sundarbans

The three tigers were poisoned: forest dept 

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Three adult Royal Bengal Tigers were poisoned to death by poachers at the Sundarbans in last three months, claimed an investigation report of the forest department in the wake of the recovery of three tiger hides on Sunday. The incidents further cast a blow to the recently held census in which the number of tigers living in Sundarbans was counted at 106 – a sharp decline

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20 fishermen rescued following gunfight

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A total of twenty abducted hilsa fishermen were freed on Thursday, six days after being abducted by pirates on August 11, following a combined operation by joint forces that resulted in a gunfight between law enforcers and suspected pirates at Narkelbaria area under Sundarban east zone.
Law enforcers, however, were unable to arrest any of the pirates during the

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Onslaught on mud crabs threatens Sundarbans ecosystem

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Though the mud crab is considered as one of the nature’s “ecosystem engineers” for its ability to facilitate habitats and nutrients to other species, a significant proportion of its population is being wiped out every year due to its indiscriminate collection along the coastal belt, particularly in the Sundarbans.
The export of this crab has sharply increased over the last decade, leading to the

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New scrap shipyards near Sundarbans

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Govt eyes Baleshwar river bank in Barguna; environmentalists decry 
Although the Sitakunda ship breaking yards in Chittagong continue to wreak havoc on the environment, the government nonetheless plans to allow new yards on the bank of the Baleshwar river in Patharghata upazila of Barguna district.
A team of top officials from different departments, led by the additional secretary of the

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Biodiversity issue glossed over

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Dhaka, Delhi signed 2 deals on Sundarbans, tiger; refrained from addressing rising salinity in Bangladesh rivers
None of the two agreements signed between Bangladesh and India on conservation of the Sundarbans and Royal Bengal Tigers addresses the issue of increasing salinity that continues to affect the biodiversity of the mangrove forest on Bangladesh side. Salinity in Pashur, Sibsa and Raimongal rivers running through the Sundarbans has increased over the years, as flow of water in the Gorai river has decreased due to the Farakka barrage on the upstream.
However, the agreement

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10 lakh votes for Sundarbans in 2 weeks

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Natural Wonders
10 lakh votes for Sundarbans in 2 weeks
The Sundarbans received more than 10 lakh votes through text messages in the last two weeks for its inclusion as one of the world’s new seven natural wonders.
The largest mangrove forest of the world was also the most voted wonder in the contest in the last one month.
The Sundarbans, however, has a long way to go to secure the position, as it contests against

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Evaluating services of Sundarbans

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Muhammad Selim Hossain and Mohammed Abdul Baten for The Daily Star
Forest is a bounteous gift of nature that provides the basis of life and livelihood for humans. According to human history, hunting and gathering, the first and foremost livelihood of homo sapiens, was forest based. Interestingly, mangrove is the most diverse forest and is maximum service provider of all the forest types. Today, it is man whose relentless activities are, however, at the root of eroding this invaluable biological capital of nature.
Forest management has also seen a long chronological development

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Four ‘pirates’ killed in ‘gunfight’

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Four persons, said to be pirates, were killed in a ‘gunfight’ with the Rapid Action Battalion on Wednesday morning at Sharonkhola under the east wing of the Sundarbans Forest Division in Bagerhat.
Local fishermen identified the deceased as Zulfikar Ali Zulfu, leader of a pirate gang called ‘Zulfikar Bahini’, Hafizur Rahman, second-in-command of the gang, Sanwar Hossain Sanu and

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Honey collection and biodiversity loss in mangrove ecosystem

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Dr. M.A. Bashar for The Independent
In Sundarbans ecosystem, honey and wax production is a major seasonal activity employing some 2000 honey collectors known as ‘mowallis’ and producing about 200 tonnes of honey and about 50 tonnes of bee wax which constitutes about 50 per cent of the total production in Bangladesh. So far information is concerned, it is to be noted that no country in the world has got even 50 percent of its national honey production coming from natural system. Apiculture or colonisation of bees made by men provides the honey production in other countries of world. But only Bangladesh has

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Bay the global hotspot

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More than 10,000 endangered whales and dolphins of six species have made the Bay of Bengal and the Sundarbans estuary a safe home, a month long survey reveals.
A group of Bangladeshi wildlife scientists headed by Dr Anisuzzaman Khan carried out the survey and recently revealed that the Bay is still a good abode of aquatic animals like whales, and dolphins commonly

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Sundarbans best habitat

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Finds joint study
The Bangladesh portion of Sundarbans is the best habitat for tigers as this beast of prey here can hunt within the radius of only 15 square kilometres, one of the smallest home range in the globe.
This reflects that a tigress here has ample supply food and the forest can potentially support a much healthier population of tigers. It also implies that this mangrove habitat can help secure the future for the endangered species.
The findings emerged through a joint study using geographical positioning system (GPS) by the Forest Department of Bangladesh and

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3 tigers poisoned to death

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One of poaching gang held with 4 skulls, 3 skins, bones
Posing as buyers, forest officials have arrested a member of an organised gang of poachers with four skulls, three hides and 138 bones of tigers at Sharankhola upazila of Bagerhat.
The arrested, Jamal Fakir, admitted that he poisoned three tigers to death, and claimed to find one skull in the Sundarbans

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‘Sundarbans can boost economy’

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Natural Wonders
‘Sundarbans can boost economy’
Khulna city Mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque yesterday said Bangladesh’s reputation will increase and economy get stronger if the Sundarbans is elected as a natural wonder.
So we must irrespectively work together to help Bangladesh’s vast mangrove forest win the final race scheduled for November 11 this year, he

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Villagers save tiger

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A group of villagers in Bagerhat again saved the life of a tiger of Sundarbans on January 8, around one month after the same incident.
On the day, a tiger suddenly came out of the mangrove forest and entered Uttar Rajapur village under its Sharankhola range and killed a cow

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Govt urged to promote Sundarbans tourism

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Patronisation of both government and the forest department is needed for development of tourism industry in the Sundarbans, said speakers at a discussion yesterday.
The meeting organised by Bengal Tours on roles of the local media in development of positive tourism in the Sundarbans was held in Khulna yesterday. Masud Hossain,

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