Topic: 2025-Conserving Wetlands
Country: Bangladesh
Delegate Name: Luke Zagorski
Bangladesh is a country covered in wetlands. Annual monsoons cause land in Bangladesh to flood and it creates millions of acres of wetland additional to the already existing wetlands. According to the official encyclopedia of Bangladesh wetlands in the country take up seven to eight million hectares of land area or almost 50% of Bangladesh’s total land area. These wetlands are important parts of Bangladesh’s ecosystem and a part of Bangladesh’s beautiful landscape. It is in the interest of Bangladesh, and in the interest of the general good of the world, to internationally protect Bangladesh’s wetlands and recognize them as important natural resources.
Protecting wetlands is incredibly important in protecting global biodiversity. Bangladesh’s official encylopedia says that over 5000 species of flowering plants, 1500 species of vertebrates, and 500 species of freshwater fish are unique to the wetlands of Bangladesh. The degradation of these wetlands have led to the extinction of many indigenous plant species, the loss of soil nutrients, and the loss of natural water reservoirs and all the benefits associated with that. If we as a council want to protect biodiversity we need to internationally recognize Bangladesh wetlands as important environmental resources.
According to an article in Mongabay several Bangladesh natural areas have been recognized as Ramsar sites and some action has already been taken to protect a few of these natural areas. What the delegation of Bangladesh would like to do is to internationally recognize more of Bangladesh’s wetlands, such as the Sundarbans, and also incite practical action from international and national organizations to actively protect these regions.
Sources:
https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/why-are-wetlands-important#:~:text=Wetlands%20provide%20habitat%20for%20thousands,products%2C%20recreation%2C%20and%20aesthetics.
https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Wetland
https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/for-key-bangladesh-wetland-bid-for-ramsar-status-is-no-guarantee-of-protection/#:~:text=The%20Sundarbans%2C%20the%20world’s%20biggest,natural%20resources%2C%20and%20water%20pollution.
