Mowdudur Rahman

Director, Centre for Coastal Environmental Conservation (CCEC), Bangladesh

Today’s Date: 14 March 2007

1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?

Yellow Monitor Lizard, a key stone but endangered species of Sundarban (UNESCO declared World Heritage site) region made me dedicated to undertake for its conservation because the lizards are used as a bait for crab harvesting by promoting nature conservation ethics and occupational ethics among the Sundarban crab collectors. Moreover I was brought up in the village and fears while seeing them in our wild gardens and ditches when it came to home yard for eating chicks. I have the experience to observe fighting between snake and lizard several times at the back side of our home full of weeds, ditch, pond and canal linked with river.

2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?

My village named Shialidanga under Batiaghata Upazilla of Khulna District of Bangladesh where different flora, fauna covered the area including Yellow Monitor Lizard.

Now? The wild garden, herbs and thicket disappears due to increased salinity caused by global warming.

3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?

Monkey because they are our immediate ancestors and good friend of deer by warn them making noise and throwing branches from the top of the tree in order to escape the deer from tiger at the Sundarban Mangrove Reserved Forests (SMRF)

4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?

Climate Change is the greatest environmental threat that the humankind has faced so far and the impacts are high for the low-lying countries situated at low altitude and nearby sea such as Bangladesh and Maldeep. Due to adverse impact of the global climate change, we will loose our Sundarban (our shelter prevent from frequent cyclone, flood and tidal bore) by next 50 years thus loose our buffer thus our pride and image of the Bengal tiger, the flagship species.

5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?

a) ACT NOW for the conservation of our mother Earth, the planet, the nature
b) Show yourself by doing before instruct others for doing
c) Think globally and act locally