The World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the Netherlands Embassy in Islamabad have signed a $7.5 million project titled Balochistan Partnerships for Sustainable Development (BPSD) for improving water situation in this province of Pakistan, said a statement. With an overall goal of sustained human and ecological well-being in Balochistan, the six-year programme to be implemented by the IUCN along with its partners, focuses on key components like environmental governance, integrated water resource and coastal zone management and multi-stakeholder capacity-building for sustainable development. Ambassador of the Netherlands Willem Andreae and Regional Director IUCN Asia Aban Marker Kabraji signed the agreement. Despite being the largest province of Pakistan in terms of land area, Balochistan remained sparsely populated due to lack of infrastructural development and is home to only five per cent of the country s population. The bulk of labour force is employed in agriculture, mainly livestock rearing and dry land farming as only one-third of the total land area of the province is productive. The watersheds and rangelands, comprising 94 per cent of total land area of Balochistan, are highly degraded. Over-grazing, illegal logging and uprooting of vegetation by locals and Afghan refugees, who arrived in the province by the millions following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, had exacerbated the situation. The water situation has become extremely precarious due to surface water scarcity and heavy withdrawal of ground water and is slowly leading to ecological disaster and irreparable damage to the diverse and rich bio-diversity of the province.
