19 April 2006
Visit to Taunsa Barrage Wetlands: A personal account

Ghulam Rasool narrates a personal account of his visit to discover the Taunsa Barrage wetlands.

It gave me a great sense of honour to be a part of the WWF – Pakistan’s survey team at the Taunsa Wetlands. The team was scheduled to survey the flora and fauna of Taunsa Barrage Wetlands from 10th of April to 18th of April 2006. Right from the beginning till the end, my visit have been an interesting one. I saw and photographed Prinia burnesii and Jerdon's babbler as well as other species of species of passerines. These species are globally threatened species but they are thriving and healthy in their habitat. It was very sad for me to see in my very brief visit that people burnt reed grasses where these species were quite active with their acrobatic movements and singing. This unpleasant incident was also seen by WWF - Pakistan staff. Incidents like these need to be addressed and highlighted.
Apart from the loss of habitat due to non-sustainable actions by the poor and illiterate people, the fishermen don't just hunt the fish they rather capture the Large White Heron, Grey heron and the Purple Heron. As I was passing by a boat, I saw White and Grey Herons tied up on the boat with nylon strings. It was the moment of great surprise and shock for me, I picked up my camera and approached that boat and started taking the pictures of those birds. Suddenly I noticed a yellow thread in the head of Large White Egret which was tied with a knot over his crown. Somebody had pierced his beak and his forehead with a sharp tool (Needle). His left eye was also damaged. There were fresh blood marks on its wings.