The New Nation - Internet Edition

Muhammad Shafiullah

As the world experiences the devastating effects of environmental degradation more and more, the call for saving the nature has gained considerable impetus in many countries including Bangladesh. Activists, politicians and even the general public in Bangladesh are demanding protection of the nature. The question now arises: why should we save (?!) nature and what's in it for the average person like you and me? Questions like whether nature really needs help and whether damage to the environment do exist in the form of global warming, destruction of wetland and forest, and other problems that result from human activities. Of course, global warming and other environmental problems exist. We have seen the repercussions of our unhelpful activities in the form of landslides in Chittagong a couple of years ago, more powerful and devastating storms and hurricanes like hurricane Katrina in the US and cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh, the recent spike in food prices and shortages in many parts of the world, and its impact on our health. Then we ask why should we save the tigers and nature in Bangladesh when most Bangladeshis are struggling to put their both ends meet? How would we benefit from saving one of the most powerful and dangerous wild carnivore on earth? We need to save the nature (and the tigers) because it would help us tackle our economic problems, because we have cultural and religious connections and responsibility towards the nature, because it will help reduce natural disaster and its impacts and because in the long run it will help all of us Bangladeshis (and everyone else in the world for that matter).

Firstly, let us evaluate the economic impacts of environmental damage. Environmental damage incurs a heavy cost on human societies (and animals alike). Environmental damage can lead to many diseases such as asthma, dengue, malaria, jaundice, diarrhea, typhoid and many other ailments. "Cleaning up after your go" is a term that is considered in Bangladesh as something that just beautifies and as a luxury. Ironically, it is the poor that usually suffer from pollution rather than the rich. The recent rainfalls won't cause severe water logging or discomfort in the posh areas like Baridhara, Gulshan or Dhanmondi. Low income and impoverished households living in filthy environments in some parts of Mirpur, Tejgaon and Badda are paying the price with their health. Recently I conducted a survey on costs incurred by students of North South University because of illnesses caused by urban pollution and found that each person pays some 1200 taka per year. Of course NSU students don't represent the average resident of Dhaka and we expect the cost burden to be much higher. In addition, the loss of productivity of workers due to diseases is an added cost on the economy. Other issues like loss of cultivable land, increased severity and frequency of natural disasters like cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh and cyclone Nargis in Myanmar continue to inflict severe economic and political blows. The unsustainable method that we use for agriculture that was borrowed from (or imposed upon by) the West and some of its irresponsible scientists can cause substantial damage to the land, its yield and humans as well as plants and wild animals. This high use of fertilizer and pesticide caused diseases as well as death to numerous humans including reduced development in children and nature. It should be noted that some 52% of Bangladesh's labor force is connected with agriculture. Even in this case the poor are involved in this industry for the most part. Any negative impact on it would spell disaster for the poor and over at least half of Bangladesh. The heat wave that crippled Dhaka in April this year would have been less intense had we got more greenery and less concrete in the capital city. Therefore, ensuring a safe habitat for the tiger will allow us to have a sustainable and productive economy.

Bangladeshi culture is very closely tied to nature. The tiger is our national emblem, we celebrate Falgun, Boishakh, and various crop harvests; nature is (or used to be) an integral part of a Bangali's life. The tiger is as Bangladeshi as every human being on this piece of land. If they don't have a domain to live on then I would suggest we should cease to call ourselves and our cricket the "Tigers" as soon as the tiger vanishes. A majority, about 85%, of Bangladeshis follow Islam. The Holy Qur'an and Hadith have explicit instructions on caring for the environment, planting trees and responsibility to animals and other creations of Allah and warn about exploiting nature. Yet, many Muslims in Bangladesh are quite apathetic towards taking care of their environment as well as of their trees and animals. Hindus comprise the largest minority and nature is a big part of their religion. However, even Hindus have little concern over the environment now. Everyone, Hindu and Muslim alike, seems to be busy accumulating wealth by cutting trees and raising concrete structures on every available inch of land. We are, in my opinion, rejecting Bangali culture and desecrating our respective religions in the process of decimating the unique Bangladeshi flora and fauna. Saving the tiger will help us save our culture and respect our religion.

Saving the environment reduces the severity of the impact of natural disasters. Trees are, in fact, massive oxygen factories and carbon storage tanks. Forests help moderate the local as well as global climate by providing shade, absorbing some of the sun's heat, absorbing greenhouse gases and pollutants to some extent. Trees, small plants and grasses also help prevent soil erosion and landslides which occur in Bangladesh during the rainy season. For a sustainable natural environment, a country must have at least 25% of its total area covered by forests. Sadly only 14% of Bangladesh is forest.

