page_title: Mangrove
section_title: Pakistan
hierarchical_section_title: Mangrove / Geographical regions / Asia / Pakistan
caption_attribution_description: English: Flourishing mangroves along Karachi coast, Pakistan
context_page_description: A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics, mainly between latitudes 25° N and 25° S. The total mangrove forest area of the world in 2000 was 137,800 square kilometres, spanning 118 countries and territories.
  Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to life in harsh coastal conditions. They contain a complex salt filtration system and complex root system to cope with salt water immersion and wave action. They are adapted to the low oxygen conditions of waterlogged mud.
  The word is used in at least three senses: most broadly to refer to the habitat and entire plant assemblage or mangal, for which the terms mangrove forest biome, and mangrove swamp are also used, to refer to all trees and large shrubs in a mangrove swamp, and narrowly to refer just to "true" mangrove trees of the genus Rhizophora of the family Rhizophoraceae.
context_section_description: Pakistani mangroves are located mainly along the delta of the Indus River (the Indus River Delta-Arabian Sea mangroves ecoregion). Major mangrove forests are found on the coastline of the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan.
  In Karachi, land reclamation projects have led to the cutting down of mangrove forests for commercial and urban development. On 22 June 2013, Sindh Forest Department, Govt. of Sindh, Pakistan, with the help of 300 local coastal volunteer planters set the Guinness World Record by planting 847,250 mangrove saplings at Kharo Chan, Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan in a little over 12 hours. This is the highest number of saplings planted within a day under the Guinness World Record category of "Maximum Number of Trees Planted in a Day".
  Sindh Forest Department, Government of Sindh Mangrove has played pioneer role for the conservation and protection of the mangroves in the Indus Delta since late 1950s when it was handed over the areas. A breakthrough success is the re-introduction of Rhizophora mucronata into the Indus Delta, which had become extinct there. More recently, a threatened mangrove shrub, Ceriops tagal, has also been successfully re-introduced. A third species, Aegiceras corniculatum, is under trials at the nursery stage.
  A major initiative is currently underway in Sindh, Pakistan, to rehabilitate degraded mangrove mudflats. Since 2010 alone, around 55,000 hectares of former mangrove forest have been planted and rehabilitated. During this period, through concerted efforts and a rigorous conservation policy adopted by the Sindh Forest Department, the government of Sindh and the federal government, a mangrove resource base of 150,000 plus hectares has been created, with the support of local coastal communities. International organizations like IUCN and WWF are also playing critical role to support this initiative. Other achievements include: (1) Declaring all the mangrove forests in the Indus Delta as Protected Forests in December 2010; Constitution of a Mangrove Conservation Committee at the provincial level which includes all stakeholders as members and overall awareness of the importance of mangroves and its ecosystem.
caption: Flourishing mangroves along Karachi coast, Pakistan
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D60", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Software": "Ver.1.00", "Image DateTime": "2014:01:17 14:37:09", "Image ExifOffset": "2228", "Image XPComment": "[32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, ... ]", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1600", "EXIF FNumber": "5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Unidentified", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:01:17 14:37:09", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:01:17 14:37:09", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "23/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "135", "EXIF SubSecTime": "90", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "90", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "90", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3872", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2592", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "202", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}