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Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul IslamUniversity
Trishal, Mymensingh-2220, Bangladesh
Course Name: Biodiversity Conservation
Course Code: ESE 2211
Assignment On: Threats and Conservation of Biodiversity: Bangladesh Perspectives.
Submitted By:
Mozakkir Azad
Roll: 20103429
Session: 2019-20
2nd Year, 2nd Semester
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering
Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University
Submitted To:
Md Rakibul Hassan
Assistant Professor
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering
Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University
Date Of Submission: 31-5-2023

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Table of Contents
Serial Topic Page
01 Introduction 03
02 Biodiversity of Bangladesh 04
03 Present Threats of Conservation of Biodiversity in
Bangladesh
05
3.1) High Population Density, Extreme Poverty, and
Unemployment
05
3.2) Climate Change and Sea Level Rise 06
3.3) Habitat Loss, Degradation, and Fragmentation 06
3.4) Illegal Poaching, Logging, and Fuel Wood Collection 06
3.5) Environmental Pollution and Degradation 06
3.6) Invasive Alien Species 07
3.7) Limitations in Legal and Policy Framework 07
3.8) Lack of Political Commitment and Willingness 07
3.9) Human-Wildlife Conflict 07
3.10) Lack of Public Awareness 07
04. Recommendations for Biodiversity Conservation 08
05. Biodiversity in Bangladesh National Legislation 09
06. The Local People and the Biodiversity 10
07. Threatened Biodiversity in Bangladesh 12
08. Conclusion 13
09. Reference 13

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1. Introduction
Over the past few decades biodiversity has become the issue of global concern for its rapid
reduction worldwide. Bangladesh is no exception. The country is exceptionally endowed with a
vast variety of flora and fauna, but due to country’s tremendous population pressure, rural poverty
and unemployment it has been decreased alarmingly. Government has taken various initiatives to
alter this situation. Many wildlife species have been exterminated in Bangladesh and many more
are threatened with extinction. The list of extinct animals of Bangladesh is prepared on the basis
of published data and habitat management. Bird population around the globe is declining at an
alarming rate; the primary threats to them are habitat destruction, trade and over hunting. The
impacts of climate change, such as increased air and ocean temperatures, and increased frequency
of extreme climatic events will directly and indirectly affect biodiversity. The major threats to
biodiversity, including those arising from invasive alien species, climate change, pollution, and
habitat change. There are a number of indirect drivers that interact in complex ways to cause
human-induced changes in biodiversity. They include demographic, economic, socio-political,
cultural, religious, scientific and technological factors, which influence human activities that
directly impact on biodiversity. “Biological diversity” is often shortened to “bio-diversity” that
has won the central point of development policy debates since decades. The rights and
responsibilities for conserving biodiversity have been shaped up with the adoption of the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which is considered as a milestone of natural resources
management and environment. The conservation and utilization of biodiversity has increasingly
become a great challenge at national and international level as well, which also raised the
fundamental question, that being a part of nature itself whether we human being have the right to
destroy the species and ecosystems. “Biodiversity” is an umbrella term used to describe the
number, variety, variability among living organisms from all sources including inter alia,
terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are
part. It includes diversity within species, between species and the variability of life in all forms,
levels, and combinations. The study on earth species published in the journal PLoS Biology in
2011 estimates that the planet earth is now home for 8.7 million species, which is the most accurate
yet, but only a tiny proportion is known to science till date.

