Mangrove management for climate change adaptation and sustainable development in coastal zones

ABSTRACT

Due to their prevalence in developing countries and the range of ecosystem services they provide, projects aimed at promoting mangroves align with several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals—specifically Goals 13, 14, and 15—which concern adaptation to climate change and the sustainable management of forest and coastal resources. Although mangroves themselves are sensitive to climate change, they also provide services that would help reduce damages, by sequestering carbon, enhancing coastline stability, and protecting coastal settlements from tropical storm surges. In particular, mangroves can rapidly colonize and stabilize intertidal sediments, promoting coastal accretion to reduce the impact of sea level rise. The Government of Bangladesh has established mangrove plantations with the intent to accelerate accretion and stabilize 120,000ha of coastland. As a case study, this paper uses GIS data on coastal dynamics and land cover to evaluate the effectiveness of mangrove plantations for facilitating accretion and preventing erosion in Bangladesh. The results indicate that plantation areas experience greater rates of accretion relative to erosion than non-plantation areas, confirming that mangroves have an important role to play in the sustainable development of coastal regions.

KEYWORDS:

• Bangladesh
• climate change adaptation
• coastal erosion
• ecosystem service
• land accretion
• mangrove plantation
• Sustainable Development Goals

Acknowledgments

For their technical assistance and logistical support, I wish to thank Babar Kabir, A.H.M. Rezaul Kabir, Sheikh Md. Reazul Islam, Md. Zahidur Rahman, Tanzeeba Ambereen Huq, Md. Fariduzzaman Rana, Rezaul Karim, and Ipshita Habib of BRAC; Motaleb Hossain Sarker and Iffat Huque of CEGIS; Md. Yunus Ali, Uttam Kumar Saha, Ishtiaq Uddin Ahmad, and Md. Zaheer Iqbal of the Bangladesh Forest Department; Ainun Nishat of IUCN Bangladesh; Farid Uddin Ahmed and Mohd. Abdul Quddus of the Arannayk Foundation, Ram A. Sharma of IPAC; Ahmadul Hassan, M. Aminul Islam, Paramesh Nandy, Md. Shahinur Rahman, Ronju Ahammad, and Subrata Kumer Sarker of UNDP-Bangladesh; Junaid Choudhury of North-South University; Saleemul Huq of ICCCAD; Robert Bailis of SEI; Robert Mendelsohn of Yale University; and Mozammel Haque Sarker of SPARRSO.

The original research portions of this paper were presented at the Yale International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF) Annual Conference on January 29, 2016. Thanks go to the editors at ISTF and the Journal of Sustainable Forestry as well as the anonymous referees.

Funding

This research has been supported by the Fulbright-Clinton Fellowship, the United States Department of State, the United States Environmental Protection Agency Science to Achieve Results Graduate Fellowship (Grant Number: FP917398), the Yale University Tropical Resources Institute, and the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies.

Additional information

Funding

This research has been supported by the Fulbright-Clinton Fellowship, the United States Department of State, the United States Environmental Protection Agency Science to Achieve Results Graduate Fellowship (Grant Number: FP917398), the Yale University Tropical Resources Institute, and the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies.