Green reconstruction of the tsunami-affected areas in India using the integrated coastal zone management concept

A tsunami, triggered by a massive undersea earthquake off Sumatra in Indonesia, greatly devastated the lives, property and infrastructure of coastal communities in the coastal states of India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand. This event attracted the attention of environmental managers at all levels, local, national, regional and global. It also shifted the focus from the impact of human activities on the environment to the impacts of natural hazards. Recovery/reconstruction of these areas is highly challenging. A clear understanding of the complex dynamics of the coast and the types of challenges faced by the several stakeholders of the coast is required. Issues such as sustainability, equity and community participation assume importance. The concept of ICZM (integrated coastal zone management) has been effectively used in most parts of the world. This concept emphasizes the holistic assessment of the coast and a multidisciplinary analysis using participatory processes. It integrates anthropocentric and eco-centric approaches. This paper documents several issues involved in the recovery of tsunami-affected areas and recommends the application of the ICZM concept to the reconstruction efforts.     

Rice versus fish revisited: On the integrated management of floodplain resources in Bangladesh

Disproportionately little attention has been paid to the dry season trade‐off between rice and (inland capture) fish production on the floodplains of Bangladesh, compared to the same trade‐off during the flood season. As the rural economy grows increasingly dominated by dry‐season irrigated rice production, and floodplain land and water come under ever‐increasing pressure during the dry winter months, there is an urgent need to focus attention on these dry months that are so critical to the survival and propagation of the floodplain resident fish, and to the poor people that depend on these fish for their livelihood. This article examines three important dry‐season natural resource constraints to floodplain livelihoods in Bangladesh, and finds a common factor at the heart of all three: rice cultivation on lands at low and very low elevations. The article articulates the system interlinkages that bind these constraints and the long‐run trend towards irrigated rice cropping on lower‐lying lands, and suggests a management approach based on locally tailored strategies to arrest this trend. Apart from its direct relevance to the floodplains of Bangladesh, which support more than 100 million people, these lessons have relevance for river floodplain systems elsewhere in the developing world, notably the Mekong Delta.     

An ecosystem approach to analyse the livelihood of fishers of the Old Brahmaputra River in Mymensingh region,Bangladesh

This paper applies an ecosystem approach to analyse the livelihood of fishers dependent on the Old Brahmaputra River in Mymensingh, Bangladesh. Results suggest that the livelihood of fishers is increasingly threatened because of the fragile river ecosystem and poor livelihood assets. Most fishers face a wide range of vulnerability including shocks, trends and seasonality. This is because the ecosystem of the resource base on which their livelihood depends (i.e. the Old Brahmaputra River) has been degraded severely resulting in a significant decline in fish catch due to a combination of factors, such as over-fishing, use of destructive fishing gears, water pollution, siltation, rapid urbanisation and environmental degradation. We propose an adoption of the socio-ecological system with active community participation in the management of the resource base and collaboration amongst key stakeholders to produce positive livelihood outcomes for the fishers.     

River Dolphins in Bangladesh: Conservation and the Effects of Water Development

Platanista gangetica ) are threatened in Bangladesh from the effects of dams, large embankment schemes, dredging, fisheries bycatch, directed hunting, and water pollution. Visual surveys of the section of the Jamuna River located between the divergence of the Old Brahmaputra River and the confluence of the Padma River and the section of the Kushiyara River located between the Bangladesh–India border and the confluence of the Korangi River recorded a sighting rate of 0.13 sightings/km (mean group size = 1.8 dolphins) and 0.08 sightings/km (mean group size = 3.8 dolphins), respectively. These sections of river were considered to be priority areas for investigation because several water development projects have already been constructed and more are planned for the areas. During the surveys we examined the remains of dolphins caught accidentally in plastic gillnets and observed fishermen catching the fish species Clupisoma garua using dolphin oil and body parts as a fish attractor. Additional studies are needed to assess the status of dolphins and effects of water development and fisheries bycatch. Feasibility studies should be conducted on designating dolphin/fish sanctuaries and creating artificial habitat or enhancing existing habitat in eddy countercurrent scour pools to mitigate deleterious impacts. The environmental requirements of river dolphins reflect the needs of productive and biotically diverse tropical rivers.     

