Bangladesh bans felling trees in Sundarban forest
Date: 22-May-02
Country: BANGLADESH
"We must protect our natural forests and animals to balance the bio-diversity," Siraj told Reuters.
He said there had been reports of illegal logging to collect timber for firewood and making furniture, but that from now on the only activity allowed in the forest would be the gathering of wild honey.
"This is causing a serious damage to the ecological balance as well as disturbing the natural habitat of some of the endangered species," he said.
Bangladesh owns 60 percent of the 9,630 sq kms (3,720 sq miles) forest along the Bay of Bengal, which home to the rare Bengal tiger and reclusive spotted deer, or chital.
Siraj said the forest provided the country with a natural shield against sea storms and cyclones.
"The Sundarban is a God-gifted wealth to the nation, and it is the government's prime responsibility to protect it for the benefit of people and the country," Siraj said.
Professor Ansarul Karim, chairman of Environmental Conservation Management Centre, told a seminar last week that Sundarban's biodiversity had also been threatened by climate changes and a rise in sea levels.
