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Victory after Long Fight to Save Bangladeshi Indigenous Villages and Forest January 20th, 2010

The indigenous Khasi people of Bangladesh have won a significant victory after a long struggle to protect the forest on which they depend for their survival. The indigenous community organized against rampant logging from a local tea estate owner who had secured permission to log the forest allegedly through his political connections. Thousands of trees and many Khasi villages will be saved as a result.

The Oblates have been supportive of the efforts to protect the forest, with Fr. Joseph Gomes, OMI working closely with the Khasi people. APRA (Adibasi Poribesh Roskhya Andolon or Save Indigenous Environment Movement) of BAPA (Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon or Bangladesh Environment Movement). Fr. Gomes was joined by Sharif Jamil, National Coordinator, APRA, Joint Secretary, BAPA in successfully arguing on behalf of the Khasi people before a government panel charged with investigating the logging controversy.

Read the full account…

BANGLADESH ‘Country’s climate-fund demands too low’ December 15th, 2009

Prominent Church people say the claim by Bangladesh for 15 percent of any climate change adaptation fund that may be pledged at the Copenhagen talks, may not be enough.

“Our people are not only suffering from sea-level rise and cyclones but also more people each day become refugees because of river erosion which is an effect of climate change too,” Benedict Alo D’Rozario, executive director of Caritas Bangladesh, told UCA News.

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Khasi People Continue to Protest Destruction of their Forest May 20th, 2009

The Khasi people of Sylhet, supported by the Oblates there, have been fighting the cutting of the forest on which the people depend for their living. These efforts are also critically important for protecting area ecosystems.

On May 9th, the Khasi people staged a large public gathering to protest the continued logging as well as tea plantation expansion plans by a powerful landowner.

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Tea Estate Expansion Threatens Bangladeshi Khasi People and Forest March 15th, 2009

In early January 2009, the Zhimai Tea Estate Authority cut-down a number of trees in the Pan-zoom of Zhimai. Thousands of trees have been demarcated to be felled and construction of labor-quarters has begun in an expansion of the tea garden. This activity threatens displacement of the indigenous Khasi people of Zhimai Punji, and directly interferes with their livelihood, which depends on the betel plant which grows on tall trees. Apart from the destruction of the land & livelihood of the Khasi, the tree felling severely affects the bio-diversity, and overall environment of the hills & forest of Sylhet Division, Bangladesh.

Fr. Joseph Gomes, OMI has been working with the Khasi people and APRA (Adibashi Poribesh Roskhya Andolon), the movement administered by BAPA, a national Bangladeshi environmental organization, for the protection & conservation of Bangladeshi forests.

Read report on the forest destruction (Download PDF)

Khasis Demand a Ban on Logging in Northeast Bangladesh November 17th, 2008

A public gathering demanding a “Ban on Cutting Trees in Khasia Punji & Hilly Forest” was organized by APRA, BAPA on November 15 in the school grounds of Aliachhara Punji, Bahubal, Habiganj. Around four thousand environmentalists, indigenous people, and media persons from different parts of Sylhet Division participated in the event.

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Bangladesh Faces the Challenge of Climate Change November 3rd, 2008

Bangladesh is extremely vulnerable to the effects of global warming. In September, a high-level conference was held in London to address the impacts of climate change on people in Bangladesh. Hosted by the UK and Bangladeshi governments, the event saw the UK Government announce £75 million to help Bangladesh fund its response to climate change.

To learn more about the impacts of global warming on Bangladesh, see:

UK Department for International Development – Bangladesh Faces the Challenge of Climate Change

World Bank (South Asia Division) – Bangladesh, Facing the Challenge of Climate Change

See also the post: BANGLADESH ‘Country’s climate-fund demands too low’

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