There is a double irony. Pakistanis are trying to leave or emigrate given that the economy is tanking. But endangered species of birds are actually moving to Pakistan. They are finding refuge in an urban forest that was created in Karachi two years ago.

The second irony is that just two years ago Karachi’s Clifton urban forest used to be a garbage dump. Today it has 800,000 trees and over 150 different types of aquatic and terrestrial birds.

Masood Lohar, a climate change adaptation and resilience expert, established and took control of the 200-acre urban forest along the Seaview beach coast in January 2021. The project’s aim was to improve the climatic conditions and resilience of Karachi and to solve the city’s problems of high temperatures, runoff water, and bad air quality.

“We have created a safe haven for birds. We developed a lagoon which is why different types of birds of local and migrant birds come and stay here to breed,” he said.

Two internationally near-threatened birds on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list, the Black Tailed Godwit & Eurasian Curlew, were spotted in the urban forest lagoon in October 2022. According to Lohar, it is quite unusual for internationally threatened birds to migrate to Karachi.

Both aquatic and terrestrial birds now live and nest in the forest. “We now have 125 to 150 birds aquatic and terrestrial birds, including flamingos, pelicans, and moorhen,” he said.

Birds such as flamingos and moorhen, which are rare species around the world, are also breeding after their arrival in the forest. “Especially flamingos come and live here. We have both greater and lesser flamingos.”

Terrestrial birds such as scaly-breasted munia, plain prinia, red-vented bulbul, white-haired bulbul, myna, Indian silver bill, and sunbirds are also living in the urban forest.

“Pelicans also come here. They’re shy so they only come out at night and not during the day. We’re trying to make them come during the day,” he said.

Lohar said that the forest has managed to restore biodiversity by planting 800,000 saplings. After the trees were planted, birds, mammals, insects, and other animals have come here in large numbers.

Clifton Urban Forest Patron-In-Chief Murtaza Wahab said that their goal was to create a role model urban forest for the rest of Karachi.

“Internationally threatened birds coming to nest in Karachi was unimaginable,” he said. “This place was a garbage dump until two years and today there are thousands of trees here flourishing here.”

The trees

When the forest was founded in 2021, the initial plan was to plant 3 million saplings of 45 types, including mangroves and moringas, on this strip of Clifton Beach. So far 800,000 saplings have been planted, including 700,000 mangroves and a large number of fruit plants. Pongame oil trees, oleander plants, date palms, and wild almonds have been planted there using the Miyawaki technique.

The Miyawaki planting method mimics the way a forest would recolonize itself if humans stepped away. Only native species that would occur naturally in that area without humans, given the specific climate condition, are planted.

Birds in danger

Masood Lohar said that the flamingos used to be hunted by poachers around the Clifton Urban Forest. The poachers sell flamingo pairs for around Rs50,000.

“It took us a year to get rid of these poachers with the help of the Sindh Wildlife Department and the Police. After that, we made a checkpost to ensure security,” he said. He hopes that the Sarus cranes will start breeding at the forest again.

Eagles and crows are both scavengers and predatory birds and are a threat to smaller migrant birds. “We have to protect the tiny birds from these scavengers. For example, plovers are tiny birds, their chicks and eggs are so small.”

Lohar wishes people understoond that Karachi has a coastal ecosystem. “We cannot survive if we turn this city into a concrete jungle. We need to create spaces for the marine ecosystem and biodiversity. If we don’t do so, then our life quality will decrease.”