***Preserving, protecting and developing the natural resource are the main tools for sustainable development. As such promoting participatory, community based environmental resource management and environmental protection (considering the poor access, equality as well as gender issues); ensuring active participation of the poor, especially women in environment protection activities; strengthening the capabilities of public and project sector to address environmental concerns; conserving nonrenewable resources and sustaining auto eco-generation of renewable resources; promoting sustainable environment management in pursuit of quality livelihood and alleviation of poverty.***

BASED on available information on (he geomorphological conditions and hydrological features, the coast of Bangladesh is about 710 km long and can be broadly divided into three distinct regions, the eastern, the central and the western. Bangladesh has 7,325 sq nautical miles/25,151sq km/25,15100 ha of intemaT water up to base line. The territorial water of the country is 2,640 sq nautical rniles/9,065 sq km/9.06,470 ha up to 12 nautical miles from base line. Its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is 41,040 sq nautical miles/140915 sq km/14091500 ha. The estimated total marine water area is 1,66,600 ha or 1,66,066 sq km or 48,365 sq nautical miles.

Bangladesh is uniquely endowed with a wide variety of economically important coastal resources. The major ones include: a vast network of rivers; a large number of fertile islands in between the channels; mangrove vegetation; agriculture; livestock and poultry; fishery; human resources; flora and fauna.

Network of rivers: Bangladesh has a vast network of rivers numbering about 230, about 24,000 km in length and covering an area of 9,380 sq km (6.5% of (he total area of Bangladesh).

Most of the major rivers have linkage with the estuary and finally meet the Bay of Bengal. Inland navigation has always been a principal means of transportation in Bangladesh. In the coastal area, especially in the regions of Khulna and Barisal, it is still the major means. Moreover fish is the important fauna of these rivers and considerable number of households of fishermen community depend on river fishing for (heir livelihood.

During the las( 15-20 years, considerable and rapid deterioration has taken place in the river system and navigation routes, especially in the coastal areas, through massive siltation, channel instability and human interference, rhe main causes of the rapidly worsening situation are the instability of rivers and erosion of river banks due to high rate of rise and fall in the water level, siltation of the channel due to increased volume of sediment supply as well as reduction of the flood spillage due to construction of polders and closures on small channels for flood control, resultingin (he blockage of country boat routes.

Large number of islands in between the channels: Due (o gradual erosion and accretion, a number of island have emerged and are emerging (ill dale. Noiable of (hem are I laiiya, Sandwip. Nijhumdxvip, Monpura, Char Mojid, Char Kukri Mukri, Haimchar, Char Jabber. Some of the islands are inhabited by people while some others have no human population.

The already existing islands are under regular erosion threat and the islanders are living under great stress and strain. But these accreted islands are our very important resource and should be brought under development programme as soon as possible. The accreted islands will facilitate rehabilitation of landless coastal people and ultimately these fertile lands will start yielding

Mangrove vegetation: Bangladesh has one of (he largest mangrove eco-systems in the world. In one long stretch, (he Sundarbans contain 395,500 ha of mangrove forests. In the eastern part of (he coast, there Is a small patch of about 7.500 ha of forests known a "Chakaria Sundarban." However, over the last twenty years the Chakaria forests have almost been denuded to make room for shrimp cultivation. The areas occupied by mangrove in Bangladesh have virtually declined by 40 per cent over the years.

Mangrove ecosystems also provide a valuable physi-< al habitat for a variety of important coastal species. Waterfowl and shorebirds are well known arid highly valued inhabitants of wetlands, as are alligators and muskrats. Less evident, but equally important are crabs, shrimps, sport fishes along with numerous other fish and invertebrates. Shoreline mangroves are recognized as a buffer against storm-tide surges that would otherwise have a more damaging effect on low-lying areas. Littoral strip mangroves planted by the Bangladesh Government in the 1980s are credited with saving thousands of lives and millions of dollars worth of property during the cyclone of 20 April, 1991, that ravaged the _ southeast coast of the country.

