• Financial
  • Lead News

Conservation of 108 endangered forest and 240 medicinal plants in 13 years

  • Financial
  • Lead News
  • 10 June, 2022 09:09:37

Photo: Collected

News Desk: So far, 13 areas of the country have been declared as Ecologically Critical Areas through a scientific survey aimed at conserving the biodiversity of Bangladesh, conserving the natural environment and improving its quality. In the last 13 years of the present government, 106 endangered forest and 240 medicinal tree species have been preserved.

This information was given by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal while presenting the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 in the National Assembly on Thursday (June 9). He said in the last 13 years, a total of 35 new protected areas have been created, including 9 national parks, 16 wildlife sanctuaries, 3 ecoparks, 1 botanical garden, 2 marine protected areas and 2 special biodiversity conservation areas. As a result, at present the total number of protected areas in the country stands at 51. During this time, 95,275 hectares of blocks, 26,453 sidling kilometers of strip and 8,113 hectares of mangrove gardens have been created in the country. The Minister said that ETP installation activities in industrial plants have been intensified.

The 'National Forest Inventory' report has been prepared by collecting data through GIS technology. Government-funded smart (Special Monitoring and Reporting Tools) patrolling is underway throughout the Sundarbans. He also said that 49 'Village Tiger Response Teams' have been formed with the people of Sundarbans to resolve the tiger-human conflict. Mustafa Kamal said that the target for reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 has been set at 7.83 per cent with full financial and technical capacity and another 15.12 per cent with international funding and technical assistance. On the other hand, the process of formulating a 'National Adaptation Plan' to determine the long-term integrated adaptation strategy and action to be taken in the country is in its final stages and the 'Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan' formulated in 2009 is in progress. In addition, measures have been taken to make all the newly established institutions in the country environmentally friendly, starting from the industries. He said a new decision has already been taken to build 10 coal-fired power plants with a generating capacity of 6,600 MW worth USD 12 billion. Of these 10 projects, 4 have been canceled and the remaining 8 will be renewable or gas-based based on feasibility study. We are working to ensure 40 percent of our energy resources from renewable sources by 2041.

The Finance Minister further said that in order to move Bangladesh from climate risk to sustainable and climate prosperity, the government is going to implement 'Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan', which is basically a strategic investment framework for climate finance. According to the plan, invest 60 billion is planned to be invested by 2030 to achieve climate resilience. This investment will be financed from domestic and international sources.

Comment ( 0)





  • company_logo