The Indus River provides key water resources for Pakistan's economy including for agriculture and industries. It also provides the main supply for potable water. The river basin areas can be roughly categorized into three distinct tracts including mountainous areas, plains and coastal areas. All these areas have been degraded due to human activities, over-exploitation of resources and climate change impact. To this end the Government of Pakistan in collaboration with the United Nations has launched Living Indus initiative in 2022 to restore Indus Basin ecosystems. 

The Living Indus Initiative flows from two sources: first, it springs from a sober assessment of the present situation. The Indus and its ecosystems are under pressure from the seemingly inexorable changing climate, temperature fluctuations, disruption of rainfall patterns, and we are only at an early stage of efforts to adapt to and mitigate these effects. The second source for the Initiative is the growing demand of the nation, its population and communities for action to ensure a healthy future rooted in a resilient ecosystem, in steady building of human, social and natural capital, and in a shared vision for a more equitable and stable future. 

Highlighted activities

The Living Indus initiative, led by the Government of Pakistan and supported by United Nations, has identified, through consultations, 25 interventions, to be implemented throughout the Indus Basin in Pakistan. However, considering the size of the Indus Basin and the heterogeneity in topography, culture, type of land and water use, etc., from the source (mountains) to the sea (delta) it is needed to develop restoration plan for different ecological zones including wetland eco-system, which have been degraded over time. The proposed flagship intervention will help identify resilience opportunities and gaps in the lower Indus basin, particularly Nareri lake, which is located in Sindh province of Pakistan; identify gaps and best practices for upscaling.  

The proposed activities include a survey using ROAM methodology for assessing opportunities and gaps for restoration. FAO relevant tools such as CE, sepal/se. plan will be used combined with ground truthing of best possible restoration interventions and the collection and analysis of good practices in the context of Nareri Lake restoration.  

Leading and partner organizations