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L-R: Typical forest full of natural resources (Tangabati, Chittagong). Tribal people collect natural water without any contamination just at the base of hills; w(Mirersharai, Chittagong).

In analysis of ecological studies, it is found that human activities are altering ecosystem on four basic point: by (a) selectively destroying species; (b) importing new species; (c) destroying habitats; and (d) introducing xenbiotics. But conservation of natural resources especially bio-resources appears most important in the present world. Conservation of natural resources is essential not only for maintaining natural balance but also for maintaining the economic soundness all over the world.

All natural resources are taken into two types in their category. One is renewable another nonrenewable. The nonrenewable resources are the sources that can be used up completely, or depleted, used up to the point that it is no longer economically feasible to obtain them. The most important nonrenewable resources are fossil fuels — coal, natural gas, petroleum. These fuels change life dramatically. The resources that are replaced by natural processes or essentially inexhaustible in their uses are called renewable resources. All animals and plants in the planet are renewable resources. Different trophic levels in any ecosystem stand as bio-resources in the nature in different forms. Identification of the resources and the technology-use depend on human intelligence and technology innovation. For example, the main resources for agricultural societies are wood, sunlight, streams of water, and draft animals. Though here sunlight and streams are abiotic factors but they are renewable resources also.

Biological resources in nature can be taken under the heading of forest resources, genetic resources, wildlife resources, and aquatic resources (marine, riverine and estuarine resources).

Forest resources
Forest shows its various resource in different ways. As resource, services of forest are important. Among the range of services the most significant ones are ecotourism, watershed protection, protective and habitat functions of mangroves, carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation. Forest is highly demanded for its non-wood forest products (NWFPS). The NWFPs comprise an important , though generally poorly monitored, aspect of forest products. Forest is the source of wood energy. Woodfuels are a basic need for more than 2 billion people in the Asia-Pacific region alone; While woodfuels’ share in total energy use is declining, the absolute volume of woodfuels used continues to increase. Besides this, in many countries wood energy is still largely considered a traditional “poor people’s fuel.”

The forest is also used as the source of industrial products-trading. In the region of Asia-Pacific alone nearly about 280 million cubic metres of industrial roundwood is produced annually. Besides all the above, the forest is also directly used as “forest and tree resources” under different headings. They are different types of services of forests, socio-cultural roles and nature-based ecotourism, agricultural services of forests and trees, watershed services of forests, carbon sequestration, conservation of wildlife habitats and biological diversity values, and services of mangrove ecosystems.

Genetic resources
Genetic resource is the key functional point and ethics of origin of all natural and modified bio resources. Man plays a great role on the genetic-flow. Genetic resources are used in the field of variation and variability to protect biodiversity as well as environment by utilizing biotechnological application. The subject biotechnology and its application are not new, but changes in the application are. Biotechnology based on biological systems still plays a dominant role in enhancing the quality of life and livelihood. Recent developments in the biotechnological tools and their application have opened up wide opportunities to boost agriculture, medicine, livestock production, forestry, fisheries, health and nutrition as well as management and protection of environment. Bangladesh has not yet been able to use this opportunity to considerable extent. But this frontier technology can provide substantial benefits to the society in a wide range of sectors for improving the quality of life.

Wildlife resource
Wildlife resources are important natural bio-resources. Wildlife may be defined as the community of the non-domesticated species of plants, animals and microbes growing under wild conditions, excluding those who have been recently introduced. The wildlife management is the science and art of making decisions and taking actions to manipulate the structure, dynamics and relations of populations, habitats and people to achieve specific human objectives by means of the wildlife resource.

The concern for wildlife is, however, the concern for man himself. All forms of life — human, animal and plant — are so closely interlinked that disturbance in one gives rise to imbalance in the others. Decomposers release the energy back into the ecosystem, completing the cycle. Producers, consumers and decomposers are linked together in food chains. Various food chains are again joined at different trophic levels forming complicated food webs.

Description of any particular link in the chain of different strands in the web may lead to imbalance which may threaten the existence of man himself on this planet. Nature maintains this vast diversity of animals and plants in a complex organization in which various life processes of production, consumption and disposal of waste are maintained in well balanced cycles. Plants and animals constitute the world’s living resources and the various food chains and cycles constitute life support system essential for their survival, including survival of man.

