ISLAMABAD: A large number of children and youngsters on Saturday held a hike at the Margalla Hills Trail-V and participated in a painting competition to mark the World Mother Earth Day.

The theme of the day this year was “Environmental and climate literacy.”

The event was organised by the Sustainable Tourism Foundation Pakistan and the Development Communications Network (Devcom).

Biodiversity specialist Z.B. Mirza said Margalla Hills National Park, which was established in 1980, spread over approximately 17,386 hectares (67.13 square miles) and had become one of the most popular picnic spots because of Daman-i-Koh and Pir Sohawa.

He said the park was rich in biodiversity and home to around 600 plant species, 250 bird varieties, 38 mammals and 13 species of reptiles.

“But the biological diversity of the park is threatened by human interventions and environmentally unfriendly practices. The city management has no check on the misuse of the national park,” he said.

Devcom Director Munir Ahmed said we should hand over a worth living earth to the next generation as it was given to the pre-industrial generation.

About the misuse of natural resources in and around the federal capital and the national park, he said the mixing of sewage in natural streams should be stopped.

Zobia Jameel, who took part in the competition, said: “We have only one earth and we need to pledge to take care of it. Such art competitions give us an opportunity to reflect what is in our heart ad what we feel about the exploitation of natural resources.”

Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Ministry of Climate Change said the overexploitation of natural resources was the biggest threat to the earth.

The head of the environmental advocacy and communication section in the ministry, Mohammad Saleem, said environmental protection and climate change mitigation through sustainable use and protection of the natural resources, particularly water, land, animals and forests, were more critical than ever.

He said about 90pc of land spreading over around 80 million hectares in the country had been classified as arid or semi-arid, meaning extremely inadequate rains, decreased soil fertility, deforestation, expanding desertification and a loss of crop productivity and biodiversity.

“Nearly one-fourth of the country’s population is poor and directly dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods whether agriculture, hunting, forestry or fisheries,” he said.

Mr Saleem said water and energy crises were key challenges to the socio-economic sustainability of the country. But the government is taking all-out measures to cope with these challenges.

He said a US-based think-tank, World Resource Institute, had ranked Pakistan 23rd among 33 countries that would be facing an extremely high water stress in year 2040.

The organisation has called upon these countries to take urgent policy measures to improve water efficiency and conservancy in the agriculture sector which accounts for around 96pc of the total surface and ground water use, he said.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2017