A specialist committee has been formed to save elephants in the Korean EPZ area of Chattogram under the initiative of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan. This committee will submit a report to the ministry within the next three weeks, with specific recommendations to ensure a safe working environment for EPZ workers and to resolve human-elephant conflicts.
The committee was formed based on a decision taken at a meeting held on Monday (Oct 21) at the ministry's mini-conference room in the Bangladesh Secretariat. The meeting was attended by the Environment Adviser along with the President and Managing Director of the Korean EPZ, the Chief Conservator of Forests, and ministry officials, said a ministry press release.
The Deputy Commissioner of Chattogram will lead the specialist committee, while other members are Professor Dr Monirul H Khan of Jahangirnagar University, Professor Dr Anwarul Islam of Dhaka University, a representative of IUCN, two representatives from the Korean EPZ, Rubaiya Ahmed from Obhoyaronno (Bangladesh Animal Welfare Foundation), and the Divisional Forest Officer of the Chattogram South Forest Division.
The Divisional Forest Officer of the Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Division, Chattogram, will serve as the member secretary of the committee.
