Fish species facing threats in haor region
UNB
Sylhet: Stressing the need for concerted policies to conserve biodiversity, experts at a workshop yesterday warned that if appropriate conservation measures are not taken, many fish species will go extinct in the near future from the country, particularly in the haor basin, reports UNB. And if the species disappear, it will have an adverse impact on the overall environment of the country and will affect the ecosystems in the long run, they said. IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) in Sylhet jointly organised the workshop at the SUST central auditorium on the campus. The aim of the workshop was to disseminate the findings and the process of the ongoing Updating Species Red List of Bangladesh project, run by IUCN. SUST Vice Chancellor (In-Charge) Prof M Elias Uddin Biswas, IUCN country representative in Bangladesh Ishtiaq Uddin Ahmad and project director of Bangladesh Forest Department, M Akbar Hossain, among others spoke at the workshop. Dr Elias Uddin Biswas in his speech said the conservation of biodiversity requires everyones participation.
Ishtiaq Uddin Ahmad stressed on the importance of human intervention since most species are vulnerable especially with loss of habitat. Because of this, he said, they are expected to move into areas populated by humans, which could create havoc on ecological food chains and impact on human food security, public health and safety. Making his presentation, Dr Niamul Naser of Dhaka University said that the Nandina (Labeo nandina) fish is going extinct in the haors of Sylhet region. The fish was once widely distributed in the haor basin of Mymensing-Sylhet region and the Padma river system in the country. There are many other species on the verge of extinction, he warned.
Project manager of Updating Species Red List of Bangladesh Mohammad Shahad Mahabub Chowdhury delivered the keynote paper at the workshop. The knowledge of biodiversity is a critical factor to develop proper conservation strategies. IUCN through its Red List project in Bangladesh is harvesting targeted data to reduce the knowledge gaps in the field of biodiversity conservation. Over a year, IUCN has been assessing data of more than 1000 species. Researchers, scientists, academicians, policymakers, students and representatives from different organisations and institutions of the country attended the workshop.
