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“Land Use Policy Implications of Mangrove Afforestation in Accreted Char-lands of Bangladesh Coastal Areas:

A Case Study from Hatiya Island of Noakhali District”

KISINGER Chakma (201326034)

Supervisor: Professor MASUDA Misa Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences

Tsukuba University

15 December, 2014

CONTENTS

• Background • Research Hypothesis and

objectives • Location of the study area • Methodology • Preliminary Results • Primary discussion • Future Works

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Planted mangrove forest in Hatiya island

Clearing mangroves for agriculture and habitation in Nijhum island of Hatiya

3

Background: Forest coverage of Bangladesh

Mangrove plantation has been continuing in the accreted lands by the BangladeshForest Department (BFD) since 1965

Forest Coverage (% of Total land area): 11.1% (World Bank, 2013a) 11.26% (BFD, 2011) Deforestation Rate: .2% (World Bank, 2013)

Non forest area

88.74%

Planted mangroves 0.89% Non-mangrove

forest 6.29%

Natural mangrove

forest 4.08%

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Background: Land accretion and formation of Island in the Bay of Bengal

0 2375 4750 7125 9500

1973-1979

1979-1984

1984-1990

1990-1996

1996-2000

1973-2000

Area (hectare)

Per

iod

Accretion Erosion

Annual net land gain in the Meghna Estuary: 18.82 km2

Formation of new Islands (Accreted land) in the Bay of Bengal

Mangrove afforestation to stabilise the new land

[Source:The Meghna Estuary Study (MES), Ministry of Water Resource, 2001] 4

Background: Settlement and afforestation in the accreted lands

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Accreted lands or Char-lands

Afforested Mangrove forest

Resettled river erosion victim

Extraction of Resources

Mangrove afforestation started in 1965-66 by Bangladesh forest department (BFD, 2011)

Prioritized in the National Forest Policy, 1994 Mangrove Plantation 196,000 hectare

Resettlement started in 1985 under Rehabilitation Program of the Government (Matin, 1986)

Prioritized in the National Land Use Policy, 2001 (GOB, 2001)

Resettled Victims 28,000 (2001-2013)

Background: Problem Statement

Why and How it declined?

[Modified from Hasan et al. 2013]

452.44

486.79

441.45

413

425

438

450

463

475

488

500

1976 2000 2010

Man

grov

e (1

000

heta

re)

Year

Mangrove Cover Change in Bangladesh

Research Questions? 1. Does resettlement program affect mangrove afforestation? 2. Do the priority components of the national land use policy (NLUP) and the forest policy (NFP) affect each other?

3.12%

3.34%

3.03%

6

7

Objectives of the Study: • To examine the impacts of the government’s resettlement program of

river erosion victims on mangrove afforestation in accreted lands around Hatiya Island.

• To Review policy framework for accreted land management and mangrove afforestation in Bangladesh.

Background: Hypothesis and Objectives

Location of the study area

Geographical Location: 22008‘01.93"N to 91004’43.19“E Hatiya Island is located in the Northern tip of the Bay of Bengal and a part of the central coast of Bangladesh under Noakhali District. Area: 1507 km2 Population: 452,463; Density: 300 per km2 (BBS, 2011)

Accreted Land area: 380,000 acres (Hatiya + adjacent islands) Area of Mangrove afforested Land: 196,788 acres

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Methodology

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Planted mangrove forests (Soneratia apetala) Local name: Kerfa/keora

Village 3: Batayan 44 households 264 HH members Estd. 1988

Village 4: Ananda 30 households 171 HH members Estd. 1988

Village 1:Zorekhali 19 households 110 HH members Estd. 1998 Village 2: Borodail

35 Households 221 HH members Estd. 1998

Hatiya Main Island

Nijhum Island

Structured questionnaire Survey (n=128 HHs)

Interview Of district land & forest officials

Data input and analysis

Result and discussion

Secondary Data from government agencies and previous studies

Result of the questionnaire analysis

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Result: Sex ration and household size of the respondents

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Male 49%

Female

51%

Respondents’ gender feature (N=128)

Indicates large family size <large consumption of resources>

[Source of the district and national average: BBS, 2011]

6.31 5.79

6 5.7 5.95

5.2 4.4

0 1.75 3.5 5.25 7

Borodail

Zorekhali

Batayan

Ananda

Average in…

District average

National Average

Average Household size (individuals) (N=128)

HH Size

Result: Literacy status among the respondents

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Can Sign only 23%

Neither sign nor

read 77%

Literacy status of the respondents (N=128)

Indicates high rate of illiteracy <lack of awareness on sustainable resource use>.

