Bangladesh embracing digital innovations for wildlife conservation

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury on Wednesday said the government has taken initiatives to use digital technology and services to ensure sustainable conservation of wildlife, legal wildlife trade, and coexistence of humans and wildlife.

Diverse digital technologies are being explored to accelerate wildlife conservation. Civil society, technocrats, and conservationists must all be committed to sustainable adaptation and the application of digital innovation in wildlife conservation, he said.

The environment minister was speaking as the chief guest at a programme organised on the occasion of World Wildlife Day 2024 with the slogan "Connecting People and Planet: Exploring Innovation in Wildlife Conservation" at the Forest Department on Wednesday.

Chief Conservator of Forest Md Amir Hossain Chowdhury presided over the function. Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr Farhina Ahmed and Additional Secretary Iqbal Abdullah Harun were present as special guests at the event. Dr Mohammad Anwarul Islam, Chief Executive, WildTeam, and Mukit Majumdar Babu, Chairman, Nature and Life Foundation also spoke on the occasion.

The environment minister said the tiger survey of the Sundarbans is on-going through camera trapping. At present, crime monitors and management activities in Sundarbans are being conducted through drone technology and smart patrolling.

Wildlife conservation and prevention of illegal trade in wildlife through advanced tracking systems, real-time data analytics, radio collaring etc are also continuing.

Minister Saber said DNA barcode database creation through genetic sequencing and species identification from trophy or wildlife samples at the Wildlife Forensic Lab under the Wildlife Crime Prevention Unit of the Forest Department is a milestone in wildlife conservation activities.

For the first time in Bangladesh, in 2022, the activity of determining the distribution and movement of elephants in the Cox's Bazar forest area through the radio collaring of elephants has been undertaken.

The minister said a wildlife crime reporting tool has been developed for the coordinated use of law enforcement agencies including the Forest Department to speed up crime control activities. "We need to commit and work together to protect our country's wildlife," he said.