Project Statement

   Communities around nature reserves are often forced to rely on resources within these reserves to sustain their livelihoods, which increases their vulnerability, particularly in areas where protected wildlife coexists with humans. The Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Ganges Delta, exemplifies these challenges. Frequent floods and tiger attacks have severely impacted residents' livelihoods and safety. The project aims to establish a harmonious balance and virtuous cycle between human needs and wildlife conservation by promoting sustainable agricultural practices, improving the ecological health of the land, addressing flood risks, and indirectly reducing human-tiger conflicts.          

Project Narrative

Background

Nature reserves have always been a focus of public attention, yet residents living on their peripheries are often overlooked. This project focuses on communities within the ecologically sensitive boundary of the Sundarbans Mangrove Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Because the reserve’s boundaries are unsuitable for agriculture and frequent monsoon floods further degrade farmland, local residents are forced to rely on extracting resources from the reserve to sustain their livelihoods.

 Conflict History:

Over the past few decades, this region has built embankments to resist floods. Although these renovations have helped stabilize the system in the short term, they also pose long-term vulnerabilities. Unsustainable development methods have caused a series of problems, including maintenance needs for infrastructure and siltation of rivers.

The human tiger conflict in the region has been ongoing for nearly a century. With the increasing awareness of wildlife conservation, multiple protection laws have been enacted, but conflicts between humans and tigers still exist, and legal protection has limitations in addressing such issues.

Project Issues

Tiger attacks: Approximately 78% of the region’s population heavily depends on the protected area for resources. However, venturing into the reserve exposes them to tiger attacks, with an average of more than ten annual fatalities caused by such encounters.

Flooding: The region is hit annually by monsoon-induced storms and floods that submerge farmland and destroy livelihoods. This forces more people into the reserve for resources, indirectly pushing communities into hazardous zones.

Goal and Vision

The project aims to establish a harmonious balance between human needs and wildlife conservation, ensuring a sustainable future for both the local community and the Sundarbans’ unique biodiversity. By improving land resilience and adaptability in peripheral communities, developing sustainable livelihoods, mitigating flood impacts, and reducing dependence on resource extraction from protected areas, the project indirectly alleviates human-tiger conflicts.

Solution Strategies

Using GIS (Geographic Information Systems), we evaluated land in the border communities and categorized it into three risk levels, proposing adaptive strategies for each:

1.High-risk area strategy: Mangrove-based aquaculture system

Develop a production model in long-term submerged zones by removing inefficient dams. Allowing tidal flows to bring sediment enables mangrove regeneration, creating conditions for crab and fish farming.

2.Medium-risk area strategy: Cyclic flood-adaptive agricultural rotation

Dynamically manage polder fields in periodically flooded areas. By cyclically opening dams during monsoons, floodwaters and sediments flow through channels into low-lying zones, raising land elevation. Floating agricultural beds are used during floods, while adjacent fields resume production in the dry season.

3.Low-risk area strategy: Integrated agroforestry system

Promote diversified agriculture (e.g., crop rotation, intercropping) in flood-resilient areas. Enhance productivity by cultivating local cash crops and integrating beekeeping, thereby boosting incomes and reducing pressure on the reserve.