Organizations – Non-Profit Organizations

Bangladesh Environment Network (BEN) was set up in 1998 to facilitate communication about Bangladesh’s environmental problems. It is a global network of non-resident Bangladeshis. BEN is open to all Bangladeshis who are either residing in Bangladesh or living abroad. BEN is also open to non-Bangladeshis who are interested in Bangladesh’s environmental problems.

The BEN web-site serves as repository of information about environmental problems of Bangladesh and about the activities of BEN. Using the mailing list accessed via www.ben-center.org, members of BEN conduct lively and useful discussion on air pollution, climate change, flood control, arsenic contamination, loss of bio-diversity, and other environmental problems of Bangladesh. BEN members have published their discussion of environmental problems in various Bangladeshi newspapers, such as the Daily Star, News from Bangladesh, and others.

Over the years, Bangladesh has undergone serious environmental degradation. The lead level in air of Bangladesh’s cities is several hundred times higher than the UN recommended safe level. The level of arsenic in 43 out of Bangladesh’s 64 districts has been found to be more than 500 percent of the WHO recommended safe mark. The population density has reached a dangerously high level. The forests are disappearing. Rivers and other water bodies are being filled up. Unknown number of animal and plant species has become extinct. Chemical runoff from farm fields into the neighboring water bodies is damaging the country’s fish stock. Disposal of solid waste has become a major problem in the urban areas. Rising use of plastic and other toxic and non-biodegradable materials is making even household waste a major threat to health and environment. As Bangladesh tries to industrialize, increasing amount of toxic and non-toxic industrial waste is being dumped into neighboring lands water bodies.

Overall, the country seems to be headed toward an environmental disaster. Bangladesh’s arsenic situation has already become a focus of international alarm. In addition to being the locale of natural disasters, Bangladesh has now also emerged as the country of man-made ecological disasters. With global warming and the possibility of rising sea level, the very long term physical existence of the country, being just a few feet above the sea-level for its most parts, has become a question.

It is clear that the government response to the environmental situation has been inadequate and often inept. Bangladesh government does not have an overall coherent plan of its own to fight environmental degradation. It is simply relying on initiative, finance, and prodding of donor agencies. The result has been an array of disconnected and often contradictory projects, which are generally failing to be effective.

The problem of environmental degradation in Bangladesh is too serious to be left entirely to government initiatives. It is necessary to create a broad popular movement to safeguard Bangladesh’s environment. The educated civil society of the country has to take lead in creating such a movement. It is with this spirit that BEN has been set up. The general goal of BEN is to mobilize non-resident Bangladeshis for protection of Bangladesh’ environment. The concrete objectives of BEN are to:

a) Gather and disseminate information about environmental degradation in Bangladesh.
b) Gather and disseminate information about possible solutions to Bangladesh’s environmental problems.
c) Establish and strengthen connection among various environmental organizations in Bangladesh.
d) Establish and strengthen connection between environmental organizations in Bangladesh as well as with international environmental organizations.
e) Formulate various policies that can and should be adopted to solve and avoid environmental problems in Bangladesh.
f) Generate public opinion in favor of policies necessary to protect environment.
g) Persuade and assist the government adopt and implement environment-friendly policies.

BEN organized two International Conference (s) on Bangladesh Environment (ICBEN) in 2000 and 2002. Additionally, an international conference on River Linking was held in Dhaka 17-19 December, 2004. BEN’s Energy panel prepared a report in 2006 on Energy Strategy for Bangladesh that was submitted to the government. BEN also became in involved in is taking particular interest in the draft coal policy 2007 because extraction and use of coal have a profound effect on the environment. BEN members wrote actively in national newspapers on this issue and submitted detailed comments and recommendations to the government in this regard.