State Minister for Education Begum Shamsun Nahar said the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has been taking and implementing various initiatives to meet the demand for protein by becoming rich in animal resources. These have helped meet the country's food needs and have also improved people's health. The government is taking a firm stand on conserving wildlife habitats and biodiversity, and everyone must become more aware of protecting wildlife, she said.

She said this as chief guest at an international conference on bioresources at Dhaka University (DU) on Friday (26 April).

The conference was organised jointly by the university's Department of Zoology and the Zoological Society of Bangladesh. The society's annual general meeting was also held.

Presiding over the event, Dhaka University Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic) Professor Dr Sitesh Chandra Bachar stressed the proper use of animal resources for poverty alleviation and building a developed, prosperous country. Teachers, researchers, students and others concerned must work together on new innovations in this field, he said. Protecting animal health is also very important to becoming rich in animal resources, so everyone must become more careful about using antibiotics. He said the conference would help the country's socio-economic development through biodiversity conservation and healthy livestock production.

At the conference, prizes were given to the winners of the nationwide Zoology Olympiad. At undergraduate level, Fairuz Humaira Itu, a student of the Department of Zoology at Dhaka University, was champion, and Nafsi Montainna, a student of the Department of Zoology at Rajshahi University, was runner-up.

Speakers included Md Amir Hossain Chowdhury, chief conservator of forests of the Bangladesh Forest Department; Syed Md Alamgir, director general of the Department of Fisheries; Professor Dr Md Mostafa Feroz, pro-vice chancellor of Jahangirnagar University; Professor Dr Shefali Begum, chairperson of the Department of Zoology at Dhaka University; Professor Dr Mohammad Roknuzzaman, chairman of the Department of Fisheries; Professor Dr Hamida Khanam, president of the Zoological Society of Bangladesh; its general secretary, Professor Dr Md Lokman Hossain; vice-president Dr Tapan Kumar Dey; Dr FH Ansarey, president of ACI Agribusiness; and Mukid Majumder Babu, chairman of Prokriti O Jibon Foundation.

The keynote paper was presented by Professor Dr Syed Abdul Hamid of the Institute of Health Economics at Dhaka University. Academics, researchers, students and professionals from home and abroad took part.

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