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2. Biodiversity of Bangladesh
Bangladesh is situated in the world largest deltaic plain the Ganges–Brahmaputra delta, in the
northeastern part of South Asia between 20°34/ and 26°38/ North latitude and 88°01/ and 92°41/
East longitude. The country mostly consists of floodplains with some hilly areas, with a subtropical
monsoon climate. In the country, about 80% of the land is low-lying and/or flooded at least during
the monsoon, makes the country the single largest flood-basin in South Asia. The majority of
country’s land is formed by river alluvium from the Ganges and the Brahmaputra and their
tributaries. Geographically, the country falls near the Indo-Burma region – one of the global
biodiversity hot-spot and believed to have more than 7,000 endemic plant. Bangladesh, due to its
unique geophysical location and a suit-able climatic condition is exceptionally endowed with a
rich variety of biodiversity. Nevertheless, in last decades, like most other regions of the world,
Bangladesh also went through a critical period unsuitable for country’s biodiversity and
ecosystem. The government so far along with various international conservation agencies has also
been trying to improve and manage this overwhelming situation. This chapter aims to provide an
insight of the biodiversity of Bangladesh, from eco-system to species level, genetic diversity, and
major threats to the bio-diversity in the country with key initiatives so far taken for biodiversity
conservation.
Ecologically, Bangladesh supports a diverse set of ecosystems. The country, has the world’s
largest continuous mangrove forest The Sundarbans on its southwestern part habitat of the world’s
largest surviving population of the Royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris); in its eastern part it has a
large tract of evergreen to semi-evergreen hill forests, once very rich in biodiversity but mostly
degraded now; besides in the northeastern part there are many wetlands, locally called haors that
harbor a huge number of aquatic plants, migratory birds and freshwater fish species. In
Bangladesh, some 2,260 species of plant reported alone from the Chittagong Hill Tracts, which
falls between two major floristic regions of Asia. Until now, an estimated 5,700 species of
angiosperms alone, including 68 woody legumes, 130 fiber yielding plants, 500 medicinal plants,
29 orchids, 3 gymnosperms and 1,700 pteridophytes have been recorded from the country. The
country also possesses a rich faunal diversity. Bangladesh is home of about 138 mammal species
more than 566 species of birds (passerine and non-passerine), 167 species of reptiles, 49 species
of amphibians.

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Figure 1: Biodiversity of Sundarban.
3. Present Threats of Conservation of Biodiversity in Bangladesh
A great number of plant and wildlife species have already gone extinct from Bangladesh over the
last decades. A substantial number of country’s remaining plants, mammals, birds, and reptiles are
currently under tremendous pressure. IUCN (2015) has listed a total of 156 species of mammals,
birds, reptiles, and amphibians under various degrees of risks in the country. A reliable statistic on
country’s plant diversity is still unavailable, nevertheless, it is anticipated that already 10% of
country’s plant species gone extinct. Biodiversity loss in Bangladesh is attributed to several socio-
economic, biophysical and organizational factors. Following are some key threats behind the rapid
biodiversity loss in the country.
3.1) High Population Density, Extreme Poverty, and Unemployment: Bangladesh is one of the
world’s densely populated countries with an extreme poverty and high unemployment rate. More
than 85% population of the country are living in rural areas and somehow depends on various
natural resources which lead to exploitation of plant and animal products for people’s livelihood

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and income. Rural fuel consumption pattern, which is strongly concerned with degradation of
natural forest area is another important issue related to biodiversity depletion in the country.
3.2) Climate Change and Sea Level Rise: Bangladesh is one of the largest victims of climate
change and associated sea level rise. The majority of the country will go under water if the water
level rises by 50 cm. The country has already experienced severe change in precipitation pattern,
temperature, etc. The climate change in the country will largely impact the persistence of large
living animals and the ecosystems of which they are part.
3.3) Habitat Loss, Degradation, and Fragmentation:Biodiversity conservation is strongly
associated with the intact ecosystems and natural landscape, however, transformation of land use
patterns, expansion of agricultural lands, changes in cropping pattern, introduction of high yielding
varieties, urbanization, expansion of road networks, embankments, and other man-made factors
have caused immense damage to wild habitats in all ecosystem types in the country. Following are
some common reason of habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation:
Land use change and agricultural expansions;
Encroachment;
Shifting cultivation;
Urbanization; and
Commercial shrimp cultivation in coastal areas.
3.4) Illegal Poaching, Logging, and Fuel Wood Collection: There is a big international market
(largely illegal) of unregulated wild animals and their parts (e.g., teeth, bones, fur, and ivory)
mainly for their aesthetic and medicinal value. Besides, illegal logging, fuelwood collection,
unsustainable harvest of non-timber forest products including medicinal plants are also responsible
for the depletion of biodiversity in the country.
3.5) Environmental Pollution and Degradation: One of the major threats to aquatic biodiversity
in Bangladesh is pollution of soil and water. The aquatic ecosystem is the greatest victim and is
polluted by toxic agrochemicals (i.e., chemical fertilizers, insecticides) and industrial effluents that
cause depletion of aquatic and/or marine bio-diversity.

