Speakers
Description
The Sundarbans mangrove forest, located in the Ganges Delta, neighbors numerous vulnerable coastal communities. The mangrove forests play a crucial role in sustaining local livelihood structures and providing key ecosystem services. Climate-induced change risks contributed saline waterlogging, and salinity intrusion in low-lying lands within polders through extreme weather events, such as cyclones, storm surges, as well as coastal flooding inundation. Furthermore, the uncontrolled expansion of brackish shrimp farming (Penaeus monodon) has further exacerbated soil and water salinization, posing severe threats to self-sufficient community-based livelihood options. These have intensified the reliance on mangrove resources, leading to the mangrove ecosystem degradation.
Nature-based Solutions (NbS) offer essential tools for protecting the Sundarbans mangroves and addressing environmental challenges and livelihood threats faced by surrounding communities, including climate change, ecological degradation, loss of biodiversity, poverty, and food insecurity. This study examines the intricate relationship between salinity intrusion risks and the resilience of community dependent on mangrove resources. The proposed Integrated Mangrove Aquaculture (IMA) practices, aligned with NbS standards and community involvement, are considered as a solution that balances mangrove ecosystem conservation and sustainable community livelihood management. Specifically, IMA provides adaptive responses to soil salinization and saltwater flooding caused by integrated factors, both of which increase the vulnerability of local livelihoods, aiming to develop a production model in the local saline environment that is both ecologically and economically beneficial. Moreover, this study introduces a data-driven assessment model, considering five sub-models and proposing 18 relevant factors for weighted criteria through spatial multi-criteria decision analysis to construct weighted spatial raster map layers. Utilizing an integrated GIS-MCE-AHP approach, the final composite weighted criteria maps create a model for site selection suitable for IMA development and visualize the map. The visual modeling map identifies four suitability levels (ranging from highly suitable to not suitable), with approximately 26.7% of the area highly suitable for implementing IMA. This research aims to propose a feasible strategy to adapt high salinity risks in the region while supporting ecological protection and economic sustainability. Additionally, the data-driven evaluation model provides scientific support for future planning and management, facilitating implementation of IMA in vulnerable communities and ultimately contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
References
Ela, M. Z., Rabya, T., Khan, L., Rahman, M. H., Shovo, T. E. A., Jahan, N., ... & Islam, M. N. (2021). Climate Change and Livelihood Vulnerabilities: The Forest Resource-Dependent Communities of the Sundarbans of Bangladesh. Climate Vulnerability and Resilience in the Global South: Human Adaptations for Sustainable Futures, 341-352. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77259-8_17
Mallick, B., Priodarshini, R., Kimengsi, J. N., Biswas, B., Hausmann, A. E., Islam, S., ... & Vogt, J. (2021). Livelihoods dependence on mangrove ecosystems: Empirical evidence from the Sundarbans. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability, 3, 100077. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsust.2021.100077
Sarkar, S. K., Rudra, R. R., Nur, M. S., & Das, P. C. (2023). Partial least-squares regression for soil salinity mapping in Bangladesh. Ecological Indicators, 154, 110825. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110825
Akter, T., Hoque, M. A. A., Mukul, S. A., & Pradhan, B. (2024). Coastal Flood Induced Salinity Intrusion Risk Assessment Using a Spatial Multi-criteria Approach in the South-Western Bangladesh. Earth Systems and Environment, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-024-00399-9
| Keywords | Livelihood Vulnerability; Climate Change; Salinity; Integrated Mangrove Aquaculture; Nature-based Solutions |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
