TITLE:
Mangrove Ecosystem Services: Indus Delta (PQA), Sindh
AUTHORS:
Shahid Amjad, Muhammad Ajaz Rasheed, Mirza Aqeel Baig
KEYWORDS:
Mangrove Ecosystem Services, Biological Productivity, Coastal Communities
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.4 No.7,
July
30,
2016
ABSTRACT: Mangroves of the Indus Delta are the world’s fifth largest assemblage,
and the largest in the arid zone. Mangroves of Indus delta (PQA) provide
immense benefits, products and unrecognized regulatory services. Products of Direct Economic Value: Fish,
Minerals and food. There are Products
of Natural System (intangible) supplies of rich nutrients to support
productivity. Coastal communities benefit in a multitude of ways from Mangrove
ecosystems. Collectively, these benefits are known as ecosystem services. The
ecological role of mangrove ecosystems in the Indus Deltaic area of Port Qasim
Authority (PQA) is, economically and socially significant. The Mangroves are
well known for their high biological productivity and their consequent
importance provided to the coastal community in terms of services and products
of direct and indirect value to the adjacent coastal waters. Mangrove Ecosystem
services are regularly involved in the provisioning of food and services and
the decomposition of organic wastes. They export organic matter, mainly in detritus
form of leaf litter to the marine environment, thus providing a highly
nutritious food source for themselves and for the Benthic and terrestrial
animals found in the mangrove areas, as well as for those in neighboring estuarine
and marine ecosystems. Apart from nutrient export, mangroves also contribute to
offshore fisheries by acting as nurseries and shelters for many species of commercially
important finfish and crustaceans. Degradation of Indus Deltaic mangrove in PQA
would destabilize the economic potential and the livelihood of communities’
which include services and benefits offered by the mangrove ecosystem.
Rehabilitation and conservation of mangroves ecosystem in PQA is essential for
sustained biological productivity in the region.