5 5 3 1

12

6

22

9

5

4

3

3

13

4

16

17

0

9

18

27

36

45

Borodail Zorekhali Batayan Ananda

Num

ber o

f res

pond

ents

Villages

Gender based literacy status among the respondents (N=128)

Male Litrates Male IlitratesFemale Literates Female Illiterates

literate: 29 Illiterate: 98

Result: Income range and sources

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Sources of Income: Fishing Agriculture Daily Labor Firewood Collection Small Business

20

9

27

20

16

10

17

10

0

7

14

21

28

35

Borodail Zorekhali Batayan Ananda0-50,000 BDT50,000-100,000 BDT

Num

ber o

f res

pond

ents

Annual Average Income of respondent households (N=128) Per Capita Income: 829 USD (World Bank, 2013b) 1JPY= 0.7446 BDT ( Exchange rate of 31 Aug 2014) (http://www.exchangerates.org.uk/JPY-BDT-exchange-rate-history.html)

(74 HHs)

(54 HHs) [<641 USD]

Result: Respondents’ previous settlement

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Migration trend was Southward where accreted and afforested lands exist

Respondents’ first habitat was in the Northern part of the Island and adjacent Islands

[Developed by imposing the survey data on the map of the www.bangladepedia.org ]

Result: Consumption of Mangrove for construction

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CEILING

Only Wood 28.13

% Wood and Log

71.88%

ROOF

Corru gated Sheet 68%

Straw 32%

DOOR

Wood Only 55%

Wood & Log 45%

WALL 5%

59% 5%

32%

Corrugated Sheet

Bamboo

Straw & Log

Result: Sources of Wood and Log

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Stock of Mangrove logs at house yard

Cut off logs MRT 35.16

%

RT 7.03%

Mangrove 57.81

%

Wood source for house construction (N=128)

MRT 19.53

%

RT 27.34

%

Mangrove

53.13%

Log source for house construction

MRT: Mangrove & Roadside Tree together; RT: Roadside Trees only

Indicate indiscriminate use of mangrove trees for construction and repair

Result: Consumption of Mangrove as biomass fuel (firewood, twigs, leaves)

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Cooking frequency and firewood requirement (N = 128)

03 Times Cooking

92%

04 Times Cooking

8% 73.71

75.79

82.72

76.66

0. 22.5 45. 67.5 90.

Borodail

Zorekhali

Batayan

Ananda

Weekly biomass fuel consumtion/household ( Kg)

Villa

ges

stud

ied

Average household size: 5.9

Weekly average consumption by a household: 77.22 kg or 11 kg/day

Indicate large consumption of mangroves as biomass fuel

Result: Preferred part of a tree for firewood

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Only Branch Users 14%

Branch & Leaves Users 68% Whole Tree

Users 18%

Indicates that branch and leaves of mangrove trees are mostly used for fuel. Use of whole tree shows tendency of cutting whole tree.

N: 128

Result: Mangrove consumption for cattle rearing

Composition of a Cattle sheds in the study area Average Cattle Number per family: 7.5

Cattle Sheds

Indicates around 58% cattle sheds are composed of woods and logs being collected from the planted mangroves (n: 128).

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Result: Perception of the respondents on mangrove decline and reasons

20

26

15

34

23

9

4

10

7

0

12.5

25

37.5

50

Borodail Zorekhali Batayan Ananda

Num

ber o

f res

pond

ents

Villages

Perception on Mangrove decline

Yes (98 HHs) No (30 HHs)

57

34

30

5

1

0 15 30 45 60

% of Respondents (n:98)

Perception on the reasons for mangrove decline

Indicates that encroachment of forestland by clearing mangroves for agriculture is the principal reason for mangrove decline in accreted lands.

