Bangladesh, the world's largest delta, is crisscrossed by big rivers and their tributaries and distributors. Moreover, as a land with abundant torrential monsoon rain, most of the plain lands remain inundated during the monsoon season, thus turning the countryside into a big reservoir of fresh water for almost half of the year. The huge, inland, sweet water bodies together with the expanse of saline water in the Bay of Bengal provide the basis for a large and diversified fisheries sector. These fisheries provides the country with over 70-80 percent of its animal based protein, a livelihood for over 10.8 million households in 1400 coastal villages along with 710 KM coastal line. About 8 per centof the total population in Bangladesh depends on fisheries for its livelihood.

The coastal region of Bangladesh covers about 20 per cent of total land area and over 30 per cent of the cultivable lands of the country. It includes highly diverse ecosystems e.g. the world’s largest single tract of mangroves (the Sundarbans), beaches, coral reefs, dunes and wetlands. With its dynamic natural environments, provides a range of goods and services to the peoples of Bangladesh. It is agreed and documented that being a deltaic coastal country, Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change in the world. Climate related change in coastal zones embodies potential additional stress on systems that are already under intense and growing pressure. The country has already been facing several climate change effects such as increasing cyclones, flood frequency probabilities, erosion, inundation, rising water tables, salt water intrusion and biological effects. Coastal environments particularly at risk include mangroves, tidal deltas and low-lying coastal plains, sandy beaches, coastal wetlands, estuaries and coral reefs. These bio-geophysical possessions will have consequent effects on ecosystems and eventually affect socio-economic systems in the coastal zone. For the most part of the adverse impacts of level rise can have major adverse penalty for coastal climate change for Bangladesh are due to sea level rise and ecosystems. Human induced climate change is caused by cyclones, storm surge, flood, land erosion, water logging.

 The significantly diminished flow in the dry season allows salinity to penetrate far inland through Meghna estuarine river system. About 53 per centof the coastal areas were affected by salinity. Salinity limits opportunities for supplemental irrigation of Aus crops in freshwater areas and damages the same crops by flooding during very high tides. The highlands development of saline water throughout the dry season eliminated surface water potentials for significant land areas in the south-central southwest and southeast regions. Salinity is also affecting fresh groundwater. The shallow coastal aquifers have high salinity. An environmental terrible circumstance caused by salinity intrusion is a major problem in southwestern Bangladesh. The reduced flow of the Ganges in the dry season has exacerbated the process of northward movement of the salinity front, thus frightening the environmental health of the region.

Coastal area may also be changed by cropping practices. Varieties of new rice may be developed to withstand higher salinity and higher temperatures and be grown and harvested during the non-cyclonic period. A massive program of constructing cyclone shelters in the coastal area was undertaken by the Government of Bangladesh. These particularly built shelters will be used as shelters for human beings, animals and property during cyclonic periods and as community centers, schools and so forth during normal times. Requiring the number of shelters has been calculated on the basis of storm surge heights at the coast and the inland intrusion of surge water. The circumstances may change under the future temperature increase and in that case the number of shelters requires may have to be revised by considering the various scenarios and actions taken accordingly. By constructing of embankments in the coastal area is another adaptation and protection measure. Penetration of surge water will obstructed by embankments; and even if the surge overtops them, the water energy will then be greatly reduced. Involving people at the grass-root level is one of the best ways to adapt to climate change. Bangladeshi people are very enterprising and inventive. They have been living with disasters for a longtime. In Bangladesh, adapting to changing situations is a familiar habitual practice.

Cyclones are increasing both in numbers and in intensities. The beaches are being washed out. The fishermen require the beaches for drying fish, weaving and repairing their nets. Mangroves have a unique role in the preservation of the flora and fauna of the coastal regions. The Sundarbans with its large mangrove forests had been declared as World Heritage Area for mankind to preserve it. These special forests are also the breeding ground and habitat of large number of marine species. By creating a physical barrier to tides and storms mangroves also protect the inland communities. Special measures need to be taken not only to preserve but also to expand the mangrove coverage through plantation. The warming up may be one factor in the reduction of catch by small fishermen. But another factor of real concern is the over harvesting.

This invariably destroys the breeding grounds of many varieties of fish. Uses of dragnets have been prohibited at many places. The coastal authorities are to take special measures in stopping this evil practice. The issues are undoubtedly interrelated and complex. But these are to be resolved to the benefits of the coastal communities who have a rich heritage. The recent developments like climate change with all its deleterious effects are also to be tackled. In fact the very survival of inland communities depends to a very large extent on them. The sooner these actions are taken the better.

The Government of Bangladesh prepared the Climate Change Action Plan built on six pillars:

i. Food Security, Social Protection and Health; ii. Comprehensive Disaster Management;iii. Infrastructure; iv. Research and Knowledge Management; v. Mitigation and Low Carbon Development; vi. Capacity Building and Institutional Management. In this stream, the local government, local NGOs, CBOs, relevant civil society institutions and private sectors are yet to be acquainted with this Action Plan.

There is an immensely blank and absence of effective local authority planning and action. Bangladesh is a least developed country (LDC) which has become the leading LDC negotiator on climate change issues. Its contribution to the problem of green house gas emissions is negligible, but the additional burden of climate change is already being felt. Different studies reveal and predict that 20 million people may have to leave this region if the global temperature increases by more than 2° Celsius and sea levels rise as predicted. There is nothing theoretical about the climate change issue from this local viewpoint. The injustice of a poor LDC country having to bear huge additional costs from climate impacts it did not contribute to self evident.

“I really don’t know why we are so committed to the sea except I think it is because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, the light changes and ships change, it’s because we all came from the sea.”- John F. Kennedy, (1962)  

The writer is a development activist