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Bangladesh should increase the amount of protected and conserved area to 30 per cent as per the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, biodiversity experts observed on Saturday.
A collaborative and comprehensive effort involving the community people, government agencies and stakeholders is a must to achieve the goal.
At present, conserved forest, inland water bodies and oceanic areas are 4.16 to 6.2 per cent in Bangladesh.
The observation was made at a seminar titled "The implementation and monitoring of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework: Community-based Solutions and Contributions to the Global Biodiversity Targets", organised by Unnayan Onneshan at a city hotel.
The Kunming-Montreal Framework set objective of safeguarding 30 per cent of the Earth's land and oceans by 2030 to protect and preserve biodiversity.
Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik said three issues are very important for Bangladesh, including climate change, biodiversity and pollution and they are interlinked.
"We have adopted the National Biodiversity Adaptation Plan involving all the people concerned including the ethnic minority community aiming to appropriate nature based solution," he viewed.
It is not the task for the environment ministry alone; all the ministries concerned should work in a harmonised way to achieve the goal, he observed.
Resource mobilisation is very important as local people involved in the process need income generation activities, he commented.
He said, "We have an ecological civilisation and will live in that harmony."
Md Amir Hosain Chowdhury, chief conservator of forests, while presiding over the session, said Bangladesh has a biodiversity hotspot and is working to achieve the 2030 target.
"We have engaged the community through collaborative forest management so that we make a between the community and the forest department," he added.
Indigenous people's active participation is crucial for achieving the Kunming Montreal protocol, he noted.
Deputy Chief Conservator of Forest Jahidul Kabir presenting a paper titled 'Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use in Bangladesh', said the country's 4.16 per cent of terrestrial area has been conserved while 6.2 per cent of the exclusive economic zone of the Bay of Bengal has come under protection so far.
He told the FE that the 30 per cent target is not mandatory for any country.
He said it is a target but countries will set their own target based on their capacity and resources.
Chairperson of Unnayan Onneshan Prof Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir delivered documentation on the condition of Sundarbans.
It said fishing area decreased to 322 hectares in 2020 from 448 hectares in 2010.
Area of crab decreased to 1,634 hectares from 3,115 hectares.
According to the paper, 10 per cent of Sundarbans was totally destroyed by the severe super cyclone Sidr.
Representatives from Guyana, Panama, Antigua and Bermuda, Tuvalu, Thailand, Madagascar, Cameroon and other countries shared their initiatives based on traditional community based approaches to conserve the nature.
Maurizio Farhan Ferrari, senior policy advisor, Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) presented a paper titled 'Unpacking the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework : the Process, Key Achievements and Challenges' while Ms Caroline de Jong, global partnership coordinator of FPP, coordinated.