IUCN Bangladesh

This pictorial book captures the lives and livelihoods of the farmers and fishermen in the Noakhali Sadar and Subarnachar, low-lying coastal areas of Bangladesh.It also shows adaptation measures being adopted to respond to current and future changes in the climate regime.As part of the preparation for this book a study was carried out to assess the vulnerability of the people of Noakhali.

This document summarizes Bangladesh’s existing capacity in addressing climate change, biodiversity and land degradation problems and concerns assessed through country-wide consultations. It includes an action plan developed to improve the country’s capacity in the public and private sectors and at individual, institutional and policy levels.

The Present Workshop Report compiles and summaries the papers, the discussions and the recommendations from the Regional Public Hearing Workshop held in Dhaka, Bangladesh 12 February 2006 and from the smaller Follow-Up Workshop 13 February 2006. The Workshop Reports has been compiled by Orbicon and IUCN Bangladesh. The papers are put in the report in the sequence, which would be natural for the reader, and not always in the order they were presented at the workshop.

The main objective of this report is to provide hydrological inputs that include inflow and outflow routes of water, identification of various rivers, beels and khals functioning within the Hakaluki haor region, current hydrological and hydraulic characteristics, soil characteristics of the area and land use pattern as governed by hydraulic regimes, information on natural resources like flora and fauna and suggestions on development of a Community-based Haor Resources Management Project.

IUCN Bangladesh has undertaken this initiative in association with Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) under the Sustainable Environment Management Programme (SEMP) in the Madhumati Floodplain. Under this project one of the interventions is to promote alternative livelihood options. Baira farming was one of the options suggested by the people of that area.