An Interview with Dr. Masood Arshad, WWF Pakistan
In this article, we interview Dr Masood Arshad, Senior Director of WWF Pakistan.
For anyone that doesn’t already know, could you please give a basic introduction to WWF Pakistan - its goals, mission etc.?
WWF-Pakistan was established in 1970. We are part of a global network active in over 100 countries.
Our mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future where people and nature can thrive, by:
Conserving the world’s biological diversity
Ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable
Promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption
There are many NGOs worldwide, though WWF is perhaps the largest and most global. With that in mind, what specific issues does WWF Pakistan aim to address? How are these relevant in the context of Pakistan?
Pakistan is faced with multiple socio-economic and environmental challenges and the negative impacts of climate change are expected to increase the burden. The already burgeoning population especially in rural communities along with poverty and a lack of education and awareness, adversely impact the environmental situation in the country, giving rise to concerns related to food, water and energy security, in addition to other conservation issues.
As the largest conservation organization in Pakistan, our work revolves around 6 overarching areas - Food and Markets, Climate and Energy, Freshwater, Wildlife, Forests and Oceans. We collaborate, partner and engage with the government, private sector and civil society to contribute to tackling the environmental issues in Pakistan. Through our work and initiatives, we strive to adopt nature-based solutions and take a variety of conservation actions to help Pakistan tread the path toward sustainability.
How do you think Covid 19 has affected the work WWF Pakistan does? In what ways has the charity adapted to these circumstances?
Well, the initial covid phase was marked by a strict lockdown and was very challenging. Being a field-based organization, sitting at home was like doomsday for us. All our activities revolve around people and the project sites so we had to immediately find ways/alternatives to embed resilience in our way of working. We did not want to succumb to the covid shock. There were initial bad times but we reinvented and innovated where we could. For example, we used a door to door approach for community engagement rather than group meetings. Now, the situation is better so we follow the covid SOPs and are getting back on track.
Despite all these difficulties, I know you have managed to make a huge difference in counteracting many of the struggles faced by Pakistan’s wildlife. As WWF Pakistan, what are some of your biggest successes and achievements?
I can count so many successes but to specify a few, our wildlife conservation activities are worth mentioning. From just 500 to 600 individuals left, the population of the Indus River dolphin has now increased to about 2,000. Similarly, once close to extinction, the long-billed vultures’ population has been increasing since 2006 after the banning of the deadly diclofenac sodium.
We have worked on protecting Pangolins from poaching and our community inclusive approach has shown positive results. Similarly, our involvement in forests has been significant. We have planted over 30,000 trees in Aubia National Park, which has aided in replenishing over 200 million litres of water per annum into the hydrological system of the region.
Moreover, our projects on water and energy conservation with textile and leather enterprises are noteworthy and involve greenhouse gas emission reduction. Our recharge and replenishment initiatives are helping save groundwater and other water resources. Our capacity development efforts with farmers are leading to climate-smart agriculture practices and the promotion of organic cotton production and development of market linkages for farmers serve as other excellent examples of our efforts.
This article is a part of a collaboration with WWF Pakistan. For more information, please visit: https://www.wwfpak.org/