| Bangladesh,facing 710 km long coast to the Bay of Bengal,which contains several ecosystems that have important conservation values.As a zone of vulnerabilities as well as opportunities this coast is prone to natural disasters like cyclone,storm surge,and flood.This poses a daunting challenge to the sectoral coastal management programs,active since the 1960s,aiming at simultaneously uplifting people's livelihood and ameliorating the ecosystem. The limitations of these programs include the tendency to adopt an exclusionist approach,a narrowly departmentalized administration and weak management systems. The city of Xiamen is located on the southeast coast of China.It has 64.3 km long natural coastline with little sediment and no ice.The Integrated Coastal Management(ICZM) project in Xiamen,which started in the mid-1990s,is considered a successful example of ICZM implementation in China.In general,ICZM of Xiamen has proven to be a workable environmental management scheme which has been replicated elsewhere in China and in other countries.Bangladesh is located in the tropical climate zone.The coastal zone of Bangladesh covers an area of 47,201 km~2 that represents 32%of the country encompasses the landmass of 19 districts.About 35 million people,representing 29%of the population,live in the coastal zone.The Government of Bangladesh in 1999 adopted a Policy Note expressing its support for the Integrated Coastal Zone Management(ICZM) approach.Under the directive of the 1999 Policy Note,a program development office stationed at the Water Resources Planning Organization(WARPO) under the Ministry of Water Resources,was set up to facilitate the ICZM process in 2001.The ICZM policy focuses on eight objectives to address the vulnerabilities and opportunities of the coastal areas,where environmental friendly industrial activities and other sustainable usages of natural resources have been addressed very carefully and lawfully.The ICZM processes consist of components such as coastal zone policy,coastal development strategy,priority investment program an so on. The adoption of the 2005 Coastal Zone Policy in Bangladesh was a significant step towards implementing ICZM.The adoption of the Policy laid the foundation for the management infrastructure on which a better coastal management plan can be built.But the coastal zone has suffered from a large number of management-related problems that have led to poor economic returns and extensive environmental damage.Many of the problems could have been avoided if good management practices were put in place and effectively implemented. Some of the major challenges confronting the conservation and management of coastal ecosystems are such as availability of information and filling knowledge gaps,appreciation of ecosystem linkages,dissemination of information to assist decision-making,harmonizing sectoral policies,plans and laws,improved governance,ensuring sustained political support including others.In 1994,Xiamen was selected as one of the national demonstration sites for the implementation of an ICZM program,which has made significant achievements in the integrated management of marine and coastal resources.The development of ICZM in Xiamen involves the establishment of cross sectoral management,implementation of integrated land-sea use planning,and active participation of scientists and stakeholders in resource conservation and environmental protection.The indicator for assessing the success of an ICZM program is its socioeconomic benefits.The ICZM program in Xiamen has led to a significant increase in net socioeconomic benefit from its marine sectors.The legal framework is the fundamental requirement for success and sustainability for a management program.As part of the Xiamen Demonstration Project,local regulations were enacted concerning resource management,environmental protection and transportation management.In order to strengthen integrated law enforcement,a supervisory force was formed within the Marine Management and Coordination Committee(MMCC).Key personnel from relevant departments,like the harbor supervisor,fishery supervisor,water police and environment supervisor,were organized into an integrated law enforcement group. This group successfully resolved a number of conflicts regarding coastal usages.The Xiamen municipal government emphasized the interaction of scientists and decision makers. Therefore it founded an advisory group of marine scientists,legal experts,economists,engineers,and urban planners to provide their expertise to local policymakers.Scientific tools such as Integrated Environmental Impact Assessment(IEIA) were introduced and apparently used to prevent unfavorable ecological and socioeconomic impacts of planned development projects.In Bangladesh,several laws and policies are in operation since authorizing surveillance and patrolling of the coastal and marine waters for the preservation of the natural environment and sustainable use of coastal resources.These laws are applicable to coastal zone but the enforcement of existing legal coverage is a key issue in sustainable coastal management.And the policy will be given effect,if needed,through revision,modification of existing laws, rules and regulations specifying provisions of the coastal zone policy to facilitate its implementation.The coast management of Bangladesh represents an example of institutional weakness.For example,although several government agencies and departments are working in the coastal region,there is hardly any coordination between them and instances of institutional fragmentation is very common.Only bilateral communication takes place between the Ministry of Land and other executing agencies when the latter require land for construction purposes.Further,the agencies responsible have hardly any presence at the local level.Most of these agencies operate only from their Thana level offices;again this is not the case for all the departments who are responsible for programs concerning the coastal areas.Implementation of ICZM is a costly project and the Xiamen ICZM program provides for the cost of regulatory development.For example,about one million US dollars was invested in Xiamen to explore and develop the ICZM framework in the Xiamen demonstration project. In addition,Xiamen government has funded various activities to identify key management issues,to formulate relevant regulations,and to establish ICZM management institutions.In contrast,in Bangladesh,the government and local government institutions,all concerned agencies,NGOs,private sector and the civil society will put their efforts for the development of the coastal zone.So,summarizing the brief discussion of two country's ICZM procedure,we can conclude that although Bangladesh has many problems,a big change could be possible in coastal zone management.The adoption of the model ICZM of Xiamen in Bangladesh can be a significant step towards implementing a successful ICZM in Bangladesh.Furthermore,some lessons learned from Xiamen are analyzed for consideration to improve ICZM in Bangladesh.This research concludes that Bangladesh should put more emphasis in the establishment of new management program through ICZM concept and improve the management,conservation and protection of the existing ones.Finally,it recommends for development of a national ocean policy to have an effective,efficient and coherent ocean management plan. |
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