A recent report by TRAFFIC and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) found that tiger trafficking across Asia showed some signs of abatement, while trade in captive-bred tigers posed a new threat to the “Big Cat”.
Category: Environment
Indonesian scavengers scrape a living by recycling
Sifting through piles of pungent trash in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, scores of men and women collect used plastic bottles with their bare hands and put them into big bags. The scavengers earn small sums of money by selling plastic…
Empowering women has huge benefits for env: UNESCO
Dhaka—Education is essential for empowering women to achieve gender equality, which in turn is vital for sustainable development. This is confirmed in a new Gender Review by UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report, released one week before International Day of the…
Kamal for proper plans to utilise marine resources
Dhaka: Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Wednesday stressed the need for taking appropriate plans and their implementation to properly utilise the country’s vast marine resources. “Blue economy has created an important area in our economy. Making suitable plans and…
Foreign farms increase the risk of water conflicts in Africa
Dhaka – For the first time, researchers point to areas in Africa where foreign agricultural companies’ choice of crops and management of fresh water are partly responsible for the increased water shortages and greater competition for water. This in turn…
Taking the environmental bite out of salmon farming
In a peaceful bay off Norway’s Hitra island, massive nets teem with salmon destined for dinner tables worldwide—an export boon for the Nordic nation that comes with a long list of environmental side-effects. As an industry, the ocean-farming of salmon…
Migration is our history, reality and future
William Lacy Swing People have always been on the move. Migration is not a catastrophe, nor is it an invasion. Often, it is not even an emergency. Throughout human history it has mostly been, simply, one thing: inevitable. Migration is…
Over 90pc of world breathing polluted air: WHO
Nine out of 10 people globally are breathing poor quality air, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, calling for dramatic action against pollution that is blamed for more than six million deaths a year.New data in a report from the…
1.1 millioin Bangladeshi overseas workers legalized: minister
Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam, BSc today said the governments of Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Iraq have legalized some 10,77,000 undocumented Bangladeshi overseas workers as a result of successful diplomatic efforts of the present government.“Bangladeshi undocumented workers…
‘Unesco report on Rampal was influenced by protesters’
Awami League publicity and publication secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud on Monday said the Unesco report on Rampal power plant was prepared being influenced by those who are on a movement against its construction near the Sundarbans.
18 ‘residence towers’ to be built for police
The government has taken a project to construct 18 ‘residence towers’ across the county under the annual development programme (ADP) keeping in mind the security of police personnel, including the officials.Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan made the disclosure while responding to…
Melting Greenland ice threatens to expose Cold War waste
A snow-covered former US army base in Greenland—dubbed “a city under ice”—could leak pollutants into the environment as the climate changes, raising difficult questions over who is responsible for a clean-up. In 1959, US army engineers began constructing a futuristic…
Govt to reply to Unesco over Rampal plant in a week
The government will reply in seven days on the concern of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) over the planned Rampal power plant.”We will reply to the UNESCO stating our position over its concern on the Rampal…
Traffic snarls in Dhaka cost $4.6 bn yearly: UNDP
Traffic snarls in capital Dhaka cost $4.6 billion a year in lost time, fuel and health consequences, among other elements, says the UN Development Programme (UNDP).That is the annual income of over a million citizens but many people felt they…
‘World River Day’ observed at JU
Securing the slogan ‘Shusto Nodi, Shusto Nogor’ World Rivers day at Jahangirnagar University (JU) observed with fanfare and festivity here at the campus yesterday.
Annisul orders shifting of GAMCA office from Gulshan
Dhaka: Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Annisul Huq on Sunday asked the GCC Approved Medical Centres’ Association (GAMCA) to shift its office from Gulshan-2 in the city by 15 days. He gave the ultimatum during a sudden visit to…
World Rivers Day Sunday
25th September is the World Rivers Day. This was initiated by a river loving environmentalist of Canada in the 90’s decade and eventually it was endorsed by the UNO and Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA) took it up 4 years back.…
Elephants kill indigenous man in Sherpur
Dhaka – A man of an indigenous community was killed in an attack by a herd of wild elephants at Chhoto Gazni in Jhinaigati upazila on Friday night.The deceased was identified as Laurens Kubi,55, son of Monohor Sangma, a resident…
‘Steps underway to enhance beauty of Ramna Park’
Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain today said the government will take massive initiatives for enhancing the beauty of Ramna Park planting saplings of rare varieties of trees and developing modern facilities for visitors.”We have taken recommendations from…
UN trims nuclear power growth forecasts
The UN atomic agency predicted Friday continued growth in nuclear power in the coming 15 years but trimmed its projections because of low fossil fuel prices and competition from renewables. “Nuclear energy, in the long run, will continue to play…
Pathogenic river pollution on rise in Asia, Africa, Latin America
More than half of the rivers in Asia, Africa and Latin America have become more dangerous due to steep rises in organic and pathogen pollution over the last 20 years.According to a recent UN study, more than 300 million people…
148 bodies retrieved after migrant boat capsizes off Egypt
Egypt’s state news agency says the total number of bodies pulled from the Mediterranean waters off the Egyptian coast has climbed to 148, three days after a boat carrying hundreds of migrants capsized.MENA quotes Wahdan el-Sayyed, the spokesman of the…
Coral fish stress out if separated from ‘shoal-mate
Coral fish become stressed and lose weight if they are separated from each other, hampering their chances of survival, an Australian study revealed Thursday. Scientists from James Cook University in Queensland state monitored blue-green damselfish from the Great Barrier Reef,…
Migrant workers in gulf feel pinch of falling oil prices
In the Al Quoz industrial area of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a number of medium and large-sized buses can be spotted transporting workers clad in company uniforms to distant worksites early in the morning. In the evening…
UN refugee summits fall short for children
As Olympic swimmer Yusra Mardini opened the floor for US President Barack Obama’s leaders’ summit on refugees, she embodied a hope unavailable to most child refugees.On Monday, the United States was one of the main countries to obstruct a UN…
PM for equitable sharing of transboundary rivers
New York – Underscoring the need for ensuring equitable sharing of transboundary water bodies, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said water should be considered as an integral part of the new development architecture and strongly advocated for creating a global…
Dhaka seeks global support for marine protection plan
Dhaka has sought support from the global community to help develop an integrated plan for protecting marine resources, according to a document of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Environment and Forests Minister Anwar Hossain Manju made the request at…
PM wants Myanmar find solution to refugee issue
New York – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said Bangladesh looks forward to working with the new Myanmar leadership to find a lasting solution to the refugee issue and urged the other international partners to remain engaged in this regard,…
The science behind the 1.5 °C climate goal
What is the science behind the climate goals set at the historic Paris Agreement? Researchers are in Oxford to discuss the feasibility and options, with their findings contributing to an IPCC paper in 2018. The ambition of the 2015 Paris…
Air pollution 4th leading factor for premature death: Study
Air pollution has emerged as the fourth leading risk factor for premature deaths worldwide. The deaths cost the global economy about $225 billion in lost labour income in 2013, a new study finds, pointing toward the economic burden of air…