Bangladesh homes 288 species of endangered wildlife

Forests and trees are the dominant life-form in our ecological system. Greenery in one hand provides a natural defense against a host of environmental crisis and also protect wildlife from any kind of threat. As more forests in Bangladesh become fragmented due to various man-made reasons, the country is on verge of a kind of ecological imbalance. The number of extinct species of wildlife from Bangladesh is about 31 and out of 1,097 species of wildlife in the country, 288 are identified as endangered.

This information has emerged from the study of the International Organization for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

In such a situation, International Wildlife Day is being celebrated on March 3 in the country as elsewhere in the globe. This year the theme of the day is 'Using digital innovation to save wildlife. Connect people and earth.'

On December 20, 2013, the 68th General Session of the United Nations called for March 3 to be declared as Wildlife Day. The day was first observed in 2014 to raise public awareness of the world's wildlife and flora. Since then, International Wildlife Day has been observed on March 3 every year to raise public awareness about wildlife and flora.

According to the report of 'World Wildlife Fund' or 'WWF', the rate at which humans are destroying nature and the environment has broken all previous records. And there is no chance to think that this situation would get improved in the near future.

Taking stock of the state of wildlife, WWF reports that 68 percent of the 20,000 species of mammals, birds, amphibians, fish and reptiles have been lost worldwide. That extinction was greatest from the 1970s to the 1990s.

A study conducted by 14 researchers from Germany, the United States, Canada and Bangladesh, including Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, said that overall, the protected forests of Bangladesh are continuously shrinking. Due to the increase in human activity and gathering in these areas declared to protect wildlife, wild animals are not seen as before. But despite the indiscriminate persecution of humans, there are five species of bask turtles, Asian hawksbills, brown owls, black-faced parakeets and spotted black crows.

The role of vultures in maintaining balance in the environment and ecosystem is undeniable. At present, how many vultures are seen in the capital and divisional cities or distant villages - the answer will come, it is not visible at all.

According to the 2014 census, there are a total of 260 vultures in the country, all of which are Bengal vultures. In 2016, that number decreased to 200 across the country. Among them, 12 vultures were found in Pabna. After two ages, it would be hard to find any.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the vulture is now a red-listed animal of the organization. If 90 percent of an animal's population is lost from nature, it is red listed.

According to the IUCN study, the world has lost 1.9 million miles of land since 2000 due to human activities, which is eight times the size of the whole of Britain. 1 million wild animals are on the brink of extinction. Out of 100,000 species of animals and plants, 32,000 species are on the verge of extinction.

According to data from the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), currently 4.61 percent of the country's land area and 5.4 percent of its marine area are covered by protected areas. According to the Kunming-Montreal agreement under the CBD, 17 percent of the country's land and 13 percent of the sea area should be declared as protected. Because most protected areas are too small in size, they are not able to play a significant role in protecting biodiversity. According to this agreement, by 2030, 30 percent of the country's territory should be brought under the protected area.

According to the research report, the forests of Bangladesh are home to globally endangered species such as the Bengal tiger or tiger-bear, the spoon-billed sandpiper and the Gangetic dolphin. The livelihood of at least one crore people is directly dependent on the collection of forest resources such as trees, fish, honey and other resources. In the last 80 years, 40 percent of the country's trees have been cut down to create human settlements. Currently, less than 11 percent of Bangladesh has natural forests.

According to IUCN, 87 percent of protected areas in Bangladesh are properly protected. Out of 1 thousand 97 species of wildlife, 288 are identified as endangered. And 765 species are not in danger. Out of the five protected species, two are endangered and the other two are critically endangered.

Sharif Jamil, general secretary of Bangladesh Environment Movement (Bapa), told Views Bangladesh, "An impartial national commission should be formed immediately to protect the forests and wildlife of the country."

In all the existing laws related to forest and wildlife, the responsibilities and duties of the forest department for the protection of natural forests and wildlife should be clearly inserted and the accountability of the department should be ensured, he added.

He further stated that forest policy should be changed to stop commercialization, exploitation of forest land, forest land should be protected as wildlife habitat and conservation area.

"Every wildlife crime incident should be investigated impartially and the role of the forest department should be made clear to all and accountability should be ensured. Effective steps should be taken to implement SDG-14 and 15. It is very important not to allocate any more forest land for new development projects and to modernize and modernize the forest department by increasing its manpower and allocation."