Amidst Karachi’s rapid urban expansion, vital mangrove forests that protect the city from cyclones, strong winds, and coastal flooding are under severe threat.
A recent WWF-Pakistan report highlights significant areas where mangroves have been cleared for housing and commercial projects, putting the remaining tracts at risk of massive deforestation.
Geospatial experts at the Richard Garstang Conservation Lab at WWF-Pakistan, using satellite data and remote sensing tools, documented a rapid decline in Karachi’s mangrove cover over the past two decades. The report identified land reclamation and mangrove cutting for development as primary causes of this decline. To halt this destruction, the report calls for strict law enforcement, reforestation, and natural regeneration programs.
The Sindh Forest Department (SFD) has made notable progress in mangrove conservation, planting mangroves on 55,555 hectares along the Sindh coastline from 2020 to 2024. Despite these efforts, approximately 200 hectares of Karachi’s mangroves were lost between 2010 and 2022 due to land grabbing and development projects, according to the SFD.
WWF-Pakistan’s satellite evidence shows large areas of mangroves have been cleared for residential projects, with ongoing cutting in other areas. These critical habitats, essential for biodiversity, urban cooling, air purification, and carbon storage, are being sacrificed for short-term financial gains. Hammad Naqi Khan, Director General of WWF-Pakistan, stressed that this destruction increases the vulnerability of local communities to oceanic disasters and undermines Karachi’s resilience to climate change.
The report also revealed that in addition to land reclamation, mangrove cutting for commercial use poses a significant threat. Mature trees near Port Qasim are being logged and sold in local markets, severely impacting the ecosystem.
The destruction of Karachi’s mangroves jeopardizes both the environment and the city’s sustainability. The report urges relevant stakeholders to collaborate on conserving these crucial natural resources, emphasizing continuous monitoring and research using advanced tools like satellite imagery to track changes in mangrove cover and assess conservation efforts’ effectiveness.