Endangered species: We still have time

If we cannot guarantee protection of our ecosystems the rate of extinction of more species will speed up. Acts will remain as mere legal documents in papers

The recently published International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List says that 31 species have become extinct and the existences of some 390 are endangered in Bangladesh. The goal of the IUCN Red List is to provide information and analysis with regard to the status of, trends in, and threats to species in order to facilitate and catalyse action for biodiversity conservation. Since Bangladesh’s biodiversity scenario is not promising, the relevant policy makers must wake up now.  
Wildlife or biodiversity is directly linked to nature which is becoming a growing concern in the face of increased deforestation and depletion of the biodiversity. With five broad types of ecosystems Bangladesh may sound to be rich in biodiversity, but all these categories are not actually being preserved as per appropriate rules. A direct threat in this regard has been changes in land use, especially causes like - habitat destruction, introduction of invasive alien species, etc. These have been further worsened with a series of indirect hazards as our changing economic systems and policies of the State; unsustainable exploitation of resources and weak management systems as well as gaps in spatial information. However, regarding the extinction of species and damaging of biodiversity it is habitat loss which is considered as the single largest threat. The concerned authorities of forest, environment and wild life must address this key issue in particular.
To sustain environmental balance and maintain biodiversity of any geological area 25 per cent forest of the total area should be kept as forests. According to the Bangladesh government total forest of Bangladesh is about 17 per cent. But more alarmingly it is only 10 per cent according to UNESCO and according to FAO it is less than 9 per cent. Nevertheless, the government will have to anyhow prevent and increase this falling percentage.  
As a part of the 2020 Aichi biodiversity targets our Forest Policy in 1994 had aimed to increase protected areas by protecting 10 per cent of the reserve forest land by the year 2015. It wasn’t effective and also what is not being followed is the Biological Diversity Act along with National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).  The point is simple: if we cannot guarantee protection of our ecosystems the rate of extinction of more species will speed up. Acts will remain as mere legal documents in papers. If not put into practice policies will remain inactive in terms of meeting targets. Lastly, monitoring of nature and environment conservation tasks have to be rigorously monitored.  
The extinct species have gone forever but with the endangered ones we still have time. We have to be more serious to protect these endangered species.

Endangered species: We still have time

If we cannot guarantee protection of our ecosystems the rate of extinction of more species will speed up. Acts will remain as mere legal documents in papers

The recently published International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List says that 31 species have become extinct and the existences of some 390 are endangered in Bangladesh. The goal of the IUCN Red List is to provide information and analysis with regard to the status of, trends in, and threats to species in order to facilitate and catalyse action for biodiversity conservation. Since Bangladeshs biodiversity scenario is not promising, the relevant policy makers must wake up now. Wildlife or biodiversity is directly linked to nature which is becoming a growing concern in the face of increased deforestation and depletion of the biodiversity. With five broad types of ecosystems Bangladesh may sound to be rich in biodiversity, but all these categories are not actually being preserved as per appropriate rules. A direct threat in this regard has been changes in land use, especially causes like - habitat destruction, introduction of invasive alien species, etc. These have been further worsened with a series of indirect hazards as our changing economic systems and policies of the State; unsustainable exploitation of resources and weak management systems as well as gaps in spatial information. However, regarding the extinction of species and damaging of biodiversity it is habitat loss which is considered as the single largest threat. The concerned authorities of forest, environment and wild life must address this key issue in particular. To sustain environmental balance and maintain biodiversity of any geological area 25 per cent forest of the total area should be kept as forests. According to the Bangladesh government total forest of Bangladesh is about 17 per cent. But more alarmingly it is only 10 per cent according to UNESCO and according to FAO it is less than 9 per cent. Nevertheless, the government will have to anyhow prevent and increase this falling percentage. As a part of the 2020 Aichi biodiversity targets our Forest Policy in 1994 had aimed to increase protected areas by protecting 10 per cent of the reserve forest land by the year 2015. It wasnt effective and also what is not being followed is the Biological Diversity Act along with National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs). The point is simple: if we cannot guarantee protection of our ecosystems the rate of extinction of more species will speed up. Acts will remain as mere legal documents in papers. If not put into practice policies will remain inactive in terms of meeting targets. Lastly, monitoring of nature and environment conservation tasks have to be rigorously monitored. The extinct species have gone forever but with the endangered ones we still have time. We have to be more serious to protect these endangered species.