Aquatic resources
Water is essential for life on Earth. Within organisms, water provides medium in which the complex metabolic processes necessary for life take place. Organisms simply cannot function without water and if deprived would rapidly die. Streams and rivers provide us with water, electric power, agricultural soil, waste disposal, and valleys that are convenient routes for highways. The stream-sites in many tropical regions act as the breeding ground for aquatic animals including the fishes.

The ocean fuels the water cycle, which provides us with fresh water. It supplies oil, minerals, energy, much of oxygen, and 15 per cent of our dietary protein. The foundation of the ocean’s food chain is phytoplankton. They produce their own food by photosynthesis. The world’s major fisheries lie on continental shelves that receive minerals washed down the rivers. Other fisheries lie in parts of the open ocean where upwelling currents carry minerals up from the bottom. Wherever phytoplankton occurs, we also find zooplankton. Fish and similar large animals in the ocean make up the nekton.

Coral reefs are among the most productive of all ecosystems, and they have a diversity of life forms rivaled only by the tropical rain forest. A reef is an area where a rocky out-crop rises from the sea floor. Many prized commercial fishes are inhabitants not of the open ocean but of reefs. Rocky shore supports much more life than a sandy shore.

In some parts of the world, the ocean’s tide may rise and fall far up a river or in a coastal marsh. These areas where the ocean penetrates are the coastal wetlands, important for their ability to absorb and disperse pollutants from the land and because many organisms breed in them. Coastal wetlands include mangrove swamp, found in tropical and subtropical regions, and salt marsh. These wetlands are hatcheries and nurseries of many important species of marine life. In the United States, it is estimated that half of the commercial harvest of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico depend on the coastal wetlands and estuaries. From the worldwide seafood catch, it is found that, in 1950, 21 million tons of fish, shellfish, crustaceans, and mammals were harvested from the sea. Thereafter, the harvest increased by about 7 per cent each year to 70 million tons in 1970, a rate of growth faster than increases in farm production on land. Most experts believe that the oceans could sustain an annual harvest of 100 million tons, but this would require better management than we have so far achieved.

The coastal area of Bangladesh is estimated as 710km long on the basis of the geomorphological conditions and hydrological feature of the country. This area has been broadly divided into three distinct. These are the eastern, central and the western. Our country has 25.151 sq km of internal water up to base line. The territorial water of Bangladesh is 9,065 sq km from base line. The Bangladesh’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is 14,0915sq km. The estimated total marine water area is 1,66,066sq km. Bangladesh is uniquely endowed with a wide variety of economically important coastal resources. Bangladesh has a vast network of rivers numbering about 230 — about 24,000 km in length and covering an area of 9,380 sq km (6.5% of the total area of the country). Most of the major rivers have linkage with the estuary and finally meet the Bay of Bengal. Fish is the most important fauna of these rivers and considerable number of fishermen community depend on river fishing for their livelihood. Bangladesh has one of the largest mangrove eco-systems in the world. Mangrove ecosystems also provide a valuable physical habitat for a variety of important coastal species. Waterfowl, shore birds are well known and highly valued inhabitants of wetlands, as are alligators and muskrats. Equally important are crabs, shrimps, sport fishes along with numerous other fish and invertebrates.

Conservation of resources
Conservation is the optimum rational use of natural resources and the environment, having regard to the various demands made upon them and the need to safeguard and maintain them for the future. It is the protection, improvement and use of natural resources according to principles that would assure their highest economic or social benefits. In ecology, conservation includes those measures concerned with the preservation, restoration, benefaction, maximization, reutilization, substitution, allocation and integration of natural resources. In the present time, the term conservation has become an integral part of our everyday vocabulary. The term conservation absorbs principles from multiple directions of basic science and social sciences. This theme includes conservation of history, environmental trends, environmental ethics, ecological economics, policies for conservation, management of natural resources, culture and development and conservation of biodiversity.

Why bio-resource conservation in Bangladesh is urgent and essential? The answer is very important and significant both for environmental and economic considerations. In Bangladesh, bio-resource is characterized by ’species richness’ and ‘population-size shortness’ features. The population-size per species is very low at present almost in all the cases. If we can go quick for conserving species and their population size, still there is possibility of keeping the ecosystems ‘rich in biodiversity’. Then the value of biodiversity could be utilized for the benefit of the nation.

