Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Population growth is considered the most serious long-term problem for the environment.
Increases in population and poverty precipitate many forms of environmental degradation, including deforestation and overexploitation of fisheries. Agricultural lands are becoming less fertile due to heavy use of agrochemicals, while increased efforts to irrigate crop areas are facilitating the depletion of groundwater. Shortages of water in river systems during the dry season are suspected to be moving the saline belt northward. Commercial felling of timber and encroachments for agricultural and settlement purposes have substantially reduced forest area. Total Reserve Forest area has been reduced by 50 percent during the past 20 years, and there has been a continuous loss of valuable mangroves in the Sundarbans.