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Experiences in Wetland Co-management – the Mach Project

Paul Thompson
Corresponding author:
MACH Project, Winrock International, House 2 Road 23/A, Gulshan, Dhaka

S.N. Choudhury
MACH Project, Winrock International, House 2 Road 23/A, Gulshan, Dhaka

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Since 1998 the Management of Aquatic Ecosystems through Community Husbandry (MACH) project has established what is best described as community-based co-management of three large wetland systems covering in total about 32,000 ha (about 4,600 ha of water in the dry season). The project is supported by USAID and the Government of Bangladesh and implemented by Winrock International, CNRS, Caritas and BCAS working closely with the Department of Fisheries and the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock. The key elements of the MACH approach have been establishing community organizations and then embedding within them institutions for sustainable wise use of wetland resources, formally linking these with the existing local government system, and through this making, interventions to restore wetland productivity and improve the livelihoods of the poor. The organizations involved comprise 16 Resource Management Organizations representing all local people with interests in wetlands and fisheries, 13 Federations of Resource User Groups comprising of poor fishers and other poor wetland users, 25 Union Parishads, and the administrations of 5 Upazilas. Co-management is formalized through Upazila Fisheries Committees where representatives of all bodies sit to coordinate and oversee the management of the systems. The results of these organizations observing closed seasons, excavating about 46 ha of beels and 30 km of canals to expand dry season water holding, establishing 56 sanctuaries of 173 ha area and planting 605,000 trees include increases in fish catches of 2-5 times over 1999 baselines of 58-171kg/ha, reaching 316-388 kg/ha across the whole wetland systems in 2004-05, and increases in fish consumption of 45% over the same period which benefit the landless as much as large landowners. Revolving loan funds worth US$ 0.42 million (Tk.29.10 million) have been transferred to community organizations along with training and have helped about 5,200 poor households increase their supplemental incomes by about 50% while also reducing their dependence on fishing by about two-thirds. For sustainability, the Upazila Fisheries Committees are being endowed with a total of US$ 0.53 million (Tk 36 million), the interest from which will primarily be used for the continued restoration of wetland habitat by the Resource Management Organizations. A catchment and wetland ecosystem approach has been vital – for example, tree planting and the promotion of contour cultivation on hills have aimed at reducing soil erosion and siltation of wetlands. The ability to address threats has been enhanced, for example, in Kaliakoir the number of textile-related industries increased from 20 in 2003 to 166 in late 2005 and surface water is now far below national standards in the dry season. The communities now have their own water quality monitoring program and the Upazila Fisheries Committee and Department of Environment have agreed to sign an agreement to cooperate to enforce existing anti-pollution laws as a priority. MACH has also supported the Department of Fisheries (DoF) to take up similar activities in some of the Fourth Fisheries Project sites and to assist the new inland capture fisheries team of the department. The MACH approach has already been taken up at the policy level. The Inland Capture Fisheries Strategy of the DoF incorporates as a key element establishing Upazila Fisheries Committees nationally to incorporate and work with an expanding network of community-based organizations and also places the spread of permanent sanctuaries and efforts to restore and sustain major wetlands as high priorities.

Keywords: Floodplain, Wetland, Conservation, Water, Fish, Plants, Wildlife, Wetland ecosystem, Beels, Seasonal wetlands, Rivers, Water body, Biodiversity

Location: In Bangladesh

Start Date: 00-00-1998

End Date: 00-00-2008

Program Area: Knowledge Management

Commodity: Aquatic animal, Livelihood

Objectives:

To develop new approaches to floodplain and wetland resource conservation and management with the aim of ensuring the sustainable productivity of all wetland resources – water, fish, plants and wildlife– over an entire wetland ecosystem (comprising beels, seasonal wetlands, rivers and streams), not just a single water body and thereby to help ensure food security and increase biodiversity.

Methodology:

