Proceedings of Upazila Inception Workshop Vandaria, Pirojpur. 28 August 2017
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1 Proceedings of Upazila Inception workshop Vandaria, Pirojpur. 28 August 2017 Integrating Community-based Adaptation into Afforestation and Reforestation (ICBA-AR) Programs 2 TABLE OF CONTENT SL NO CONTENTS PAGE NUMBER 01 SUMMARY OF INCEPTION WORKSHOP 03 02 BACKGROUND OF THE INCEPTION WORKSHOP 05 03 OBJECTIVE OF THE WORKSHOP 06 04 ABOUT PIROJPUR 06 05 ABOUT VANDARIA 07 06 WORKSHOP SCHEDULE 10 07 PRESENTATION ON THE ICBA-AR PROGRAM 11 08 OPEN DISCUSSIONS 11 09 KEY SPEECH DELIVERED IN THE WORKSHOP 12 10 SPEECH OF THE CHIEF GUEST 14 11 SPEECH OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE WORKSHOP 14 12 GROUP WORK SESSION AND PRESENTATION 14 13 MEDIA COVERAGE 18 14 PARTICIPANTS LIST OF THE INCEPTION WORKSHOP 20 15 NEWS LINK 21 16 ANNEX: SIGNED INVITATION LETTER 22 3 SUMMARY OF INCEPTION WORKSHOP The Government of Bangladesh is progressing on its journey towards global climate change adaptation and mitigation effort and set manifold projects. To reduce climate vulnerability of communities to the adverse impacts of climate change through participatory planning, community-based management, and integration of livelihood with coastal afforestation and reforestation, the Forest Department with support from UNDP has taken up the “Integrating Community-based Adaptation into Afforestation and Reforestation Programs” in Bangladesh which was officially launched through a workshop hold on 22 March 2017 in CIRDAP, Dhaka. The district level inception workshop for Pirojpur district was held on 28 August 2017 in Vandaria Upazila Parishad Complex. The inception workshop was graced by Mr. Atikul Islam, Upazila Chairman, Vandaria as the chief guest. Deputy Director of DAE, District Livestock Officer, and Divisional Forest Officer from district were joined as guests of honour. Mrs. Shahih Akter Sumi, UNO, Vandaria chaired the workshop. The event marked participation from different departments, government agencies like Agriculture Officer, Livestock Officer, Fisheries Officer, Social Welfare Officer, Co-operative Officer, Youth Development Officer, Forest Range Officer, Education officer along with their assistant officers were participated in the meeting. Representatives from NGO, Freedom Fighter, Journalists, Civil Society, Educationist, Municipality, Local Government- Upazila & Union Parishad, Village Defense Party, Beneficiary were attended the program. The whole workshop was divided into two sections as inaugural and discussion and the group work session. In the group work session, the officials of the concerned government departments noted down the problems and their probable solution in the context of climate change adaptation. Mr. Kabir Hossain, Communication Officer, ICBA-AR, UNDP at his welcome address welcomed and thanked all the participant for coming here and said that co- management system has been introduced into the project activity to create an ownership of the target people. He mentioned forestry, fisheries, agriculture, livestock departments are combinedly working for this adaptation project. He thanked to upazila and district administration to help to organize the workshop. Dr. Mohammed Muzammel Hoque, Project Manager, ICBA-AR Project, UNDP Bangladesh outlined project’s objective, outcome, activities, timeline, deliverables, budget and challenges likely to be faced by the project through a presentation. He solicited continued cooperation and active participation from all relevant stakeholders to make the programme a success. Dr. Md. Abdul Alim, District Livestock Officer said every year thousands of livestock, crops and human being are damaged and wash out due to climatic hazards such as floods, cyclone, storm surge etc. Coastal greenbelt act as natural barrier during disaster. So creation of coastal greenbelt by this project through community involvement is praiseworthy. All concerned stakeholders are requested to help to implement the project effectively. 