A unique initiative to learn about our national pride - the tiger and the Sundarbans
WildTeam is building the Sundarbans Museum and Interpretation Centre, a first of its kind, with support from the Bangladesh Forest Department and KfW-German Cooperation under IUCN’s Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme (ITHCP)
"People protect what they love." Jacques-Yves Cousteau
The Sundarbans, the largest mangrove system in the world, is a world heritage site and one of the most important natural assets of Bangladesh. It shelters our people from storms, provides food and building materials for millions, and is home to a spectacular array of biodiversity, including the tiger.
Yet astonishingly, there is no institutional body to celebrate the Sundarbans and reinforce local and national pride in this incredible natural asset. There is no place for visitors to learn about their beautiful forest and how they can take care of it and contribute to its conservation. There is no centre to voice the needs of the Sundarbans, to tell her story and to secure her future.
WildTeam is building the Sundarbans Museum and Interpretation Centre with support from the Bangladesh Forest Department and KfW-German Cooperation under IUCN's Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme (ITHCP). It will be the country's first such institution focused on the Sundarbans, with the goal of increasing knowledge and pro-environmental attitudes among locals in the forest's vicinity, Bangladeshis in general, and international stakeholders.
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It will be set up with the aim of researching the facts, heritage, and history of the Sundarbans and disseminating them widely in order to induce empathy and a sense of pride for the Sundarbans, which will ultimately develop a positive attitude towards the forest, its conservation, and pro-environmental behaviour.
It is also expected that after having a wonderful experience at this centre, the visitors will understand the importance of the Sundarbans and view them as much more than a tourist spot or even merely a source of recreation and livelihood.
The centre is located on the premises of the WildTeam Conservation Biology Centre (WCBC) at a strategic point in the Chandpai range of the eastern Sundarbans, one of the gateways to the forest. It is situated in a village called Joymonir Ghol, under the Chila union of Mongla upazila.
Goal
- To increase knowledge and pro-environmental attitudes among local people, national tourists, and international visitors
Objectives
- To act as a Sundarbans knowledge and story-sharing hub
- To share facts and the history of the Sundarbans and its people
- To share the natural, cultural, and human stories of the Sundarbans with target audiences
- To increase knowledge and create awareness about the threats faced by the Sundarbans among target audiences
- To provide a space for local people to exchange views, share knowledge, and develop ideas to conserve nature
- To promote local ecotourism
Target audiences
- The primary target audience of this centre is the local population in the forest's vicinity, who are usually dependent on the mangroves and are key stakeholders in the sustainable use and conservation of the Sundarbans. This group is subdivided into:
- Adults, of which many will be dependent on the Sundarbans
- Youth (15 to 24 years old)
- Children (0 to 14 years old)
- The secondary audience is Bangladeshi tourists to the Sundarbans
- The third audience is international visitors, including tourists and development agency staff
Exhibits
There will be various segments in the centre, including history, fauna and flora, people-nature co-existence and people-led conservation, threats, Sundarbans professions and livelihood practices, local arts and traditional knowledge, myths and beliefs, examples of national art and other mediums showing national pride in the Sundarbans, the Wildlife Act and policies, and wildlife survey techniques.
Displays will have an engaging mixture of art, illustrations, photos, objects (both real and artificial) and audio-visual content based on need. The interactive design will be used as much as possible to keep the visitor's interest and aid in the retention of key pieces of information.
A mother message, along with child messages for each exhibit segment, will be developed. The mode of language for the displays will be Bangla and local names and terms will be used in the descriptions. Key information on each display will also be given in English for international audiences.
There will be a detailed design activity that will result in the actual exhibit design and content. Below are some examples of what might be included in the centre :
1. Human and Geographic History
- History fascinates people. The history of the Sundarbans is not well-known to most people. At the proposed SIC, visitors will go back in time and take a tour of the glorious past of the Sundarbans right through to the present.
- There will be the history of how the Sundarbans came about, the geography of the area, how the Sundarbans have changed over time, natural calamities, and how they compare to other mangroves around the globe.
2. Fauna
- The tiger will be the focal species for the centre. Other species will include dolphins, otters, fishing cats, leopard cats, deer, porcupines, wild boar, birds, including Masked Finfoot, different species of fish, King Cobras, pythons, turtles, including Batagur Baska, etc.
- Paintings of extinct species, including rhinos, wild buffalo, and swamp deer of the Sundarbans.
3. Flora
- Paintings and/or photos of important plants of the Sundarbans with information
4. People-nature co-existence/people-led conservation
- Examples of local initiatives with stories from the mouths of members of the local communities: An information corner about the Village Tiger Response Team (VTRT), Forest Tiger Response Team (FTRT), BaghBandhus (Friends of Tigers), and TigerScouts with photos.
- There may also be examples of initiatives from other mangrove conservation initiatives around the world that might trigger discussion locally and spark ideas.
5. Threats
- An information corner about Sundarbans threats (e.g., poaching, human-wildlife conflict, unsustainable resource collection, poison fishing, deer meat consumption, illegal logging, plastic pollution, unplanned industrialisation, uncontrolled tourism, etc.) with photos and objects (different traps) if possible.
6. Sundarban-based professions
- An information corner about Sundarban-based professions such as fishing, honey collection, Nypa palm harvest, crab collection, and woodcutting (an old profession) with photos and objects.
7. Wildlife Act and policies
- An information corner about the Wildlife Act, resource collection rules, Compensation Policy, and other Sundarbans/biodiversity-related laws.
8. Wildlife survey techniques
- An information corner about tiger survey techniques (e.g., camera trapping) and dolphin survey techniques with photos and equipment
9. The Value of the Sundarbans and fun facts about it
- An information corner about ecosystem services and the economic and aesthetic value of the Sundarbans
- Some fun facts about the Sundarbans will be spread either in one area or dotted through the other exhibits; e.g., this forest has the King Cobra, which is the longest poisonous snake in the world; the Ring Lizard, which is the second largest lizard in the world after the Comodo Dragon; and one of the largest populations of Masked Finfoots.
10. Kids' corner
- This centre will have some interactive eco-games, audio-visuals, and other educational materials for children to enhance their knowledge and interests in the Sundarbans
11. Gathering area
- One of the objectives of the centre is to provide a space for visitors to exchange views, share knowledge, and develop ideas to conserve nature. There will be a number of different spaces that will encourage visitors to gather within the building and on its grounds.
Enayetullah Khan is the Founder of WildTeam
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.
