Destroying biodiversity hotspots, the Bangladesh way

Last week, a baby elephant died suddenly.

The death of wild animals in Bangladesh, whether elephants or otherwise, is nothing new: a fishing cat beaten to a pulp here, an elephant crushed there, a vulture captured and cooked elsewhere – are considered common phenomena.

But this death was different.

This elephant was hit by a train, its back was broken, its body was bruised and its leg bone was broken, piercing the muscles.

For the first 36 hours, the young elephant lay helpless near the train tracks, while thousands of onlookers documented his pain. Finally, he died in a large zoo in Cox’s Bazar, after three days of excruciating suffering.

In addition to the bloody nature of his death, this tragedy was particularly notable because it occurred on the frontier of a new human-elephant conflict. Relying on an undulating scientific rationale, the former Bangladesh government pushed forward an ambitious railway development project across three internationally recognized protected areas, located on the western periphery of the Indo-Myanmar biodiversity hotspot.

The death of the elephant is certainly not the first on the new Dohazari-Cox’s Bazar railway line, commissioned on November 12, 2023. It seems that in Bangladesh, it takes the death of an elephant to quickly attract our attention to a serious conservation crisis. an uncontrollable spiral.

Biodiversity hotspot and elephant corridor

The Chattogram Hill Tracts are part of the Indo-Myanmar biodiversity hotspot. In addition to the remaining stands of primary forest in the three hill districts, the mixed evergreen forests of Cox’s Bazar and Chattogram constitute the western limits of the hotspot.

According to the definition of an article published in the journal “Nature” in 2000, to qualify as a biodiversity hotspot, a region must meet two strict criteria: it must contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants (more than 0.5% of the global total) as endemic, and it must have lost at least 70% of its primary vegetation. Worldwide, 36 zones meet this definition.

The Dohazari-Cox’s Bazar railway passes through two wildlife reserves and a national park recognized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN): Chunati Wildlife Reserve (77.63 square kilometers), Fasiakhali Wildlife Reserve ( 13.02 square kilometers) and the Medhakachhapia National Reserve. Park (3.95 square kilometers). Of the 102 kilometers of railway line, approximately 27 kilometers cross these three protected areas.

In addition, a comprehensive survey identified 16 elephant corridors along the 27 kilometer track passing through these three forests. IUCN conducted this critical research in 2016 to delineate elephant routes.

However, in the same year, the government removed 276 acres of these forests, resulting in the felling of 720,443 trees and the alteration of 26 hills to accommodate the construction of the railway.

The project started in March 2018.

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence

Bangladesh has traditionally suffered from a lack of investment in wildlife conservation and research. This absence of conservation science and qualified practitioners is often very costly to our biodiversity. With the exception of elephants, no studies in these three protected areas have used contemporary survey techniques involving other wildlife species.

Existing works and lexicons indicate that these areas are potentially home to several threatened animal species such as pangolins, fishing cats, pig badgers, barking deer, etc. However, due to lack of recent studies, we do not know which species currently reside there.

The patch forests of Cox’s Bazar, like Himchari and Inani National Parks, have recent and verified records of leopards and clouded leopards. The discovery of the leopards was published in the “Journal of Threatened Taxa” in 2017 by members of the University of Chittagong.

This is the characteristic of biodiversity hotspots: rare and elusive animals still prefer to live there until the very end.

Tragic contrast: In 2018, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) conducted a Biodiversity Baseline Assessment (BBA) to assess the project’s impact on biodiversity. The BBA’s final report highlighted only elephants and called for the construction of one overpass and two underpasses for the 27-kilometer track, contradicting the existence of 16 active elephant corridors.

Perhaps they assumed that wildlife could read the signs.

If animals could read, they would understand that they only have two choices: either take the path that was built for them, or risk death.

Some terrible facts

To examine the adverse effects of linear infrastructure in protected areas of Bangladesh, we need to examine 12 square kilometers of Lawachara National Park in Sreemangal. Cutting the park into three pieces, a British-era track and highway pass through the mixed evergreen forest.

In a 2019 article published in the journal “Zoologia,” researchers from Jagannath University conducted a study on the effects of road accidents and electrocution from power lines on primate mortality.

In the two years following the survey, the authors recorded 27 deaths of five different species of monkeys and langurs.

Does the same future await the wildlife of the forests of Cox’s Bazar? Are there plans for post-impact surveys?

Why were thermal sensors not installed before trains were put into service on this line? Why was there a significant delay in treating the elephant? Where is the situational preparedness in this first South Asian elephant crossing? Or is it built on the assumption that elephants are highly educated and should know how to use the viaduct to avoid accidents?

The Dohazari-Cox’s Bazar railway was built with 18,000.34 crore taka ($15.07 billion), making it the most expensive railway in the world.

The initially proposed budget included an allocation of Tk 21 crore ($1.76 million) for wildlife safety and welfare. Later, even this relatively modest budget was reduced to save expenses.

Body of lies

The surprise came in waves after I began investigating the matter, following the elephant’s shocking death. 67 kilometers of forests and 13 kilometers of hills gave way to the railway line.

According to media reports, project staff claimed that mangroves in the affected forests would not be damaged.

However, all the photos featured in the news as well as those taken by several wildlife photographers tell a different story: the trail runs directly through the hillside forests.

The second surprise was a live stream on Facebook.

Several animal rights activists visited the baby elephant while it was still struggling to survive and questioned the staff involved.

I noticed a former forest department official (one of the supporters of the controversial and now canceled Lathitila Safari Park) talking about using thermal sensors and motion-triggered cameras to monitor future elephant movements.

Despite my years of camera trapping experience, I couldn’t understand much of his muttering about how camera traps can help reduce this conflict.

The biggest surprise was the greenwashing claim that the poorly constructed elephant crossing at Chunati was the first ever in South Asia.

Today, questions remain: why were the thermal sensors not installed before the trains were put into service on this line? Why was there a significant delay in treating the elephant? Where is the situational preparedness in this first South Asian elephant crossing? Or is it built on the assumption that elephants are highly educated and should know how to use the viaduct to avoid accidents?

Silence of the Lambs

The circle is vicious and has a cumulative effect.

Although environmental activism is growing in Bangladesh, it remains largely absent among conservation practitioners and professionals.

As a result, most movements are usually blurred and easy to suppress, with concerns rarely presented by scientists.

The rail project was in full swing during protests against the destruction of Lathitila, but no one expressed concerns about the rail line itself.

Even after this horrific loss, there is a strange silence from the conservation community. Without taking concrete measures, other trains are immediately scheduled on this controversial route.

In Chattogram, more hills home to marbled cats are to be razed to secure the new Bayezid Link road, which was also built by destroying the forests of the Sitakunda range.

With the absence of effective scientific practices in wildlife conservation, professional silence and a development-obsessed mentality, it seems we have a uniquely Bangladeshi method of destroying biodiversity.