Greens against leasing out Tanguar Haor
Says handing over the wetlands to an investor will have far-reaching consequences
Staff Correspondent
A group of top environment experts has warned about serious and far-reaching environmental consequences of a reported government move to hand over Sylhet's Tanguar Haor to an investor.Urging the government to cancel any such plan, they said the wetlands, the country's lone Ramsar site, should rather be declared a protected area preventing all kinds of commercial activities deemed harmful to its ecosystem. The environmentalists have drawn up a memorandum in this regard to be submitted to the Prime Minister's Office as well as different ministries concerned. "We will submit it in a day or two. The government should consider the proposal for the sake of maintaining a sound ecosystem of the Tanguar Haor," said Rizwana Hasan, director (programmes) of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers' Association (Bela). Signatories to the memorandum are Ruby Ghuznavi, managing director of Aranya, Dr Atiq Rahman, chairperson of Coalition of Environmental NGOs, Hasna J Moudud president of Coastal Area Resource Development and Management Association, S Rizwana Hasan , director (programmes) of Bela, Mahfuz Ullah, secretary general of Centre for Sustainable Development, Dr Ainun Nishat, country representative of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)-Bangla-desh, Professor Kazi Zaker Hossain, president of Wildlife Society of Bangladesh, M Anwarul Islam, director of Nature Conservation Mana-gement and Dr Ronald Halder, a prominent birder. They said the Tanguar Haor was declared an environmentally critical area in February 1991 and the government is duty-bound to protect the wetlands under the Environmental Protection Act of 1995. Leasing out the wetlands will constitute a breach of the law, they added. Located in Sunamganj, the Tanguar Haor is one of the last remaining natural wetlands spreading over 9,500 hectares of land. The Haor is home to 135 species of fish, 15 of which are listed as critically endangered. It also harbours some of the last remnants of swamp forests. Every year, the Haor provides refuge for 30-40 thousand water birds, including many of migratory species. It is also the natural habitat for many globally and nationally endangered species of amphibian animals like turtles, lizards, snakes and mammals.
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