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3.6) Invasive Alien Species: A large number of exotic and non-native plant species have been
introduced to the country since British colonial period for agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and
fisheries. Some of the species have become escapes accidentally and have adapted to local
conditions proliferated profusely. Some species although have naturalized but many have become
invasive over local flora and fauna. Besides, replacing natural plantation with the monoculture of
short rotation and fast growing species have threatened the existence of local fauna as they have
not adapted to those species.
3.7) Limitations in Legal and Policy Framework: Lack of adequate institutional or
administrative frameworks and suitable policies, weak implementation of existing policies, lack
of integration of sectoral activities are other additional challenges to the biodiversity conservation
in Bangladesh. Besides, poor coordination and cross-sectoral integration, weak national
information system and inadequate knowledge on ecosystem structure and function are the vital
reason for biodiversity loss in the country.
3.8) Lack of Political Commitments and Willingness: Unfortunately, there are no dealings of
biodiversity, forestry or other relevant issues in the political campaign of the parties. In some cases,
politically influential and elite persons are found involved in environmental degradation and illegal
forest activities.
3.9) Human-Wildlife Conflict: Human-wildlife conflict is currently a burning issue as it
influences a group of people against wild animals and also against the people who want to conserve
and restore wildlife. The growing human population of Bangladesh is forcing rapid urbanization
and habitat loss for the wildlife and also forcing wild animals to live in close proximity to humans.
Many wildlife species of Bangladesh such as Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, leopard, fishing cat,
golden cat, jungle cat, civets, etc. are facing various threats of extinction due to human-wildlife
conflict.
3.10) Lack of Public Awareness: Lack of biodiversity-related information and knowledge
inevitably leads to poor awareness and capacity for biodiversity conservation. Gaps in aware-ness

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have identified at various levels from policymakers to grass root people that sometimes even leads
to misappropriation of existing law. Besides, the lack of appropriate implementation of existing
biodiversity laws and regulation are common in the country.
4. Recommendations for Biodiversity Conservation
Biodiversity can be managed in a sustainable way only if the management plans take proper proper
account of the socio-economic context. It may include a requirement to develop jobs based on the
sustainable exploitation of biodiversity. The Following Suggestions can be made which can
Provide Sustainable Biodiversity.
1) Biodiversity Rules and Regulations must be Updated and Enforced Strictly. Must be
planned to Formulate Appropriate Biodiversity Law and its Competent Implementation.
2) For sustainable management must be implement traditional knowledge.
3) The Ministry of Environment and Forestry should have a separate Wildlife Cell or
Department.
4) Human activities often conflict with the conservation of biodiversity.
5) Illegal Capture of Wild Fauna and Aquatic Endangered or Threatened Species must be
Stopped and Over Harvesting Stopped.
6) At least some Major Forest Area, Wetlands and portion of River should be marked as
Sanctuary for Bio-diversity Conservation under the Direct Supervision of Government.
7) Unsustainable development and consumption lead to biodiversity loss and ecosystem
damage
8) Water Pollution by any means should be Minimized and Existing Rules and Regulations
on Water Pollution should be Effectively Enforced. Effluent Treatment Plant has to set up
to the Outlet of the every Industry.
9) Use of Pesticide in the Agricultural Fields should be reduced and Biological Control of
Pest should be introduced.
10) The Height of Chimney of the Brickfield must by beyond 120ft with a Scrubber in its
Outlet. Brickfield must be Established Maintaining a Reasonable Distance and Position.
11) Cutting Hill in the name of Development and Burning the Trees to cultivate joom is to be
prohibited.

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12) Mass Media like Radio, Television, Leaflets and Announcement etc. must be used in Wider
Extent for Awareness Building among the Common people about the Consequence of Bio-
diversity and its Conservation.
13) Appropriate Research and Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) can play an important
role for biodiversity conservation.
5. Biodiversity in Bangladesh National Legislation:
The national legislation of a country ultimately has a very important role in conserving
biodiversity, sustainable use of nature and environment and preventing environmental degradation.
“Article 18(a) of the Bangladesh Constitution makes the state responsible for the protection of
biodiversity. This is an obligation on our part. Besides, Bangladesh is a signatory to the
international agreement, ‘Convention on Biological Diversity’, committing us to biotic
reservation.” The law that comprehensively deals with environment conservation is the
Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act (BECA), 1995. Section 5 of the BECA, 1995 has
authorised the Govt. to declare areas of great ecological importance as Ecologically Critical Area
(ECA). The then Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) declared 7 areas as ECA by a
notification: Sundarbans (Entire area declared as reserve forest.), Cox’s Bazar Teknaf beach,
Sonadia Island, Hakaluki Haor, Tangua Haor, St. Martins Island and Marjat Baor. Later Gulshan
Baridhara lake was also added to the list as ECA.
The country also adopted ‘Bangladesh Biodiversity Act-2015’ which was later published in the
gazette as the Bangladesh Biodiversity Act, 2017 (Act No. II). We also have the Biodiversity and
Community Knowledge Protection Act which aims to implement the spirit, principles and relevant
provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Both the Acts aims to protect the sovereign
rights of the communities that have knowledge of biodiversity, and have managed, maintained,
conserved, reproduced and enhanced biodiversity, genetic resources and traditional knowledge,
culture and various forms of practice related to these resources. Various National policies like
Environment Policy (1992), Water Policy (1999), Policy on Fisheries (1998), Policy on Fisheries
(1998), National Forest Policy (1994) adopted by the Govt. of Bangladesh are somehow related
for the conservation of biodiversity.

