the marine mammals species.

KU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Pirzada Qasim, speaking at the inaugural ceremony, hoped that the outcome of the project would directly benefit the objectives of Pakistan National Conservation Strategy, which includes management, and conservation of marine biodiversity. "The data will also be quite useful in developing eco-tourism in Pakistan. Whale watching is a quite industry for example in USA, Europe and Japan, I am sure that Pakistan could attract tourists in the coastal areas and earn foreign exchange," he said.

He said the KU at the moment did not offer any course related to marine mammals and on coral reefs and associated fauna. "The commitment of the British Council Link and Darwin project to develop courses on these subjects would be very useful for the departments of Zoology and Marine Biology to absorb these courses in their regular curricula at honours third year or at masters’ levels," he added.

He said that it was quite pleasing to hear that the university research projects were involving NGOs like WWF-Pakistan to address the socio-cultural side of the science. "Marine Science is directly related to human beings, if we talk about food or recreation, or transport and so on. Therefore, collaboration between the higher education institutes and community-based organisations is quite useful for all stakeholders to appreciate their role and duties for the management and sustainable use of the natural resources and habitat," said Dr Pirzada.

Director British Council Karachi Marcus Gilbert said the British Council had been considering increasing the number of links between Pakistani and UK’s universities for training and research in various fields of the higher education.

Dr Pirzada Jamal Siddiqui of the CEMB said that marine protected areas should be designated along the coastline of Pakistan for better conservation, management and sustainable growth and exploitation of the marine ecosystem and biodiversity of the country.

Dr Rupert Ormond, Director University of Marine Biological Station Millport, said awareness and general information about enriched marine biodiversity of Pakistan should be spread among the masses, so that they could know about the country’s vital marine species and threats faced by their natural habitats.

Syed Ali Hannan of the WWF-Pakistan said that a WWF project for surveying small cetaceans in Pakistan had been merged with the recently launched Darwin Initiative’s Cetacean Conservation Project.

KU Pro-VC, Dr Akhlaq Ahmed, said the marine life of the country had been seriously threatened by unchecked, untreated and constant flow of industrial and municipal wastes into Arabian Sea on the Karachi coastline.