| Green barrier fast disappearing Kutubdia, Dec 01 (bdnews24.com) – Salt evaporation lakes, vast stretches of shrimp cultivation and fields of Shutki drying in the sun stretch as far as the eye can see. Once in a while, two or three young screw pines break the otherwise monotonous view. This is the view of Kutubdia Island, which lies a kilometre off the coast of Cox's Bazar on the south-east coast of Bangladesh. Just ten years ago, one of the largest tracts of manmade mangrove, or 'parabon', forest in South Asia stretched along the Kutubdia channel here. Forest guard Abu Taher told bdnews24.com, "The parabon has disappeared. Land grabbing syndicates backed by influential figures have depleted the forest for salt, shrimp and dry fish production." Kutubdia Upazila Nirbahi Officer Jafar Ahmed said the island would be one of the areas most affected by climate change. He told bdnews24.com, "There is no forest left here." Forest specialists say parabon depletion in Bangladesh started decades back, with one-fifth of the forests being levelled over the years, and it still continues uncurbed. Forest stretching over large areas have been cut down illegally by "influential groups", mainly to make way for shrimp cultivation, and also through pressure of increased population. As a result, 30 million residents of the 710km belt stretching from Khulna's Shyamnagar to Cox's Bazar's Ukhiya face growing danger from storms and tidal waves. As climate change threatens to unleash more frequent and intense cyclones and tidal waves, the coastal areas with their shield of forests fast disappearing are now under threat. Kamal Hossain, a professor of Chittagong University's Institute of Forestry and Environmental Science, told bdnews24.com on Monday: "Risks in coastal areas are rising with global climate change." "The continuing exhaustion of coastal forest is further raising the dangers." He said the parabon forests of Chakaria in Cox's Bazar have already been completely depleted and the Noakhali-Patuakhali-Barguna coastal belt was also under threat. "If it weren't for the Sundarbans, the districts Jessore, Khulna and Bagerhat would also be in grave danger." The Sundarbans in the southwest are part of the largest stretch of natural mangrove in the world and designated a world heritage site. The coastal forests in the southeast, on the other hand, were created artificially. The term 'parabon' is used locally to refer to these manmade forests. Environmentalist Ansarul Karim estimates that about 6,000 hectares of parabon have been depleted in Cox's Bazar. According to the Coast Trust, a local NGO, some 4,000 out of 10,000 hectares along the Teknaf-Sonadia coast have been illegally razed in the past decade alone to make way for shrimp cultivation. It says some 225 cases are pending against 625 persons in Cox's Bazar for illegal destruction of parabon forest. Depletion of parabon not only leaves the coast susceptible to natural calamities but also speeds coastal erosion and salination of soil, says the Trust. With current rates of erosion, Kutubdia Island will collapse into the sea within 40-45 years, says the NGO. The same can occur along other areas of the coast. UNO Jafar Ahmed said the forest department has begun re-forestation. Abu Bakar Siddique, forest officer of Kutubdia Range, also told bdnews24.com that a reforestation project along the Kutubdia channel is underway. But it's a big task. Ainun Nishat, former resident representative of International Union for Conservation of Nature, said that increased pressure of population and expansion of shrimp cultivation has put entire localities at risk from Barguna to Cox's Bazar. Information from the Disaster Management Training Centre of Dhaka University reveals that more than 700,000 people died in some 25 cyclones and tidal waves over the last four decades. According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, there are records of 365 cyclones in the Bay of Bengal from 1877-1995 that lost intensity before hitting the mainland. However climate change may cause such cyclones to hit the mainland with more force in future. Experts say that coastal mangrove and parabon forests are the only possible protection. Failure to preserve the existing forests and replace the lost stretches could lead to total devastation of coastal areas spelling disaster for around 30 million people. Kamal Hossain said: "Parabon can protect them. We must preserve our green barrier." |
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