To Return Sundarbans’ biodiversity, Bangladesh has taken multi-faceted projects
A project to restore the Sundarbans affected by climate change has been taken up by the Govt. of Bangladesh. On the other hand, the forest area of Sundarbans is decreasing every year due to sea erosion.
Bangladesh’s forest department announced that they will begin a project this year to create new mangrove forests and protect biodiversity. The project will be funded by the government of France.
According to the sources of Sundarbans Forest Department, Bangladesh, due to climate change, Sundarbans has suffered a lot, forest cover has decreased and many trees have died.
A project is underway to create new mangrove forests in a 20 km area of East and West Sundarbans, funded by the French government, in order to restore the region to its hundred-year-old appearance.
As part of the project, afforestation will be done on an experimental basis (pilot scheme) in some areas at Gabura in Shyamnagar, Satkhira.
The French government will start the 300 million Euro CRISP project for conservation and restoration this year, according to the forest department.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Sundarbans Department will jointly implement the project.
A study by Change Initiative showed that in 1973, 94.2% of the Sundarbans area was dense forest, decreasing to 91.5% in 2024. This means that Sundarbans lost about 3% of its forest area in 51 years.
Forester Surjit Chowdhury, officer-in-charge of East Sundarbans Katka Sanctuary Center said, the forest area of Sundarbans is decreasing every year due to sea erosion, especially after Cyclone Remal, extensive erosion has occurred in Sundarbans’ Katka.
Mihir Kumar Do, Conservator of Forests (CF) of the Khulna region of the Forest Department said that the Sundarbans have suffered a lot due to climate change.
A project funded by the French government is underway to recreate new mangrove forests in a 20 km area of the Sundarbans, aiming to restore its appearance to how it was a hundred years ago.
For this purpose, initially new forests will be created in pilot scheme at Gabura in Shyamnagar and a comprehensive survey will be conducted for the development and protection of biodiversity of Sundarbans. Necessary work will be done after the survey report, CF said.
