The government plans to set up a special force to protect the country’s wildlife, including the critically endangered Royal Bengal Tiger, and to conserve the forest resources.
“The special force will be formed to control crimes in forests. There will be substantial deployment of this force around the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans to prevent wildlife poaching and trade,” State Minister for Environment and Forests Hasan Mahmud told UNB on Friday.
He said the wildlife and biodiversity of the country are under threat due to various reasons including the adverse impacts of global climate change and rampant destruction of forests.
The Sundarbans, one of the last shelters of the tigers, stretch over parts of Bangladesh and India. Around 400 tigers still live in the Sundarbans.
Even lately, poaching was not considered as a major threat to the tiger population in Bangladesh. But, the arrest of a poacher with tiger skins and bones early this year raised fears that an organised group is involved in poaching wildlife in the Sundarbans.
About the government’s recent initiative to protect the Sundarbans, Dr Hasan Mahmud said Bangladesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India during the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Bangladesh for strengthening joint collaboration in protecting wildlife.
“As per the MoU, we’ll share knowledge and ideas to curb crimes in the Sundarbans, which will help protect wildlife and tigers. India will provide us technical support and training to our forest officials,” he said.
Conservator of Forests (Wildlife Circle) Dr. Tapan Kumar Dey told this correspondent that the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) has already approved the ‘Wildlife Conservation Regional Cooperation Strengthening Project’ with a view to conserving the country’s wildlife.
“The Ministry of Environment and Forests is now working to appoint manpower to implement the project with support from the World Bank,” he said.
About the special force for protecting wildlife, Dr Dey said they initially proposed a 300-member team, but the relevant Finance Ministry committee reduced its manpower to 103.
“Once the 103-member team special force is formed, we will be able to provide 50 members for the protection of the Sundarbans and its wildlife,” he said.
Officials said at present, they do not have enough manpower, resources and training to deal with the poachers, who are increasingly using sophisticated techniques to trap the tigers.
On June this year, the World Bank assured Bangladesh that it will provide US$ 36 million (approximately Tk 254 crore) loan assistance to Bangladesh for the conservation of wildlife, including tigers.
About the loan, State Minister for Environment and Forests Dr Hasan Mahmud earlier said that in fact, the World Bank would be providing the loan support under its regional cooperation strengthening project to conserve wildlife.
He said: “The World Bank is our development partner and it has been providing financial and technical support to us for the development of environment and protecting the Sundarbans.”
Dr Hasan Mahmud informed that some 38 water vessels and 65 road vehicles will be procured under the World Bank loan with a view to strengthening drives in deep forests to curb poaching of wildlife.
He said that among the 12 tiger range countries, Bangladesh is one of the most densely tiger populated countries. “On average, one tiger lives in every 20 square kilometers in Bangladesh, whereas it is 200-400 square kilometers in Russia.”
Referring to the country’s first tiger census, the state minister said there were some 440 tigers in Bangladesh in 2004 and now the number slightly increased to 450.
Earlier this year, forest guards seized three tiger skins and a large quantity of bones, the biggest haul of illegal tiger parts in decades.
Customs officials at the Bangkok Airport in Thailand found hundreds of freshwater turtles and crocodiles packed in suitcases on a flight from Bangladesh. |