{"id":20000982,"date":"2010-12-20T14:46:56","date_gmt":"2010-12-20T14:46:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/184.172.177.95\/~chinad\/?p=982"},"modified":"2010-12-20T14:46:56","modified_gmt":"2010-12-20T14:46:56","slug":"after-the-flood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/after-the-flood\/","title":{"rendered":"After the flood"},"content":{"rendered":"

Half a year on, scientists are starting to understand the ecological impact of Pakistan\u2019s devastating floods \u2013 and it\u2019s a mixed bag. Zofeen T Ebrahim reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Five months ago,\u00a0floods<\/a>\u00a0triggered by torrential rains submerged one-fifth of Pakistan, killing 2,000 people and destroying the property, livelihoods and infrastructure of millions. Now, the waters have receded \u2013 and with them the media\u2019s attention. But for many environmentalists, like Ghulam Akbar, senior director at WWF, work has only just begun.<\/p>\n

WWF-Pakistan<\/a>, in collaboration with its partners (including provincial forest, fisheries, irrigation and wildlife departments) has initiated a comprehensive assessment of the damage caused by the deluge in four sites in the Indus basin. Teams comprising zoologists, plant ecologists, taxonomists, fisheries specialists, water-quality scientists, reptiles and amphibians experts, along with experts in\u00a0geographical information systems<\/a>\u00a0(GIS), have gone into the field to survey the impacts.<\/p>\n

In the mountainous region of the north, in places like\u00a0Swat valley<\/a>\u00a0in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province \u2013 where the floods originated \u2013 landslides not only washed away coniferous forests but also denuded the fertile top soil. \u201cThis loss of soil cannot be replenished even over decades,\u201d laments Akbar. The loss of forest cover and soil in turn allowed the nesting places of large and small mammals to be washed away, while displaced bird species were forced to re-locate.<\/p>\n

Swat was a storehouse for huge quantities of timber belonging to the government. \u201cAll of it was washed away by the deluge and the government incurred huge losses,\u201d says Tahir Qureshi, a forester and expert on coastal ecosystems working with the\u00a0International Union for Conservation of Nature<\/a>\u00a0(IUCN). He fears more forests will be cut to compensate for the loss.<\/p>\n

As for the impact on wildlife, Akbar says that birds and animals kept in captivity suffered the worst hit. \u201cAll the animals and birds as well as 24 black bears in the Kund Park, along River Kabul in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which had a bear rehabilitation centre, were taken away by the flood,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

According to Hussain Bux Bhagat, a conservationist associated with the provincial wildlife department of Sindh province, wildlife in the riverine forests \u2013 including birds, reptiles and mammals \u2013 also suffered severely: \u201cThe floods were a death blow for the hog deer and grey and black partridges and we fear their populations may have been reduced by between 30% and 40%.\u201d In particular, high numbers of grey partridge, which nests on trees and doesn\u2019t leave its habitat, \u201cstarved to death\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n

In addition, natural springs in the hilly areas have been destroyed, while water quality has deteriorated and may take some time to normalise.<\/p>\n

Further south, on the Indus plain, the nature of the damage was somewhat different, though nonetheless serious, as the river banks were eroded, causing damage to protected areas situated either inside or along the River Indus.<\/p>\n

The drifting of between 60 and 100 endangered\u00a0Indus River dolphins<\/a>\u00a0into shallow water was a serious loss. \u201cIn all, there are an estimated 1,200 to 1,300 blind dolphins left in the River Indus and 950 in the dolphin reserve between Guddu and Sukkur barrages,\u201d says Bhagat. \u201cIn January, when the de-silting of canals take place, we usually carry out rescue of dolphins that have strayed into canals during that period. So far, no dolphins have been reported dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the many lessons offered by June\u2019s disaster, the most glaringly obvious is the need for better flood-plain management. Around the world, says Akbar, flood plains are properly managed to preserve local ecology and to save precious human life and property from natural calamities like floods.<\/p>\n

Since the time of the British occupation, protective embankments have been constructed at distance of about 15 to 20 kilometres along either side of the River Indus. But with changes in weather patterns caused by global warming, the severity and frequency of storms and floods will increase, rendering \u201cthese protective embankments counterproductive\u201d, says Nasir Panhwar, executive director of Hyderabad-based Centre for Environment and Development. He says \u201cmore sophisticated techniques\u201d based on proper and holistic understanding of the workings of global weather conditions, the rivers and coast are needed.<\/p>\n

Pakistan\u2019s flood plains are state-owned and, historically, were covered by dense riverine forests. But over the years, due to decrease in downstream river water, poor law enforcement and weakening of government institutions, the forests were illegally occupied and denuded, replaced by rich agriculture land for growing cash crops like bananas, vegetables and sugarcane.<\/p>\n

The absence of a credible land-use plan has been underlined by the summer\u2019s floods. According to Akbar, anyone can construct a building, cultivate land or establish housing project anywhere. \u201cIn hilly areas and even in the plains, multi-storied buildings were constructed right at the edge of river banks. Similarly, steep slopes had been brought under cultivation, which is [an] extremely vulnerable [state].\u201d Panhwar adds: \u201cLack of an explicit land use policy resulted in inhabitants along the rivers taking advantage of these areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flooding is both bane and boon for local ecosystems, however, and the recent deluge has brought benefits as well as tragedy: the brackish\u00a0Lake Manchar<\/a>\u00a0(in Sindh province) has turned into a freshwater lake again, says Akbar, while all saline and\u00a0saline-sodic<\/a>\u00a0soils submerged by the flood are now salinity-free and have become productive soils. \u201c[The flood] has given the mangrove and the riverine forests a new lease of life, as the fresh water and silt deposition will help both the natural artificial regeneration,\u201d adds Qureshi of the IUCN.<\/p>\n

In addition, aquatic biodiversity all over the Indus plain has increased: \u201cThe floods have been a boon for dolphins and freshwater turtles,\u201d Bhagat says. Akbar adds: \u201cOne can find fish species in the Sindh region which were never found earlier in those areas. The same is the case with plants. New plant species are appearing due to dissemination of seeds from upstream to downstream areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

The land lost to sea intrusion has been recovered in the deltaic region; due to the deposit of millions of tonnes of silt brought by the flood, new mud-flats have appeared that will benefit the mangrove forests. Moreover, the riverine belt is almost free from encroachers: \u201cThe challenge for the provincial governments would now be to prevent future encroachments on riverbeds,\u201d says Panhwar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Half a year on, scientists are starting to understand the ecological impact of Pakistan\u2019s devastating floods \u2013 and it\u2019s a mixed bag. Zofeen T Ebrahim reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20000276,"featured_media":20003147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[764,50039903],"tags":[523,531,50040325,50040707,607],"hashtags":[],"country":[20000112],"class_list":["post-20000982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature","category-water","tag-conservation","tag-deforestation","tag-river-basins","tag-the-third-pole","tag-water-scarcity","country-pakistan"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAfter the flood | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Half a year on, scientists are starting to understand the ecological impact of Pakistan\u2019s devastating floods \u2013 and it\u2019s a mixed bag. 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