China, India step in to save Sundarbans being listed as World Heritage in Danger

The Bangladesh government has succeeded in protecting the Sundarbans from being listed as a World Heritage in Danger with the help of China and India.

The Bangladesh embassy in Paris said the Azerbaijan meet of the World Heritage Committee on Thursday decided not to put the world’s largest mangrove forest on the danger list.

China and India were among the countries that spoke in favour of Bangladesh.

This danger list is designed to inform the international community of conditions which threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List, and to encourage corrective action.

It could also derail the government’s ongoing Rampal power plant project near the forest.

Earlier, the official advisory organisation on natural World Heritage, the International Union for Conservation of Nature or IUCN, recommended putting the Sundarbans on the list as Bangladesh has continued implementing a coal-fired power plant project near the forest.

The World Heritage Committee of 21 governments takes the final decision based on such recommendations in its annual meeting.

The ongoing 43rd annual meet in Azerbaijan, from June 30 to July 10, heard from the members and made the decision about the Sundarbans.

Prime Minister’s Energy Affairs Advisor Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury led the Bangladesh delegation and thanked the members of the committee for their understanding.

He said this decision supported the government's decision to go ahead with its planned power plant projects for the energy security of 50 million people in Bangladesh.

He termed the Sundarbans “pride of Bangladesh” and said the government will take all measures to protect it.

This decision would also “encourage the government to take projects balancing developments and environmental impacts”, he said.

The embassy said before taking the decision, the 21 members discussed the issue in detail.

Cuba, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and China first proposed not to include the Sundarbans in the danger list.

During the discussion, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Indonesia, Kuwait, Tunisia, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Uganda, and Zimbabwe took the position in favour of that. India as an observer of the committee also spoke in favour of Bangladesh.

Now Bangladesh will invite a World Heritage delegation comprising experts this year, and they will submit an updated report by February next year.

The embassy said the committee during the meeting “appreciated” the measures the Bangladesh government has taken to protect the Sundarbans. They also appreciated the government's decision to start Strategic Environment Assessment or SEA.

The Unesco listed the Sundarbans as the heritage site in 1997.