LAHORE : Disturbing findings:
Illicit wildlife trade jeopardising biodiversity The report stressed the importance of adopting environmentally friendly
solutions to counter rising threats
to nature. Worldwide Fund for
Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) director-general Hammad Naqi Khan said on Tuesday that illegal wildlife trade had been negatively impacting Pakistan by compromising the country’s
biodiversity.
He was speaking to journalists at
an event held to release the
foundation’s 2014 Living Planet
report. Khan expressed concern
over the increasing smuggling of
black scorpions, freshwater turtles
and pangolins.
He said rising deforestation constituted anothervthreat. Khan said the fund was striving to overcome these challenges. He said it wasvcommitted to supporting
sustainable development in Pakistan.
Khan said risingdeforestation had endangered species like the common leopard by comprising their habitats.
He said Pakistan’s carbon footprint had been consistently getting larger.
Khan said a World Bank report on
air pollution had ranked urban air
pollution in Pakistan as severe.
He said this had negatively impacted
public health, quality of life, the
environment and the economy in
Pakistan.
The report stressed the importance
of adopting environmentally-
friendly solutions to counter rising
threats to nature.
According to the report, it was imperative to adopt these measures urgently as an alarming decline had been witnessed in wildlife populations.
The population of fish, reptiles,
birds, mammals and amphibians
had declined by 52 per cent over
the 40 year period surveyed in the
report.
The decline in biodiversity
witnessed in the Asia-Pacific region
was second over the period only to
Latin America.
The report highlighted the
consistent increase in the ecological
footprint. The footprint is a
measure of humanities’ demands
on nature.
According to the report, a marked rise was witnessed in Pakistan’s footprint due to population growth, growing per capita consumption and declining biodiversity.
It particularly mentioned climate change, fishing, hunting, habitat loss and degradation as the greatest
challenges to.
Published in The Express Tribune,
October 1 st , 2014.
Source : http://tribune.com.pk/story/769475/disturbing-findings-illicit-wildlife-trade-jeopardising-biodiversity/
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