Climate Change is perhaps the most urgent issues of our times. While Pakistan is the 5 th most climate-vulnerable country in the world, arguably its region most exposed to the adverse impact of climate change is the Indus River Delta in the Sindh Province. Already water-stressed due to the construction of upstream dams and barrages during the British Raj, the region has seen considerable degradation in the habitability of its ecosystem. According to the , the Indus River Delta has shrunk by 92 percent since 1833.
Our story Natari is set on perhaps one of the most impacted communities in the Indus River Delta, the Kharo Chan island near the Runn of Kutch wetlands. Only about 20 to 25 families remain on the island, the residents of which have seen the adverse changes of climate change with their own eyes over the decades. From extinction of species and freshwater fish, escalated by overfishing with the use of banned Bullo fishnet, to the inaccessibility of clean fresh drinking water, life has become unbearable for the residents of the Kharo Chan Island.
Fisherman, artist, and political activist Ayoub Sehto, his son Ayaz Gul, and their family represent the grim reality faced by dozens of families in the Indus Delta Region. Despite living in abject poverty, they are forced to consider migrating to the mainland District Thatta or places as far as Ibrahim Hyderi fishing village in Karachi in order to simply live with access to drinking water, education, and health facilities. However, issues such as the cost of living and migration, unemployment, poor wages, inflation, and an unhospitable culture remain hurdles in their way. But there is an even greater obstacle that they must overcome. The love for their homeland, Kharo Chan.
Natari hopes to bring the voice of the first climate migrants of the Indus Delta to the world.