WELCOME TO THE PRESENTATION ON:

Potential Resources of Bangladesh: Natural

Resources & Tourism

By:
Md. Abul Basher, Director, BPATC. 1
E-mail: basher.bpatc@gmail.com; Mob# 01511003637
Points to be discussed:
Objectives of the session.
•Introduction.
•What is Resources?
•What is Natural Resources?
•Types of Natural Resources.
•Natural Resources of Bangladesh (in brief).
•Resource Allocation, Conservation, Management and
Sustainable Development.
• Prospect of Tourism in Bangladesh
•Conclusion.
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Introduction:
Natural resources are most important for a country. There are many
countries which are directly depends on natural resources. Area of
Bangladesh is small. But, it had the advantages of a mild, almost
tropical climate, fertile soil, ample water, and an abundance of fish,
wildlife, and fruit.
In recent years, the depletion of natural resources has become a
major focus of governments over the world. The depletion of natural
resources is considered to be a sustainable development issue.
Tourism is a travel for recreation, religious, leisure, family or
business purposes, usually for a limited duration. Tourism can be
domestic or international. Nowadays, tourism is one of the major
source of income for many countries. Bangladesh has tremendous
opportunities in terms of tourism industry.

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What is Resource?
A supply of something that a country, an organization or an
individual has and can use especially to increase wealth.
What is Natural Resource?
▪Materials or substances/stuff occurring in nature which can be
exploited for economic gain.
▪Something of value we get from the earth’s environment.
▪It is found in nature and important to human being.

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Types of Natural Resources: There are various methods of
categorizing natural resources, these include source of origin, stage of
development, and by their renewability.
❑Renewable Resources: Any material or energy source that cycles, or
can be replaced easily within a short time period ( The Sun, Wind, Soil,
Forest, Water, Fish, Geothermal power, Biogas etc.)
❑Non Renewable Resources (Natural Gas, Petroleum, Coal etc.)
It can be(On the basis of origin ):
•Biotic (Living or organic like; Forests, animals, birds and fossil fuels
like; Petroleum, coal etc.)
•Abiotic (land, fresh water, air and heavy metals like; gold, iron,
copper, silver etc.)
Or it can be: # Energy/ Power Resources (Natural Gas, Coal, Peat,
Petroleum/oil, Hydropower, Natural Vegetation, Solar, Wind, Biogas,
Biomass Fuel, Ocean, Mini Hydro plant etc.)
# Mineral Resources (White Clay, Peat, Lime Stone, Hard Rock, Oil
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etc)
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Natural Resources of Bangladesh (in brief)
Land Resources:

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It has 57% of agricultural land which is the biggest asset of
Bangladesh. But high population, poverty, improper land use,
un-planned settlement, unplanned agricultural practices, absence
of appropriate land policy and ineffective implementation of
laws and guidelines etc. put pressure on land in Bangladesh.
Furthermore, unplanned and unscientific rural infrastructure
development and the growing demand for increasing
urbanization are devouring productive land. Natural process
such as river bank erosion, siltation also cause to degrade land.

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Forest Resources:
The Forest is one of the most important renewable natural resources
of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a forest poor country. But still
forestry contribute to economy, livelihood of many and ecological
stability. There are about 16% of total land are forest area of
Bangladesh. Natural forests throughout the country are increasingly
being depleted. Various types of development activity, such as
dams/embankments, highway, road construction, and other
infrastructure development have further intensified deforestation,
and destruction of natural forests in Bangladesh.

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Water Resources:
There are two main sources of water available to this planet. One,
the surface water which include lakes, streams, reservoirs and all
method of catching and holding rain water. The other is the ground
water, which include wells, springs and horizontal galleries. In our
planet out of total water resources 97% are saline water, 2% are ice
and 1% are sweet water which ere generally considered as the water
resources usable for human kind for agriculture, domestic, industrial
purposes and also for hydraulic power plants all over the world.
Water is the available renewable natural resources of Bangladesh.
The economic growth and development of Bangladesh has been
influenced by water. The largest use of water is made for irrigation.
Besides agriculture, some other uses are for domestic and municipal
water supply, industry, fishery, forestry and navigation. In addition,
water is of fundamental importance for ecology and the wider
environment.
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Contd.
Bangladesh has two problems with water i.e., scarcity of water for
agriculture, industrial and domestic uses in the dry season and
sometime, abundance of water in monsoon causes flood and natural
hazards.
Bangladesh would face serious scarcity of fresh water for agriculture,
industry, fisheries and other livelihood activities in near future. It is
seen that ground water level is going down and saline water is
intruding to the inland area day by the day. The increasing
urbanization and industrialization of Bangladesh have negative
implications for water quality. Some water bodies and rivers have
been reached alarming levels by industrial and urban waste.

