Voting by SMS (short message service) to have Sundarbans as one of the seven wonders of nature ends on Friday. State minister for forest and environment Dr Hasan Mahmud has urged all to vote for the Sundarbans, to place it among one of the new seven wonders of nature.
“If Bangladesh can get a place on the selection list of new seven wonders of nature, a revolution will take place in its economic sector, including tourism,” he said.
The state minister urged the countrymen to vote for the Sundarbans at a programme, organised by Bangladesh Workers’ Promotion Foundation and Khulna Divisional Somittee-Dhaka, in association with the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) at the intersection of TSC Dhaka University on Thursday.
Dr Hasan also said that he had no objection with ‘the process of selecting the seven wonders by a private organisation’.
Subscribers of any of the country’s mobile phone operators can vote for the Sundarbans, which is the world’s largest mangrove forest, he added.
“A total of 3,000 tigers are still alive in the whole world, among those 450 are available collectively in the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world” he said.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner Benazir Ahmed said, “The people of Bangladesh are courageous and they never accept defeat. General effort from all will ensure Sundarbans’ place on the list.” The Sundarbans has already reached a tip even prior to the beginning of SMS choosing by casting votes.
The leading seven natural wonders of the world are being elected through global poll under the guidance of Bernard Weber and the direction of Switzerland-based “The New 7 Wonders Foundation.” The voting process started in 2007 and will end in November 2011. Of the 440 noteworthy natural sites of the world, 28 were elected through polls by July 2009, of which the Sundarbans is one, and only 7 will be elected by November 2011.
The Sundarbans, on the southeast coast of the Bay of Bengal and comprising 10,000 square kilometers of Bangladesh and India, is the world’s largest mangrove forest, of which more than 60 per cent is located in Bangladesh.
It has exquisite natural beauty, and an incredible array of diverse flora and fauna.
There are 315 species of birds including 80 species of migratory birds.
There are 400 varieties of fish and crocodiles, turtles, tortoises and many other marine creatures. For this reason Unesco has rightly declared it as a World Heritage Site.
It is also the home of the world famous Royal Bengal Tiger. According to a survey of UNDP there are at present about 440 of them in the Sundarban. There are 35 varieties of reptiles, 42 varieties of mammals, 291 varieties of fish, 24 varieties of shrimps, 14 varieties of crabs, and 43 varieties of mollusks. Crocodiles, wild boars, monkeys, dolphins and wildcats are very often seen in this forest.
The presence of the rare species of spotted deer enhances the beauty of the Sundarban.
Prominent among the different categories of trees in the Sundarbans are ‘sundari’, “gheoa,” “goran,” “kewra,” “poshur,” “singra,” “khalsi” etc. The forest is called Sundarbans for the predominance of the beautiful “sundari” trees. Golpata and honey are also valuable assets of the Sundarbans. Sundarban provides livelihood to millions of people, and also acts as a shield for the coastal areas.
To vote for the Sundarbans, mobile phone subscribers have been asked to type ‘SB’ as message and then send it to 16333.
The New Seven Wonders Foundation will thank the voter through a return SMS.
-With The Independent input
