The Shela River and the Sunderbans

Its a balancing act
That is clearly causing conflict
The coal fire plants
Around the Sunderbans
The largest mangrove forest
In the world today
And the seriousness of moving it
Isn’t fun

Along the Shela River
So much wild life
And area of outstanding beauty where
shipments of coal and coal ash
And some fuel oil
Have begun to cause great moments
Of despair

Two years ago a tanker partially sank
There
This month a coal boat sank
And thus it threw
Really dirty cargo into what is
A dolphin sanctuary
With Bengal Tigers really
At risk too

Bangladesh is fuming at the prospect
Of damaging endangered species, they
Have accepted the need to ship the dirty cargo
But the environment is important
Too they say

Some 6000 wild animals now live around
The Irrawaddy and the Ganges Dolphins they
And of course the Bengal Tigers in the Sunderbans
Another sinking clearly could put pay
Habitat loss is happening all over
Wild species versus human beings who
Terribly pollute they savage and they loot
And so many species die out everyday

The iconic nature of these river dolphins
And of course the bengal Tigers and the rest
Mangrove forests harbour many species
And Bangladesh believes it knows whats best
To save the Sunderbans against all comers
Fishing is banned and tankers are banned too
Now all Naval movements and cargo ships as well
This has really been thought out
and is a prudent thing to do

It took a lot of foresight and some courage
Committing faith and effort and they appear
To not follow everybody else’s paradigms
Much of it related more to fear
Of corporate pressure clearly thats a good thing
Its powerful and its forward thinking too
The environment and the species living wild
Within the space
should remain pristine
Its the only thing to do

Well done Bangladesh your courage and commitment
I applaud