Hail Haor is located in northeast Bangladesh and is typical of deeply flooded basins in that region known as haors. It lies between the Balishara and Barshijura Hills to the east and the Satgaon Hills to the west. Water from these hills flows through 59 streams (once 350 were reportedly active) into the haor. The haor is located in five unions1 of Srimangal Upazila and in two unions of Sadar Upazila of Moulvi Bazaar District. The watershed of Hail Haor covers about 600 km² (237 square miles). Hail Haor was formerly connected by Gopla River and Kamarkhali Khal with the Kushiyara and Manu Rivers. A series of flood control dikes along these rivers and a sluice gate restrict river flows and fish access to the haor. The wet season area of Hail Haor is approximately 14,000 ha, whereas the dry season area is typically just over 3,000 ha on average. Approximately 172,000 people live in 61 villages around the haor. The Turag-Bangshi site is located just north of Dhaka and is typical of most low-lying floodplains of Bangladesh. The project site covers seven unions of Kaliakor Upazila under Gazipur District and one union of Mirzapur Upazila of Tangail District. The Kangsha-Malijhi site is located in north-central Bangladesh in Sherpur Sadar and Jhenaigathi Upazila of Sherpur District. The area is geographically a part of the Garo-Tura Hills watershed and includes the catchments of the upper Kangsha and Malijhi river systems. The hills of this area were once covered with natural Sal Shorea robusta forest; now only remnants of natural forest remain. The wetlands and floodplain have a water area of approximately 8,000 ha during the wet season, which diminishes to about 900 ha in the dry season. The floodplain area contains 47 beels or low pockets, of which 18 are perennial. The key differences are: • The Resource Management Organizations (RMOs) established to protect and sustain wetland resources represent all stakeholders. * Separate organizations of poor people – Federations of Resource User Groups (FRUGs) – have been formed to help diversify and enhance their livelihoods. * These community based organizations (CBOs) have been formally linked with local government (both Union Parishads – elected local councils, and Upazila or sub-district administration) through Upazila Fisheries Committees. * Separate partner NGOs have worked to support each of these types of body and their activities in a collaborative and coordinated way. The project approach to form local organizations and institutions adopted the following general sequence of steps: 1. Conduct introductory meetings with the Upazila and Union Parishad to introduce MACH and sensitize all levels from officials to villagers about the importance of fisheries and other wetland wildlife and plants. 2. Identify the communities’ wetland resource problems and possible solutions including management and physical interventions through the use of participatory approaches. 3. Identify potential management units – these comprise the wetland areas and water bodies and their associated villages and resource users – that are most interlinked and could form a unit to be covered by one local organization. 4. Build rapport and raise awareness in the communities within each management, and post community organizers employed by the project to the sites – one per management unit. 5. Develop the institutions – this was done in a flexible way with important differences in approach between sites. It included working with the representatives from the area who form the general body of the RMO to select from among themselves their Executive Committee and discuss and agree on their constitution. 6. Register RMOs with the Social Welfare Department, thereby giving the RMOs a legal entity and status as local non-government organizations. 7. Develop the capacity of the RMOs and their members, for example how to run the organization, plan activities, supervise implementation, and introduce wetland resource management norms to their areas. 8. Work with the RMOs to enhance the representation of the poor and of women by revising RMO membership to ensure a majority of representatives of poorer people dependent on the wetland resources based on 60% of members being representatives of the Resource User Groups (RUGs) formed separately by the project, and associated changes in constitutions to strengthen and protect the interests of poor people. 9. Implement an exit strategy to ensure that the RMOs are sustainable based on: adoption of guidelines on financial and natural resource management, annual review and agreement of resource management plans developed by the RMO in consultation with the wider community and government, and building offices for each RMO. 10. Conduct twice-yearly reviews of RMO performance and status to guide capacity building and phasing out.

Source of Information: Winrock International, Conference Paper-08,

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

1.

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The results of these organizations observing closed seasons, excavating about 46 ha of beels and 30 km of canals to expand dry season water holding, establishing 56 sanctuaries of 173 ha area and planting 605,000 trees include increases in fish catches of 2-5 times over 1999 baselines of 58-171kg/ha, reaching 316-388 kg/ha across the whole wetland systems in 2004-05, and increases in fish consumption of 45% over the same period which benefit the landless as much as large landowners. Revolving loan funds worth US$ 0.42 million (Tk.29.10 million) have been transferred to community organizations along with training and have helped about 5,200 poor households increase their supplemental incomes by about 50% while also reducing their dependence on fishing by about two-thirds. For sustainability the Upazila Fisheries Committees are being endowed with a total of US$ 0.53 million (Tk 36 million), the interest from which will primarily be used for continued restoration of wetland habitat by the Resource Management Organizations. A catchment and wetland ecosystem approach has been vital – for example tree planting and the promotion of contour cultivation on hills have aimed at reducing soil erosion and siltation of wetlands. Ability to address threats has been enhanced, for example in Kaliakoir the number of textile related industries increased from 20 in 2003 to 166 in late 2005 and surface water is now far below national standards in the dry season. The communities now have their own water quality monitoring program and the Upazila Fisheries Committee and Department of Environment have agreed to sign an agreement to cooperate to enforce existing anti-pollution laws as a priority.

Knowledge Management: Report/Proceedings