Oil Company Plan Threatens Bangladeshi Tigers, Activists
Warn
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
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A
Scottish oil and gas company that recently received
approval from the Bangladeshi government to take over
exploration areas in the country's west, including
the Sundarbans mangrove forest, is threatening the
habitat and lives of the 500 endangered Bengal tigers
living in the region, environmentalists have warned.
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According
to the Glasgow Herald newspaper, Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy
has announced in its annual report that it plans to conduct
research in an area that covers the Sundarbans, an area
of 3,500-square miles that crosses into eastern India and
is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Friends
of the Earth habitats campaigner Craig Bennett said that
"accidents [during research] could allow oil into the
water or water courses could be diverted, affecting conditions
downstream in the Sundarbans."
"There
are also socio-economic issues. Building facilities for
large numbers of workers anywhere could cause migration
of people into the protected part of the forest adding pressure
to the area," Bennett added.
Cairn
Energy chief executive Bill Gammell, however, said Sunday
that exploration in the area would not affect the tigers
because they "don't intend to get involved in the Sundarbans
whatsoever." Instead, Gammell said, the company is
more interested in exploring for gas around the city of
Khulna, further inland from the Sundarbans (Rob Crilly,
Glasgow Herald, April 12).
A
Bengal tiger census in Bangladesh earlier this year suggested
the Bengal tiger population may be increasing. A 1993 survey
had estimated the population at 350 to 400 (U.N. Wire, March
11). Poaching and illegal logging are mentioned as the main
threats to the tigers (Crilly, Glasgow Herald).
Copyright,
National Journal Group, 2004
