The Sindh livestock and fisheries department has singed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the WWF-Pakistan for a long-term technical and institutional support with regard to conservation of natural resources in the Indus eco-region under the "Indus for All Programme'. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Sindh Minister for Livestock and Fisheries Shoaib Siddiqui said food security was a major challenge and required long-term measures in a country like Pakistan. He said his department would extend full cooperation to the WWF-Pakistan to achieve the objectives. The salient features of the MoU include sharing of information about on-going projects for sustainable fisheries, conducting mutual ecological assessments at Chhotiari, Keti Bunder and Keenjhar lakes, extension of cooperation on training and capacity-building of the fisheries department officers and the local communities, and allocation of resources to initiate natural resource-based payments for environmental services. The MoU will be valid for five years, ending Feb 2012.