Sundarbans Biodiversity Preservation Project: Blessing, or curse
in disguise?
By dr.fourkan Ali
The Sundarbans extends over an area of 6,000 square
kilometers, i.e. more than half of the reserved forest area of Bangladesh. Stretching along both sides of the border, Indian
state o West Bengal and southwestern Bangladesh, the Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the
world.
There are reportedly 425 species of wild animals
including the famous Royal Bengal Tiger and 554 species of trees and plants in
the Bangladesh portion of the forest. Situated on the lap of the Bay
of Bengal the Sundarbans, crisscrossed by innumerable rivers and canals, has
developed a unique and sensitive ecology under the influence of the ebb and
flow of tides that occur twice daily The Sundarbans supplies 45 per cent of the
country’s demand for timber and fuel wood. It is the direct source of
livelihood for about S0 lakh people residing in the neighborhood.
Over the last 100 years, the Sundarbans has become the
victim of men‘s cruel and greedy exploitation. Terrible damage has been dune to
its flora and fauna. The once rich forest now faces annihilation due to
indiscriminate hunting and poaching, and wholesale felling of trees. The
biodiversity of the area has been drastically reduced,
However an initiative has been taken to restore the
lost glory of the Sundarbans through preservation of bio-diversity and proper supervision,
As pan of this initiative, the Tk, 382 crore 50 lakh Sundarbans Bio-diversity
Preservation Project has been approved. The Department of Forest and the Local
Government Engineering Department (LGED) have been given the responsibility to
implement the project financed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP4,
the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the Asian Development Bank
ADB). The work on the project taken up in 1998 is scheduled to end by year
2005.
The Sundarbans, with its extensive natural resources
and still-rich biodiversity has, of late, earned international attention; The UNESCO
has declared three sanctuaries in the Sundarbans as World Heritage Sites in
1997. The Sundarbans’ Bio-diversity Preservation Project is, therefore, not
only an initiative to enrich the World Heritage Site, but also to preserve it
for mankind,
The need to formulate an integrated plan to ensure
proper management of the Sundarbans despite the ever-increasing population
pressure in the neighboring
localities is urgent. At present, the Department of Forest is solely
responsible for the management of the Sundarbans. But it does not have adequate
manpower transport, infrastructure and equipment to manage such a vast and
dense forest, The Asian Development Bank has completed a detailed survey of the
necessary resources, and the project has been drawn up on the basis of this
survey
The main aim of the Sundarbans Biodiversity
Preservation Project is rational use of resources by ensuring participation of
people directly dependent on the resources of the Sundarbans. It also aims at
the development of a durable and sustainable management system of the forest
within the project period. Hence, priority has been attached to increasing the
institutional capacity of the Sundarbans management authorities,
Batiahata, Dakope, Boira and Palkgachha in Khulna
district, Ashashuni, Kaliganj and Shyamnagar in Satkhira district, Morrelganj,
Rampal, Shyamkola and Mongla in Bagerhat district, Bhandaria, Mathbaria and
Nasirabad in Pirojpur district and Bamna, Patharghata and Borguna Sadar in
Barguna district stand adjacent to the Sundarbans. About 50 lakh people of
these areas are totally dependent on the Sundarbans for their livelihood. The project
includes an initiative to create scope for the well-being of these people
through the development of social infrastructure, increase in the institutional
empowerment of users of the resources of the Sundarbans and their participation
in the management of resources.
Besides, the project includes development of
eco-tourism and adoption of programmes for creating environmental consciousness
and building up the basic public infrastructure and provision for necessary
training. In order to reduce population pressure in areas adjacent to the
Sundarbans, arrangement of sweet drinking water in the LGED areas, and building
of roads and bridges, drainage schemes and educational institutions have been
initiated, The local Department of Survey Department of Forest and some non- governmental
organizations will help the LGED in the task, The Water Development Board will
also cooperate with the LGED in implementing apart of the project.
At the implementation phase of the project, it was
hoped that any attempt to damage the biodiversity of the Sundarbans would be
stopped by the year 2001. The initial work to compensate for the loss suffered
by the biodiversity of the Sundarbans will be completed next year For this, the
development of infrastructure of the Sundarbans forest will be completed by
this years Continuous efforts will made to create awareness of the heritage of
the Sundarbans the national and international levels from the beginning of the project
till its completion. The authorities hope to get a positive response in this
regard. Since emission of carbon dioxide is responsible for global warming, the
project also includes necessary measures for natural regeneration of the
Sundarbans for removal of impediments to dense planting so that the Sundarbans
can play a vital role in retaining excess carbon dioxide.
In order to reduce the pressure of the population
depending on the Sundarbans, social forestry sustainable resources collection,
human resource development and a social infrastructure will be developed. It is
hoped that the family incomes will increase due to the economic opportunities
created by these actions, and thus the level of poverty will be lowered.
Researchers and environmentalists, however, apprehend
that Infrastructure development under the Sundarbans Bio-diversity Preservation
Project will rather accelerate the destruction of the Sundarbans because the
looters of forest resources would, in tin process, get an easy and unfettered
access to the inaccessible areas it would then be impossible to protect the
Sundarbans. Extended facilities for tourism in the Sundarbans, as shown in the
project, will cause tremendous damage to the forest, not to speak of further reduction
of its biodiversity.
Dr.Fourkan
Ali
Mob:
01711579267
Email- dr.fourkanali@gmail.com
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