Dreams and reality around the Sundarbans
By dr.fourkan Ali`
There
has always been a sustained kind of interest in die Sundarbans, the mangrove
forest in the country‘s southwestern shores. And of course there are all the
reasons for it, the most fundamental of those being the preeminent position the
forests hold in Bangladesh’s not so happy environmental scene. Over the years, indeed
over the decades, the news coming out of the Sundarbans, has been anything but
good. There are, first of all, the cumulative stories of lawlr5sne§ which has characterized
the forests over a span of time, Elements not particularly environment-friendly
has been indulging in what is clearly an indiscriminate felling of trees in the
Sundarbans. Early in 2001, reports appeared in the nations newspapers to the
effect that as many as 250 people had been held to ransom deep inside the forests.
At the same time, ten wood-cutters had been kidnapped by people who had clearly
encroached on the resources of the forests.
Apart
from the question of crime making its surreptitious way into the Sundarbans,
there has forever been the thought of what has been done to the forests over
the years, to a point where today it is a national concern in Bangladesh to go full-steam into the job of saving the forests.
That was probably an important reason behind a two-day seminar, early in 2001,
in the southwestern city of Khulna on
the issue of ensuring the safety of the Sundarbans. But me idea that even as important
a social issue as saving a woodland can throw up politics of a dark sort
surfaced when the entire Cabinet stayed away from the inaugural of the seminar
The country’s President justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, ceremonially declared me
seminar open, but what became rather conspicuous was the government’s reluctance
to be a party to the exercise. The reason was simple enough: the organizers had
decided that Save the Sundarbans would be an appropriate theme for the seminar.
Miffed, the authorities suggested that Conserve the Sundarbans would be more to
the point. The organizers disagreed. Hence, the ire of the government.
That,
at least, is one way of showing the degree to which the Sundarbans is today in
peril, despite their status as die largest mangrove forest in the world. To be
sure, a considerable part of the forests happens to be wid1in_IndiZ.n
geographical territory But the portion which lies within Bangladesh happens to
be of immense beneath to the country Observe the figures which explain the
reason why that is so. The Sundarbans covers as much as 51 per cent of the total
reserved forest area in Bangladesh. In addition, the forests provide the state with 41
per cent of the nation‘s total forest revenue. The figures thus speak for
themselves. And there is more: the Sundarbans account for approximately 45 per cent
of timber and fuel wood output in Bangladesh. Where employment is the matter the forests are
directly responsible for the economic welfare of half a million, if not more,
people. But if a broad view of the employment aspect of the Sundarbans is
taken, the estimates show an increase: as many as 2.5 million people are
directly as well as indirectly benefited by the forests in terms of economic
well-being.
There
is quite a bit of history that comes with the Sundarbans. In 1869, the forests
were taken under the control of the British colonial authorities. Nine years
later; in 1878, the Sundarbans was officially designated a reserve forest. The
total area of the Sundarbans, the part of it now within Bangladesh, covers
6,017 square kilometers, Of the total area, land covers 4,145 square kilometers
while water (and that includes rivers, wetland and streams) is to be found on
1,874 square kilometers, The Sundarbans, declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage
Site in 1997, is home to 354 plant species together with 165 algae, No fewer
than 13 orchid species have been spotted in the forests. Containing some 373
species of fauna, the Sundarbans have 75 per cent of the land area covered by
the Sundari, the tree from which it is said to have derived its name. About 16
per cent of the area is given over to the Gewa, another breed of trees. As well
as being a safe habitat for the legendary Royal Bengal Tiger the forest also
provide a home to a variety of other animal species, such as the spotted deer
barking deer foxes, et al.
So
where is the point of concern, or call it worry, about the Sundarbans at
present? The response to that query is that at present the forests are under
assault, both from the environment and the people. Or one could say that the
environment in the forests has in the recent past been gravely affected by the
depredations carried on by people or organized groups of people. Illegal
felling of trees as well as unlawful hunting of animals placed a great deal of
pressure on the Sundarbans, That was one reason why the Bangladesh government,
in 1989, placed a ten-year moratorium on the harvesting of timber in the forests.
Early in 2001, a new five-year moratorium was imposed, the objective of course
being a further conservation of resources in the Sundarbans. That is as it
should have been. For the Sundarbans happens to be the focal point of
livelihood for as many as 45,000 people every day. All across the forests,
150,000 boats are seen to ply with each boat manned by two boatmen. The
assumption then is clear: the Sundarbans serves as a strong lifeline to the
poor, It is tl1ese poor whose future is in need of security both from
ill-intentioned individuals and a corrupt bureaucracy As a step towards
sustaining, indeed buttressing the resources of the forests, a programme of planting
42,00,000 saplings was undertaken for the fiscal year ending in the middle of
2001, At the same time, the need for a prevention of salinity creeping into the
Sundarbans necessitated, in the not too distant past, the undertaking of a
programme, the Gorai River Restoration Project.
All
of which goes to show the many dreams which Bangladesh continues to shape
around the Sundarbans, A slip, a minor failure to keep priorities on the right
track, can only cause nightmares to environmental planners in Bangladesh.
Dr.Fourkan Ali
Mob: 01711579267
Email- dr.fourkanali@gmail.com
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