The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Speakers at a programme yesterday stressed the need for conserving the country's wildlife and bio-diversity to ensure a worthy living environment for the people.

They also urged the people including young schoolboys and girls to unitedly come forward to plant more saplings in their houses and open places for protecting the natural balance.

"Everybody with responsibility should work together to protect the environment," Chairman of Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh (WTB) Enayetullah Khan said while inaugurating the programme as chief guest at the Dhaka Zoo auditorium in the morning.

The WTB in collaboration with the Dhaka Zoo organized the daylong programme in order to create the conservation awareness among schoolchildren and general public.

WTB member and former director general of Livestock Department Dr Abdur Razzaque was the special guest at the function, chaired by Dhaka Zoo curator Aminur Rahman. WTB chief executive Prof. Md Anwarul Islam, among others, spoke at the function.

Addressing the function, Enayetullah Khan said on this day everybody in the family in all the areas should be made aware of food, shelter, energy, education, transportation and public awareness to monitor each of the activities carefully.

He stressed the need for reducing the carbon footprints and protecting the wildlife and bio-diversity to face the effects of global climate change. "To combat global climate change we not only need to reduce our carbon footprints but also protect our wilderness."

The WTB chairman urged the government to increase public transport in order to minimize the private transport and also called upon the authorities concerned to ban any tree cutting without prior permission.

Enayetullah Khan, also chief editor of United News of Bangladesh (UNB), an independent news agency, requested the government to make an inventory of all trees of the country.

Welcoming the young children, he said the children are the glorious future of the country and so they should be encouraged to help protect the endangered wildlife to keep environment healthy and beautiful. "Our environment will be beautiful if we repair what was harmed by us."

Dr Abdur Razzaque in his speech encouraged the children to work unitedly to protect the environment for the existence of the mankind. "We'll not survive unless the environment is protected," he said.

Aminur Rahman said everybody should have the responsibility of helping to create a living worthy environment by protecting the wildlife and bio-diversity in the country.

He expressed deep anxiety over the dangers of climate change in the world and said the sea-level would rise and "a portion the southern part of our country will be inundated within few years due to the greenhouse effect and climate change."

During the programme, about 100 participants raised their voice in favor of bio-diversity conservation through various activities like animal song and other behavior, lectures and games on values of bio-diversity, trash clean-up and rally inside the zoo.

The children and other participants planted Neem saplings on the Dhaka Zoo campus as part of the programme. They also produced a poster on the theme of the World Environment Day 2008 titled 'Kick the Habit-Towards a Low Carbon Economy and Lifestyle'.

The participants including the chief guest and special guests wrote down their names on the canvas with a view to creating awareness and encouragement among the school kids about the wildlife and bio-diversity conservation.

The children were communicated an environmental education event called 'Ecological Foot Steps'. Corrin LaCombe of the Oxford Brookes University, UK and WTB intern was there to evaluate the programme.

The function was designed and coordinated by Gawsia Wahidunnessa Chowdhury of Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh and Corrin LaCombe of the Oxford Brookes University.

The WTB arranges such programme every year to celebrate the World Environment Day, the organizers said adding that the World Environment Day is an opportunity to raise awareness and promote actions on all environmental issues.