Result: Perception on forest encroachment and official action

21

5

6

6

0

23

9

32

20

0 9 18 27 36 45

Number respondents (N=101)

Perception on Forest Official’s action over encroachment

Yes (17) No (84)

28

15

38

20

7

4

6

10

0 9 18 27 36 45

Number of Respondents (N=128)

Encroachment by clearing forest seen by the respondents

Yes (101) No (27)

Indicates lack of monitoring of the forest officials

Resettlement trend in accreted lands

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[Developed on the basis of the data obtained from the Hatiya Sub-district Land Office, Noakhali district, Date: 02 September, 2014]

Note: Applied Victims: The erosion victims who have applied to the govt. for resettlement Resettle victims: The erosion victims who have already been resettled with land entitlement by the govt.

Increasing trend of both applied and resettled erosion victims

Indication of increasing migration trend towards accreted land

0 4500 9000 13500 18000 22500

2000-20012002-20032003-20042004-20052005-20062007-20082008-20092009-20102010-20112011-20122012-2013

Number erosion victims

Year

Applied Resettled

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Resettlement in the “Reserved Forest”

Declared as Reserved Forest in 1977 and handed over to forest department for 20 years for mangrove plantation

Nijhum Island was declared as National Park & protected area in 2001

Martial law administration (1982-1990)

The government started resettlement of the migrant erosion victims in Hatiya Island in 1985 (Matin, 1986).

Breach of the section 29 and 30 of the Forest Act of 1927 (amended in 2000)

Overlap in institutional management

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State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950 (amended in 2006)

The Survey Act, 1875 (amended in 1982)

The Khas land (State-owned land) Settlement and Management Rule, 1997

Responsible for management of the accreted land

Ministry of Land Ministry of Environment & Forest

Department of Forest is held responsible only for afforestation in accreted land

The Forest Act, 1927 (Amended in 2000)

Reserved Forest & Protected Areas

Imposed dual administration over forest land

Institutional Mandates

& Jurisdiction

Lack of inter-agency coordination and monitoring

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The High Court’s stand against the government’s resettlement program in the reserved forest on accreted lands

[source: The Daily Star (2014, 23 October)

The High Court’s stand indicates the existence of overlap in legal and institutional jurisdiction of the forest and land administration agencies of the government.

No further land allotment (resettlement) or any construction in the Nijhum Island

Primary discussion

Overlap in legal mandates and government’s priority program resulted in the resettlement

of erosion victims in the reserved mangrove forest. Scope of resettlement by the

government and natural land gain insisted erosion victims to migrate into the accreted

lands. The resettled respondents were found to have direct use of mangrove trees for

housing, biomass fuel and cattle rearing in indiscriminate manner which gradually led to

destruction of mangroves.

Future works • Policy framework analysis • Statistical interpretation of tabulated data and result • Discussion and Compare with other relevant works • Conclusion • Writing

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Thank you very much

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Reference: Adnan, S. (2013). “Land grabs and primitive accumulation in deltaic Bangladesh: interactions between neoliberal globalization, state interventions, power relations and peasant resistance.” The Journal of Peasant Studies, 40(1), 87-128. BBS (2011). Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics Population and Housing Census 2011, Ministry of Planning. Bangladesh BFD, (2011) Mangrove Plantation. Bangladesh Forest Department. [Online] Available from: http://www.bforest.gov.bd/index.php/forest-category/mangrove-forests [Accessed: 02 December 2014] Matin, N. (1986). “Landless mobilisation and development of coastal areas of Bangladesh.” Volume II: General area profile. Dhaka: Nijera Kori and War on Want. World Bank, (2013a) The Little Green Data Book 2013. Washington, DC: World Bank. [Online] Available from: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/14396/9780821398142.pdf [Accessed:03 December 2014] World Bank, (2013b) GDP per capita by country. World Bank Data Bank. [Online]. Available from: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD [Accessed: 01 December 2014] Meghna Estuary Study (MES) (2001). “Hydro-morphological dynamics of the Meghna Estuary.” Meghan Estuary Study (MES) Project, Bangladesh Water Development Board. Mamun, M. (2014) Resettlement of landless people in char lands of Hatiya. [Interview]. 2nd September 2014. The Daily Star (2014) HC halts allotment of Nijhum Dwip land. October 23rd. Available from: www.thedailystart.net [Accessed: 23 October, 2014]

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