Also, mangroves are often noted for their ability to stabilize coastal shorelines that would otherwise be subject to erosion and loss.

Agriculture: Of the gross areas of 1.071,437 ha in the coastal belt. 312.560 ha is under net cultivation. Presently single cropping is practiced on about 59 per

cent, double cropping on about 32 per cent and trippie cropping on about 9 per cent of the cultivated area. Agricultural productivity in the coastal belt is generally low due to salinity', poor communication service and credit facilities as well as natural calamities such as floods and cyclones. Ways should be bound to overcome

the barriers as much as possible.

Livestock and poultry: livestock plays a vi I al role for the draft power of the agricultural activities in the area. They are utilized for ploughing the land, transporting and threshing as well as producing milk and cow dung. In Khulna. Barisal and Noakhali about 45 per cent to 49 per cent households and in Chittagong and Potuakhali about 50 per cent to 54 per cent households rear livestock (Agril and livestock census 1983-84).

Scarcity of animal fodder and inadequate veterinary services are the basic problems for the livestock management in the coastal area. Poultry is poorly developed in the coastal area because of disease, flood and cyclone. In solving such problems, steps taken for one may help another.

Fishery. Fish in the estuaries and the sea constitute a major coastal resource. Unfortunately, reliable data and information on standing stock, potential yield and MSY are lacking. Weighing various assessments of heterogeneous quality and coverage, it appears that on the whole Bangladesh may be dose to harvesting fish at the maximum yield which still allows the stock to renew itself naturally. Some studies also point to a gradual decline in fish availability. The tragic decline in fish availability is a direct reflection of unplanned environmental exploitation. Water projects have destroyed fish habitats over vast areas, biocide applications and toxic chemical pollution from untreated and industrial effluents have had unmeasured destructive effects and deforestation of mangroves has depleted the nutrient rich stores that made Bengal's fisheries famous. These three causes of fishery decline were consequences of the project approach to development which ignores impacts not within the narrowly defined rate-of-return objective of the individual project, but also beyond.

At the same t ime as fish availability to Bangladesh has been declining, however, shrimp export has become the nation's second most important foreign exchange earner, after jute. This is welcome for Bangladesh, but unplanned and uncontrolled growth has meant destruction of mangrove forest areas, reduction in livestock feed, reduction in tree biomass, reduction in the non-exportable shrimp/fish stock. Collection and likely overexploitation of the most desirable shrimp larval have also made water management in polders more difficult and led to serious weakening of embankment, setting (he stage for a "natural disaster" of the first magnitude when the next cyclone strikes.

Flora and fauna (bio-diversity): Bangladesh is rich in wide variety of flora and fauna as compared to the rest of (he world. The statistics of flora and fauna is furnished below. Flora: 5.000 flowering plants; Fauna: mammals: 199; birds: 567, reptiles: 120, amphibians: 734. Besides we have large number of unidentified flora and fauna.

Resource management aspect: Bangladesh is uniquely endowed with natural resource. So it is highly necessary to conserve both renewable and non-renewable natural resources for (be sake of present and future generation. So the management of both renewable and non-renewable resource has to be given top priority. Under the circumstances, the author likes to suggest the following:

Comprehensive survey needs to be made io know the exact status of the natural resources. This will help in management to the resources and in promoting environment friendly activities in development intervention.

Preserving, protecting and developing the natural resource«are the main tools for sustainable development. As such promoting participatory, community based environmental resource management and environmental protection (considering the poor access, equality as well as gender issues); ensuring active participation of the poor, especially women in environment protection actlxities; strengthening the capabilities of public and project sector to address environmental concerns; conserving non-renewable resources and sustaining auto eco-generalion of renewable resources; promoting sustainable environment management in pursuit of quality livelihood and alleviat ion of poverty.

Alam is a (toe-lance environmentalist and fishery specialist.