Wild animals will become extinct in Bangladesh without immediate measures, says Minister
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Wild animals will soon be lost from Bangladesh if immediate conservation measures are not taken, said Environment Minister Md Shahab Uddin on Thursday.
Environment Minister stated this as the Chief Guest at an event titled ‘National Result Sharing and Consultation Workshop on the Feasibility Study of Transboundary Wildlife Corridor in Chittagong, Chittagong Hill Tracts and Cox's Bazar with Myanmar and India’, organised by the Department of Forests at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.
The forest department under the ministry undertook a feasibility study in June with the aim of smoothing the domestic and international movement of Asian elephants and Bengal tigers as immediate measures, he added.
Emphasising on work in a coordinated manner to protect the wildlife, lands are constantly shrinking for settlement within the forest lands due to conversion it to agricultural lands and conducting various development activities.
Wildlife is losing their habitat and pasture, resulting in human-wildlife conflicts, he added.
According to a 2016 survey by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the total number of Asian elephants in Bangladesh is about 268 and according to the 2018 survey, the total number of Bengal tigers in Bangladesh is about 114.
Environment Minister Md Shahab Uddin said the government-planned 'Bangabandhu Wildlife Conservation Corridor' would play a vital role in conserving elephants, tigers and other wildlife.
To this end, the possibility of creating an inter-country uninterrupted movement or corridor for Asian elephants and Bengal tigers from India to Kasalang in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Sangu via Myanmar is being explored.
“If this can be done, the connection between the fragmented habitats of elephants and tigers in these three countries will be established,” he hoped.
It will play a vital role in the reproduction of these two animals as well as in the conservation of other wildlife in the region.
Deputy Minister Habibun Nahar, Additional Secretary (Administration) Iqbal Abdullah Harun, Chief Conservator of Forests Md Amir Hossain Chowdhury and others spoke as special guests at the workshop chaired by Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Md Mostafa Kamal.
IUCN Bangladesh's Country Representative Rakibul Amin presented the overview of the project. The keynote paper was presented by M Monirul H Khan, National Expert of Corridor Project.