Zonal management of arsenic contaminated ground water in Northwestern Bangladesh

This paper used ordinary kriging to spatially map arsenic contamination in shallow aquifers of Northwestern Bangladesh (total area  35,000 km²). The Northwestern region was selected because it represents a relatively safer source of large-scale and affordable water supply for the rest of Bangladesh currently faced with extensive arsenic contamination in drinking water (such as the Southern regions). Hence, the work appropriately explored sustainability issues by building upon a previously published study (Hossain et al., 2007; Water Resources Management, vol. 21: 1245–1261) where a more general nation-wide assessment afforded by kriging was identified. The arsenic database for reference comprised the nation-wide survey (of 3534 drinking wells) completed in 1999 by the British Geological Survey (BGS) in collaboration with the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) of Bangladesh. Randomly sampled networks of zones from this reference database were used to develop an empirical variogram and develop maps of zonal arsenic concentration for the Northwestern region. The remaining non-sampled zones from the reference database were used to assess the accuracy of the kriged maps. Two additional criteria were explored: (1) the ability of geostatistical interpolators such as kriging to extrapolate information on spatial structure of arsenic contamination beyond small-scale exploratory domains; (2) the impact of a priori knowledge of anisotropic variability on the effectiveness of geostatistically based management. On the average, the kriging method was found to have a 90% probability of successful prediction of safe zones according to the WHO safe limit of 10 ppb while for the Bangladesh safe limit of 50 ppb, the safe zone prediction probability was 97%. Compared to the previous study by Hossain et al. (2007) over the rest of the contaminated country side, the probability of successful detection of safe zones in the Northwest is observed to be about 25% higher. An a priori knowledge of anisotropy was found to have inconclusive impact on the effectiveness of kriging. It was, however, hypothesized that a preferential sampling strategy that honored anisotropy could be necessary to reach a more definitive conclusion in regards to this issue.     

Pond management in rural Bangladesh: problems and possibilities in the context of the water supply crisis

Today, Bangladesh is confronted with an immense water supply crisis: the decline of surface water bodies as well as a fall in the water table, together with the multiple pollution of the water in general, has put pressure on a precious resource that needs to meet the demand of a growing population. However, the most serious problem became public just four years ago—the contamination of the groundwater with arsenic. Considering the extent of the water supply problem, solutions for the future provision of safe drinking water are urgently needed. This article argues that ponds, a traditional water source in Bangladesh, could contribute to a solution. However, it is essential to recognise the problems and advantages of ponds in order to make suggestions on how to integrate ponds into the national water policy. Therefore, this paper analyses pond management—the use, maintenance and control of ponds—and its change from the past to the present. A holistic, dynamic and actor-oriented approach on a small scale was proved to be the appropriate instrument for this analysis.     

Sustainable coastal resources management: principles and practice

Coastal zones are currently experiencing intense and sustained environmental pressures from a range of driving forces. Responsible agencies around the globe are seeking ways of better managing the causes and consequences of the environmental change process in coastal areas. This article discusses the basic principles underpinning a more integrated approach to coastal management, as well as the obstacles to its implementation in both developed and developing countries. The fulfilment of the goal of sustainable utilisation of coastal resources via integrated management is likely to prove to be difficult. Any successful strategy will have to encompass all the elements of management from planning and design through financing and implementation. An interdisciplinary analytical and operational approach is also required, combined with a more flexible and participatory institutional structure and emphasis to account for multiple stakeholders and resource demands. As historical and institutional perspectives as well as socio-economic and cultural contexts are also important, two case studies (based on UK and Vietnamese experiences) are presented in order to identify arguments and examine these aspects in more detail.     

