Wetlands in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has 6.8 million hectares of wetlands and 12 important wetlands listed in the Ramsar Convention for the protection of wetlands.

Bangladesh lies at the intersection of the deltas of three great rivers, the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna and over 1000 smaller rivers.   Between them the rivers of Bangladesh discharge over 1,200 billion cubic meters of water into the ocean annually.

Wetlands are important because they provide:

Habitat – wetlands in Bangladesh are home to thousands of species of plants, animals and insects, many of which are found only in Bangladesh.

Shelter – wetlands absorb wind and tidal forces and protect the surrounding areas from damage during natural disasters

Clean Water – wetlands act as ‘kidneys’ reducing impurities and sediment in river water.

Protection from floods – wetlands collect, slow down and hold flood waters, reducing flood damage

Resources – wetlands provide many useful plants and animals, including medicinal plants.

The Wetland Advocacy and Resource Centre has a list of educational resource and publications about wetlands in both English and Bengali available for download here.

Posted by admin on Jun 4 2013. Filed under Biodiversity, News From Roots, Photo News, Uncategorized, Water & Wetland. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry