Nurturing Young Saplings

Creation of new green areas, Coastal landscape management or protection, Knowledge creation and awareness raising

This project aimed to: 1. To restore 4.5 hectares of mangrove forest in the Sandspit area near WWF Wetland Centre aiming to protect the coastal area. 2. To raise awareness among school children on the importance and conservation of the mangrove ecosystems through various interventions. 3. To restore the ecosystem and improve the local habitat for fauna such as migratory birds and crabs, as such helping to improve biodiversity. 4. To add oxygen to the marine ecosystems and prevent land erosion as well as to act as shock absorbers against hurricanes and tsunamis. (1,2)

Nurturing Young Sapling project was implemented by WWF Pakistan Karachi Office with a grant from Mangrove for the Future. The project was carried out near the WWF Wetland Centre in the Sandspit area, Karachi. The target beneficiaries of the project include local fishing communities, school children and their families as well as local and international visitors to the Sandspit area. The project resulted in the establishment of a mangrove (Avicenna marina) nursery in the area. About 5000 mangrove saplings (Avicenna marina) were planted in the identified area with participation from the school students. Awareness-raising events were conducted which involved 100 school children and 100 university students. World Wetland Day 2012 and World Earth Day 2012 were celebrated at the Wetland Centre in Sandspit with the participation of 212 students. The children presented their views about the environment, wetlands and mangroves through various posters, speeches, tableaus and quiz competitions (1, 2). Students from the Government Boys Secondary School, Government Boys Primary School Younis-Abad, Government Girls Primary School Younis Abad and Kaka Pir Community Schools participated in the competitions. Afterwards, the children moved to an open area after being divided into groups of 10, where they planted 200 saplings of Mangroves (2). A two-day national conference on the mangrove ecosystem of Pakistan was also organized on 8-9 March 2012 by WWF for this regional initiative promoting investments in coastal ecosystems. Senior representatives of the environment sector, and private and public sector shared their views and experiences at the occasion (3). Initially, the implementation of the project was planned for one year but due to the unforeseen political circumstances in Karachi, the timeframe was restricted to eight months which seemed very challenging to complete all the planned activities in a shorter time (1). After completion of the project, WWF Wetland centre continued the conservation, mangrove plantation and awareness raising in students for coastal ecosystem protection. Some of the initiatives in this Sandspit area by WWF include various collaborations starting in 2013 with several stakeholders with a courier service company to highlight the importance of mangrove plantations and raise awareness among coastal communities and other stakeholders. The most recent one was in January 2018, when WWF planted 27,000 saplings in collaboration with Artistic Fabric and Garment Industries (AFGI) Pvt Ltd (5).

• Researchers/University
• Citizens or community groups
• Young people and children