Ecology vs. development in Karachi: Interview with photographer Salman Baloch

Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, is home to more than 20 million people and has been in the news many times due to climate-related issues such as heat waves, urban flooding and bad air quality. On the city’s eastern side lies Malir, Karachi’s largest district, on the banks of the Malir River, home to Indigenous Sindhi and Baloch tribes for centuries.

Malir means greenery in the Sindhi language and it was long famous for guava, green chiles, jambolan (Syzygium cumini) and many sorts of vegetable crops and fruit orchids. The Malir riverbed also hosts migrant and local bird species like Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus), Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) and purple sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus). Like any other agrarian society, people lived here communally for centuries. However, rapid urbanization and development projects threaten Malir’s land, river, flora and fauna today.

Wildlife photographer, activist and writer Salman Baloch is among those who see these development projects as an attempt to erase natural heritage, wildlife and Indigenous history. When asked about his childhood memories, Baloch said, “They brought cranes upon us in the name of development. I was a 10-year-old kid when I realized that we were losing something. …

“Small-scale peasants, who couldn’t afford to pay heavy bills, started selling their lands to real estate and gradually, wildlife habitat started disappearing. This is not what we wanted,” Baloch explained.

Since 2020, a 39-km (24-mi) Malir Expressway project has caused anxiety and distrust among Malir’s Indigenous population. The expressway is a public-private partnership between the Sindh government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Indigenous community protested against the destruction of wildlife and the demolition of houses. In April 2023, ADB withdrew its funding on environmental grounds. The project is now funded jointly by commercial banks, the Sindh government and development finance institutions.

The Sindh government inaugurated its 9.1-km (5.7-mi) section on Jan. 11. The Malir Expressway construction has threatened wildlife and the livelihood of the community but also put cultural heritage in danger. In June 2024, the Sayad Hashmi Reference Library, a notable piece of cultural heritage and one of the largest archives of Baloch literature and history was marked by authorities for demolition. Due to Baloch’s activism, public pressure was created and the library was saved.

One of the most important aspects of Baloch’s efforts is his documentation of wildlife that is endangered because of the construction of Bahria Town, a 19,000-hectare (46,000-acre) gated suburb on the northeast of Karachi. Malir Expressway is aimed at connecting Malir town with this housing project. Bahria Town has been controversial because of illegal land occupation and the destruction of wildlife. In 2021, thousands of locals protested in front of Bahria Town against illegal expansion.

To understand the effects of development on the ecology and wildlife of Malir and Karachi, Mongabay interviewed Salman Baloch by phone. This article has been translated from Urdu and edited for length and clarity.

Mongabay: Why is it important to talk about Malir in the context of Karachi’s ecology and development?

Salman Baloch: We first have to decide what “development” means. Any sane person can’t be against development. For centuries we lived an agrarian life. We understand development as something that uplifts the community socially and economically. Development should bring clean water, electricity and tools that would enhance our abilities in agriculture. People settled in Malir before Karachi was established as a city. Malir’s forests, rivers and mountains have protected the indigenous flora and fauna that shaped Karachi’s environment for hundreds of years. For the past two decades, the development sector and real estate projects, especially projects like the Malir Expressway, have threatened Malir’s ecosystem.

Mongabay: Explain to us how an expressway is threatening Karachi’s ecosystem.

Salman Baloch: The Malir River is the source of life for us. Our ancestors chose the Malir River’s bank for cultivation and farming. It is the source of irrigation and lush green forests that stretch from the Kirthar Mountain Range to the main Malir metro area. In 2020, the Sindh government, partnering with the Asia Development Bank, started to build a 39-km, six-lane road along the Malir River that will connect Malir City to the Karachi-Hyderabad motorway where two mega-housing projects are located. All this development is for rich people.

The heavy machinery and concrete dug the land where birds breed and cattle are fed. It was a disaster not only for the river but for everything dependent on the river. If the river is altered, the whole environment is affected. A city like Karachi turned into a concrete jungle. With every drop of rain, the city drowns in its sewage water. The stagnant water stands in the city for days because the city has no dewatering zone. People are dying because of heat waves in the city and the water table on the coast is rising. The communities are migrating from the coastal part. All this is happening because there is no planning for people. No recommendation from the communities who understand rain patterns, waterways and wind patterns. Malir is called “the oxygen of Karachi” and a source of agriculture. The only way to make Karachi livable is to preserve nature and stop altering the ecosystem with uncouth projects.

Mongabay: What impacts has the Indigenous community faced since the start of the Malir Expressway project, and how are people organizing against it?

Salman Baloch: As per law, every project that starts has to go through a procedure. It starts with an environmental assessment, which follows a public hearing, so if the community has reservations, they should express them in that. Later, the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency [SEPA] issued a no-objection certificate [NOC] to kick off the project. The project started in 2020 and a public hearing was organized two years later. Meanwhile, the community has only faced displacement, loss of land and destruction of natural heritage. Construction on the Malir River started without an NOC.

