136
Wetlands are multiple-value systems; they do not just do on a specific system.
They perform many processes simultaneously and therefore they provide a suite of
values to humans, which could also lead to culture and religious values towards the
wetlands itself. The Sundarbans mangrove forest, one of the largest forests in the
world that is formed at the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers on
the Bay of Bengal. The culture value of the area provides a livelihood for the people
who live near the area, working variously as wood-cutters, fishermen, and gatherers
of honey, golpatta leaves (Nipa fruticans) and grass (Christensen 1984).
In addition, the Bangladesh people also hold a religious value on the Ganges
River. According to Muller and Blij (2010), they stated that the people view the
Ganges River as Hinduism’s sacred river, where they believe its ceaseless flow and
spiritual healing power are Earthly manifestation of the Almighty. Therefore, wetland is part of human heritage and religious belief and also link to economic development as some society depends on the wetland area. Moreover wetland contains
very rich components of biodiversity local to national.
Another good example is Mangrove areas in Peninsular Thailand that have been
degraded through over-exploitation for the charcoal industry, fuel wood harvesting
by local people (Plathong and Plathong 2010). In their study of Past and Present
Threats on Mangrove Ecosystem in Peninsular Thailand by Sakanan Plathong and
Jintana Plathong (2010), they said that the lacking knowledge on mangrove ecology
and its importance, ignoring attention-grabbing of stakeholders according to the
first threat, lacking of public participation in development projects, weakness of law
enforcement and fishery pressure are the causes factors that responsible for the
degrading of the Mangrove areas in Thailand. This is due the selfishness of mankind
as they were blinded by the economic boost. It is reported that half of wetlands have
disappeared since 1900. Development and conversion continue to pose major threat
to wetlands. The conversion of wetlands for commercial developments, drainage
schemes, extraction of minerals and peat, overfishing, tourism, pesticide discharge
from intensive agriculture toxic pollutants from industrial waste and construction of
dams and dikes. Globally more than 6% (6.0–8.6 million km
2
) of land is made up of
wetlands (Islam et al. 2014).
In addition, the main culprit in the destruction of mangroves is man. To achieve
harmful supremacy over nature, human have destroyed this magnificent ecosystem
almost irreparably. Land reclamations and industrial developments are the major
causes of mangroves degradation. Systematic dumping of all kinds of waste and
debris in the mangrove areas destroys them. Land reclamations and industrial developments are the major cause of mangroves degradation (Islam et al 2014; Islam and
Gnauck 2008). This waste/debris creates a barrier preventing the seawater from
entering the mangroves and eventually kills the mangroves. In many instances, this
is done intentionally to reclaim land for construction activity.
S.N. Islam and U.A.A.B. Yahya
Wetlands are multiple-value systems; they do not just do on a specific system.
They perform many processes simultaneously and therefore they provide a suite of
values to humans, which could also lead to culture and religious values towards the
wetlands itself. The Sundarbans mangrove forest, one of the largest forests in the
world that is formed at the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers on
the Bay of Bengal. The culture value of the area provides a livelihood for the people
who live near the area, working variously as wood-cutters, fishermen, and gatherers
of honey, golpatta leaves (Nipa fruticans) and grass (Christensen 1984).
In addition, the Bangladesh people also hold a religious value on the Ganges
River. According to Muller and Blij (2010), they stated that the people view the
Ganges River as Hinduism’s sacred river, where they believe its ceaseless flow and
spiritual healing power are Earthly manifestation of the Almighty. Therefore, wetland is part of human heritage and religious belief and also link to economic development as some society depends on the wetland area. Moreover wetland contains
very rich components of biodiversity local to national.
Another good example is Mangrove areas in Peninsular Thailand that have been
degraded through over-exploitation for the charcoal industry, fuel wood harvesting
by local people (Plathong and Plathong 2010). In their study of Past and Present
Threats on Mangrove Ecosystem in Peninsular Thailand by Sakanan Plathong and
Jintana Plathong (2010), they said that the lacking knowledge on mangrove ecology
and its importance, ignoring attention-grabbing of stakeholders according to the
first threat, lacking of public participation in development projects, weakness of law
enforcement and fishery pressure are the causes factors that responsible for the
degrading of the Mangrove areas in Thailand. This is due the selfishness of mankind
as they were blinded by the economic boost. It is reported that half of wetlands have
disappeared since 1900. Development and conversion continue to pose major threat
to wetlands. The conversion of wetlands for commercial developments, drainage
schemes, extraction of minerals and peat, overfishing, tourism, pesticide discharge
from intensive agriculture toxic pollutants from industrial waste and construction of
dams and dikes. Globally more than 6% (6.0–8.6 million km
2
) of land is made up of
wetlands (Islam et al. 2014).
In addition, the main culprit in the destruction of mangroves is man. To achieve
harmful supremacy over nature, human have destroyed this magnificent ecosystem
almost irreparably. Land reclamations and industrial developments are the major
causes of mangroves degradation. Systematic dumping of all kinds of waste and
debris in the mangrove areas destroys them. Land reclamations and industrial developments are the major cause of mangroves degradation (Islam et al 2014; Islam and
Gnauck 2008). This waste/debris creates a barrier preventing the seawater from
entering the mangroves and eventually kills the mangroves. In many instances, this
is done intentionally to reclaim land for construction activity.
S.N. Islam and U.A.A.B. Yahya