Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin has said that, to strengthen conservation and management of plant species, the government has for the first time prepared a list of 1,000 plants in the country, of which 394 species are threatened. He said the research findings would play an important role in protecting Bangladesh's environment and biodiversity, in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and in drafting national policy to protect endangered plant species. It will also support the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The minister spoke as chief guest at the "Final Dissemination Workshop on National Red List of Plants" held at the Forest Department on 14 May.

According to the red list assessment, of the 1,000 plant species, 8 are provisionally extinct, 5 critically endangered, 127 endangered, 262 vulnerable, 69 near threatened and 271 of least concern, while 258 have been identified as data deficient, the minister said. He directed Forest Department officials to take urgent steps to conserve the critically endangered species at high risk of extinction in the country, including Bashpata, the Trias orchid, Chalmugra and the dwarf date palm.

He said conservation work must also be taken up on a priority basis to maintain the balance of Bangladesh's ecosystems and to save other endangered plants.

Shahab Uddin said he had directed the Forest Department to include the threatened plants identified in the findings in its afforestation programmes. To get full information on such species, red list assessments must be completed for the country's remaining roughly 3,000 plant species and the list updated at regular intervals, he said. Existing laws and regulations to protect threatened plant species must be properly implemented. If everyone does what they can from their own position, Bangladesh will become a role model in the world for environmental and ecological development, he said.

Deputy Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Habibun Nahar, Secretary Farhina Ahmed and Additional Secretary and Bangladesh National Herbarium Director Sanjoy Kumar Bhowmik spoke as special guests. With Chief Conservator of Forests Md Amir Hosain Chowdhury in the chair, SUFAL project director Gobinda Roy and IUCN Bangladesh Country Representative Rakibul Amin were among the other speakers.

The keynote paper with the final results was jointly presented by Professor Dr Md Oliur Rahman and Professor Dr Saleh Ahmed Khan.

Teachers and researchers from public and private universities, officials of ministries and non-government organisations, and representatives of the World Bank and development partners also spoke at the workshop.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.