Draft CMP HH - the Department of Environment

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Coastal and Wetland Biodiversity Management Project BGD/99/G31 Hakaluki Haor Draft Conservation Management Plan (Kulaura, Barlekha, Fenchugonj, Paschim Juri, and Golapgonj) in two Districts (Moulvibazar and Sylhet). Methodology for the mapping of the ECA has been developed. It has involved site visits throughout the ECA, the use of GIS, and extensive formal and informal consultation with local community members, as well as with relevant government agencies. This research has generated a significant amount of data which has permitted initial work in defining the ECA into a number of zones. These zones are being defined as follows: Core Zone: No settlement, high number of water bodies, and fallow land Zone Two: Little settlement but dominated by agriculture and other activities Buffer/ Activity Zone: Multiple land use patterns dominated by settlement and agriculture Each zone will require a different set of management objectives. These have been tentatively defined as: Core Zone: Strict conservation area containing fish sanctuaries incorporating important migration channels, critical bird habitats, and swamp forest regeneration and re-vegetation sites. It should also promote minimal disturbance from local communities in the form of fishing, farming, grazing, and other resource extraction activities such as firewood collection. Zone Two: While incorporating elements of strict conservation as in Core Zone 1, Zone Two would primarily focus on the concepts of sustainable use and wise management of natural resources in support of local community livelihoods. Emphasis should be placed on integrated conservation and development approaches and the introduction of alternative income generating activities (IGAs) aimed at easing pressure on the ECA ecosystem overall and in particular maintaining the integrity of the Core Zone. Buffer/ Activity Zone: constituting the outer ring of the ECA, the Buffer/ Activity Zone will primarily be managed in terms of its key ecological and sociological features that are likely to have a significant impact on or form an integral part of the Hakaluki Haor ecosystem such as rivers, tea estates, industrial developments, plantations, and anything else that may affect the ECA’s ecological integrity. Emphasis will be placed on minimising adverse impacts on the Haor ecosystem, raising awareness, education, and capacity building. As part of the ECA mapping exercise, a significant amount of work has also been undertaken to assess the ecological appropriateness of the gazetted boundary. This has mostly involved identifying the boundary and then travelling its length to develop a first-hand understanding of its key features, and perhaps more importantly to ascertain whether or not there are ecologically significant areas which have not been, but which should be, included in the gazette. Management Actions • Continue mapping activities to further define appropriate management zones of the ECA • Update and refine relevant databases • Create new databases as required • Prepare a report which document the ECA mapping methodology and approach • Procure and analyse recent satellite and aerial imagery • Use GIS software to create a map showing each of the management zones and their respective features Prepared by UNOPS Consultant Mr. Sulma Warne August/ September 2005 for Project BGD/99/G31 27
Coastal and Wetland Biodiversity Management Project BGD/99/G31 Hakaluki Haor Draft Conservation Management Plan • Introduce the zoning concept to local communities and relevant government agencies and raise awareness about the objectives for each zone • Based on feedback from local communities and relevant government agencies amend the zoning objectives as required • Develop mechanisms in collaboration with local communities to demarcate the zones within the ECA, as well as its boundary • Continue surveying the boundary of the ECA and identifying and defining the key socioecological features that are relevant to the overall conservation of the Haor • Analyse the appropriateness of the current ECA boundary and propose alternatives should they be required Primary Outcome/ Output • Zonation including boundary assessment is complete and Hakaluki Haor is managed accordingly • Zonation maps are produced and distributed to all stakeholders Constraints • Time consuming • Seasonal flooding • Difficult accessibility 7.2.10 Agriculture Agricultural production in and around Hakaluki Haor is dominated by the growing of rice. In the past, farmers cultivated the many indigenous varieties of rice common to the region. Being well adapted these varieties grow well and require only minimal agricultural inputs. However, due to relatively low yields, production, over the years, has increasingly shifted from local indigenous varieties to the use of High Yield Varieties (HYV). Although this is economically more rewarding for local farmers, HYV rice is typically associated with a number of environmental concerns such as rapid soil degradation which usually results in the need for the application of synthetic fertilisers. Also HYV rice tends to be more prone to attack by pests and disease and to combat this problem farmers often rely on a toxic mix of herbicides, pesticides and fungicides. These issues are of particular to efforts aimed at the sound and sustainable management of Hakaluki Haor. With more and more farmers turning to HYV rice for both food security and additional income purposes, there is a growing concern that this trend will eventually compromise the genetic diversity of rice in the region with the possibility of losing local and indigenous rice varieties altogether. Although the expansion of HYV rice is unavoidable, proper management incorporating the promotion and reintroduction of local indigenous rice varieties may prove the answer to the adverse impacts associated with HYV rice production. Management Actions • Involve farming communities and relevant government agencies (in particular the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute) to collect agricultural data concerning the following: � Amount of land in the ECA currently being used for agricultural purposes � Seasonal fluctuations in area of land cultivated Prepared by UNOPS Consultant Mr. Sulma Warne August/ September 2005 for Project BGD/99/G31 28
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