Last updated: June 2024
Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), as a part of its annual development programme, has been leading the coastal afforestation programme to stabilize Bangladesh’s coastline and create green belt. In order to establish mangrove forests in coastal areas, specifically chars in the southern coastal zone, the Forest Department undertook an afforestation project in the new deltas developed in the Bay. Afforestation is being used in vulnerable coastal areas, where the initiative brought mangrove species to the region in order to act as shelters for the exposed coastal communities subject to powerful cyclones, tidal surges, coastal erosion, and other disasters. In terms of the severity of the effects of climate change, Bangladesh is at the forefront, especially for coastal populations, as their livelihoods are wrecked by storms. Nature-based Solutions (NBS) are emerging as significant instruments for coping with climate change, while traditional methods of prevention, such as hard flood defence, have proven to be impractical and unsustainable. Additionally, the project includes greening of the whole coastal regions including creation of strip gardens and home gardens to improve the biodiversity of the area and to stabilize the newly found land. Furthermore, the coastal afforestation project will also help to develop newly accreted land of an island (char) in the Bay of Bengal, which is being included with Bangladesh's mainland from 2021. [Ref 1,3,4,6]
Coastal Afforestation
Source: (Ref 5)
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Blue infrastructure
- Coastlines
- Coastal wetland, mangroves and salt marshes
- Grey infrastructure featuring greens
- Alley or street trees and other street vegetation
- Railroad bank and track greens
- House gardens
Key challenges
- Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
- Climate change adaptation
- Climate change mitigation
- Coastal resilience and marine protection (SDG 14)
- Coastal protection / hazard mitigation
- Marine and coastal biodiversity protection
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Habitat and biodiversity conservation
- Green space creation and/or management
- Water management (SDG 6)
- Flood protection
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Coastal landscape management or protection, Protection of natural ecosystems
Project objectives
1. Accelerating accretion and stabilizing newly accreted char land;
2. Increasing green vegetation coverage as a protective shelter belt against cyclones and tidal surges as an adaptive measure against adverse effects of climate change;
3. Increase the carbon sink capacity of the mangrove forest to help mitigation of climate change impacts;
4. Enhancing the biodiversity of marine flora and fauna through the development of habitats and breeding facilities
5. Creating mangrove forests on 25,000 hectares of newly risen chars in the southern coastal belt. [Ref 1, 2]
Implementation activities
The project has been implemented in the coastal belts of 67 upazilas under nine districts - Potuakhali, Barguna, Pirojpur, Bhola, Noakhali, Laksmipur, Feni, Chattogram and Cox's Bazar. So far, 8,147 hectares of land have come under the project. The implementation activities were performed in three ways. a) Mangrove plantation, b) Strip garden creation and c) Home garden creation. Mangrove trees such as Keora, Bain, Kakra and Geowa per hectare are being planted in the project area. In Patuakhali, Bhola, Noakhali, and Chittagong districts, 311080 trees, 8888 trees, 1776000 trees, and 44440 trees have been planted, respectively. 4,444 mangrove plants are being planted per hectare area. The distance between two saplings is maintained at 1.5 meters for optimal growth. For strip gardening, seedlings are being planted on the side of roads, highways, alleys, streets, driveways and railroads. In every kilometre, 1000 seedlings are being planted. So far, 747 kilometres of strip gardens have been created. Apart from this, the project targeted creating 40,000 gardens on residential blocks in the coastal area while such gardens have been created in 21,514 houses. [Ref 1, 2]
Climate-focused activities
Climate change adaptation:
- Protect coastal and freshwater ecosystems to prevent coastal erosion and pollution
- Restore wetlands and/or coastal ecosystems to dissipate the effects of flooding and/or storms
Climate change mitigation:
- Implement sustainable forest management measures to increase carbon sinks/ improve carbon storage
- Improve carbon sequestration through selection of more adaptable species
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity conservation:
- Protect and enhance urban habitats
- Create new habitats
- Protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect native species
- Means for conservation governance
- Public engagement
Biodiversity restoration:
- Restore ecological connectivity
Main beneficiaries
- Citizens or community groups
- Marginalized groups: Socio-economically disadvantaged populations (e.g. low-income households, unemployed)
Governance
Management set-up
- Government-led
Type of initiating organisation
- National government
- Local government/municipality
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Taskforce groups
- Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
- Co-management/Joint management
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
The project included several governmental actors, including the department of Agency-Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, the Implementing Agency-Forest Department, and the Planning agency-Department of Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Institutions.
