Just like Nepal, Bangladesh is also struggling through “growing
pains”. Bangladesh being a new country and Nepal working with a new government system.
The people of these countries struggle with many issues, and they work hard
to get their voices heard. In both Nepal and Bangladesh, one of the most common
methods used to force the government to listen is to call for an automobile
strike.
Source: Dhaka Newspaper. Protestors destroy automobiles that defy the strike orders, Bangladesh |
These strikes can occur and do occur with relative frequency.
As example, the day before I arrived in Bangladesh a strike had just ended, and
the day I left another began. As they did in Nepal, this halts all activity in
these countries. And this in turn halts the ability to carry out conservation
work. Simple meetings between environmental stakeholders can not take place
because they cannot travel safely. Researchers not
already at a field site, cannot travel to the field. These are just examples,
but you can easily see what a problem this can be. After I left, Manish was
basically trapped at his University, not able to get to the “Dolphin House” or
to the field for any research work for weeks.
Following a strike, the roads become incredibly congested because everyone needs to travel who has not been able to during the strike. When I
arrived for example, a 12km journey from the airport took us three hours.
I mention this impending strike to help those reading
to understand that conservation work in these countries is affected by much more than simply a lack of resources.
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