Involvement of indigenous people in biodiversity conservation urgent need

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Speakers at a workshop stressed the urgent need of involving indigenous people in biodiversity conservation and recommended changes at systemic level, including policies, mandate, management and capacity development, for the protection of country's biological diversity, reports UNB.
The national workshop titled "Conservation, Sustainable use and Benefit-Sharing: Protection, Restoration and Sustainable Use; Institutional and Socioeconomic Enabling Environment; and Knowledge Assessments and Monitoring" was held at Cosmos Centre in the city Saturday.
Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh (WTB) and Global Forest Coalition jointly organised the workshop, where experts in the field came up with suggestions for protecting as well as enhancing biological diversity.
Amanullah Khan, an adviser and a patron of WTB, who is also the chairman of UNB, spoke as the guest of honour.
WTB Vice Chairman also Chairman of Bangla Academy Harunur Rashid inaugurated the workshop while WTB Chief Executive Md Anwarul Islam welcomed the delegates.
Farid Uddin Ahmed of Arannyak Foundation, Shahriar Kabir of Independent University Bangladesh and Mamunul Haque Khan of UNDP coordinated the workshop.
Speaking on the occasion, Amanullah Khan urged the government to pass into law and take necessary steps to implement the proposed Biodiversity and Community Knowledge Protection Act of Bangladesh, drafted in 1998 as a follow-up to Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The summit adopted the Convention on Diversity (CBD), which was subsequently ratified by Bangladesh in 1994.
This law would lay down a framework for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity that the country desperately needed with a view to improving its poor record of conservation and stemming the dwindling of biodiversity, he mentioned.
The WTB patron also suggested tightening up the existing laws related to the preservation of the protected forest areas, prohibition of hunting wildlife while at the same time ensuring their strict enforcement.
They recommended that at least 10 per cent protected areas must be functionally present with representation from all different forest types in the country and the government should take necessary actions in this regard immediately.
The workshop also identified different institutions that are involved in biodiversity conservation through in-situ and ex-situ measures.
Kazi Zaker Husain and Jashim Uddin of Dhaka University, Razia Quader of Dharitri, Harunur Rashid of IUB, Rezaul Karim, formerly of ESCAP, Shamsur Rahman and Haradhan Banik of Forest Department, Enam Ul Haque of WTB, nature lover Dwijen Sarma, Naser Khan of POROSH, Zahed Uddin Mahmood Khan, Md Mofizul Kabir and Mahfuzur Rahman of Jahangirnagar University, Alamgir Hossain of NSU, Hasan Sajed of PROSHIKA, Mowdudur Rahman of CCEC, Shayer Ibne Alam of IUCN and MA Hashem of NISHORGO were among the discussants.
Representatives from different indigenous groups also actively participated in the discussion.
Representatives from various organisations like UNDP, Forest Department, Arannyak Foundation, IUCN, PROSHIKA, NISHORGO SUPPORT PROJECT, SEHD, POROSH, RDC, CCEC, teachers and researchers from DU and JU, IUB, NSU and other universities, NGOs and different indigenous groups from Chittagong and CHT, and Sal forest area participated in the workshop.