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Corporate help vital to check Environmental degradation

SAEED AKHTAR BALOCH

LAHORE: In underdeveloped countries like Pakistan, increasing rate of population and unsustainable development are destroying the natural environment gradually. From the mangroves of the south, to the wetlands of the plains to the forests of the north, the land is under threat because of overuse and pollution.

In Pakistan where majority of people are living a miserable life and the number of the people living below the poverty line is on the increase, sustainable development policies must be linked with conservation of the environment to eradication of poverty, says Mehjabeen Abidi Habib, Provincial Coordinator of UNDP's Global Environment Facility/Small Grants Programme (GEF/SGP). But the government, she is of the view, cannot do this alone without the assistance of the corporate sector.

Many NGOs and people from the corporate sector are supplementing the government efforts for protection of environment. Some renowned figures are also working for human development in their independent capacity. However, there is much more need to do in this direction. Especially when the corporate sector has emerged more powerful in politics in the recent past, its social responsibility increases many times. Now there is an urgent need that government, corporate sector and civil society should join hands to overcome this problem. "No doubt, globally the socially responsible businessman is marginalised, but in a decade the number is expected to increase significantly," says Mehjabeen.

UNDP, she said, launched its GEF/SGP in 1992, which provides grants of upto US$ 50,000 to support the community-based groups and NGOs in activities that address local problems. Currently, the programme is operational in 46 countries. In Pakistan, projects funded by the programme are helping to conserve bio-diversity, reduce green house gas emissions and raise environmental awareness among the general public, especially those living in the underdeveloped and far-flung areas.

In Pakistan UNDP's Fayyaz Baqir initiated the small grants programme four years back. "We are discovering and reviving our own traditions of trusting our own people and communities by giving them responsibility for managing their own resources. What we are doing is that we are giving back to the communities and introducing the concept of management and ownership of resources of communities again, so that they could revive their own traditions," she said.

GEF aims at building alliances and producing local leadership in the corporate sector. Mehjabeen said, "We are in search of young, visionary, educated and dynamic local leadership who with the financial assistance of this facility could address the problems of the local people. She said that the basic object of the GEF is to seek local leaders who could work for the protection of environment in their respective areas. "Our main concern is to master the process of seeking leadership in the corporate sector, as we feel that unless the government, the civil society and the corporate sector wage a joint crusade, the problem cannot be overcome," she maintained.

To protect the people from the hazards of pesticides, the concept of organic cotton has been introduced in DG Khan division, where people are also being educated about the correct use of pesticides and fertilizer, Mehajabeen said. This is being done by a local organisation called 'Hirk' (means 'hope' in local language). The local leaders are creating awareness among the people through street theatre in Lund Sadhan-like underdeveloped areas of DG Khan, she added. Since its launch in 1993 in Pakistan, the GEF/SGP has witnessed many success stories, she said.

Maryam Bashir, the daughter of a Lahore-based business tycoon, was brought up in luxury. After completing her education in the United States she came back to Pakistan with the determination to start her own NGO. In 1994, she established 'Escorts Foundation' with the aim of improving the health, education and income generating in targeted villages of Changa Manga Forest, district Kasur. With the assistance of a young team of social workers, she selected Changa Manga forest for their project. With an initial grant from a Canadian donor agency, the Escorts Foundation set up schools for children, and young girls from the areas were selected and trained to start schools in their homes on self-help basis. The foundation also arranged for the local women to sell their handicrafts (straw baskets and mats) and hand woven cloth in Lahore.

When the foundation commenced working in the field, they came to know that families spent many hours illegally pillaging the forest for firewood used in kitchens. The smoke emitted from the open 'chullas' not only adds to green house gas emissions, but also damages the atmosphere and causes global climate change. The Foundation approached the GEF/SGP, and with the help of its financial assistance introduced smokeless stoves in the area. In using a mud-built smokeless stove a woman needs only half the fuel needed for traditional chulla. "Now 80 percent womenfolk of 24 villages of that area have switched to these stoves," said Mehajabeen.

Similarly, she said, to preserve bio-diversity and pool resources for the development of their community in their area, Jogezai tribe of Balochistan formed 'Society for Torghar Environment Protection.' In 1995, GEF funding was provided to the society to improve the yield of agriculture land. This was done through the construction of water ponds and by introducing better farming techniques, she said. Today, instead of depending on hunting, the people of that area concentrate on agriculture for earning their livelihood, said Mehjabeen.