Now, our commute is disrupted and we cannot travel from one village to another because our way is blocked. Our women cannot go to the river anymore with their cattle because the whole bank of the river is now rubble with the dust with heavy machines.

The people of Malir decided to resist the project. Indigenous Rights Alliance was the forum that took up the case, and in 2022, after the public hearing, we first filed a written complaint to SEPA. Our case was in an environmental tribunal and we only received dates from the court. The court issued an NOC to the public interest, which was absurd because the tribunal did not consider the environment but the public interest. After every door was closed, multiple Indigenous organizations, civil rights groups and locals filed a complaint to ADB. ADB surveyed the ground and talked to affected people. We presented our case of endangered wildlife, flora and fauna and Indigenous history. After hearing our version, ADB stopped financing its share in 2023. It was a small victory for the Indigenous people.

Mongabay: You said this project is affecting our Indigenous history — what do you mean by that?

Salman Baloch: The Baloch population is spread across many regions due to its nomadic past. It was very recently that the Baloch started documenting literary history, vocabulary and script. Very few institutions have preserved those rare documents; one is the Sayad Hashmi Reference Library in Malir. This library preserves documents and publishes new editions of vocabulary, poetry and research books. At least 40 books have been published from the Sayad Hashmi Reference Library and it accommodated so many Ph.D. students from across the world who were doing their research on the Baloch and Balochistan. It’s a heritage for the Indigenous Baloch population. I am the library’s coordinator.

One day when I came to the library, it was marked red by the Malir Expressway authorities because it was in the route of the Malir Expressway. The only way to stop this was through agitation. The government has never facilitated us and all those archives are in vulnerable condition. When the temperature crosses 40° Celsius [104° Fahrenheit] in Karachi and humidity increases, this also increases the risk of damaging these archives. The library has no AC. We are preserving history on our own, and the Sindh government is on the run to destroy it.

Mongabay: When did you find out that development is not in the Indigenous community’s favor?

Salman Baloch: When I was growing up, I did not know about urbanization or development. I was 10 when deforestation on the upper part of the Malir’s Thado River started. Initially, housing societies acquired our lands in the late ‘80s, then the gravel mafia arrived and it went on. That’s when we, as a community, realized that this version of development is a threat to our existence. Later, these housing societies expanded throughout the city without any nuance of ecology. The crop fields started disappearing; trees were cut off like they were not there, disrupting the shelters of birds and the ecosystem. Now, I rarely see birds flying above the sky and when I see them, I mourn because I witnessed what horrors we have done for climate and ecology. I as a wildlife photographer have photos that are the memories of what has been lost.

Mongabay: Why did you choose wildlife photography? What inspired you?

Salman Baloch: Growing up in a neighborhood like Malir in the early ‘80s, it was rare to find anyone with a gadget let alone a camera but fortunately, my father had one. It was an old reel camera. As a kid, I was always excited to see him taking photos of people and events and that is how my interest developed. In 1992, my father passed away when I was very young. My passion for taking photos grew and I started taking random photos of objects and nature. In 2001, I bought a digital camera and started recording rain, birds and wildlife in Malir. I used to sit around the Malir River for hours to observe what was out there to shoot. I started uploading my photos to various online portals. It was a life-changing moment for me when one of the local photographers contacted me and said your photos of birds are unique. My photo of the European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus) was one of the most significant photos for Pakistan’s wildlife photographers’ community. This gave me confidence, and I started documenting wildlife, especially birds.

Mongabay: What recognition have you got so far?

Salman Baloch: I never received an award, if that is what you mean by recognition. I don’t have access to organizations that recognize this work in Pakistan. I believe recognition can be in many ways. For example, my work has been published in BirdingASIA, which I found to be an honor.

In 2017, I was clocking my records about what species have been captured in what part. I started uploading my photos in the Collins eBird app and found out all the top birders who photographed birds in Pakistan are from the West. Soon, after a while, I topped the list after documenting 300 bird species in Pakistan. That became news in Pakistan, and BBC did a story on me as well as Geo News featured me on TV. To be honest with you, there’s no forum where these bird-watchers or birders upload their records in Pakistan. My work is in blind areas that are unexplored, and I invest my time and energy without any support. I spend my money from my pocket on traveling without any grant or fund to document these birds.

Mongabay: How do you manage your life considering there’s no help from organizations?

Salman Baloch: I am a data analyst by profession and I work five days a week. On those five days, I stay home and give time to my wife and three children. I go to the field early in the mornings on Saturdays and Sundays and return around 11 a.m, then I give my time to the library and manage my role as coordinator. My writing time is at night when I’m done with dinner. I manage my time properly.

Mongabay: How did you get the idea that bird species have to be documented in the Balochi language?

