Managing diverse land uses in coastal Bangladesh: institutional approaches.

Islam, M. R.; Hoanh, Chu Thai; Tuong, T. P.; Gowing, John; Hardy, B.

doi:10.1079/9781845931070.0237

Cited by 78 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Moreover, shrimp farming also reduced mangrove diversity, which also favoured shrimp farming because of the high suitability of mangrove area for shrimp farming. Besides this positive feedback for shrimp farming, changes in water discharges and temperature become self-perpetual through the feedback loops, in which reduction in water availability because of Farakka dam increases temperature, which leads to decrease in water availability polderisation and flood control projects in 1960s produced an environment that was favourable for shrimp cultivation (Islam 2006;Mirza and Ericksen 1996). In turn, this led to the destruction of around 9,500 ha of mangrove forest (Azad et al 2009) followed by reduced accessibility of forest products (r = *0.59) due to imposed regulations (Iftekhar and Islam 2004).…”

Section: Social and Biophysical Driversmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Sundarbans protect [10 million people from cyclonic storms, but are vulnerable to cyclonic damage, as in 2007 when *36 % of the mangrove area was severely damaged, leading to losses of livelihood (CEGIS 2007). Construction of dams (Mirza 1998) in upstream channels of the Ganges river system and dykes and polders in the south-west coastal area (Islam 2006) has modified river flows to the mangroves and the balance of freshwater and seawater. These hydrological effects on water quality have been exacerbated by the shrimp farm industry (Swapan and Gavin 2011) over the last two decades.…”

Section: The Bangladesh Delta Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recent changes in ecosystem services and human well-being in the Bangladesh coastal zone

et al. 2015

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This study takes an historical approach in order to establish how the form and function of the social-ecological system that represents the Bangladesh south-western coastal zone has changed over recent decades. Time series data for a range of ecosystem services and drivers are analysed to define the range of trends, the presence of change points, slow and fast variables and the significant drivers of change. Since the 1980s, increasing gross domestic product and per capita income mirror rising levels of food and inland fish production. As a result, the size of population below the poverty line has reduced by *17 %. In contrast, non-food ecosystem services such as water availability, water quality and land stability have deteriorated. Conversion of rice fields to shrimp farms is almost certainly a factor in increasing soil and surface water salinity. Most of the services experienced statistically significant change points between 1975 and 1980, and among the services, water availability, shrimp farming and maintenance of biodiversity appear to have passed tipping points. An environmental Kuznets curve analysis suggests that the point at which growing economic wealth feeds back into effective environmental protection has not yet been reached for water resources. Trends in indicators of ecosystem services and human well-being point to widespread non-stationary dynamics governed by slowly changing variables with an increased likelihood of systemic threshold changes/tipping points in the near future. The results will feed into simulation models and strategies that can define alternative and sustainable paths for land management.

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Section: Social and Biophysical Driversmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Bangladesh Delta Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent changes in ecosystem services and human well-being in the Bangladesh coastal zone

et al. 2015

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“…TRM is a periodic process of allowing river water to inundate beel (geomorphic basin) for land accretion (or reclamation) by cutting and closing of polders (Islam 2006). This intentional allowance of inundation will help to restore natural sedimentation processes as well as keep the social memory of flood risk at high levels.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More complex humanenvironment interactions have developed on the floodplains because of the increased population and economic activities and the requirement of maintaining the larger scale infrastructure. The SES has also become more tightly coupled to the greater, outside system through CSF, i.e., producing local marine resources for the global market (Islam 2006). With the accelerating globalization, the flow of people and goods between the polders and urban areas has intensified in the recent years.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Robust-yet-fragile nature of partly engineered social-ecological systems: a case study of coastal Bangladesh

Ishtiaque¹,

Sangwan²,

Yu³

2017

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Modern social-ecological systems are often partly engineered to enhance the robustness (or reduce the variance) of human welfare to environmental fluctuations over a foreseeable time horizon. Recent studies show, however, that subtle trade-offs are usually inherent in such efforts of enhancing short-term robustness. Managing variance on short time scales is likely to be associated with the buildup of hidden fragilities on longer time scales. Using a flood-prone social-ecological system (SES) of coastal Bangladesh as an example, this paper investigates some of the ways in which such robustness-fragility trade-offs can manifest. This SES has been extensively modified in the last few decades through the construction of large-scale flood protection structures (polders) and the introduction of commercial shrimp farming to enhance the robustness of food production to hydrological variability. Our case study analysis of the long-term changes in the SES shows that, although the modifications helped with stability in short time scales, the resulting changes also induced unforeseen problems such as infrastructure maintenance issues, land degradation and sinking, and exposure to market volatility. With this paper therefore we contribute to better understanding of the notion of robustness-fragility trade-offs by illustrating an exemplary case of the phenomenon in the engineered coastal environment context.

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“…One result has been progressive reduction of traditional income-earning opportunities in agriculture for coastal households (Islam 2006). This effect has compounded the risks associated with recurrent inundations in the coastal region, which are generally highest in areas directly abutting the coast.…”

Section: Household Responses To Salinization and Recurrent Inundationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facing the Hungry Tide: Climate Change, Livelihood Threats, and Household Responses in Coastal Bangladesh

Dasgupta

Hossain²,

Huq

et al. 2014

Policy Research Working Papers

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This paper quantifies the impact of inundation risk and salinization on the family structure and economic welfare of coastal households in Bangladesh. These households are already on the "front line" of climate change, so their adaptation presages the future for hundreds of millions of families worldwide who will face similar threats by 2100. The analysis is based on a household decision model that relates spatial deployment of working-age, migration-capable members to inundation and salinization threats. The analysis uses appropriate estimation techniques, including adjustments for spatial autocorrelation, and finds that households subject to high inundation and salinization threats have significantly higher out-migration rates for working-age adults (particularly males), dependency ratios, and poverty incidence than their counterparts in non-threatened areas. The findings indicate that the critical zone for inundation risk lies within four kilometers of the coast, with attenuated impacts for coastal-zone households at higher elevations. The results paint a sobering picture of life at the coastal margin for Bangladeshi households threatened by inundation and salinization, particularly households that are relatively isolated from market centers. They respond by "hollowing out," as economic necessity drives more working-age adults to seek outside earnings. Those left behind face a far greater likelihood of extreme poverty than their counterparts in less-threatened areas. The powerful results for market access, coupled with previous findings on salinity and road maintenance, suggest that infrastructure investment may offer a promising option. Road improvements that reduce travel times for isolated settlements compensate them for an increase in salinity. Thus, road improvement may warrant particular attention as an attractive adaptation investment in coastal Bangladesh. Part of our title refers to The Hungry Tide, a novel by Amitav Ghosh that portrays the suffering and resilience of families in the Sundarbans coastal region of India and Bangladesh. Facing the HungryAuthors' names are in alphabetical order.

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Managing diverse land uses in coastal Bangladesh: institutional approaches.

Cited by 78 publications

References 2 publications

Recent changes in ecosystem services and human well-being in the Bangladesh coastal zone

Recent changes in ecosystem services and human well-being in the Bangladesh coastal zone

Robust-yet-fragile nature of partly engineered social-ecological systems: a case study of coastal Bangladesh

Facing the Hungry Tide: Climate Change, Livelihood Threats, and Household Responses in Coastal Bangladesh

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