'Political will need to protect Sundarbans'
Speakers at a discussion held here Sunday evening said political will is a must for preservation of bio-diversity of the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world.
Rupantar and Swadesh, two local NGOs, jointly organised the discussion on the occasion of a premier show of 'Badaboner Kantha,' a documentary film on the Sundarbans, jointly produced by Steps Towards Development, a national NGO and Rupantar.
Held at Satkhira Deputy Commisioner's (DC) conference room, the discussion was presided by Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC-Revenue) Mahmud Hasan while it was attended by Satkhira DC Mohammad Kefayetullah as chief guest.
Speakers hailed the two NGOs for producing the documentary to create awareness among people living around the Sundarbans. The film depicted how over six lakh people living near to the Sundarbans earn a living from the forest resources. The documentary said the community must have access to resources and community people should be strongly involved in natural resource management.
Speakers stressed on integrated efforts of all concerned to protect the Sundarbans as the forest is now under threat of extinction following unabated extraction of forest resources by unscrupulous timber traders with the help of some dishonest forest officials. They stressed on creating substitute income opportunities for people living near the Sundarbans to decrease their dependence on forest resources.
They called on government to take stern action against the people who extract forest resources. They also urged the government to take a long-term project to protect the Sundarbans from extinction.
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