Unplanned development threatens buffalo resources, says fisheries adviser

Unplanned development is reducing grazing land and putting valuable resources like buffaloes at risk, said Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhter.

She emphasised that livestock rearing is vital for meeting the protein deficit, safeguarding livelihoods, and ensuring national food security.

The adviser made the remarks while addressing the National Workshop 2025 on "Grazing Land and Development: Challenges and Solutions for Buffaloes in Coastal Areas" at Barisal Club today.

The workshop was jointly organised by the Bangladesh Buffalo Association, Grameen Jon Unnayan Sangstha (GJUS), and the Coastal Vet Society.

With proper policymaking and inter-ministerial coordination, many char (riverine island) areas could still be preserved, Akhter said, adding that expanding buffalo farming would significantly contribute to national meat and milk production.

She noted that grazing grounds are shrinking rapidly across regions. Unplanned housing construction, along with demands to establish a university by filling up a large cattle herding ground in Shahjadpur upazila of Sirajganj, has made the situation alarming.

She questioned how destroying a cattle herding ground merely to set up a university degree programme would serve the nation's overall welfare.

She also stressed the need for speedboat-based veterinary clinics in coastal areas to ensure buffalo health services.

Speakers at the workshop said the decline in grazing land and the rising prices of fodder are reducing the number of buffaloes and other livestock.

To tackle the situation, they called for effective local-level planning and sustainable grazing land development, alongside increased buffalo production to boost national meat and milk output.