Bangladesh is rich in wide variety of flora and fauna as compared to the rest of the world: Five thousand flowering plants; 199 mammals; 567 birds; 120 reptiles; 734 amphibians. Besides, we have large number of unidentified flora and fauna. Bangladesh is uniquely endowed with natural resource. So, it is highly necessary to conserve both renewable and non-renewable natural resources for the sake of present and future generations. So the management of both renewable and non-renewable resource has to be given top priority. Under the circumstances, any one may like to suggest the following:

1. Comprehensive survey needs to be made to know the exact status of the natural resources. This will help in management of the resources and in promoting environment friendly activities in development intervention.

2. Preserving, protecting and developing the natural resource are the main tools for sustainable development. As such promoting participatory, community based environmental resource management and environmental protection (considering the poor access, equally as well as gender issues); ensuring active participation activities; strengthening the capabilities of public and private sector to address environmental concerns; conserving non-renewable resources and sustaining auto eco-generation of renewable resources; promoting sustainable environment management in pursuit of quality livelihood and alleviation of poverty are needs of the hour.

Dr. M.A. Bashar is Professor, Department of Zoology and ex-Dean, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Dhaka.

Japan’s electronics giant Sony unveils the world’s first digital noise cancelling headphone “MDR-NC500D”, which enables to cut train, plane and automobile sounds by up to 99 percent and enjoy hi-fi quality audio reproduction at the company’s headquarters in Tokyo on March 13, 2008. Sony will put it on the market on April 21, 2008. Photo: AFP

TECHNOLOGY has become an integral part of human life, dramatically reshaping the existing socio-economic structure and driving the modern civilization towards a destination where only a knowledgeable community will survive.

No doubt technology has a great influence on our imagination and at the same time it is playing a crucial role in determining our lifestyle. This new phenomenon has given birth to a new concept called knowledge-based society (KBS).

KBS does not necessarily envisage a society where only intelligent people will live; rather it paves the way for the equal participation of people where their rights will be ensured.

Basically the concept of KBS became a reality when information technology integrated with social mechanisms to empower the people and spur sustainable development of the society.

People experienced phenomenal changes in their livelihood due to this influence of technology. Since then information technology (IT) has become a dynamic of KBS.

In a KBS, all people must have access to the right opportunity to utilise their inner potential and have the scope to take part in socio-economic development.

The ingredients of a KBS are technology, people and knowledge. We live in a technology-depended world and access to potential technology is mandatory to face the upcoming challenges. We also require sufficient flow of skilled manpower to generate innovate solutions by utilizing high-end technologies.

Before producing skilled human resource, we need to provide them with right knowledge or create the scope so that people get the chance to gather knowledge. On the other hand we need to create awareness to attract people.

There is no specific model of KBS, but worldwide this new-age concept is adopted and practiced by many countries. These countries in fact successfully incorporated IT in their national activities with a view to providing best possible services to their citizens.

Slovak Republic has taken many pragmatic steps to build a KBS where people enjoy the blessing of modern technology in their daily activities. The Slovak government believes this kind of society is a prerequisite for democratic development, scientific and technological progress, economic growth and social security, employment and growth.

Under this initiative the government envisioned to create a knowledge network between academia, research institutes, government organs, corporate world and others in order to bring the ‘unreachable’ opportunities to the citizens.

India has already formed a National Knowledge Commission (NKC) in 2005 and one of its prime objectives is to make India a knowledge-based society.

India adopted such a strategy in order to address the existing social problems. They are optimistic about gaining three objectives, such as enrichment of educational process, empowerment of Panchayats and ethical commercialization of the country’s creative and cultural tradition.

African country Uganda is also trying to merge itself with global information society trend. Other African countries such as Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal are also pacing towards knowledge-based society.

Bangladesh is now going through the transitional phase in terms of forming a true knowledge-based society. But the recent technology scenario also indicates new prospects for the country. The underlying reason for the sluggish development is government policy.

Now it is high time the government adopted right policy and took timely action in order to expedite the process to turn this country into a knowledge-based society. The first imperative for the government is to address the rural community and at the same time digitalise all operations in order to ensure transparency to citizens.

