Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Bird’s eye view

Ershad Kamol

•   Part 1
•   Part 2

Ornithologist Enam Ul Haque has been watching wild birds in Bangladesh since 1990. The founder of Bangladesh Bird Club (established in 1996), Enam Ul Haque has been working as the National Coordinator of Bangladesh for Asian Waterbird Census since 2000.

He has written many articles on birds including for the Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh, published by the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. He has had several exhibitions on birds of Bangladesh.

Enam Ul Haque is also a noted nature photographer and traveler. He is the founder of Bangla Mountaineering and Trekking Club. For his contribution to bird conservation in Bangladesh, Haque has received awards from Jahangirnagar University and Dhaka Rotary Club of Dhaka South. Haque is also a member of Wildlife Advisory Board of the Ministry of Environment and Forest.

In an interview with the Daily Star Online, Enam Ul Haque gives a bleak picture of the status of birds in Bangladesh. According to Haque, about 650 species of birds are still found in Bangladesh of which more than 200 types are endangered.

Enam Ul Haque says destruction of bird habitation by human beings is the major cause of this sorry state of birds in Bangladesh. He blames the government, civil society members and the environmentalist for it. According to him, every stakeholder has failed to perform for conservation of birds in Bangladesh.