Biodiversity in wetlands : assessment, function and conservation, volume 1
Floodplains
In focus : Tanguar Haor
The Tanguar Haor, in northeastern Bangladesh, is part of a wetland/floodplain complex. During the monsoon season it is entirely under water. In the dry season waters recede into the rivers and cover about 2530% of the area. These bodies of water attract many waterfowl during the winter season and are also an important breeding ground of many species of fish. Tanguar Haor provides immediate subsistence and livelihoods to some 40,000 people residing in its periphery but the standards of living are very poor, and these wetlands are exploited in unsustainable ways.
Baira : the floating gardens for sustainable livelihood
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. Moreover, variations could be identified in this traditional cultivation system in different parts of the country, indicating baira cultivation to be in an evolutionary phase here.