Bangladesh is a densely populated country and it is not possible to build KBS without the right participation of rural community. The government should take the lead for proper knowledge management and use IT as a catalyst to meet the objectives.

By adopting appropriate policies, the government must open all high-end technologies to the citizens. For instance, there is a high demand for IP telephony and in this regard prompt action is essential to attract BPO-related (Business Process Outsourcing) services in the country. This can create young entrepreneurship and leave a unique scope for IT-educated people.

Bangladesh is also an emerging market for WiMAX (World Wide Interpret ability for Microwave Access) technology. WiMAX is a dynamic solution to establishing long-haul data communication link to distant areas. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has plans to give WiMAX license in May this year.

The introduction of WiMAX can have a synergetic effect on rural areas. The government and private stakeholders could come forward and utilise this technology to build knowledge centres across the country where people can get e-heath, e-education and e-business related services which will effectively improve their livelihood.

Besides, the government can mobilise its existing telecommunication infrastructure. State-run BTTB (Bangladesh Telephone and Telegraph Board) has its DDN node in 64 districts. Areas under these nodes can easily be connected with the internet, generating tremendous opportunity to unlock the potential in unprivileged areas.

Bangladesh can also take the advantage of regional cooperation. In this regard regional forum like Saarc can play a substantial role in sharing knowledge, technical expertise and financial matter to face the global challenges.

Right action plan is another important thing. In the World Summit on the Information Society, all countries agreed to develop action plan but Bangladesh, unfortunately, failed to unite itself with this practice. It is mandatory to develop proper action plan based on right national policies for the successful implementation of any strategy.

Public-private partnership is also crucial to materialise the idea of KBS. Private sector can come forward to develop solutions and generates employment opportunity. But it is the government’s responsibility to ensure the atmosphere for investment.

Alliance between industry and academia is another important thing to promulgate the concept of KBS. The active participation of academicians significantly improves knowledge management tactics and helps to take prudent decision.

The role of the media is also important in the development of knowledge-based society. The media can ensure wide access to information and create awareness as well. Bangladesh has 10 private TV channels which air different constructive programs. As satellite connectivity is needed to view the programs, most rural people do not have access to them. The government can provide some TV channels with terrestrial transmission facility.

Some private organisations have helped a lot in building a knowledge-based society. Reza Salim, project director of Amader Gram, told StarTech about “Knowledge Fair”, an initiative to promulgate the idea of knowledge society across the country. “There is a bright prospect of knowledge society in Bangladesh. We first require three things such as enabling the environment, proper policy and strategic planning”, Salim said.

Microsoft Bangladesh and Development Research Network (D.Net) have started their venture to produce knowledge-based manpower by initiating Click (Community for Learning Information, Communication and Knowledge) programme, a part of ‘Microsoft Unlimited Potential’ scheme and under this programme thirteen village information centres will be established in different parts of Bangladesh.

Anayana Raihan, executive director D.Net said, “We need more investment in education sector because it is necessary to produce skilled human resources”. He also suggested following the instance of ICTA (Information and Communication Technology Agency) of Sri Lanka for the well coordination of ICT-oriented activities.

D.Net’s concept of Mobile Lady, local language information knowledge base for the rural poor — ‘Jeeon’ and Village Information Centers known as ‘Pallitathya Kendras’ have revolutionized the access to information and knowledge base for the rural community.

It is true that the concept of knowledge society is not limited to information technology. But IT can be utilized to ensure transparency, empower poverty and make uniform distribution of opportunities. So it is equal responsibility both government and citizens to ensure best possible use of IT.

The new LG Scoop from Alltel has a full QWERTY keyboard for fast and easy texting and a chat-style messaging interface. And with Yahoo! and AOL IM preloaded you’ll never miss a message!

LG Scoop is a great choice for those who do a lot of text, picture, video, or instant massaging. LG Scoop looks very nice, with its small, slim profile and seems like a normal phone. It’s hidden QWERTY keyboard – which lets the massage quickly and accurately. Insides the scoops offers broadband web access, streaming TV and music from ALLTEL, one music player, 1.3 megapixel camera and more.

