Small Cetaceans in Pakistan: 26/1/2007---Meeting local fisherman Committee, by Yee

Our driver picked us up at Panda house at around 11am to WWF Karachi office to meet Dr Ejaz and Mr Ali. They are so kind and enthusiastic. We talked about our training and trip. And we told them the truth- everything is so fine and lovely. People, accomodation, itinerary, field work, training courses… all were very very well organized. We gained so much in the trip.

They also told us that actually we are the first 2 students from other countries that join the programme organized in WWF Pakistan. Very lucky that we can be the vert first students to visit and work with the first project on conservation of cetaceans in Pakistan.

After lunch with Dr Ejaz, Mr Ali and Mauvis we went to the wetland centre run by WWF Pakistan in Sandspit, where we conducted our beach survey and cetacean rescue training, and meet the local fishermen committee who helped with the cetacean conservation project.

Wetland centre was built 5 years ago. The idea was formed from local fishermen. Inside wetland centre there are some displays and computer games for educating the visitors. Exhibitions, display, workshop, lectures and seminars about the wetland ecology are also held here.

The wetland centre is surrounded by a large piece of mangrove, where you can find lots of organisms like fish, birds and other mangrove species inside. It is really a big piece of mangroves.We also know that there used to be a bigger piece of mangrove along the Karachi coast, however due to urban development, many mangroves were cut down and these lands now become a big piece of desert like land. WWF Pakistan actually is doing something to try to stop this kind of mangrove destruction in different levels, like sending opinions to government, educating the general public as well as co-operating with local people like local fishermen for conservation.Like the committee we met are actually formed by the local fishermen in the fishing village just next to wetland centre.

After chatting with the committee I realize that actually these fishermen know the importance of conservation of cetaceans and other natural resources. They told us that if they do not do anything to protect the wildlife, they will not be able to make their livings in the future. They had already found that they can catch less and fishes with smaller sizes compare with the past, so they join the committee to help to protect the area so that they can have sustainable development in the village.

from the chat with the community mobilizer I found that at the beginning it is not easy to start such a programme in the village. It is necessary to balance between conservation work and the se of the natural resiources by these people. It is important to let the people know the importance of such a programme as well as let them still survive as they need the resources. Like people in the village need to collect mangrove woods for fuels, it is impossible to stop them from chopping the mangrove , however teach them to cut down the branches of the mangrove trees instead of cutting down the whole tree can let them survive but at the same time cause less impacts on the mangrove, instead of just stopping them cutting down the trees.

Scientists should be “… looking for some wise principle of co-existence between man and nature, even if it has to be a modified kind of man and a modified kind of nature. This is what I understand by conservation” (Elton, 1958: pg 145).

Actually WWF found the fishermen as their ‘teachers’ instead of clients. WWF Pakistan staff told us that these fishermen do provide them lots of information about the sea and the animals and other organisms in the area. As they live here they can observe these things 24 hours a day and immediately call the WWF staff if they have found anything special. Besides it is possible to collect information about the small cetaceans as the fishermen may see them when they went fishing. Though they do not know the way to identify the species, they do provide information about the area which the cetaceans usually live and a rough number of cetaceans. This definite help the research work.

Afterwards we went to Sandspit beach that next to wetland centre. Every year there are a lot of turtles come up and lay eggs on the beach. The name ‘Sandspit’ comes from these turtles, before they lay eggs they will make a big hole on the beach and this make the sand on the beach dogged up and look like spits, so people call the beach ‘sandspit’. Besides turtles, in the sea of sandspit beach you can see some cetaceans like finless porpoises and also humpback dolphins. Babar told us that the week before we came he saw several humpback dolphins swimming in the sea in sandspit. Unluckily we could not see them today. But from this we can know that it is really an interesting place to go and for education, a variety of wetland habitats and animals, how lovely this place is.

The fishermen then gave us 2 little green turtles for us to release. Actually they are just hatched in the centre which turtle eggs were collected in this safe place and then the little turtles will be released after they hatched. Putting them in such place the reasons behind is that there are lots of unnatural threats that harm the lives of these little creatures. Like house crows and feral dogs, rubbishes and other kinds of pollution. Keeping these eggs in such places can prevent these little creatures being killed before they go to the sea.

However according to some research it shows that only 1 of 100 little turtles will survive and will come back to the beach and lay eggs. Some other factors like water pollution and rubbish even make their lives more threaten and this may further decrease their survival percentage. Hope that this 2 lovely turtle babies can survive in the ocean and hope to see them again after some day.

Photo with Mr Ali at Wetland Centre