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 Energy/ Power Resources:
The power sector in Bangladesh is highly dependent on fossil fuels, as
natural gas and coal are the dominating sources for power generation in
the country. About 62.9% of Bangladeshi generated electricity comes
from natural gas, while 10% is from diesel, 5% comes from coal, 3% of
heavy oil, and 3.3% is of renewable sources. Bangladesh's total
installed electricity generation capacity (including captive power)
was 15,351 megawatts (MW) as of January 2017 and 20,000
megawatts in 2018. The largest energy consumers in Bangladesh are
industries and the residential sector, followed by the commercial and
agricultural sectors.
Potential Energy Resources of Bangladesh:
❑Natural gas
❑Coal
❑Solar Energy
❑Oil/Petroleum
❑Biogas, Wind Power . 13
Natural Gas:
Natural Gas is one of the most important of natural resources.
Bangladesh has always been considered a natural gas rich country. It
is an environment friendly fuel. Natural Gas is largely available in
the eastern part of the country extending from greater Sylhet down to
greater Comilla, Noakhali and Chittagong. Bangladesh natural gas
production began in 1960 from Chattak field. This influential sector
caters for around 40% of the power plant feedstock, 17% of
industries, 15% captive power, 11% for domestic and household
usage, another 11% for fertilizers, 5% in Compressed natural gas
(CNG) activities and 1% for commercial and agricultural uses.

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Contd.

There is much uncertainty and debate about level of

natural gas reserves in Bangladesh. According to
Petrobangla, the remaining reserve of gas in the
country at present is about 13 TCF. In the face of
increasing gas demand in the country, this reserve
would run for about 10-12 years. Bangladesh is
unlikely to find very large new onshore gas fields, but
there are certainly many small sized gas fields waiting
to be discovered. The offshore is even less explored,
yet it holds great possibilities.

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Energy Resources Scenario of Bangladesh (in brief).
❖Per capita energy consumption of Bangladesh is one of the lowest
in the world.
❖Natural Gas and Power crisis.
❖Gas and petroleum rationing have been started.
❖Weaknesses of management and lack of co-ordination in various
departments.
❖Weaknesses of Policies, Laws, Acts, Regulations and Rules
regarding energy resources.
❖Lack of participation of Legal Experts during negotiation of FDI.
❖Corruption (solid, liquid and gaseous) etc.

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Natural Resources Allocation, Conservation,
Management and Sustainable Development:
To distribute something officially for special purpose is
called allocation. Conservation means the prevention of loss,
damage, waste, destruction etc. The process of dealing with
or controlling people or things is called management.
There is a good relation between natural resource
management and sustainable development. National food
security, livelihood security, poverty eradication etc. depend
on proper natural resource management. Allocation of
natural resources should be logical and justified to ensure
high productivity/maximum output in all sectors (e.g.
agriculture, industry etc.). Government should play vital role
in this regard. Here commitment is a must.
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Natural resource management refers to the management of
natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants and
animals, with a particular focus on how management
affects the quality of life for both present and future
generations.
Natural resource management deals with managing the way
in which people and natural landscapes interact. It brings
together land use planning, water management,
biodiversity conservation, and the future sustainability of
industries like agriculture, mining, tourism, fisheries and
forestry.
Natural resource management is also congruent with the
concept of sustainable development. It means sustainable
development is possible through proper management of
natural resource management.

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• Sustainable development means building our communities so that
we can all live comfortably without consuming all of our
resources. Imagine yourself in a garden. If you were to run
around the garden wearing heavy boots, you would probably do a
lot of damage to the fruits and vegetables growing there. If you
were to walk carefully through the garden in bare feet, you would
be able to eat just as many fruits and vegetables as the person
wearing heavy boots, but you would also be leaving a lot more
for yourself and others to eat the next day. It is the same thing
with our resources.
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 People

Sustainable
Natural
Environment Resource Development
Management

Natural
Resources

Diagram: Factors influencing the management of natural

resources and the livelihood context.

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 Prospect of Tourism in Bangladesh
Tourism is one of the worlds' fastest growing industries. It is service
oriented industry. Tourism can be domestic or international.
Nowadays, tourism is one of the major sources of income for many
countries. It creates ample job opportunities and plays a pivotal role
in country branding.
Bangladesh is full of natural beauty. Rivers, coasts and beaches,
archaeological sites, religious places, hills, forests, waterfalls, tea
gardens surround it. The Sundarban, Historic Mosque in city of
Bagerhat, Ruins of the Buddihist Vihara at Paharpur are the three
world heritage sites in Bangladesh among 1007.
Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) looks after the tourism
sector in Bangladesh under the ministry of Civil Aviation and
Tourism. Due to some limitations, Bangladesh has failed to introduce
itself as a tourist destination country.
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Conclusion:

Thank you
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