Features

The Scoop stores 500 contacts number with room in each entry for five numbers, two email address, notes and assign callers group pairs them with a picture, 24 polyphonic ring tones. It’s basic feature vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, an alarm clock, calendar, tip calculator, notepad, calculator, speakerphone, world clock, stopwatch, and unit converter and so more higher end option is voice dialing, Bluetooth, voice recorder, USB mass storage, PC Modem support, email through the wireless web browser.

The scoop’s camera offer a different set of options, more image resolution settings, such as resolutions (1280×960, 640×480, 320×240, 176×144, and 160×120), and choose from three quality settings. Other features include a night mode, self- timer, and color effects on five, an adjustable brightness and white balance setting. The video recorder takes video in two resolutions (176×144 and 128×96) and offers a few editing options. The Scoop offers 64MB of internal memory, and the microSD card slot will accommodate cards up to 4GB. Photo quality is quite poor. It’s images is too blurry, objects lacked clear definition and color is muted and washed out.

The Scoop’s music player is attractive broad. It’s a lot of features save for an equalizer and playlists. It’s supports multiple file types (MP3, AAC, and AAC+). The Scoops dose not support wireless music download but that’s not really an issue since Alltel doesn’t offer a music download service anyway.

The Scoops with variety wallpaper, color schemes and banner. The phone doesn’t come with any games but download them from Alltel’s the wireless Web browser.

Design

The LG Scoop has a pretty candy bar plan that hides its full keyboard at the back its descending front face. At 4.35 inches by 2.02 inches by 0.71 inch and 4.2 ounces, it’s exactly the same size as the Rumor. The Scoop comes in three colors: citrus, slate, and turquoise. We look at the slate model but the features are the same on all versions.

The Scoop’s display is 2” supports 262000 colors (176*200 pixels). It’s menu use to easy, and like that Alltel included support for its Cell top application. As wish changes the brightness level, font type and dialing font size.

LG Scoops is circular clasp with a central ok button, two soft keys, a dedicated speakerphone control, a back button, and the Talk and End keys. They merge in with the back border nearby the display so they can be hard to see in dim lighting. The keypad buttons in exacting are well-spaced with a bright backlighting.

The Scoops are sliding front face to the left will expose the QWERTY keyboard. It’s keyboard is specious and easy to use. Good complaint here again about the lack of a dedicated punctuation key but that’s a slight subject. Sliding the keyboard rotates the display’s orientation mechanically.

At last the outside of the phone are a headset jack, micro SD card slot on the right side

and volume control, camera cover on the left side. The charger port is seated on the underside of the Scoop, and the camera be seated on the back face.

It’s good

LG Scoops has a good looking, use so comfortable and specious keyboard, so on include this scoops are Bluetooth, voice dialing and multimedia massage option.

It’s bad

LG Scoop’s has lower photo quality, and the voice quality could be a bit metallic.

Highlights
• 1.3 Megapixel Digital Camera/Camcorder Takes Print-quality Stills, or Extra-long Video Clips
• Bluetooth Wireless Technology
• Built-in Music Player Lets You Download Music Over-the-air Or Sync With A PC (USB Cable Required)
• Hidden QWERTY Keyboard Creates Messages Quickly and Accurately
• Large, Crisp Color Display
• Small, Lightweight Messaging Phone Lets You Crank Out Text, Picture, Video and Instant Messages
• Surf The Internet - Visit Your Favorite Web Sites At Broadband Speeds
• Works With Alltel’s Celltop Software, To Integrate Widgets Into Your Home Screen

Battery qualification
• Battery Type – LiIon
• Talk Time - Up to 180 Minutes
• Standby Time - Up to 140 Hours

Technical Specifications
• Application Platform - Java MIDP 2.1
• Data Download Speed - 1xRTT (Up to 130 Kbps)
• Network Compatibility - CDMA 800, 1900
• Compatible Carrier - Alltel Wireless
• 3G Data Speeds - Yes
• Built-In Memory - 128MB Built-in
• Expandable Memory Capacity - Supports MicroSD/Transflash Format Cards, Up to 4GB Card Sizes Max
• Ringtone Types Supported - MIDI, QCELP, MP3, AAC, AAC+ and Video Ringers
• Dimensions - 4.3 in x 2.0 in x 0.7 in
• Weight - 4.2 oz