Thursday, July 24, 2008

Proposed adaptations for Bangladesh

Some snips from an article in The Daily Star (Bangladesh) by A.Z.M. Manzoor Rashid and Niaz Ahmed Khan: …Pressures on Bangladesh's resources are intense and growing, due to the poor management of aquatic and terrestrial resources, population growth, overexploitation, indiscriminate development of infrastructure, and agricultural expansion. … [I]t is important to bear in mind that no adaptive measure can entirely eradicate the impacts of climate change and climatic variability.

…The following measures must be taken to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of Bangladeshi people. …

* Promoting adaptation to coastal crop agriculture to combat increased salinity.

* Identifying drought and saline resistant tree species to be included in plantation programs.

* Researching the impacts of biodiversity loss.

* Reducing climate change hazards through coastal afforestation.

* Strengthening community level resilience to cope with the changing scenario.

* Integrating climate change in infrastructure design, conflict management and land water zoning for water management institutions.

* Exploring insurance options to cope with natural disasters.

…* Promoting research on drought, flood and saline tolerant varieties of trees and plants.

* Developing eco-specific knowledge (including indigenous knowledge) on climate variability to enhance resolutions for future environmental issues….

The Ganges Delta in Bangladesh, NASA, Wikimedia Commons

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