Karachi, Pakistan: The Sindh government, Pakistan, has decided to establish Sindh Wetlands Management Authority (SWMA) for the wetlands of the province. The Sindh chief secretary has agreed for SWMA’s establishment and the environment department would now send the detailed summary to the Sindh chief minister for final approval. Confirming the news, Sindh Environment Secretary Mir Hussain Ali said his department had moved a detailed summary.
“We have started formulating the by-laws for the proposed authority and we hope it would get approved soon,” he said and added that the authority would cover all the wetlands of the province.
The SWMA would work under the environment ministry to conduct detailed survey, satellite remote sensing, geographical information system mapping, monitoring and management of huge wetlands.
The authority would also conduct measurements to protect wildlife population and plant species, as well as carry out other surveys of all types of wetlands including brackish, marsh and desert lakes, coastal and inland lagoons, mudflats and riverine wetlands.
It is pertinent to mention here that there are around 39 wetlands in the province, 30 of which are natural, while nine are man-made. The wetlands of the country cover approximately 78,000 square kilometres, which is 9.7 percent of the total geographical area.
Source: Daily Times
