DHAKA, Jan 28, 2020 (BSS) – US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller visited
the Sundarbans and highlighted importance of conserving the world’s largest
mangrove forest and its wildlife.
The US envoy accompanied by USAID mission director Derrick Brown came back
here today after a three-day visit in Sundarbans to support the growing
partnership between the United States and Bangladesh, a US embassy press
release said here today.
Prior to the World Wetlands Day on February 2, his visit to the mangrove
forest focused that healthy ecosystems and protection from natural disasters
are critical to developing a resilient Bangladesh.
The US government is committed to continuing to support Bangladesh’s
resilience to natural hazards and advancing U.S.-Bangladesh priorities, said
the release.
During the trip, Miller visited the US government supported conservation
activities that contributes to the protection of the Sundarbans and its
biodiversity.
He also hiked part of the popular Kotkatrail and learned about the role
and impact of tourism in the Sundarbans.
Ambassador Miller also met representatives from Bangladesh Forest
Department and students from Daffodil University to learn about their
partnership and research in the Sundarbans.
On the final day of the visit, today, the US envoy met with
representatives of local civil society organization, WildTeam Limited to
learn how conservation activities have continued beyond USAID’s 10.5 million
dollars worth Bengal Tiger Conservation Activity (Bagh) project, completed in
2018.
On May 22, 2019, as result of USAID’s Bagh activity and its coordinated
effort to conserve the Sundarbans, the Bangladesh Forest Department and USAID
announced that the Bengal tiger population had stabilized and marginally
increased, from an estimated 106 tigers in 2015 to an estimated 114 tigers in
2018.
Ambassador Miller also met with community volunteers, including village
tiger response team, local tiger ambassadors, tiger scouts, co-management
organizations, and community patrol group members.
Through USAID’s Bagh and Climate Resilient Ecosystems and Livelihoods
(CREL) activities helped to train these community groups to conserve the
Sundarbans and its diverse biodiversity.
The CREL activities included supporting the planting of 565,000 mangrove
seedlings on 512 hectares in the forest area.