Journalists form forum to create awareness of environmental issues
Karachi: Chairman Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) Muhammad Ali Shah has said environment is a global issue but Pakistan is not taking measures to tackle it.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the National Council of Environmental Journalists (NCEJ) at a hotel here on Tuesday, he said the new forum would make a difference in society at large.
“I see countless environment-related issues across the country but see lack of seriousness. Pakistan is not a major contributor to climate change impacts but is among the top 10 countries which face its effects,” he added.
“There is enormous deforestation from upstream to downstream and we face constant floods across the country,” said Shah, who is also the secretary general of the World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP).
“We had mangrove forests on 2,600,000 hectors at the coastal belt but they have now reduced to just 70,000 hectors. No one knows who is responsible for this crime. We have to take environment-related issues seriously now.”
The NCEJ is first of its kind forum of journalists working in the print, electronic and social media. The journalists will raise a collective voice to report on environmental issues and raise awareness.
President NCEJ Amar Guriro said Pakistan was one of the countries that would be hit hardest by climate change, and it was essentially climate change due to which Pakistan witnessed devastating floods in 2010, 2011 and 2012, that destroyed one fifth of Pakistan’s land mass. “The floods were made worse by poor environmental practices. If we don’t mitigate the damage we’ve done to the environment, experts warn that we will witness more disasters in the future. Our lives and country are at stake. This is an issue about our population’s future survival. The need for the media to wake up and inform our citizens about environmental issues is urgent and in such conditions the forum will train journalists to cover such important issues.”
” 
” 
” 
” 
” 
