Country: Pakistan

Organization: Adventure Foundation Pakistan

Website: www.indusdolphin.org.pk

Project Description:
The Adventure Foundation of Pakistan (AFP), a non-profit organization, has initiated Indus Boat Safari Ecotourism Project to raise awareness about the ecosystem of river Indus and its unique inhabitants. The boat safari offers outsiders the chance to live on traditional fishermen’s Boats, drifting down the Indus with the fishermen to see the dolphin at close quarters and understand this unique animal. The project is aimed at developing an ecotourism product that protects the threatened Indus dolphin by involving the fishermen community to become the protectors of the dolphin. Under this project a small cooperative society of the boat people manages and benefits from the proceeds of the ecotourism activity. Tthe income from the boat safari project is an incentive and reward for the boat people to conserve one of the most unique species living in the world today.

murad's Story:
The Indus is among the great rivers of the world. On its 2000-mile journey it passes through the Himalaya and Karakoram mountain ranges, the fertile plains of the Punjab and vast desert of Sindh, encountering a rich variety of wildlife during its journey. Among these species are resident and migratory birds, mammals, reptiles and fish, and particularly the Indus Dolphin (Platanista minor) or Bulhan, as it is known locally. It is a unique river cetacean that is endemic to Pakistan and one of most endangered Cetacean species of the world. The current population of the river dolphin is thought to be 1000, and its habitat is now confined to the area between two barrages, the Guddu and Taunsa Barrages, on the Indus. This project has not only helped local boat people to have better livelihood but also has raised awareness about this unique species of river dolphin. Now boat people are making more money by showing these dolphins to ecotourists instead of killing them for thier fats and boady oils.