Petitions for Saving the Sundarbans

Many organizations and individuals have created online petitions for saving the Sundarbans over the years. The Sundarbans, the world’s most famous mangrove-forest, is under threat because the Bangladesh government is determined to build a coal-based power plant within 14 km of its location. Obviously, environmentally concerned people, organizations, groups are against building a coal-based power plant there. Besides online petitions, there have been street protests, long-march, seminars to convince the Bangladesh government to stop it or think of alternative safe, sound, sustainable, and less risky methods.

An online petition is not a very Bangladeshi way of doing protest. The method is new, civil, and technology-dependent. Therefore, most of the petitions for saving the Sundarbans were initiated, coordinated, and campaigned by non-Bangladeshi entities like Friends of Earth, Sierra Club, Rainforest Action Network, Center for Biological Diversity, EcoSikh, Brown, and Green: South Asian Americans for Climate Justice, etc. Some Bangladeshi groups joined and supported them. Here is a list of the online effort. Some of the petitions for saving the Sundarbans are already closed, and some are still active.

Sierra Club

Petition Title: UNESCO: List the Sundarbans as a World Heritage Site in Danger!
Status: Current
Link: Click here

360.org

Petition Title: UNESCO: Stop the coal plant, save the Sundarbans
Status: Current
Link: Click here

Avaaz

Petition Title: UNESCO – Help save the Sundarbans!
Status: Current
Link: Click here

Rainforest Action Network

Petition Title: Stop the Ex-Im Bank from exporting fossil fuel pollution!
Status: Current. End on November 2nd
Link: Click here

Rainforest Action Network

Petition Title: Ex-Im Bank: Don’t Wreck the Sundarbans
Status: Current
Link: Click here

Save the Planet

Petition Title: Stop the plans for Rampal Coal Power Plant: Save Royal Bengal Tiger
Status: Closed
Link: Click here

Causes.com

Petition Title: Save Sundarban
Status: Closed
Link: Click here

Global Environment Activists

Petition Title: Stop Power Plant, Save Sundarbans
Status: Closed
Link: Click here

Center for Biological Diversity

Petition Title: Say No to Big Coal in Bangladesh’s Mangroves
Status: Closed
Link: Click here

Rainforest-rescue

Petition Title: Keep coal power plants out of tiger country!
Status: Current
Link: Click here

ForceChange

Petition Title: No Coal Plants in Tiger Habitat
Status: Current
Link: Click here

Bank Track

Petition Title: EXIM Bank India: Don’t Wreck the Sundarbans
Status: Current
Link: Click here

British Parliament

Petition Title: Stop Rampal Power Station project in Bangladesh and save wildlife
Status: Rejected
Link: Click here

Personal Effort

Nyack Clancy

Petition Title: Save the Sundarbans Bengal Tigers
Status: Current
Link: Click here

Indranil S. India

Petition Title: Save Sundarbans – Stop Rampal
Status: Current
Link: Click here

Marzia Israt

Petition Title: Stop coal-based Rampal power plant and save Sundarban
Status: Current
Link: Click here

Asif Rayhan Anik

Petition Title: Save Sundarban and its habitats
Status: Current
Link: Click here

Tarequl Islam Munna

Petition Title: Save the Sundarbans
Status: Current
Link: Click here

There are perhaps more petitions online to be found for saving the Sundarbans of Bangladesh. Not sure how effective they are in terms of policy influence in Bangladesh. In the UK, 10,000 signatures on an issue will receive a government response, and 100,000 signatures will be considered for a debate in Parliament. In the USA, the White House will give an official response if an issue gathers 100,000 signatures in 30 days.

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