UN team for halt to vessel movement thru’ forest

The visiting United Nations (UN) team of experts has suggested that the government should take necessary measures to halt movements of vessels through the Sundarbans rivers for protecting biodiversity of the world's largest mangrove forest.
Allowing traffic through the sensitive forest areas remains a big threat to the ecology and communities that depend on it for their livelihood -appropriate safeguards and mitigation measures need to be put in place before opening the route to traffic, the team suggested and made observations while sharing their initial findings on the impact of the recent oil spillage.  
"It is an initial report over the oil spill in the Sundarbans and the final one will be made public after two weeks," Emilia Wahlstrom told reporters at a press briefing held at the Surma Hall of Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka Wednesday afternoon.
Some factors including immediate response from the locals to remove the oil seepage, suspension of traffic through the Shela river by the forest department and rising and falling of the river water have helped lessen the impact on the forest to some extent, she said.   
UNDP and Bangladesh government will work together to ensure ecological balance in the world's largest mangrove forest, Wahlstrom added.
The team consisting of 25 experts from home and abroad studied the environment, wildlife, forest and the potential impact on humans.
As per the action plan (of the Sundarbans oil spill response mission), the team came up with the findings and recommendations on the basis of the site assessments and interviews with the affected people in and around the Sundarbans.
Responding to a query, Environment and Forests Minister Anwar Hossain Manju said they have both short and long term planning to protect the biodiversity in the Sundarbans.
Oil Tanker (OT) Southern Star-7 carrying eight crew members sank near Mongla on December 09 last, spilling more than 350,000 litres of oil over a vast area of the mangrove forest. The tanker went down after a cargo vessel, Total MT (Motor Tanker), hit it from behind.
A week after the tragic collision, the government sent a letter to the UN seeking its intensive cooperation to this effect. In response, the UN sent the team which made the report after staying 6 days at the site.
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