Nature conservation means protecting the natural gifts that God has given us. Every person works day and night to improve life for themselves and their family, and every resource that development relies on, from living things, light, water and air to trees, hills and creepers, is a gift of nature. Bangladesh is a green land of open crop fields, varied forests and lush trees, and human civilisation has grown out of this close bond with nature. Trees, fruit, birdsong, rain, golden harvests, hills, light and air are all natural resources. People cannot imagine life without trees and forests: animals cannot live without oxygen, and all of that oxygen comes from plants.

Living standards are changing and demands are growing. Factories, roads, tall buildings and fast urbanisation have almost wiped out our green surroundings. It may look profitable, but this encroachment is shrinking the forests and pushing the country's environment out of balance. As forests disappear, we are losing many kinds of birds and animals, and nature is becoming unfit for human life. That is why the measured use of trees, animals, birds, forests, hills, soil, water, light and air, and their protection for future generations, is our moral duty.

Every year we suffer losses from natural disasters: storms, rain, fire and floods. Forests can shield us from some of the worst of these, yet we keep destroying them without thought, which may carry a terrible warning. Several parts of the country are now flooded, which the writer calls the result of cruelty and injustice towards nature and a failure to protect it properly.

A healthy natural environment supports human life. Clean air, pure water and enough food help people live well. But the pressure of a growing population and unchecked polluting activity are destroying nature every day. The same environment that nurtures people with everything it has is being ruthlessly destroyed by them, and nature is turning dangerous. As harmful gases build up in the air, pollution is running out of control, the Earth is warming and the weather is changing.

Pollution also leaves aquatic animals struggling because they do not get enough oxygen in the water. Plants cannot stay fresh, forests are being cleared freely and wildlife is losing its habitat. People suffer most from all these changes, and scientists warn that if things continue, the animal world could one day be close to extinction. World Nature Conservation Day is marked in every country, by governments and private groups, to raise awareness of the need to keep the environment in balance.

Cyclones, floods, wildfires, tsunamis and droughts are becoming more frequent worldwide. Global warming is raising sea levels and coastal areas are going under; 17 per cent of Bangladesh's coastal land is expected to be lost to the sea. Climate change is increasing salinity and flooding in coastal soils, and falling groundwater levels are causing a shortage of drinking water. The seasons themselves are being seriously affected.

A country needs forest on 25 per cent of its land to keep its natural balance, but Bangladesh has only about 16 per cent, far below what is needed. By the government's own figures it is 9 per cent, and by the World Resources Institute's count 5 per cent, with 3.5 per cent in the coastal region. The result is a disturbed environment: rain and sunshine no longer come on time, and cyclones and floods keep striking.

The article calls for switching from current fuels to renewable wind, solar and hydro power, treating industrial waste and storing it in designated places, cutting the use of chemical fertiliser and pesticide in farming, and turning the fight against pollution into a social movement.

Protecting nature is not the job of the government or any single institution or agency alone; it belongs to every citizen, because nature is our shelter and our source of oxygen. The writer urges everyone to become aware, make others aware and protect nature while there is still time, and to raise one voice: "Love nature, conserve nature." We are nature, and we live within it, so the responsibility to protect it is ours. Let that be everyone's pledge on World Nature Conservation Day.

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