A combined effort is necessary to conserve vultures and other wildlife in the country, said Md Shahab Uddin, Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change on Saturday.
He also said the government would recognise and provide necessary financial assistance to vulture conservation individuals and organisations.
The minister was speaking at a webinar, organised by the Forest Department on the occasion of International Vulture Awareness Day.
He said vultures contribute a lot to protecting the environment. Bangladesh is working to preserve the bird, he added.
Referring to various initiatives taken by the government for the conservation of vultures, the minister said the government banned ketoprofen, a harmful drug for vultures.
The cabinet also directed that other harmful drugs such as fluconazole and aceclofenac should not be allowed in our country. Safe medicine for vultures-- Meloxicam has been suggested for use in infected animals, he said.
Efforts are on for the conservation of vultures by giving priority to the ten-year Bangladesh Vulture Conservation Action Plan formulated in 2016.
In 2017, a vulture rescue and identification centre was set up at Singra in Dinajpur to conduct rescue and rehabilitation activities for sick and injured vultures. So far, 115 Himalayan Griffon species of vultures have been rescued and released into the wild, the minister revealed.
Deputy Minister of the environment ministry Begum Habibun Nahar, secretary Md Mostafa Kamal and additional secretary Iqbal Abdullah Harun, among others, attended the programme.
