On the occasion of World Wetlands Day, I reaffirm our commitment to the conservation and sustainable management of wetlands.
This day marks the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands, also known as the Ramsar Convention, in 1971. Pakistan is a signatory to this landmark agreement, which promotes the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands and their resources for present and future generations.
The World Wetlands Day 2026 theme, “Wetlands and Traditional Knowledge: Celebrating Cultural Heritage,” reminds us that wetlands are not merely ecological systems. They are living cultural landscapes shaped over centuries by local communities. Across Pakistan, traditional knowledge and practices linked to wetlands have supported livelihoods, food security, biodiversity conservation and a balanced relationship with nature.
Healthy wetlands reduce floods, protect coasts, sustain livelihoods and cut emissions. Neglecting them multiplies climate losses, while restoring them delivers high returns for resilience, the economy and ecology. Pakistan is among the countries least responsible for climate change yet most exposed to its consequences. Our wetlands are frontline climate defenders against floods, droughts, heatwaves and sea-level rise.
Pakistan’s diverse wetlands, ranging from riverine floodplains and alpine and glacial lakes to inland wetlands and coastal and mangrove ecosystems, play a critical role in biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation, water regulation and disaster risk reduction. Across the country, wetlands face mounting pressures: erratic monsoons, glacial melt variability, heatwaves, shrinking flood buffers and climate-amplified pollution. Sindh bears a disproportionate burden due to wetland degradation, historical water stress and sea-level rise. The Indus Delta and mangrove forests, once among the world’s richest, now face salinity intrusion, coastal erosion and loss of fish breeding grounds. Inland wetlands such as Keenjhar, Haleji and Manchar are experiencing reduced freshwater inflows, prolonged droughts and concentrated pollution, affecting fisheries, drinking water and migratory bird routes.
For millions of our citizens, wetlands are part of everyday life. They provide fish for households and markets, grazing for livestock, reeds and vegetation for shelter and fuel, and natural protection for villages during periods of heavy rainfall or water scarcity. When wetlands degrade, families face loss of income, rising food costs, unsafe water and greater exposure to floods and droughts. Protecting these ecosystems is therefore both an environmental responsibility and a matter of public welfare and national resilience.
Wetlands are also cost-effective climate solutions. They absorb floods more effectively, store carbon, especially mangroves, protect coastlines naturally, and reduce the need for costly disaster recovery. Sustainable wetland management, integrating indigenous and community knowledge, contributes directly to Pakistan’s climate and biodiversity goals and international environmental commitments.
Water security in our region depends on responsible and lawful transboundary cooperation. Pakistan remains concerned over unilateral actions by India affecting the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, a legally binding agreement that has governed equitable water sharing in the Indus Basin for decades. The suspension of treaty mechanisms, including the sharing of hydrological data, undermines trust and predictability when climate pressures require greater cooperation. Water must never be used as a tool of coercion, and the weaponisation of water as an instrument of war against Pakistan must be rejected, as the disruption of river flows threatens millions of lives, livelihoods, and food systems in a country reliant on the Indus Basin.
On this important day, I urge all citizens, especially our youth, local communities and policymakers, to value, protect and sustainably manage wetlands as living cultural and ecological assets. Protecting wetlands is not only about nature; it is about people, livelihoods and national resilience. Pakistan will continue to advocate that climate justice means safeguarding those ecosystems that protect us.
Pakistan Zindabad.