A participatory approach to ecosystem conservation: fuzzy cognitive maps and stakeholder group analysis in Uluabat Lake,Turkey

Fuzzy cognitive mapping was used to develop a participatory ecosystem management plan for Uluabat Lake, Turkey. Interviews were conducted with stakeholders belonging to six different groups. Lake pollution was the most central and most mentioned variable for stakeholders. Stakeholder groups agree that lake pollution is negatively affecting ecosystem health and thereby local economies. Thus, reducing lake pollution was chosen as the overall goal for the management plan. Possible ways to reduce lake pollution and increase ecosystem health were seen differently by the different groups. Hunters, factory managers, NGO personnel, and local people thought industry was the main cause of lake pollution, while officials from the government and local municipalities thought roads and urban development contributed the most to lake pollution. Generally the stakeholder groups did not perceive their own actions as affecting the lake as strongly as other groups thought. For example, factory managers viewed factory pollution as negatively affecting the lake but less strongly than the other groups did. According to policy option simulations, reducing lake pollution had positive effects on all variables, especially fish, birds, animal husbandry, irrigation, agriculture, and the ecological balance of the lake. Results of this analysis were used to facilitate meetings among stakeholder groups and to develop a participatory ecosystem management plan. The analysis was useful for pointing out the similarities as well as the differences among the groups. It also helped the facilitators understand the focus of each stakeholder group and enabled them to suggest activities in which each group would want to participate.     

Coupling ecosystem science with management: A Great Lakes perspective from Green Bay,Lake Michigan,USA

Continued resource degradation in various areas of the Great Lakes has led to doubts of the adequacy of conventional science and management approaches. The need for a more holistic approach, identified as an ecosystem approach, appears now to be more widely accepted although progress with implementation is slow. We argue here that ecosystem science is an integral part of an ecosystem approach and is a prerequisite to effective management planning.One of the problems of implementing an ecosystem approach is forging the link between ecosystem based research and management. For Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA, certain structural and functional qualities of the ecosystem have been used to define operational guides and to formulate management objectives. These objectives are being utilized in the development of a remedial action plan for Green Bay.Deceased 5 February 1986.     

An assessment of urban development into coastal wetlands using historical aerial photography: a case study

Like many other states in the USA, Virginia passed legislation to protect coastal wetlands with limited information on the rate and location of past wetlands conversions. This information, however, can be useful in the design of cost-effective and flexible programs for wetlands management, particularly when such information is used in combination with studies of the socioeconomic value of wetlands. This paper reports on the use of photogrammetric and interpretive methods to determine historical changes in wetlands use for Virginia Beach and Accomack counties, Virginia. Conclusions are drawn as to the use of such information in policy design and program monitoring.     

Review of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in coastal zones of the Southeast and Gulf Coast regions of the United States with management implications

Groundwater serves as the primary drinking water source for over half of the coastal populations of the Southeast and Gulf Coast regions, two of the fastest growing regions in the United States. Increased demand for this resource has exceeded sustainable yields in many areas and induced saltwater intrusion of coastal aquifers. A process associated with coastal groundwater, submarine groundwater discharge (SGD), has been documented as a source of subsurface fluids to coastal ocean environments throughout the Southeast and Gulf Coast regions and is potentially a significant contributor to nearshore water and geochemical budgets (i.e., nutrients, carbon, trace metals) in many coastal regions. The importance of groundwater as a drinking water source for coastal populations and the influences of submarine groundwater discharge to the coastal ocean warrant increased research and management of this resource. This paper highlights findings from recent SGD studies on three hydrogeologically different continental margins (Onslow Bay, NC, southern Florida, and the Louisiana margin), provides background on the common methods of assessing SGD, and suggests a regional management plan for coastal groundwater resources. Suggested strategies call for assessments of SGD in areas of potentially significant discharge, development of new monitoring networks, and the incorporation of a regional coastal groundwater resources council.     

