Bangladesh at 40: Where do we stand environmentally?

The Durban summit has concluded amidst much debate. Sinking nations like the Maldives have much to complain, but a deal is better than no deal. The fact that global warming is here to stay is an undisputable fact. Some nations are facing the brunt of this degradation whilst others are not so adversely affected. For Bangladesh, a nation that turns 40 on December 16, there is much to ponder on where we are headed with our own set of problems that affects the environment we live in. As with any developing nation struggling with a burgeoning population confined within limited landmass, there will always be a struggle for access to resources. Of the many environmental issues that are adversely affecting our environment, soil salinity has been a bone of contention for a significant portion of the country, particularly, the southern region. The coastal areas of Bangladesh that include districts of Khulna, Bagerhat, Noakhali and Satkhira have over the last four decades have become home to commercial shrimp farming. While the export of the much coveted tiger prawn has brought in much-needed foreign exchange, it has laid waste to significant tracts of land that had traditionally been agriculture land. The ever-increasing shrimp industry affects lives and livelihoods in two principal ways. First, land is diverted away from growing food grain. This is supported by the National Shrimp Policy, 2009 data that reveal that some 172,000 hectares of land was utilised for shrimp farming, land that otherwise would have grown traditional crops. The problems associated with tiger shrimp cultivation are that ponds require saline water. The debate surrounding the industry is equally strong at both ends; environmentalists and land rights activists argue that such large-scale loss of farmlands is destroying generations-old livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of small and marginal farmers, whilst proponents point out that the shrimp industry being a labour-intensive one absorb some 15 million people (National Shrimp Policy, 2009) and also earns the country valuable foreign exchange. Though shrimp has been successfully touted as a cash crop with massive export potential, such claims do not stand up closer scrutiny. According to Export Promotion Bureau data (2006 - 2007), earnings from frozen food (of which shrimp constitutes the major part) export was less than 5.0 per cent of the total export basket. As of 2009-2010 data (Export Promotion Bureau), this figure has dropped even further to a mere 3.78 per cent. Yet in terms of incentives, it enjoys a wide array of facilities that include amongst others: easy loan facilities, infrastructure facilities, 10 per cent cash incentives for exporters, etc. The downsides to the continued cultivation of the tiger prawn on such a large scale includes lost productivity in agriculture production and general environmental degradation as cultivation requires the introduction of brackish water into enclosures that grow prawn. This is visible in the dwindling forest resources and animal populations in the districts mentioned above. Data published by the government in recent studies and surveys all point to that same conclusion. An 8-year long study conducted by the Soil Resource Development Institute and Environment Department (2000-2008) came up with some rather dismal facts: 64 per cent of agricultural land in Satkhira district, 69% in Khulna district and 61% in Bagerhat district are suffering from varying degrees of salinity. In Khulna alone, some 15,000 hectares of land is rendered worthless for farming and allied agricultural activities. Farm productivity per hectare of land stands between 15-20 tonnes and this figure has been declining steadily over the last years. Traditional fruits like the jackfruit, coconut, mango, the betel nut and others have dwindled to the point of being extinct. As mentioned earlier, domesticated animals too have su cfffered immensely. For instance, the livestock population in Khulna district fell to an estimated 402,000 in 2007 from approximately 642,000 in 1983 - a drop of nearly 60 per cent! If one were to take these facts at face value, shrimp farming has indeed been both a social and ecological disaster. Communities in the coastal belt too have seen their lives changed with the changing times. Those dependent on fishing in the Sundarbans in particular have found the rising salinity is affecting the quantity of fry available for catch in the rivers. Interesting to note that studies by the Department of Forestry (2002) show an alarming rise in the number of small boats penetrating deeper into the Sundarbans mangrove forest in search of tree logs and prawn fry (Tk 200 million worth). Such increased intrusion by man into the world heritage site is aiding to upset the delicate ecological balance that exists there. Government initiatives taken to protect the Sundarbans by means of a ban on catching fish and fry (S.R.O. # 289 Law 2000) remain, till date, largely ineffective in the face of stiff resistance by industry proponents and lax enforcement. There has been much blood spilt on account of shrimp cultivation, but with Bangladesh commanding some 7.0 per cent of a $9.0 billion per annum global industry, there can be no easy solution to this environmental dilemma. The gamut of problems in the continued environmental degradation was well summed up in the publication 'Bangladesh Environment: Facing the 21st Century' (2nd Ed.): "Uncontrolled use of chemical fertiliser and pesticides, application of genetic engineering crops, commercial and industrial plantations on public forest land, prawn cultivation in the coastal areas, which contribute to mangrove destruction are some of the major threats to our agriculture. Except for mangroves in the southeast of Bangladesh, we have lost most of our natural forests. According to recent inventories only tiny fragments of natural forests survive today. If the current trend continues, the fear is, Bangladesh may be in imminent danger of losing its already extremely threatened forest-based biodiversity assets. One manifestation of the fear is the complete destruction of the Chokoria Sundarbans in Cox's Bazaar district, largely due to prawn cultivation." The scenario described above merely touches the tip of the iceberg on one particular issue affecting the environment in Bangladesh which is in a dire straits. Numerous other areas ranging from toxic material dumping in rivers, over-exploitation of natural timber, etc. remain in the 'red' despite citizens' movements and lacklustre government interventions. Indeed, one has only to look at the state of affairs of the capital city to begin to comprehend how serious the situation is in rest of the country. The rapid growth of Dhaka has brought problems associated with large-scale industrialisation in the city's immediate periphery; the continued use of inferior technology, threat of industrial waste, increasing use of banned chemicals and pesticides, untreated discharge of wastes into water sources, all of which pose serious health and environmental problems. As we gather to celebrate the 40th year of our identity as a sovereign state, unsavoury questions on the state of environment have been raised, not as an attempt to dampen the mood, but rather to avert the impending doom that will visit us in not too distant a future unless concrete steps are taken today, as opposed to tomorrow.