Understanding our environmental challenges

Degradation of the natural environment and its impact on human lives is now visible all over the world. As a densely populated country with limited natural resources, the situation in Bangladesh is even more precarious. Environmental pollutions, especially those linked to soil, water and air have emerged as big challenges to sustainable development in the country.
It is against this backdrop that the volume 'Contemporary Environmental Challenges in Bangladesh', containing 55 articles in Bangla on diverse environmental issues, has been published by the Environmental Science Department of the State University of Bangladesh. In the job it has received financial support of the NGOs Concern Universal, Bangladesh, and Manab Mukti Sangstha. The book, in fact, has been published as a component of the project 'Promoting Rights and Accessibility of the Ultra-Poor in Char-land Areas through Democratic Local Governance'.
As the editor Khan Ferdousour Rahman claims, the task of bringing out this volume has been undertaken to meet the long-felt need for a comprehensive publication on the subject of environment which will be accessible and meaningful to the general readership. The book is a collection of essays and write-ups by different writers. Apart from some well-known experts on the subject, a majority of the contributors are young scholars from different universities of the country. As a result, the discourses have been very frank, elaborate and intensely argumentative while touching upon the environmental maladies of Bangladesh. The main attraction of the volume is the diversity of topics.
Starting with 'what' and 'why' of the environment, the themes include political ecology, climate change, drinking water crisis, river erosion, nature as a teacher, natural state of Dhaka, role of youths in preventing environmental disasters, tannery wastes in poultry industry, curse of urbanisation, risks of earthquakes, quality of underground water, arsenic pollution, solid waste management, clinical waste management, stagnation in waste management of Dhaka city, air pollution and public health, river pollution, harmful impact of pesticides, the gender context of climate change, environmental damages caused by tobacco, utilising jute for improving environment, agro-forestry, social forestry, adulterated food, harmful impact of brick kilns, public health implications for genetically modified crops, hindrances to environmental research, studying nature in Bangla language, children's health and environmental cleanliness, how to save the near-extinct vultures, economy of using solar power, the Sundarbans' struggle for survival, environment and the country's future, environmental education, and the place of greenery at the centre of everything.
All these themes provide glimpses into the present state of environmental challenges in the country.
In addition to young scholars, the volume contains essays by some leading figures in the field. They include naturalists Bipradash Barua, also a noted novelist, and Dwijen Shwarma, cultural personality and singer Mustafa Zaman Abbasi, renowned soil scientist Dr. Syed Anwarul Haque, earthquake expert Dr. Ali Akbar Mullick, former Director of the Department of Environment Mohammad Munier Chowdhury, environmental health experts Dr. Sheikh Akhtar Ahmad, Dr. Manzurul Haque Khan and Dr. M H Faruqui, pest management expert Dr. Saleh Md. Ashraful Haque, social policy expert Colin Todhunter, crop development researcher Dr. Md. Shahidur Rashid Bhuiyan, chairman of Prokriti O Jiban Foundation Mukit Majumdar Babu, economists Prof. Dr. A K Enamul Haque and Anu Muhammad, zoologist Dr. Reza Khan, renowned inventor of Jute Genome Sequence late Dr. Maksudul Alam, environmental lawyer Syda Rizwana Hasan, educationist Kazi Afroz Jahan Ara and eminent urban planner Professor Nazrul Islam. Contributions by these environmental experts have added to the value of the book as a rich reference material.
The term environment is closely linked to the concept of sustainable development. The recently declared Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations are also based on this concept. This concept received global recognition in 1987 through adoption of the recommendations of Brundtland Commission (formed in 1982) through a consensus at the UN General Assembly in New York. As per this concept of sustainable development, the level of natural resources consumed at present should remain the same in the future. For this purpose, the costs of technology should be decreased, alternative technologies should be invented, and economic growth should occur in such a manner that the supply of resources could be maintained in the long run. Therefore, sustainable development entails conservation of natural environment and biological diversity alongside improving the living standards of the people.
The editor of the book Khan Ferdousour Rahman, who is also head of the department of environmental science at the State University of Bangladesh, laments: "It is sad that with a few exceptions, investigative reports and analyses on environment-related issues are almost non-existent in the mainstream media of Bangladesh. Consequently, the views of the general masses regarding the environment do not have much space there. On the other hand, there is scarcity of textbooks on the discipline of environment. Under these circumstances, general discussions and analyses of different environmental issues carry much weight". The latest challenges in the area of environment in Bangladesh have been elaborately presented in various articles of the volume. Inclusion of contemporary themes on the subject has enriched it and added weight to its relevance and importance. Against the backdrop of the growing importance attached to sustainable development, environmental conservation and climate change all over the world, the book will serve as a rich storehouse of knowledge about the subjects.
Dr. Helal Uddin Ahmed is a senior civil servant and former editor of Bangladesh Quarterly.
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Bangladeshey Poribesh Bishoyak Samakalin Challengesomuha
(Environmental Challenges in Contemporary Bangladesh)
Edited by Khan Ferdousour Rahman Published by Concern Universal, Bangladesh; Manab Mukti Sangstha; State University of Bangladesh First published in September, 2015