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6. The Local People and Biodiversity:
The lives and livelihoods of the local people of Bangladesh are mostly dependent on the
environment and thus are affected predominantly by environmental policies, laws, and agreements.
The rights of the local people to live in a sound environment at each step are inherently linked with
the natural rights over biodiversity. But unfortunately, the linkages between environmental
policies, laws and regulations and the way local people act, think are missing. The laws and
policies do not always necessarily reflect the voice and conservation ethics of the local people.
Apparently, there is little thrust for searching local beliefs and customs they are practicing from
ancient times as the main custodians of their natural resources. Localization (Sthaniokoron) and
socialization (Samajikikoron) of Biodiversity related policies, laws, and agreements are needed by
respecting local peoples’ own socio-cultural norms and values, by a better understanding of social
network and the local legal advocacy system. Legal mechanisms and policy options must ensure
the participation of not only a certain group of local people but the entire community to be involved
in policy formulation, implementation, research, and access-benefit sharing for conservation,
improvement and better use of biodiversity as they are the key stakeholders of the biodiversity
regime.
7. Threatened Biodiversity in Bangladesh
A great number of plant and wildlife species have already gone extinct in Bangladesh over the last
decades (Rahman, 2004). Table 3.2 outlined the extinct mammal species in the country. A
substantial number of the country’s remaining plants, mammals, birds, and reptiles are currently
under tremendous pressure. IUCN (2015) has listed a total of 156 species of mammals, birds,
reptiles, and amphibians under various degrees of risk in the country (Table 3.2). A reliable statistic
on a country’s plant diversity is still unavailable, nevertheless, it is anticipated that already 10%
of the country’s plant species have gone extinct. A recent inventory by Bangladesh National
Herbarium identified 106 vascular plants with risks of various degrees of threats (Khan et al.,
2001). Table 3.3 gives the present status of inland and resident vertebrates in Bangladesh.

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Picture: Biodiversity Conservation of Bangladesh

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8. Conclusion
Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries due to global climate change and consequential
sea level rise. The government should immediately seek for proper adaptation measures to cope
with this inevitable event. Besides, focusing only on ecological aspects will not provide a long-
term security of biodiversity conservation in the country since people still substantially depend on
these resources for their existence. The government should actively involve local community
people in natural resource management to secure the future of country’s biological diversity. A
well-coordinated pro-gram on monitoring and management of country’s biodiversity is an urgent
task. Inadequate institutional capacities and lack of trained manpower are the attributes of
biodiversity and conservation issues malfunction in dealing with. Finally, government laws
concerning biodiversity issue requires urgent reform considering country’s changing socio-
political context and the environment. Although there are lots of limitations, Bangladesh has
several laws and policies that still safeguard the existing forest and wildlife species, and we hope
that proper implementation of these laws would help to thrive the unique biodiversity and diverse
wildlife of the country.

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9. Reference
1. http://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/html/10.11648.j.ajep.20150405.13.html#paper-
content-1
2. https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/import/downloads/bio.pdf
3. https://www.greenfacts.org/en/global-biodiversity-outlook/l-3/6-threat-biodiversity.htm
4. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237832682_Biodiversity_Conservation_and_Su
stainable_Development_in_Bangladesh_An_overview_of_the_present_status_manageme
nt_problems_and_future_prospects
5. https://www.intechopen.com/books/forest-degradation-around-the-world/forest-
biodiversity-and-deforestation-in-bangladesh-the-latest-update
6. https://www.icccad.net/blog/protecting-the-planet-and-people/