The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Rajshahi

Scientists and researchers at a participatory workshop here on Thursday afternoon unequivocally called for conservation of the drought tolerant indigenous species to face the climate change impact.

In this context, they also recommended immediate field level research on how to conserve the drought tolerant native varieties to address any adverse impact of climate change in the region particularly in its vast Barind tract.

The Department of Zoology of University of Rajshahi organized the workshop titled "Climate Change in Bangladesh:

Conservation of Drought Tolerant Species" at the department seminar hall.

Speakers revealed that the climate change has already started triggering the dryness process in the Barind area and the drought condition will instigate desertification and erosion, which will in turn lead to more and stronger sand and dust storms in this region.

They stated that time is coming when both the surface and underground water will be scarce and agriculture in the northern belt will face problem.

In order to address this situation Bangladesh should have substantial preparation. Three other partner institutions like Fisheries and Marine Resource Technology Discipline of University of Khulna, Volta Basin Research Project/Department of Zoology, University of Ghana (Ghana) and the School of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield (UK) have also collaboration to the workshop under a DPHE Project of the DFID coordinated by the British Council, Dhaka.

Dean of the Faculty of Life and Earth Sciences of RU Professor Dr Golam Kabir inaugurated this workshop as the chief guest expecting that the research on identifying adaptive capacity would give an indication about species suitability in terms of moderate and high drought environments, which will ultimately be cultured by the affected people for their livelihood.

Taking part in the discussion Professor Sohrab Ali, the senior most teacher of the department, depicted that the imported hybrid varieties have replaced our local varieties during the last couple of decades.

In this regard, he viewed that the exotic organisms will not be able to sustain under the climatic change adverse situation. He suggested sustainable conservation of the native crop varieties and species, which are well adapted to regional climates, soils and pests for hundreds and thousands of year, would be very important resources for drought environment agriculture. "We will be able to save both surface and groundwater and money and help reduce water pollution by choosing native and drought-tolerant species in our landscaping," Prof Sohrab added. "Unfortunately, we do not have an update database of drought tolerant native varieties and species," said environmental Scientist Professor Dr Abdul Mannan of the Zoology Department. He noted that exploration

and inventories of such varieties and species should immediately be started so that these could be utilized to go ahead. Once this database is prepared, he added that further steps can be taken to improve these varieties through various research programs. The inaugural session was chaired by Prof Sowdagar Mahfuzar Rahman, chairman of the department, stressing the necessity on conducting research on drought tolerant species. He hoped that this type of workshop will train students and fellows of this department, which will ultimately increase the departmental capacity to address climate change. Some 60 research students, who collected farmers' level data relating to the native species from different areas of the region, attended the workshop and shared views on the occasion moderated by Prof Dr Bidhan Chandra Das and Prof Dr Mainul Haque.