Specific roles include:
Muhammed Abul Faysal- Team Leader;
Dr. Md. Kawsar Hossen-Biodiversity Specialist;
Dr. Mofajjol Hossain- Climate Specialist;
Md. Hafijur Rahman-Statistician;
Md. Ashraful Awal-Co-ordinator;
S. M Hamidul Haque-Director general;
Md. Mahbubur Rahman-Director;
Md. Ajgar Ali- Assistant Director [Ref 2]
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
No
... a national policy or strategy?
Yes
(The sources do not mention specifically that the action has been implemented in response to a national strategy however they discuss several important environmental national plans. One of them is the Seventh Five-year plan that set a target of 30,000 hectares of coastal afforestation between 2016 and 2020 and also suggests creating a 500-meter-wide permanent coastal green belt. It is also mentioned that the action is in line with the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan-BCCSAP (2009-2018). The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP 2016−2021) was also mentioned. NBSAP has a target on forestry towards biodiversity conversation and this is aligned with SDG Target 15.2 which promotes the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests and substantially increases afforestation and reforestation globally. [Ref 2, 6])
... a local policy or strategy?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
More than €4,000,000
Source(s) of funding
- Public national budget
Type of funding
- Earmarked public budget
Non-financial contribution
Type of non-financial contribution
- Provision of labour
- Provision of expertise
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
- Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
- Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate change
- Enhanced carbon sequestration
- Environmental quality
- Improved protection against strong wind
- Water management and blue areas
- Increased protection against flooding
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Increased number of species present
Economic impacts
- Unknown
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Improved access to urban green space
- Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Safety
- Improved community safety to climate-related hazards
Type of reported impacts
Expected impacts, Achieved impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Yes
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
Yes
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No
References
1. Saifuddin S. (2020). Afforestation project taken even before new land rises in Bay. The Business Standard. URL: Source link. Accessed on 23 January, 2023.
2. BFD. (2020). Afforestation in Coastal Region including the Newly Accreted Chars of Bay of Bengal. URL:Source link. Accessed on 23 January, 2023.
3. Haider. M. J. (2022). How mangrove afforestation can fight the adverse effects of climate change. the Business Standard. URL: Source link. Accessed on 20 January, 2023.
4. UNCC. (n.d). Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change through Coastal Afforestation (CBACC-CF) Project - Bangladesh. URL:Source link. Accessed on 20 January, 2023.
5. The daily observer(2021) Newly formed land in Bay to be mapped with mainland this year . URL:Source link. Accessed on 23 January, 2023.
6. NBS Bangladesh, Coastal afforestation, available at Source link Accessed 26 January, 2023
2. BFD. (2020). Afforestation in Coastal Region including the Newly Accreted Chars of Bay of Bengal. URL:Source link. Accessed on 23 January, 2023.
3. Haider. M. J. (2022). How mangrove afforestation can fight the adverse effects of climate change. the Business Standard. URL: Source link. Accessed on 20 January, 2023.
4. UNCC. (n.d). Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change through Coastal Afforestation (CBACC-CF) Project - Bangladesh. URL:Source link. Accessed on 20 January, 2023.
5. The daily observer(2021) Newly formed land in Bay to be mapped with mainland this year . URL:Source link. Accessed on 23 January, 2023.
6. NBS Bangladesh, Coastal afforestation, available at Source link Accessed 26 January, 2023
Coastal Afforestation
Source: (Ref 2)
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the "NBS 2022" UNA Asian extension project funded by the Asia-Europe Foundation.