DHAKA, Feb 3, 2021 (BSS) – While green measures have lower costs than
human-made solutions to deal with climate change impacts, a mangrove
reforestation project helps strengthen resilient to climate change in
Bangladesh, according to a global report.
The State and Trends in Adaptation Report 2020, released recently for the
first time by the Global Center on Adaptation, says protecting and restoring
green ecosystems, such as forests and wetlands, can harness the power of
nature to complement gray infrastructure, such as dams and seawalls.
“Green measures often have lower costs than human-made solutions,” the
report revealed, mentioning that one example in Bangladesh involves
reforesting coastal greenbelts while developing floating vegetable farms and
fish cultivation.
The Integrating Community-Based Adaptation into Afforestation and
Reforestation (ICBA-AR) project in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh, was
initiated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2015.
It aims to reduce the climate vulnerability of community of communities
and increase species diversification. Coastal greenbelts are resorted with
mangrove forests and floating vegetable gardens and fisheries are being
developed, the report says.
The objective of the programme is to reduce climate vulnerability of local
communities through participatory planning, community-based management,
integration of climate resilient livelihoods and diversification of species
in afforestation and reforestation programme.
The initiative was introduced a year after cyclone Sidr in 2007, prompting
Bangladesh to shift its focus from disaster-risk reduction to climate
adaptation. In 2010, the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund and Bangladesh
Climate Change Resilience Fund were established to provide finance to
community-based adaptation and environmental infrastructure projects, among
others, the report added.
Mahmud Hassan, an additional secretary of the Environment, Forest and
Climate Change Ministry and ICBAAR national project director, said he is
highly pleased to see the progress impact highlighted in such a global
report.
“The ICBAAR has developed the adaptation capacity of the most vulnerable
forest dependent communities and involved them in guarding the forest,” he
said, adding that although the project aimed to provide diversified
livelihood for 10,500 families, it actually benefited at least 500,000
families in the coastal regions either directly or indirectly.
“The success of these innovative, climate resilient, ecosystem-based
livelihood activities of the programme has been appreciated internationally,”
Hassan said.
Bangladesh is one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world.
The country frequently faces climate change-induced natural disasters like
cyclone, flood, and storm surge.
Around 35 million people, who are living in 19 the country’s coastal
districts, are at the highest level of climate risks.
Experts predict that due to global warming, about 10 to 15 percent of the
country’s land could be inundated by 2050 and over 25 million people would be
displaced from the coastal districts.
To reduce vulnerabilities and hazards of such extreme weather events, UNDP
initiated the four-year project titled ‘Integrating Community-based
Adaptation into Afforestation and Reforestation (ICBA-AR) Programmes in
Bangladesh’.