Coronavirus lesson: Bangladesh foresters seek tourism curbs to save wildlife habitats

Inspired by the coronavirus lockdown measures that led nature to reclaim its spaces in the forests, government agencies have recommended restrictions on free movement of tourists in order to save wildlife habitats and ecology.

The Forest Department and the Department of Environment say that the forests should be kept out of bounds for tourists for a particular period every year.

The findings in a recent report on improvement of ecological balance due to the lockdown corroborate their claims.

After the novel coronavirus broke out in Wuhan, China in late December 2019, scientists concluded that the virus — SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19 disease —  jumped from animal to human due to human degradation of wildlife habitats.

Some environment experts, however, say more scientific research is needed before a decision is made on restricting tourists.

The 19 national parks and other forests became greener during the over two-month lockdown from the end of March.

Rare dolphins and turtles returned to Cox’s Bazar shores as tourists were barred from the beach at the time.

The water of the Buriganga river was also getting cleaner while Ganges dolphins weren spotted in the Turag river.

Environmental activists and experts have demanded allowing nature to continue self-healing.

Movement of wildlife and birds have increased in Lawachara and Satchari national parks due to a drop in the number of tourists, according to the wildlife management and forest conservation department of Moulvibazar.

Like the national parks in Moulvibazar, more animals are crossing the paths of people inside the Bangabandhu Safari Park in Cox’s Bazar, the Chattogram divisional forest officer said in the report.

Natural resonation of trees and positive changes in the behaviour of caged animals have also been spotted, the forest officer said.

In Banshkhali Eco Park, movement of wild elephant, Maya deer, monkey, cockerel, fox, civet and other animals and birds has increased while climber plants have grown back.

Mihir Doe, a conservator of forests at the Forest Department, said they noticed a positive sign in saving wildlife and forests during the lockdown.

 “It will be good for the environment and wildlife if the government bans movement of people in ecologically important areas for a particular time every year,” he said.

Ahsan Uddin Ahmed, an environment expert, however, believes decisions not based on scientific data will not bring significant benefits.

“They have made the report on random findings, but you need to put it in a scientific way after systematic research. And you need data from at least three periods for that,” said the executive director at the Centre for Global Change.

Ahsan Uddin saw haste in the Forest Department’s work.

“I'm not saying that the forests should be kept open throughout the year. What I'm saying is that the decision should be made following a comprehensive analysis,” he added. 

He also questioned the Forest Department’s intentions and suspected that the staffers of the department may allow felling of trees by keeping people away.

Ahsan stressed campaign to raise public awareness about the importance of forests and wildlife habitats in human life.  

“You'll see more green in the rural areas now than you'd 40 years ago if you compare satellite images, while greenery has decreased in the reserved forests. Law hasn’t worked while awareness among the people in the rural areas led to a rise in greenery,” he said.

About the Sundarbans, the Forest Department report said a ban on tourism for seven months and vessels carrying tourists in the mangrove forest allowed uninterrupted breeding of wildlife and marine life while trees have grown.

Movement of Royal Bengal Tigers in places where they are rarely spotted has also increased.

The parliamentary standing committee on environment, forest and climate change ministry had by the end of July also discussed the option of keeping the national parks closed to tourists for certain periods every year after seeing nature bouncing back with the preservation of environment and wildlife during restrictions on travel and tourism amid the pandemic.

“The government earns Tk 100 million annually by selling tickets at the parks. We’ve asked (the ministry) to find out how much money we have lost (due to the restrictions),” said Saber Hossain Chowdhury, chairman of the committee.

The Forest Department reported a significant rise in the amount of food consumed by zoo animals while the rate of death at birth has dropped.

At the National Zoo in Dhaka’s Mirpur, as many as 116 baby animals were born during the pandemic. The zoo had 2,700 animals earlier.