Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC), the Federal Flood Commission (FFC) under the Ministry of Water Resources, and WWF-Pakistan have launched a programme titled “Recharge Pakistan: Building Pakistan’s Resilience to Climate Change through Ecosystem-Based Adaptation for Integrated Flood Risk Management” with a 30-year vision.
Recharge Pakistan will be a flagship program to:
- Increase water storage and recharge through wetlands, floodplains and hill-torrents management.
- Build resilience of vulnerable communities through climate-adapted, community-based natural resource management and livelihoods.
- Forge a paradigm shift in Pakistan’s climate change adaptation and flood risk management approaches.
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Moreover, the launched program consists of 3 major phases with 10 years of span each. It will be implemented in selected sites, along the Indus River, across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam while highlighting Pakistan’s leadership role said that ecosystem-based adaption is the foundation of the government’s climate agenda, which comprises the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Afforestation Programme (10BTTAP), Ecosystem Restoration Initiative, Protected Areas Initiative, and Green Stimulus, along with Recharge Pakistan.
These sites will be selected based on flood risks, climate change projections, water storage and recharge potential, and the needs of local communities.
According to the planned program, ecosystem-based adaptation will contribute towards better climate resilience, water and food security and sustainable livelihoods by 2050.
Moreover, above 10 million people that are equal to approximately 5 percent of the population of the country will directly benefit from the Recharge Pakistan program and 20 million people across 50 vulnerable districts of Pakistan will be indirect beneficiaries. The ecological benefits of such initiatives are also expected to serve the global community.
Meanwhile, WWF-Pakistan’s Director General Hammad Naqi Khan said that integrated flood risk management is now a key national priority. He added that the program proposes to undertake ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) interventions that will store floodwater in wetlands, floodplains, and depressions (green infrastructure) at several priority sites.
