Coastal and
Wetland Biodiversity Management in
Cox’s Bazar and Hakaluki Haor
(CWBMP)
In recent years,
Bangladesh has demonstrated increased
determination and commitment to address
the challenges of ensuring sustainable
use and conservation of its natural
resources, including its biodiversity.
A number of specific policies, laws,
action plans and strategies have been
developed in this regard. A major
current challenge is to ensure the
effective implementation of the 1995
Environmental Conservation Act, which
includes a key provision providing
the Department of Environment (DoE)
with broad powers for conservation
of sites that it determines to be
Ecologically Critical Areas (ECAs).
In the context of formulating the
present project, BGD/99/G31-Costal
and Wetland Biodiversity Management
in Cox's Bazar and Hakaluki Haor,
DoE has taken the crucial step of
nominating the first six ECAs, all
within the country’s highly
significant coastal, marine and freshwater
wetland ecosystems. The overall objective
of the present project is to establish
an innovative system for management
of ECAs in Bangladesh that will have
a significant and positive impact
on the long-term viability of the
country’s important biodiversity
resources. The project will support
DoE efforts to operationalize the
ECA concept at two main sites: one
site (which includes three ECAs) within
the country’s long and biodiversity-rich
coastal zone and the second at one
of the largest and most important
of the country’s many inland
freshwater wetlands. Through a combination
of GEF incremental cost financing
and baseline and co-financing, conservation
and sustainable use of these sites
will be demonstrated. This demonstration
should create important opportunities
for replication in coastal, freshwater
wetland and other ecosystems throughout
the country, including other sites
recently nominated as ECAs. This present
project(BGD/99/G31- Coastal and Wetland
Biodiversity management in Cox's Bazar
and Hakaluki Haor) is the outcome
of the recently completed PRIF STUDY
PROJECT- UNDP-GEF: BGD/94/G41-Costal
and Wetland Biodiversity Management
by Department of Environment, Ministry
of Environment and Forest (Ahmed 2002).
....
Back to Programs/Projects of the Government
of Bangladesh
Source: National Report
On Implementation Of United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification,
Bangladesh (Final Draft)