While monocultures like paddy and other crops are essential for food supply of human, they usually don't lessen soil erosion or landslides. Soil erosion and landslides cause significant loss of land available for agriculture. Land is very precious in Bangladesh and even a little loss is far too big for us to bear. Furthermore, coastal vegetation may also help reduce the severity of coastal storms. The Sunderbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world. In addition it is also a protected forest. Nevertheless, it is constantly being shrunk through illegal logging. It is also under threat from the rising sea levels to which the so-called "developed nations" have a disproportionately high contribution. We must lobby these nations to cut down on their greenhouse emissions as well as other environmental damage their lifestyle brings upon. We must also do our part in preventing illegal logging and leasing forest areas to big companies, both foreign and domestic. Thus we need to ensure that we have sufficient forests and jungles to have a sustainable environment.

Lastly, saving the tigers (and the environment) helps us all. Tigers are very smart, powerful and dangerous animals. They are the biggest cats on earth. The tiger is an apex predator and the top carnivore of the jungle (that used to cover a lot) in Bangladesh. Carnivores play a vital role in any ecosystem as they control the population of herbivores that could otherwise exhaust the vegetation through overgrazing. While they have the strength and cunning to hunt humans, they usually ignore humans and prefer their natural prey like the "cheetal" deer and water buffalo. I personally wouldn't want to confront a wild tiger nor would any other human being but that is no reason to annihilate this magnificent hunter. The Bengal tiger is on the brink of extinction due to habitat destruction brought about by man. The top predator's condition often reflects the state of the ecosystem itself. The tiger's plight might mean the ecosystem of Bangladesh and its sustainability may be in danger. Even in a country and culture that used to be so much intertwined with nature, the ideology of "Man vs Nature" prevails. This type of selfish, arrogant and downright irresponsible doctrine has been "borrowed" from the elites of the West where their ideologies are increasingly being shunned. It is never possible for man to be against or distinguish him from nature because "man" is a part of nature. He can't possibly ever run away from it. Why is it that we spend so much money to selfishly decorate and beatify our homes whilst our environment faces utter neglect? The answer is again the "Man vs. Nature" attitude. Humans think that they are somehow isolated from nature and their activities have no effect on it. Yes sir, it does. Every living organism has an impact on its environment but no one can match the way humans do.

If we save the tiger we save our forests. This in turn will save the environment and help ease the pressure agriculture on those who are closely tied to the environment, i.e. the poor farmers in rural areas and those in slums in the cities. It will act as buffer from natural calamities and help ease food crisis. Humans have the intelligence and means to help the environment that will eventually benefit them. However, most people would argue that humans should let nature take its course, i.e. we need to do nothing to save the environment. But have we really left nature alone? Is cutting trees a part of letting nature take its course? The answer is clearly no. Of course, many other species that lived on this earth have become extinct now. In fact, scientists say more than 90% of the plant and animal life that appeared on earth became extinct. Most of these species became extinct before humans appeared on earth according to these scientists. There is always the phenomenon called background extinction; species become extinct due to natural calamities, diseases, fierce competition, lack of food and various other reasons. However, modern extinction rates are more than a hundred times faster than the background extinction rate. Many conservation groups have sprung up over the last few decades which aim to save animals. Scientists in such groups study animals by radio-collaring them. These types of activities have unfortunately been linked to deaths of several tigers in the Sunderbans. The bottom-line is we need to leave nature in peace and let it take its course. Furthermore, as far as I know, the best way to study tigers is on an elephant's back.

Like humans, a country's unique flora and fauna are also its resources. As you destroy your environment, you are bound to destroy yourself. As a matter of fact it has actually happened in Rapa Nui or Easter Island. The destruction of the island's vegetation seems to have brought about the decline of the civilization on that Island which was once flourishing. Such catastrophes are a wakeup call for all of us. We may not take nature for granted and over-exploit it. Environmental damage affects us all but the poor are more vulnerable than the rich. Thus we must save the tigers to protect our natural resources and ease the suffering of the poor. If we take time to learn from nature, work with it and try preserving it, it may become a seemingly endless resource. So, please take a while to think and try taking actions in saving the tiger. You will be doing yourself, your culture, religion, country, the economy and the future generation a massive favor. Conserving nature will preserve our culture, heritage, our respective religions and all Bangladeshis (every living being on this earth) regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity, and social and economic status. Protecting the tigers (and nature for that matter) is not a worthless or failed cause. Save the tiger, and it will help save Bangladesh.

(The writer is studying a Bachelor of Social Science in Economics at North South University.)