Project Mangrove in the Sundarbans coastal region of Bangladesh

Once there were plenty of mangroves in the periphery of the project site, but these mangroves have come under severe pressure due to climatic and anthropogenic reasons. Besides these problems, Sundarbans coastal communities have many problems, such as safe drinking water, electricity, poverty and so on. So we have adopted different types of solutions for solving these crises from our signature initiative, “The Sundarbans Ecovillage in Bangladesh", which serves as an exemplary model of integrating environmental sustainability with community development to build resilience and strengthen community-led conservation in the Sundarbans region of Bangladesh through green housing, green education and green business components. For bringing back the mangrove, we have been working on mangrove conservation and restoration under the green housing and green education components. Through the proposed project, we would like to take a community-led mangrove ecosystem restoration initiative across 60 hectares of degraded coastal landscape in the sub-districts of Koyra, Paikgacha, Mongla, Rampal, Dacope and Shyamnagar in the Khulna Division of the southern coastal part of Bangladesh. The initiative is designed using the internationally recognised Community-Based Ecological Mangrove Restoration (CBEMR) approach, which is functioning as our adopted ten-step solution for mangrove conservation and restoration. In our adopted approach, we ensure the land agreement by stakeholders' assessment before investing the funds. Site selection and species selection: community engagement are also key priorities. We also highly consider the economic benefits of the local community besides the ecological benefits by introducing mangrove-based products, making, processing and marketing them, developing mangrove nurseries and so on. For promoting mangrove education, we are constructing a mangrove museum and learning centre at the Sundarbans region of Bangladesh. So, it is of our model. goes beyond conventional tree planting by addressing the ecological processes necessary for long-term mangrove recovery, including hydrological restoration, species-site selection, natural regeneration and sustained community stewardship. The key objectives of the initiative are to protect embankments from natural disasters, promote mangrove-based livelihoods and conserve biodiversity. The initiative is also contributing to the impact of climate change as a tool for adaptation and mitigation. The theme of the project is increasing the coastal resilience together. So far, BEDS has successfully restored 200 hectares of degraded riverbanks in the Sundarbans region of Bangladesh together with local people.