Villagers regenerating the world’s largest mangrove in Bangladesh

Keywords: Ecosystem restoration, mangrove nursery, women empowerment

In the southwest of Bangladesh, local communities are helping to protect the Sundarbans, the mangrove forest on which they depend for not only food, timber and fish, but also for protection from cyclones and tidal waves.

The Sundarbans, the largest contiguous  mangrove forest in the world, which spans more than 10,000 square kilometers along the Bay of Bengal, provides an array of vital ecological and economic benefits to the millions of people that live within it and in nearby communities, who depend on the forest resources for their livelihood – from honey and fish to timber and fuel. What is more, with adjacent areas highly vulnerable to cyclones, floods and heavy tidal surges, the mangrove provides coastal communities with a natural buffer against extreme weather events.

Unfortunately, recent decades have seen the Sundarbans shrink significantly due to a combination of unsustainable human activity and climate change. Moreover, the natural balance of the precious ecosystem is under threat in different ways due to increasing salinity levels and riverbank erosion, which in turn impacts local farmers, many of whom live below the poverty line.

In 2019, the Bangladesh Environments and Development Society (BEDS), which exists to build the capacity of the most vulnerable communities in the region, began a program called Sustainable Aquaculture in Mangrove Ecosystem (SAIME) to preserve the future of the mangrove and protect those who call it home. A nature-based solution for climate change mitigation and adaptation called Integrated Mangrove Aquaculture (IMA) is key to this work.

To date, 1,250 farmers have received training about the benefits of the mangrove-based aquaculture. These increase the mangrove coverage, which not only helps farmers, who are able to increase their profits by selling shrimps, but also enhances biodiversity by creating a robust aquaculture value chain in the Sundarbans, together with increasing the amount of carbon sequestered, and making villages less susceptible to natural disasters. 

One of the people that BEDS assisted was Nomita Mondol, who lives in Paschim Dhangmari village in the Dacope sub district of Khulna district. Nomita and her family shared many of the same challenges as other local people and live with continual threat of tidal surges and cyclones. In the past, like other women in the region she used to collect seeds to use as cooking fuel.

As a result of the sensitization work of BEDS, however, she and other members of the local community today understand the importance of the seeds for reviving the retreating forest. The organization has worked with the local community to establish a community-based mangrove nursery, while with the technical and equipment support of BEDS, Nomita was also able to establish a community-based mangrove nursery on her own land. BEDS selected five women from Paschim Dhangmari village based on a range of criteria and organized a training program on mangrove nursery management for the five women, together with their families. To help further, BEDS provided bamboo and net for fencing, shading facilities, and installed water irrigation systems in each of the five nurseries.

Reflecting on how her life has changed, Nomita Mondol, is hopeful about the future: Before we used to collect the seeds and used them as cooking fuel. With the initiative of BEDS, we used the seeds and produced mangrove saplings and also sold the saplings. Last year, I earned BDT 60,000 [around USD 600] from the mangrove saplings. I use the money for my household activities and also for the educational expenses of my children. This year, I have already produced 30,000 mangrove saplings in the nursery and hope that I will be benefited by selling the mangrove saplings.

Nomita has embraced the challenge of ensuring the plants are healthy and viable in the dry season, and works hard to keep the saplings alive through regular watering and adequate shading. This year, without the support of BEDS, she has used profits from last year to produce new mangrove saplings in her nursery. Now president of an association for the central mangrove nursery established by BEDS, she is today a highly respected member of the local community.

Key to BEDS’s philosophy is the belief that the success and long-term sustainability of any conservation initiative hinges on whether local communities are truly on board, and that they fully understand the value of their participation and long-term benefits. Nomita’s success has helped inspire other local people, who now want to establish their own mangrove nurseries and learn about sapling production.

Following the success of the community-based mangrove nursery in the village of Paschim Dhangmari, and to meet the demand for mangrove saplings, BEDS established another community-based mangrove nursery in the village of Mathurapur in the Shyamnagar sub district of Satkhira district. This was followed, in 2022, by the establishment of Central Mangrove Nursery in the village of Amtola in the Dacope sub district of Khulna district. Around 1,00,000 mangrove saplings can be raised at any one in the central mangrove nurseries, which are managed by the women groups. At present, 20 families are receiving direct support from the mangrove nurseries.