Call for baseline report on oil spill impacts

FE Team | Published: December 21, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Voicing grave concern over the recent oil spill in the Sundarbans, WildTeam, a nature conservation organisation based in Bangladesh, has urged the authorities concerned to prepare a baseline report on the immediate impact which would help assess the ecosystem recovery in the long term, reports UNB.
"We hope that the concerned authorities will prepare a baseline report on the immediate impact based on water quality on the impacted zone, spatio-temporal spread of oil, livelihood and health issues of the local people," said a WildTeam press release on Saturday.
"The Sundarbans is not only a world heritage site, it's also a Ramsar site. Tigers not only swim in this wetland but also sometimes supplement their diet of land prey with aquatic animals like crabs.
About 10 million people's livelihood depends on the resources of this world's largest mangrove forest," it said.
"So, along with everyone, WildTeam family stays stand by the government, including the Forest Department and all concerned," it added.
The WildTeam stressed adopting long-term plans like periodic monitoring of spillage area for long-term effects. This will include regular water sampling and monitoring to assess the recovery of embankment vegetation, microbial and invertebrate community, fish stocks, and other higher animal life forms.
It also underscored the need for having an in-depth observation system in place for a long-term ecosystem response to detect delayed impacts and cascade effects on the various ecosystem components.
Social surveys should be repeated to detect long-term impacts on the livelihood of the local community and recovery. The WildTeam also laid emphasis on having an effective preparedness for any such manmade catastrophes in this fragile ecosystem.
The WildTeam is carrying out its activities to improve the conservation status of key species and habitats in Bangladesh, and developing partnerships, tools, and platforms to build the capacity of organisations and individuals to carry out effective conservation in the country, the release has added.
Another report add: A conservationist has said there has been no observed "short-term effect" on the health of dolphins after the December 9 oil spill in the Sundarbans, but he has not ruled out any long term effect.
The country representative of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the organisation that discovered the Sundarbans' remarkable dolphin population, made the observation in an email interview with the news agency from the Sundarbans.
The conservationist, Rubaiyat Mansur Mowgli, who is also the principal researcher of the Bangladesh
Cetacean (scientific name of dolphins, whales and porpoises) Diversity Project, did not rule out long term effects caused by exposure to the oil or decline in prey.
The dedicated conservationist, who has spent long periods in the Sundarbans over the last twenty years, also said that there was "an almost four-fold increase in commercial vessel traffic through the three wildlife sanctuaries established for protection of dolphins between 2010 and 2011 (Dhangmari, Chandpai, Dhudhmuki)."
That coincides with the shifting of the shipping route from Khulna to Dhaka due to excessive siltation in the earlier route.
According to Mansur, closing the entrances of small channels and creeks with fishing nets initiated by the Forest Department was a good response under the circumstances, as long as the nets are regularly changed.
Mansur also stressed the importance of closing off the route to commercial vehicles, regardless of such accidents.
"Even without collisions or spills, the pollution these vessels discharge can degrade habitat and reduce fish and crustacean recruitment. Also, their large wakes can erode shoreline features and fill in the deep pools where freshwater dolphins congregate; and the vessels can collide with freshwater dolphins resulting in fatal injuries."