Wildlife corridors in the south-east: Hope shrouded in doubt

Once a rich biodiversity hotspot, forests in the country's south-east have been diminishing and getting fragmented for decades, restricting the movement of wildlife to a large extent and giving rise to human-wildlife conflicts.

Many migratory elephants, which have been moving between Bangladesh, Myanmar and India since time immemorial, have been trapped in Cox's Bazar because of human settlements and infrastructure built on their known migration routes.

The need for establishing ecological corridors to facilitate wildlife movement has been felt for a long time. An initiative taken by the government in association with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Bangladesh has ushered in renewed hopes and expectations.

But it is also shrouded in doubt, with field-level officials of the Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) and wildlife researchers raising concerns about the colossal challenges confronting the future project.

Initiative

The corridor initiative is at its elementary stage with a feasibility study currently being conducted to assess the ins and outs of a future project aimed at establishing ecological corridors for wildlife.

The "Feasibility Study of Transboundary Wildlife Corridor in Chattogram, Chattogram Hill Tracts and Cox's Bazar with Myanmar and India" was initiated in July 2020 and was scheduled for completion by June this year. But it has been extended by six months and is now expected to come to an end in December 2021.

A national consultation workshop of the project was held on 26 June on an online platform. Academics, wildlife experts, BFD officials, conservationists and officials of the Bangladesh Army and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) from the project area participated in the workshop.

The feasibility project will identify potential sites for the corridors to be set up in the project area. It will also assess the present status of wildlife connectivity and identify potential wildlife habitats. The Bangladesh government is providing more than Tk3.81 crore for the project.

Hopes run high

The proposed corridors will try to connect the 11 existing protected areas (PAs) with forests outside the PAs, and also enhance connectivity potential for tiger and Asian elephant populations living in the Meghalaya and Tripura states of India, China and Rakhine state of Myanmar and isolated elephants in Cox's Bazar.

"It is a new milestone for Bangladesh. We have seen theoretical attempts to chalk out wildlife corridors earlier, but this is the first time such a large scale, practical initiative has been taken," said Raquibul Amin, country representative of IUCN Bangladesh.

Professor Dr Monirul H Khan and Professor Dr MA Aziz from Jahangirnagar University and Dr Firoz Ahmed and Dr Bibhuti Prasad Lahkar from India part of the study team. Ten IUCN staff will also join the project team.

"It's a timely measure. Mega fauna like elephants need a huge amount of food, water, and a large home range. Tigers also roam in a large area in search of food. Wildlife habitats in the project area have been fragmented and altered. When forest resources are limited, mega animals come out of forests, triggering human-wildlife conflicts. We complain that wildlife attack humans, but in fact it is the other way round; we have encroached upon their territories," said Professor Aziz, explaining the need for wildlife corridors.

"Apart from facilitating safe movement, corridors also allow interconnection between wildlife populations, which may help prevent negative impacts of in-breeding and reduced genetic diversity," added the wildlife biologist.

Historically, CHT has been home to Bengal tigers. Whether the place still hosts a tiger population is shrouded in mystery. But evidence such as body parts of hunted tigers kept as mementos and pugmarks prove beyond doubt that tigers at least occasionally visit the Kassalong Reserve Forest and the Sangu Reserve Forest.

Just across the border near the Kassalong Reserve Forest in Rangamati, tigers live in the Dampa Tiger Reserve in Meghalaya.

Even if there is a tiger population in the area, it is not at all in a healthy shape.

Talk of a reintroduction of tigers in the CHT has been on the table for a while.

"All our eggs are in one basket. If a disease strikes the Sundarbans, we'll lose our last tigers. Implementing the corridor project will also ensure, at least in part, the target set in the Tiger Action Plan taken by the government: improve habitat and connectivity for a viable tiger population in the CHT," said Professor Monirul H Khan.

"This will be a multi-species corridor. Although we are considering elephants and tigers as flagship species, other wildlife will also be benefited by the corridors," Dr Khan added.

Primarily, two possible corridors inside the country have been thought about – Cox's Bazar to Sangu Reserve Forest, and Kaptai National Park to Kassalong Reserve Forest. There will be other transboundary corridors with India and Myanmar.

Clouds of doubt

Several forest officials and wildlife conservationists have raised concerns about the implementation of a probable corridor project.

"Our south-eastern forestlands constitute 10% of the total forestlands of Bangladesh. But only one-third of this forestland is under the direct control of BFD. It does not have any direct control over the rest of the forestland. Even in the area under control, proper forest management cannot be done due to remoteness and other issues," said Abdul Awal Sarker, conservator of forests in the Chattogram circle.

BFD's hands are often tied while taking action in these areas, and this is going to be a challenge during the implementation of a corridor project, the official added.

Suprio Chakma, an assistant professor at the Department of Forestry of Rangamati Science and Technology University, said the CHT is now full of mango orchards and teak and rubber plantations.

He feared that remote sensing, one of the methods adopted by the project, will consider these plantations as forests.

Suprio Chakma stressed the need for caution about the project. He advised relying more on existing research instead.

He also identified human settlements to be the biggest challenge for establishing wildlife corridors.

Echoing Suprio Chakma and forest officials, Shahriar Caesar Rahman, chief executive officer at Creative Conservation Alliance (CCA), noted that forest reserves are being turned into union parishads, creating a management problem.

"The Rankhiang Reserve Forest has become Farua Union, and, the Matamuhuri Reserve Forest has become Kurukpata Union. Also, there is ongoing talk of including the Sangu Reserve Forest in Boro Modok Union," said the conservationist.

"When trees are felled, they can be restored, but when the forest is turned into an administrative unit, the human settlement becomes permanent, and also conflict arises between the forest department and the local administration regarding management jurisdiction."

Shahriar sees the feasibility project as an opportunity to talk about this issue and to resolve it through discussions with the highest levels of the government.

The CCA chief along with other participants raised concerns about the continued construction of roads and highways and other structures without coordinating with the BFD. They said such activities further fragment wildlife habitats and encourage human settlement.

Lt Colonel Jubayer from Ruma garrison pointed out that there are land mines on the Myanmar border, which cause injuries when elephants try to migrate through that route. He focused on the need to resolve this through holding talks with the Myanmar authorities.

Facilitated by the country representative of IUCN Bangladesh Raquibul Amin, the chief guest at the workshop was the Chief Conservator of Forests, Dr Amir Hosain Chowdhury. Representatives of the CHT regional council and administrative officials were also present.

Conservator of Forests Mihir Kumar Doe, who is also the project director, spoke at the workshop. Corridor experts from India and members of different conservation organisations from Bangladesh also shared their views and experiences on the matter.