"Human activities are shrinking Bangladesh's wetlands day by day. If wetlands cannot be protected, fish, crops and every kind of biodiversity will be threatened," said Md Anisul Islam, director of the Centre for Natural Resource Studies (CNRS) and a wetland expert, at a discussion on World Wetlands Day, 2 February.

Speaking as the main discussant at the online meeting, he said: "To protect nature and biodiversity, swift action is needed to protect all kinds of wetlands, including rivers, canals, haors and baors. ETPs must be made compulsory in industries to protect wetlands, and they must be monitored regularly."

The online discussion, organised by the Bangladesh Environmentalist Society on the theme "Wetlands for people and nature", was opened by the society's president, Dr Mohammad Mahfuzur Rahman. Its executive director, Md Arifur Rahman, was the special guest.

More than a hundred environment graduates from Bangladesh and students of environment departments at various universities took part. It was moderated by Dr Aminur Rahman Shah, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Prince Edward Island in Canada.

On 2 February 1971, an international conference of environmentalists was held in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea, where an agreement was signed highlighting the international importance of wetlands. World Wetlands Day has been observed every year since 1997 to mark the day. Bangladesh signed the agreement in 1992.

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