Definition of Homogeneous Environmental Management Units for the Catalan Coast

Geographical areas constitute the basic implementation locus for integrated coastal zone management strategies and activities. Because the definition of territorial planning objectives may be affected by socioeconomic and environmental characteristics, one of the main steps in the process involves dividing the coast into homogeneous environmental management units (HEMUs). This article presents a general and simple method for regionalizing the landside of a coastal zone into HEMUs and illustrates it through application to the Catalan coast. Socioeconomic and natural (biophysical) subsystems were selected as the most appropriate dimensions of the regionalization process. Dimensions were described using 11 spatial themes, which were managed in a geographic information system environment that proved to be an adequate tool for the purpose. A final coastal zone map of four classes of HEMUs connected to local administrative units was obtained, and because it reflects the current natural and socioeconomic dynamics, it can be considered as an initial step in the planning process for the Catalan coast. Although the proposed method was developed based on the characteristics of the Catalan coast, it is general enough to be adapted and applied to most developed or developing coastal areas.     

Toward an improved ecosystem based management approach: incorporating catchment characteristics into better management and planning of the Great Barrier Reef marine ecosystem

Discharge from the Great Barrier Reef Catchment (GBRC) is considered the second most serious threat to the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Utilising principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA), this research aimed to assess the variability and co-variation of 28 water basins (WBs) within the GBRC, in order to improve the institutional arrangements and regulation of water quality and increase collaboration horizontally between management organisations, and vertically between government tiers. Water basin variability was measured by nine variables: size (ha), population, agricultural land use (ha), number of major water storages, major rivers and major towns, total nitrogen exported (T/yr), total phosphorus exported (T/yr) and herbicide use (ha). The Fitzroy WB, with PC scores of 7.0081, 2.2897 and ?1.6504, was identified as the most dissimilar and therefore needing to be managed differently. Many WBs within the same regions were very dissimilar to each other, indicating that current management practices, based largely on geographic location, are unlikely to be the most efficient and effective. Instead, managing groups of WBs with similar geo-political properties (determined by the CA) could be more effective and efficient. Coordination and collaboration are key to successful ecosystem based management, therefore managing similar WBs together through inter-NRM (natural resource management) agreements, irrespective of their geographical location, facilitates management bodies building strong, cooperative working relationships.     

Pressures,trends, and impacts in coastal zones: Interactions between socioeconomic and natural systems

This paper assesses the status of coastal zones in the context of expected climate change and its related impacts, as well as current and future socioeconomic pressures and impacts. It is argued that external stresses and shocks relating to sea-level rise and other changes will tend to exacerbate existing environmental pressures and damage in coastal zones. Coastal zones are under increasing stress because of an interrelated set of planning failures including information, economic market, and policy intervention failures. Moves towards integrated coastal zone management are urgently required to guide the coevolution of natural and human systems. Overtly technocentric claims that assessments of vulnerability undertaken to date are overestimates of likely future damages from global warming are premature. While it is the case that forecasts of sea-level rise have been scaled down, much uncertainty remains over, for example, combined storm, sea surge, and other events. In any case, within the socioeconomic analyses of the problem, resource valuations have been at best only partial and have failed to incorporate sensitivity analysis in terms of the discount rates utilized. This would indicate an underestimation of potential damage costs. Overall, a precautionary approach is justified based on the need to act ahead of adequate information acquisition, economically efficient resource pricing and proactive coastal planning.     

An inventory of wetland impoundments in the coastal zone of Louisiana,USA: Historical trends

We inventoried wetland impoundments in the Louisiana, USA, coastal zone from the late 1900s to 1985. Historically, impoundment of wetlands for reclamation resulted in direct wetland loss after levees (dikes) failed and the impounded area was permanently flooded, reverting not to wetland, but to open-water habitat. A current management approach is to surround wetlands by levees and water control structures, a practice termed semi-impoundment marsh management. The purpose of this semi-impoundment is to retard saltwater intrusion and reduce water level fluctuations in an attempt to reduce wetland loss, which is a serious problem in coastal Louisiana. In order to quantify the total impounded area, we used historic data and high-altitude infrared photography to map coastal impoundments. Our goal was to produce a documented inventory of wetlands intentionally impounded by levees in the coastal zone of Louisiana in order to provide a benchmark for further research. We inventoried 370,658 ha within the coastal zone that had been intentionally impounded before 1985. This area is equal to about 30% of the total wetland area in the coastal zone. Of that total area, approximately 12% (43,000 ha) is no longer impounded (i.e., failed impoundments; levees no longer exist or only remnants remain). Of the 328,000 ha still impounded, about 65% (214,000 ha) is developed (agriculture, aquaculture, urban and industrial development, and contained spoil). The remaining 35% (114,000 ha) of impoundments are in an undeveloped state (wetland or openwater habitat). In December 1985, approximately 50% (78,000 ha) of the undeveloped and failed impoundments were open-water habitat. This inventory will allow researchers to monitor future change in land-water ratios that occur within impounded wetlands and thus to assess the utility of coastal wetland management using impoundments.     

