Editorial
Protecting guest birds
Moulvibazar district administration shows the way
THE Moulvibazar district administration has decided to go beyond just appealing to people to refrain from poaching migratory birds. They have announced that anyone catching a bird poacher will be monetarily rewarded for the service rendered to the guests flying all the way from sub-arctic zones to our water bodies and marshlands. The district administration aims to protect the birds in Hakaluki haor, where they are found aplenty during the winter.
The guest birds, beautiful and loveable creatures as they are, do not usually find their winter abodes in a warmer clime trouble-free as poachers are always ready to finish them off. Much has been said and written about the birds that are still an integral part of our winter landscape. The scene of a huge number of large ducks taking off and vanishing in the horizon is truly majestic, and their role in maintaining bio-diversity is also very important. But there is nobody to listen to the bird lovers' desperate appeal to allow the birds to have a peaceful stay in our country.
Guest birds are sold regularly in the roads of the capital itself. They are found dangling at the hands of the sellers asking for prohibitive prices. Still, there is no dearth of buyers. This only shows that the concern for guest birds is yet to be shared by the vast majority of the people totally insensitive to the issue.
The number of guest birds visiting the country is declining as marshlands are shrinking at an alarming pace. The situation gets worse when poachers chase them almost everywhere. If the trend is not reversed, guest birds will not be found in the very near future.
The Moulvibazar district administration is, at least, showing a strong resolve to stop poaching of birds. Tough measures are indeed necessary as all the exhortations and sermons have apparently failed to bring about any change for the better. So, the departments and agencies in charge of overseeing the matter should think likewise and deal firmly with poachers.
Similarly, an attitudinal change is imperative to allow birds and other animals to survive, particularly in the vicinity of human habitation.
The Moulvibazar district administration has taken a commendable decision, which, we believe, will encourage people to take a position against poaching of birds.
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