Bangladesh to get $19 mln for reforestation project
(Aug. 14, 2009) The United States and Germany have agreed to donate $19 million for
the reforestation of a Bangladesh wildlife sanctuary under a global climate change
mitigation project, the U.S. embassy said this week. Low-lying Bangladesh, a country
of some 150 million people, is at risk from rising world sea levels caused by climate
change, with experts warning of millions of people being forced out of from their
homes and encroaching into forests. The funds will be used for the reforestation
of Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary, a major corridor for the movement of Asian elephants
between Myanmar and Bangladesh and home to an important timber species under threat.
The sanctuary lies about 350 km (219 miles) southeast of Dhaka. Under the project,
to be implemented over the next four years, trees will be planted to help restore
2,000 hectares of forest land and to decrease carbon emissions in the region. The
project will help restore the severely degraded sanctuary, raise awareness through
public education, and create alternative income opportunities for over 125,000 people
who live in communities in and around Chunati, a U.S. embassy statement said.