Issues in the Management of the Environment and Natural Resources in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with a very low per capita income. The increasing poverty and instability in the political front led to degradation of the environment and natural resources in the country. The present article reviews the current use of natural resources in Bangladesh and the emerging issues in sustainable management of those scarce resources. The paper shows that developments in one sector have adversely affected resources in related sectors and calls for an integrated approach to management of the environment and natural resources in a sustainable manner. The development of strong institutional mechanisms is necessary to facilitate the sustainable management of resources and to prevent further deterioration of the environment.     

Development and application of an ecosystem management approach for protected natural areas

Preservation of small natural areas is not in itself a sufficient measure to maintain the integrity of the ecosystems for which they were initially set aside. Intense pressure from recreational use is just one of the many human-caused stresses that may degrade natural areas. Therefore, land-use planning and management from an ecological perspective is necessary to assess, ensure, and in some cases increase, the ecological integrity of protected natural areas. An ecosystem management approach for small protected natural areas with high recreational use is presented, based on three interrelated components: an ecological evaluation procedure of ecosystems, the implementation of management interventions on ecosystems, and the development of a monitoring scheme of ecosystem components. The ecological evaluation procedure combines two concepts: the biotic value of vegetation and wildlife and the abiotic fragility of the soils. This combined evaluation process results in the creation of a sensitivity map that can be used as a management tool for planners and managers. Management interventions, the second component of the management approach, are derived from concepts of ecological succession. Intentional human interventions are used to maintain the ecological integrity of ecosystems or in some cases to restore degraded sites. For the third component, only the basic principles of the monitoring program will be discussed. A pilot project in one of the Montreal urban community protected areas is presented to illustrate aspects of the proposed ecosystem management approach.     

Attitudes towards current and alternative management of the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest,Bangladesh to achieve sustainability

This paper examines the challenges of achieving sustainable management of the world's largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans (SMF) in Bangladesh. During the past two decades, conflicts between mangrove maintenance and the pressure to provide economic livelihoods to forest-dependent communities (FDCs) have emerged and persisted. The SMF is currently managed by the Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) under a state property rights regime. This study explores an alternative property rights regime which includes participatory approaches and co-management with FDCs to achieve sustainability, both economically and environmentally. Focus group discussions and a survey were the methods used to assess the prospects. The study finds that the absence of a management partnership between the BFD and FDCs is mainly responsible for the policy failures to achieve sustainable management of the SMF. However, evidence is presented that a ‘co-management’ property rights regime cannot be established until FDC capacity is enhanced through the formation of community level institutions.     

Evaluation of coastal zone sustainability: an integrated approach applied in Shanghai Municipality and Chong Ming Island

A systems approach has been applied to the examination of sustainable development in the coastal zone. This complex system is envisaged as comprising three sub-systems: environment and resources, economic development and society. A sustainability indicator system based on these three sub-systems has been set up to evaluate the nature of development in the coastal zone. The administrative regions of the Municipality of Shanghai and Chong Ming Island (in the Yangtze Estuary) have been selected as two coastal zones in which to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the approach. The approach indicated that the development process in Shanghai is one of weak sustainability with relatively rapid social and economic development at the cost of environment and resource degradation. In contrast, social and economic development in Chong Ming County has been limited to protect the regional environment and resources indicating a more sustainable approach to development.