Various species of birds are disappearing from Bangladesh due to the use of pesticides
Due to the use of harmful pesticides in crops and climate change, various species of birds are disappearing from Bangladesh. Once upon a time, the chirping of birds would wake up people in rural Bengal. Now, the calls of those birds are no longer heard as before.
The birds that are disappearing include pigeons, baboons, tuntuni, woodpeckers, pheasants, cuckoos, dhanhuks, fish-crows, bou-kath-kaws, sarali, rat-kana, white-backed pheasants, red-backed pheasants, jatha-boks, waterfowl, lip-bhangas, grey quails, parrots, shrike, switch-crow, pan-cow, seven-toed pheasants, gulls, chaklas, dolka-mols, panchas, sand-ducks, big-eared pheasants, royal vultures, and many other unknown birds.
The Livestock Department of Bangladesh reports that since the 1990s, many herbicides, pesticides, and soil-cleaning chemicals have been widely used in the cropland. Moreover, highly polluting Indian pesticides smuggled in are being used freely. On the other hand, due to climate change and the lack of development of bird sanctuaries, the birds cannot breed.
Ayanal Mridha, a senior farmer from Saltha Upazila of Faridpur, said, “We used to not apply pesticides to the land. As a result, all kinds of birds used to dance and roam around in the fields at that time.
Due to the free movement of birds in the cropland, we had to sit on guard in the field and sometimes we had to harvest the crops before the specified time. But now those birds are no longer seen, nor can we hear their calls.”
Locals say that once upon a time, the people of the rural region would wake up to the sound of birds chirping. As the number of birds is decreasing day by day, they are no longer seen.
The local population has steadily increased the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, leading to a decline in the number of insects that birds feed on in crop fields. Reducing chemical fertilizers and pesticides while increasing organic fertilizers will lead to better crop production and provide food for birds through the insects that thrive in healthier soil. As a result, the breeding of birds will increase.
Some bird experts in the district said that to increase the breeding of birds, pitchers or pots can be tied to trees. So that birds can safely hatch eggs and chicks. To promote bird mobility, we can create artificial sanctuaries and attach nests to trees.
Faridpur District’s Livestock Officer Dr. AKM Asjad said that the continuous use of pesticides causes poisoning in the animal body. In response, bird populations are becoming extinct. And there is the impact of climate change.
He also said that the area for birds to roam should be increased. Attention can be paid to increasing the habitat of birds, including forests and various plant sanctuaries.
In addition, the administration, including local conscious people, should keep a vigilant eye to prevent birds from being hunted.
On the other hand, reducing the use of chemical fertilizers in the land and increasing the use of organic fertilizers will increase the number of grasshoppers, insects, and spiders in the land, and birds will be able to survive by eating them.
