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Countries Appendix BANGLADESH (7.8%) Bangladesh's high population density (2400 people/sq. mi or 925 people/sq. km) and lack of environmental planning have had devastating effects on the environment. Less than 5% of Bangladesh's original habitats remain, and only a tiny fraction of these are rainforest. Many of Bangladesh's 1500 species of plants and 1500 species of vertebrates are highly threatened and numerous have become extinct in recent years. Deforestation of the foothills for fuelwood (fuelwood provides 60% of the country's energy) may contribute to annual killing floods that turn the floodplains (75% of the country is a flat alluvial plain formed of silt deposited by the Ganges-Brahmaputra system) into a cesspool of human waste and rotting corpses and serve as a spawning site for all sorts of diseases. In 1988, 54% of the country was affected by flooding. During other parts of the year, the area is stricken with droughts. The cyclical drought and flood conditions are devastating to the economy of Bangladesh. Hasan and Mulamoottil (1994) report that between 1973 and 1987 an average of 1.7 million tons of food crops were destroyed annually by floods, while an average of 1.46 million tons were destroyed every year by drought. The mass of the population lives in miserable poverty, while 19% of the population controls 70% of the land. Some of the land owned by the wealthy is held simply as a hedge against inflation, while peasants struggle to gain control of tiny patches of land. Forest clearing has lead to increased conflicts between wildlife and people. During a four month period in 1997, elephants killed 30 people and injured over 100 in a desperate search for food, which had become scarce due to clearing for agriculture. Gas operations also pose a threat to Bangladesh's few remaining forests. In June of 1997, a massive explosion at an Occidental Oil well caused a large fire that caused big losses to the timber-rich rainforest. As much as 10% of Bangladesh, including its extensive mangrove forests, could be submerged should global warming predictions materialize. The forestry department initiates and executes forest management decisions. In 1989 the government put a moratorium on tree felling and since has initiated a reforestation program (18,000 ha per year are reforested). By 2012, Bangladesh aims to have 20% of its land under protection. . . . . . For current information I highly recommend trying the CIA and FAO links below. |
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