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Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin on Wednesday said the government is implementing multifaceted measures to deal with climate change risks in the Sundarbans region.
“To protect people's lives during the cyclone and water surge, the government is creating a green belt through massive afforestation along the coast,” the minister said while speaking at a national dialogue at the Parliament Members Club auditorium of the Jatiya Sangsad in Dhaka, according to a press release.
“So far 2,277 square kilometres of char has been brought under afforestation coverage in the coastal area,” he added.
Addressing the dialogue as the chief guest, he said 52 per cent of the Sundarbans has been declared as a protected area and all types of forest resource extraction have been banned from it.
“Various initiatives, including the declaration of sanctuaries, have been taken to protect wildlife, including tigers, deer, dolphins and crocodiles, in the Sundarbans,” he said.
“Schemes related to capacity building of local communities, poverty alleviation and human resource development have been undertaken,” the minister added.
During his speech, Shahab Uddin also informed that four new ponds were created and 84 ponds have been re-excavated for drinking water for various foresters, forest workers and wildlife inside the Sundarbans.
“If the government as well as all concerned work together, we will be able to reduce the risk of climate change in the Sundarbans coastal area,” he added.
Deputy Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Habibun Nahar, lawmakers Mir Mostak Ahmed Rabi, Syeda Rubina Akter, Gloria Sarkar Jharna, and General Secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon ‘Sharif Jamil’, among others, spoke at the meeting with Sundarbans and Coast Protection Movement President Nikhil Chandra Bhadra in the chair.
Executive Director of LEADERS Mohan Kumar Mondal presented a keynote paper. Representatives of the southwest coastal area, non-governmental organisations, donor agencies, researchers, civil society and mass media were present at the dialogue.
