Tides are Changing: a People’s Plan for Upscaling Ecosystem-based Adaptation in the Tidal Rivers of Southwest Bangladesh

About

Being among the world’s most vulnerable to climate change and sea level rise, people in southwest coastal Bangladesh are advocating for a safe and healthy living environment. “Tidal River Management” offers a promising strategy to that end by restoring the river ecosystem. Yet, its sustainable and widespread implementation is hampered by a lack of people’s representation and local ownership in the planning processes and governance structures. Both ENDS, Uttaran and CEGIS are therefore working together with inhabitants and governments in the Betna-Marichhap river basin to elaborate a Community-Based Tidal River Management (CBTRM). 

The project consists of three pillars:

1. A “People’s Plan”; a participatory planning process with communities and institutional stakeholders to address the technical design, (community) resource management and livelihood planning under CBTRM in the Betna-Marichhap river basin.
2. An inclusive governance model, which focuses on the necessary institutional reforms for safeguarding community ownership under CBTRM.
3. Catalysing investment for CBTRM: engagement with financing agencies to create awareness and establish a support base for CBTRM.

With the project result – a comprehensive ‘roadmap’ to CBTRM – we aim to create a model example for this Ecosystem-based Approach to facilitate future upscaling of Community-Based Tidal River Management in southwest Bangladesh.

Project start date: May 2023

Duration: 25 months

Cohort: 3rd (February 2022 cutoff)

Award: US$250,000

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Project Status

This project is in its initial stage and activities to establish the project are underway.