Conservationists in Bangladesh said on Tuesday that tourists littering the world’s largest mangrove forest were damaging the ecosystem, pushing for a single-use plastic ban at the World Heritage site.
The Sundarbans forest runs along the coastline of Bangladesh and is home to some of the world’s rarest creatures, including the Bengal tiger and the Irrawaddy dolphin.
‘It’s hard to clean’
About 200,000 tourists visit each year, according to government figures, on top of seasonal visits by fishermen and wild honey harvesters who depend on the ecosystem’s bounty.
“When they visit the forest, they bring disposable water bottles, plastic food plates, soft drink bottles and cans,” Abu Naser Mohsin Hossain, a government forest conservator, told AFP.
“It’s hard to clean,” he added.
Bangladesh Environment Minister Md. Shahab Uddin announced a single-use plastic ban covering 6,500 square kilometers (2,500 square miles) of forest late Monday.
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“Single-use plastic has destroyed the environment and the biodiversity of the Sundarbans,” the minister said.
The decision was immediately welcomed by environmentalists.
“The environment and biodiversity are at stake in the Sundarbans,” Monirul Khan, professor of zoology at Bangladesh’s state-run Jahangirnagar University, told AFP.
“The gravity of the pollution caused by plastic is much greater than it appears. Wild animals often eat this plastic.”
Part of the Sundarbans was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997.
Mangroves help the environment
Mangroves protect coastlines from erosion and extreme weather, improve water quality by filtering pollutants and act as nurseries for many marine creatures.
They can help fight climate change by sequestering millions of tons of carbon each year in their leaves, stems, roots and soil.
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The Sundarbans, which lie in the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers in the Bay of Bengal, also help protect coastal communities in Bangladesh from the typhoons that often hit the country during the annual monsoon season.
Conservationists regularly sound the alarm over environmental threats to the Sundarbans, including the construction in the northern corner of a coal-fired power plant that began operating last year.
Bangladesh Environmental Movement Secretary General Sharif Jamil said the plant remains a major threat to the ecosystem.
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“The government should stop transporting coal and dumping it through forest rivers,” he told AFP.
“Uncovered ships that carry coal for power generation through the forest also cause a lot of pollution.”