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Resource
Creating a Legal Basis for Community Co-management of Wetlands (Under USAID CREL Project in Bangladesh) (2016-2018)
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In Bangladesh, freshwater wetlands provide fish, an important source of protein, to millions of people. These “haor” ecosystems are threatened by over-harvesting of fish and destruction of wetlands for other land uses.
Evidence from other countries shows that community-based approaches to conservation can protect fragile ecosystems, like haors, from overexploitation. However, in Bangladesh, there is no legal basis for community co-management of haors.
In 2015 Winrock’s USAID-funded Climate-Resilient Ecosystems and Livelihoods (CREL) project partnered with Winrock’s JDR 3RD Scholars Program to commission a one-year study to assess the difference in outcomes when wetland areas in northern Bangladesh are co-managed by community Resource Management Organizations, as compared with privately managed wetlands.
The CREL/JDR 3RD Wetland team (below) includes expertise in wetland management law and policy, ecology, biology, biodiversity, and sociology.
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The team is conducting household surveys, focus group discussions and key informant interviews in villages near Hail Haor and Kawadighi Haor, and is meeting with local and national government officials.
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The team’s Expert Advisors include:
- Md. Rashedul Islam, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Land (MOL);
- Dr. Abdul Quaiyyum, Project Director, Fisheries Department (DOF);
- Dr. Paul Thompson, Senior Co-management Advisor to CREL; and
- Dr. Mokhles Rahman, Executive Director, Center for Natural Resource Studies (CNRS).