Salman Baloch: I am writing a book on local birds in Balochi. The idea behind this was to produce literature that has been widely ignored and felt unimportant. When I used to post pictures of birds on various wildlife portals, people used to ask me what this bird was called in Balochi. Especially after I started working with the Sayad Hashmi Library, I found some data from there but it wasn’t enough. After sharing my thoughts with my friends, we decided to make a list of all the Balochi names of bird species that are indigenous to Balochistan province. Around 500 species of birds can be found in Balochistan, and I have compiled photos of 400 species including migrating birds.

From those 400 species, I have chosen 215 species to write in detail in my book. For example: I have described two seagull species in my book and provided photos of five other species that exist in Balochistan.

Mongabay: Why is this documentation important?

Salman Baloch: Wildlife is one of the least concerned areas for people and the government of Pakistan. I aim to initiate a debate on the importance of wildlife conservation and protection. Poachers hunt migrating birds in Balochistan during the breeding season. This hunting is a wildlife genocide. With this book, I want to create awareness about the vulnerable seasons of birds and how important it is to stop poachers from hunting birds in the breeding season. What impacts would occur when poachers hunt them? Also, I am writing a simple book on the classification of mammals so people would know what species exist on their land. These are the questions I am focusing on in my book.

Mongabay: When did you start activism and why?

Salman Baloch: I saw a few rare birds in Malir and [nearby] Kathore forests and I did not have a camera to record them. I went back with excitement to record them and saw their habitat had been bulldozed by heavy machinery. I can’t tell you the pain and grief I felt when this happened, and this had happened not once but multiple times. I started writing on social media about it initially. The community protests on Indigenous displacements, illegal construction, etc., shaped my thoughts and I started organizing on climate issues.

Mongabay: What issues did you pick up for organizing other than Malir Expressway?

Salman Baloch: My first activism started against the Bahria Town project, which is the largest real estate land that has been acquired by Bahria Town at the Karachi-Hyderabad motorway. This project occupies around 45,000 acres of land. From the motorway to the end of the project, it stretches more than 30 km [18.6 mi]. All this land was a natural habitat for wildlife. I have seen so many rare bird species there, and seeing that habitat turning into a concrete jungle made me furious. A local organization, Indigenous Rights Alliance Movement [IRA], filed a complaint against Bahria Town. I have written in a wildlife journal about habitat loss in 2018 and as a wildlife photographer, I helped the IRA in making the case stronger.

Then, after the expressway construction, the Sindh government started demolishing the houses of locals of Sharafi Goth who did vegetation and cultivation around the Malir River. Around these issues, I started investing my time in the field with people in organizing.

Mongabay: Do you have records of birds that you don’t see anymore?

Salman Baloch: From Kathore to Kirthar National Park where Bahria Town is — this location was a breeding ground for many bird species like the striolated bunting (Emberiza striolata) and grey-necked bunting (E. Buchanani). Buntings were resident birds of Kathore. I visited recently, but I did not see one. It was also home to migrant birds like the endangered steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis), which used to spend six months of winter on this land and then used to migrate to India for breeding. Egyptian vultures and griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) were here; the Himalayan vulture (G. himalayensis) and black vultures (Coragyps atratus) also roamed in the sky in flocks. I used to go there for birding as a routine before the mega-project started. I recorded the verditer flycatcher (Eumyias thalassinus) here. One of our friends recorded a black-naped oriole (Oriolus chinensis) from Kathore. It was the first record of this bird in Pakistan. So many species of butterflies and ducks have been recorded in this region. After Bahria’s expansion, these species gradually disappeared.

Now, on one hand, heavy machinery is mining Kirthar National Park, and on the other hand, this national park is a picnic spot for large groups. The roads have been built deeper in the park so we have seen corpses of dead animals in roadkills. This is a loss not only for the community who live there but the whole of Karachi.

Mongabay: What do you think the future looks like for Indigenous communities in Malir and around?

Salman Baloch: Due to the Malir Expressway, the river has been shrunk and in the next flooding season, there is a high possibility of urban flooding if the water gets resistance from concrete at the banks. The water table is depleting very fast.

Another important point, the agricultural lease has been canceled by the government and people who have been doing agriculture for centuries will not be able to claim the land. Our concern is that real estate has eyes on the land. The government of Sindh is making anti-agriculture policies in Karachi and it is making it very hard for people to meet their ends. Malir, the oxygen of Karachi, will not be able to contribute to making the city’s air quality better due to deforestation and mega-projects. I am very pessimistic about Malir and Kathore’s future. Kirthar National Park is dying, the Malir River is shrinking and flora and fauna are disappearing. The Indigenous population has no choice but to sell their lands and migrate to densely populated parts of Karachi. The future is surely bleak, but who has won against nature? Whatever happens, nature always reclaims what it owns.

Banner image: The Malir River near Damloti check dam, Karachi suburbs. Image courtesy of Salman Baloch.