By IUCN CEM Member on 24 December 2018.
Dr Haseeb Irfanullah, recently Programme Coordinator at IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Bangladesh Country Office, and presently IUCN CEM member talks to Amartya Deb on transboundary governance of ecosystems and biological diversity in South Indian Peninsula. This is an edited script highlighting few excerpts from the interview. Full audio recording of the conversation on 23 December 2018 is published on our Sound Cloud & Podbean profiles. This is the first episode of an upcoming series of interviews with experts of CEM on ecosystem management and nature conservation. For more upcoming interviews please follow our CEMSA Radio Broadcasts on Sound Cloud & Podbean.
Read a brief bio of Haseeb here.
Amartya Deb : Could you please tell a little about your interest in nature conservation and how you entered the discipline?
Haseeb Irfanullah : I am a botanist so it is natural to get into environmental sector. Although, opportunities were not as frequent when I joined IUCN in 2000. Right after finishing my masters, it was an exciting thing to happen to a young person such as myself. Since then, it was my first love and I always appreciate the chance I got to groom up in this exciting field. After working for 2 years, I got a chance to do my PhD in the University of Liverpool, UK on Aquatic ecology. Upon coming back to Bangladesh, I continued with IUCN, and I got different opportunities to work at various positions.
AD : It is a very fascinating journey you have mentioned. The southern peninsula that includes India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, is rich in aquatic ecology and it is of course important to us living in South Asia. But how valuable is it to the world?
HI : There is a lot of awareness about biodiversity in Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. We have the terrestrial ecosystems, the Himalayas, and freshwater ecosystems like the wetlands. Just imagine how many people depend upon the coastal ecosystems and also the plain land from the tip of the Himalayas down to the sub-continent. Definitely it is important for us, whether we value it or not. Maybe we do not value it that much, but we depend upon it. Because when we are part of an ecosystem that is so rich, we often forget how fortunate we are. In Bangladesh, we have 700 bird species; how many countries have that kind of biodiversity? I am not undermining what the other countries have, but I am just appreciating the richness a small country like Bangladesh has. I am appreciating the ecological richness we are enjoying in this region of South Asia.
Definitely it is important for us, whether we value it or not… I am appreciating the ecological richness we are enjoying in this region of South Asia.
AD : Many of our environmental resources like the mangroves of Sunderbans, or the river Ganges that flows into Padma are common. In South Asia, countries share marine resources, forest resources and rivers. How important do you think is transboundary collaboration in protecting these resources?
HI : Last week I was in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. I was taking part in a meeting which was all about transboundary rivers – how to manage them, how to ensure their environmental flow, where are the policy gaps, and what we can do in a changing climate. It had participation of water researchers from central Asian and South Asian countries. I was representing Bangladesh there. Although we came from 16 different countries, 2 separate regions which have different contexts, we all agreed and valued the importance of transboundary cooperation. Although it was about rivers, I am convinced and appreciate the same for other ecosystems like forests, rivers and wetlands that we share.
Because we cannot segregate water sharing from trade, energy production, transport, regional economic development.
We heard many success stories. But on the other side of the story, we do not talk about it much, because there is some sensitivity. One take home message I got from my Astana workshop was that we must see rivers or any other ecosystem, not as an ecosystem per se. We should not talk about transboundary cooperation only in terms of water sharing. We have to look at transboundary ecosystem sharing with an overall economic and regional cooperation, as a whole. Because we cannot segregate water sharing from trade, energy production, transport, regional economic development. Then we will be able to manage our water resources more effectively with better trust among the nations.
AD : For my last question, I would first welcome you to the editorial board of Harnessing Nature. Would you have any message to our editorial team, our readers and authors who contribute to our website and magazine?
HI : Thank you Amartya. I am delighted to see the first issue of Harnessing Nature Magazine that came out in December. I also received the global newsletter where Harnessing Nature was highlighted quite strongly. I believe such communication and outreach encourage both our readers and contributors to participate on this interesting platform. But we need to encourage our potential authors as much as possible. Only reading is not enough. Our readers must become our authors. I would like to see Harnessing Nature as a platform for conversation and discussion.
Our readers must become our authors. I would like to see Harnessing Nature as a platform for conversation and discussion.
Given IUCN has a 70 year old image we need to tap into the potential. Best practices should definitely be shared. I would suggest that authors should pick up the interesting, innovative actions that are being taken on the ground especially; showcase those, highlight those and write those in a manner that is Attractive not only to the ecologist, conservationist, environmental scientist – but more than that. I am interested to see political scientists and international relation experts find ecosystems useful in building peace and mitigate conflicts. We need to bring others in so Harnessing Nature can contribute to – harnessing the nature.
AD: Thank you Dr Haseeb Irfanullah for taking this call from Dhaka, right after you have returned from Kazakhstan. Thank you for making the time and joining us.
Amartya Deb is Managing Editor of Harnessing Nature.