From fish and forest to salt and shrimp: the changing nature of coastal development policy and its impact on coastal resources and communities in Southeast Bangladesh

Abstract

Coastal Bangladesh is both rich in aquatic and terrestrial resources and subject to natural and humanmade risks and vulnerabilities of flood, cyclone, political change, competition for resources, deforestation, piracy and the like. Since the 1950s, two of the most important transformations in land use along the coastal region of Southeast Bangladesh have been the growth of solar evaporative salt production (from an older salt sector) and the introduction of export shrimp culture. This paper traces the development of these two 'industries' over the past 50 years in the southern part of the southeast coastal region. It summarises their impact on longstanding land and aquatic use practices such as fishing, farming and forestry and on the lives of people dependent upon these practices. Through a case study of the Chakoria Sundarban, it illustrates the piecemeal and fragmented approach to coastal development of the East Pakistan and Bangladesh governments since 1950 to the 1990s. Finally, it describes briefly the new Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan set for implementation in 2006, which promises to provide a more inclusive and integrated approach to coastal planning.