Public outcry against the exploitation of Pakistan’s fast dwindling animal, bird and aquatic species – such as the Himaliyan Brown Bear, Houbara Bustard and turtles grab the headlines every now and then, as does deforestation and the felling of city trees. Indigenous plants though, important as they are , do not capture the public imagination which , under the circumstances, is extremely unfortunate because they are vanishing rapidly.
Of the known and recognised 6,000 flowering plants species detailed in the 222-volume Flora of Pakistan (compiled by the University of Karachi over a period of 40 years), Only 465 species remain endemic to our hugely diverse country. Of these, a further 50 are on the verge of extinction. Yet, apart from dedicated botanists, no one seems to care.
This is because people are usually interested in large flowered, vibrant and usually imported species to dazzle their eyes and those of their friends. The fate of equally beautiful , if often very small, wild flowers is of no interest to them and neither (although this must change) are zoological and other parks interested in trying their hand at urgently needed indigenous plant regeneration.
Given that flora species are becoming extinct at the global rate of one species a day – due to rapidly escalating climate change, loss of habitat and environmental destruction – it is of the utmost urgency that our plant heritage recipes the protection it deserves. Therefore, professional botanists must spearhead planting drives for threatened wild plant species in parks, as well as in ‘protected’ environs such as educational institutions.
Plants that should be given priority include astragalus clarkeanus, asparagus gharoensis, berberis pseudumbellata, gilgitica, haplophyluam gilesii and gilesii and tanacetum baltistancum. This is because they are now on the IUCN (International Union for the Conversation of Nature) ReaList and are either classified as ‘Critical Danger of Extinction’ or ‘Extinct’.
The good news, however, is that they can be planted anywhere in Pakistan-from the high mountains across the north to the coastal stretches in the south.
By B.Khan