Bangladesh to focus on saving five plant species from extinction

For the first time in its history, Bangladesh is attempting to protect five species from extinction by increasing their numbers and strengthening their population in the wild.

The floral species are bulborox (Bulbophyllum roxburghii), the small-bulb orchid Bulbophyllum oblongum, dwarf date palm (Phoenix acaulis), chaulmoogra (Hydnocarpus kurzii) and bash pata (Podocarpus neriifolius).

All of them are identified as critically endangered in the country’s first-ever Plant Red List of Bangladesh published in November 2024.

In the Red List, 1,000 species were assessed from five plant groups. Of these, 271 species were categorized as least concern, 256 species as data deficient, while 395 species were collectively termed threatened, including five critically endangered species, 128 endangered and 262 vulnerable.

A total of 70 species were assessed as near threatened and seven species were assessed as regionally extinct. One species was found to be extinct in the wild.

According to the Red List, bulborox and the small-bulb orchids currently exist in only a particular area of the Sundarbans, while the dwarf date palm is currently present in only the sal (Shorea robusta) forest in the northern district of Dinajpur.

A minimal number of chaulmoogra trees are currently located in the forests of Bandarban, Rangamati, Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong, Moulvibazar and Habiganj districts.

Though the bash pata plant can currently be found in different locations of Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati, Bandarban, Khagrachhari, Moulvibazar and Habiganj districts, as well...

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