A councillor of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) has undertaken an initiative to attach earthen pots to trees—along the city streets—so that birds can take shelter in them.
The conservation effort of the Anderkillah ward councillor has already received accolades from people for trying to infuse new life into the city streets.
Earthen pots were tied to tree branches in front of the Kotwali police station, Muslim High School, and other places in Chittagong.
Jahar Lal Hazari, councillor of Anderkillah ward said that some trees that were planted on the median strips on roads in the past, are not environment-friendly.
"Birds do not build their nests in these trees. There was a time when I used to hear chirping and fluttering of birds, even in the city. However, birds have become a rare sight due to the urban hustle and bustle.
“That is why I have undertaken an initiative to set up clay pots on tree branches. As many as 500 earthen pots will be tied to the trees—in phases— and they will protect both the eggs and hatchlings, helping the birds multiply," said the ward councillor.
He added that he will also undertake initiatives to plant different species of environmentally-friendly trees in Anderkillah ward.
Dr Ghazi Asmat, head of the Zoology Department at Chittagong University, said: “We should conserve ornithological diversity as many bird species in Asia are already under the threat of extinction, mainly due to a loss of habitat.”
According to checklists of the birds of Bangladesh, the numbers of their species stand between 578 and 718. Of the 566 species—assessed in Bangladesh by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2015—as many as: 19 species were listed as “regionally extinct,” 10 species as “critically endangered,” 12 species as “endangered,” 17 species as “vulnerable,” and 29 species as “near threatened.”
When contacted, Dr Badrul Amin Bhuiya, chairman of the Biodiversity Research Group of Bangladesh, said: “Birds are known as environmental indicators and their absence is a sign that the environment is not in good shape.
“Birds help maintain the ecological balance by acting as seed dispersers and pollinators.”
IUCN said the degradation of bird habitats has been compounded by the monoculture of rubber, agar, teak, and acacia, in the natural bamboo forest and grasslands — particularly in the Chittagong region. Rampant hunting, poisoning, and trapping are threatening the bird population across the country.
