Economic importance of wetland resources and community participation :a case study in Tanguar Haor, Bangladesh | |
| Author | Kabir, Md. Humayun |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.NR-06-18 |
| Subject(s) | Wetland management--Bangladesh--Tanguar Haor Wetlands--Economic aspects--Bangladesh--Tanguar Haor |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. NR-06-18 |
| Abstract | About fifty percent of the land in Bangladesh is classified as wetlands. This covers an estimated seven to eight million hectares of land considered to be one of the most important as well as sensitive components of the ecosystems in Bangladesh. Tanguar haor, one of the largest natural wetlands of the haor basin covers an area of 10,000 hectares with forty-six villages scattered in surrounding private lands. The haor, located in the northeastern part of the country is extremely important for its large and diverse waterfowl populations and other resources that play a crucial role in the local people's livelihood as well as on the national economy. Considering the immense importance of the haor, it has been designated as a country's second Ramsar site, and the leasing system has been abolished from the haor system after the Ramsar declaration in 2000. With the aim of implementing the wise-use concept of Ramsar Convention, the management responsibility of the haor was assigned to the District Administration of Sunamganj under the Ministry of Environment and Forest by the Government of the country. But due to the socio-political situation of the country, the wise use of the Ramsar Convention and national haor conservation laws and regulations have not been implemented in the site till to-date. On the other hand, the local people, the major stakeholders of the haor, are directly or indirectly dependent for multiple uses of the haor resources. Among the respondents, onethird (29.2%) talked about the dependence on wetland vegetation (fuel collection) for domestic cooking, while 27.2% of the total respondents emphasized on farming of agricultural crops (especially boro rice) in haor lands. Most of the male adults are dependent on farming activities within the haor, either as farmers or as wage labourers. Moreover, they have to depend on fisheries mainly for subsistence fishing (8.8%), animal fodder and grazing (25.9%). Not only that the local people are extremely dependent of the haor water for transportation and plant resources for various uses. Most importantly, the haor is also used to cultivate rice (staple food) during the winter flood-free season. In other words, the biological resources of Tanguar haor are immensely important on the economic activities of the local people, and the livelihood of the local community is totally encompassed based on the haor resources. Although the natural resources have greater importance to the locals, the former leaseholders and the existing haor management authority have excluded the local community from any kind of resource extraction that greatly impacted on the locals' livelihood. Being denied to the rights of access and withdrawal of the haor resources, the locals can not consider the resources as their own property, and often go for illegal harvesting. Moreover, most of the locals (about 100%) are aware of the gradual depletion of the haor resources, and they have better understanding of haor conservation. Therefore, most of them (98%) are willing to participate in the conservation practices mainly with the aim of getting their rights of access and extraction of resources and conservation of the haor ecosystem. The respondents of the present study have considered their "participation in the management practices" as very important (47.3%) and important (48.7%). Therefore, the wise-use concept of Ramsar Convention should immediately be implemented by ensuring the active participation of the local community with the management system in order to have sustainable management of Tanguar haor. In this case, the international conservation agencies should extend their cooperation in implementing the Ramsar principles in the study site |
| Year | 2006 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. NR-06-18 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Natural Resources Management (NRM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Shivakoti, Ganesh P.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Dietrich Schmidt-Vogt;Ahmad, Mokbul Morshed;Amin, Shahalam M.N.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2006 |