THE ecological significance of the Sunderbans Reserve Forest because of its rich biodiversity and unique ecosystem is immense. It is home to an estimated 425 species of wildlife, including 300 species of birds and 42 species of mammals. Besides, environmentally, the Sunderban mangrove ecosystem is a vital shelter-belt for protection against tidal waves, storms and cyclones. The dominance of tree species that composite in this wetland ecosystem not only serves a strong wind-break but also its ecologically adapted root systems act as an anchor against frequent river bank erosion. Successive governments only seem to be indifferent to its importance that they have recklessly given permission to different industrial projects within 10 kilometres of an ecologically critical area of the Sunderbans. According to reputed national zoologists working in the area, as New Age reported on Saturday, severe air and water pollution caused by industrial activities in the area together with habitat loss pose serious threats to honeybees and butterflies. They have warned that reproductive and immune capacities of all the plant species in the Sunderbans would fall sharply if major pollinators became extinct. Because of air and water pollution, some of the main pollinators of the forest — indigenous honeybee species Apis dorsala, commonly known as Sunderban honeybee and Sunderban Crow Butterfly — are on the verge of extinction.
The government’s negligence in conserving the biodiversity is in plain sight. The Bangladesh Environment Conservation (Amendment) Act 2010 now prohibits any factory within the bounds of the ecologically critical area. Violating its own regulation, the environment department reportedly issued site clearance certificates to 150 factories in 63 unions of 11 upazilas of five districts around the Sunderbans over the years. In August, a High Court ruling asked the government to relocate the factories established defying the act. However, no effective actions have been taken since the court order. Air pollution and water pollution continue to be visible in the area. Zoologists working in the area have reported that because of air pollution, indigenous honey bees are suffering from respiratory diseases. Environmental activists and ecological conservationists have urged the government to regulate the unchecked motorised vessel movement through canals and rivers in the Sunderbans to prevent water pollution. In reality, the movement of motorised vessels using the Passur and the Sela channels, passing through the Sunderbans, has radically increased over the last years. It is time that the government reckoned with the fact that these environmentally ill conceived industrial development plans could severely damage the ecological integrity of the forest.
There are a number of policies and acts, including the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan for Bangladesh, that constitutionally oblige the government to prevent such extinction and secure the biodiversity of the Sunderbans. The government is also under international legal and moral obligations to adopt and execute sustainable plans and strategies required for the proper conservation and protection of the unique biological diversity of the Sunderbans. The government, with no further delay, must, therefore, abandon these ecologically destructive projects and relocate the existing industries to save the Sunderbans.
Source: New Age.
