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Land use in coastal Bangladesh is diverse, competitive and conflicting. Agriculture, shrimp farming, salt production, forestry, ship-breaking yards, ports, industry, settlements and wetlands are some of the uses. Land uses have gone through major changes. Land use in the 1950s had been mainly for paddy cultivation, but salinity intrusion and tidal flooding prevented further intensification. Hence, in the 1960s-1980s, the World Bank and others helped with large-scale polderization in order to boost rice production. A decade later, drainage congestion inside and heavy siltation outside the polders made the southwestern area unsuitable both for agriculture, and, in extreme cases, even for human habitation. However, as the region has a history of traditional shrimp farming, polders provided an opportunity for intensive shrimp farming. Crop land and mangroves were transformed to shrimp farming. This created social conflict. Planned management of diverse land use, including zoning, has been recommended since. This chapter focuses on the complexities of land use in Bangladesh and the adopted institutional approaches.

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