BARCIK has organized different events such as discussions, fairs, human chain and rally to celebrate the international biodiversity day in its different working areas. The theme of this year’s biodiversity day is “Be part of the plan”. The theme emphasizes on conservation of biodiversity through nature based and environment friendly activities.
Participating in an event on arranged to mark the international biodiversity day in Manikgonj as the chief guest Upazilla women vice chairman Anwara Khatun said, ‘We have to concentrate on environment friendly initiative in our quest for development. Agriculture should not only be production sector but we should consider and think about the health of soil and micro-organisms while producing foods. We need to save the beneficial birds and the bees as well.
On the other hand, a woman farmer of Baniyajan union of Netrakona Nasrin Akhter said, ‘We can save and protect all the natural elements if we such a will. All these natural elements are for our progress and development. Therefore, it is our responsibility to protect all these natural elements.’ She expressed grief while observing the depletion of biodiversity through so called development activities of human beings. She went on saying, ‘The lifestyle of human beings has changed keeping pace with the so called development which is responsible for the depletion of biodiversity. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides have been applied on the soil for higher production killing microorganisms, beneficial pests, insects and the fertility of the lands. This should be stopped.’
In the speech of the special guest, Yubair Hossain said, currently our native seeds are on the way to extinction due to the temptation of the company and the invasion of hybrids. Say no to hybrids. We have to increase our local diversity.
However, apart from the discussion program, human chains and fairs have been arranged to celebrate the biodiversity day. The farmer representatives from different villages of Manikgonj discussed about the ecology of a pond, local seed diversity, local fruit diversity, diverse uncultivated plants, safe vegetable diversity, organic fertilizers, organic pesticides etc. The farmers from Netrakona arranged a fairs showcasing the different types of plants, foods collected from the nature and seeds conserved by the farmers. According to them, human beings and other life forms cultivates mutual interrelationship and interdependence. Thus, human should take the pioneer responsibility to strengthen this relationship for making the earth a better living place for all life forms including human.