4 Mr. Abul Hossain, Deputy Director, Department of Agriculture Extension told that DAE is working for ensuring food security by providing training, demonstration support and technical knowledge by practical exercise to the farmers. Agricultural extension is the application of scientific research and new knowledge to agricultural practices through farmer education. He mentioned that it is an important workshop because your feedback will help to implement the project and to make decision making among the project policy makers. Every year the people of coastal areas losses huge crops due to climatic hazard. Coastal green belt that will be created by this project is essential to safe guard for human, livestock and crops. Target people will be received ultra-modern agricultural technology training, will get support of saline resilient crop variety as demonstration and crop diversification will be ensured. Md. Saidul Islam, Divisional Forest Officer, Bagerhat emphasised on how to success the project and requested to involve the people directly in project activities. He also explained the importance of mangrove such as; Mangrove helps buffer Zone between the land and sea, protect the land from erosion. play an invaluable role as nature's shield against cyclones, ecological disasters and as protector of shorelines, breeding and nursery grounds for a variety of marine animals, harbour a variety of lifeforms like invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and even mammals like tigers, good source of timber, fuel and fodder, main source of income generation for shoreline communities like fisherfolk, save the marine diversity, which is fast diminishing, purify the water by absorbing impurities and harmful heavy metals and help us to breathe a clean air by absorbing pollutants in the air, potential source for recreation and tourism. He thanked MoEF & UNDP to undertake the project focusing coastal green belt in the leadership of Forest Department. He mentioned that overcoming challenges like solving land dispute, creation of coastal green belt through afforestation and reforestation through community involvement and capacity building will be key to programme success. Mr Atikul Islam, Upazila Chairman, Vandaria, in his address as Chief Guest, thanked UNDP, GEF & MoEF for undertaking this project, he also emphasized on the necessity of this kind of project activity in the area, beneficiary selection carefully and involvement of local people in project activity effectively to ensure ownership among the locals. He expected good coordination among implementing departments, local government and community to implement the project successfully. An open discussion moderated by the Chair of the program Mrs Shahin Akter Sumi, Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Vandaria for clarifications to participants on some key issues like project scope, safeguard, inclusiveness, how to bring all stakeholders together etc. She also mentioned that the ICBA-AR Programme is not only about reducing emission through creation coastal green belt, but also efforts towards sustainable forest management by collaborative management, biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction through livelihood improvements of the forest dependent rural people. 5 All the participants were by snacks and lunches during the workshop. BACKGROUND OF THE INCEPTION WORKSHOP Climate change vulnerability is increasing in the coastal zones of Bangladesh. The coastal zone is identified as a zone of manifold vulnerability, prone to severe natural disasters e.g. cyclones, storm surges and floods. Climate change has changed the compulsion of coastal people’s life and livelihoods. Moreover, intensity of seasonal weather patterns and natural hazards are creating threat to food, water, sanitation and human security. The people of coastal areas are being encountered the victims of climate change for last one decade. In addition, coastal people are seriously depended on agriculture related activities which are also severely affecting due to coastal inundation, water logging and droughts in terms of seasons. It is notable that most of the coastal people pass on the culture of catching fishes. But global climate change does not leave its impact on the Bay of Bengal that relates to all sources of catching fishes e.g. cannel, river and sea. Although Bangladesh is not responsible for climate change, the country is most at its risk from its projected impacts. According to the National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA) findings in Bangladesh. The key risks identified include drainage congestion, reduced fresh water availability, disturbance of morphologic processes, and increased intensity of flooding. Communities living in Bangladesh’s low-lying coastal region are especially at risk. Coastal areas have higher rates of poverty that the rest of the country and people are heavily dependent on natural resources like forestry and fishery stocks for their livelihoods. To reduce the coastal community vulnerability, protective ecosystem and coastal protective green belt the Ministry of Environment and Forests and UNDP Bangladesh has undertaken to implement the “Integrating Community-based Adaptation into Afforestation and Reforestation (ICBA-AR) Programmes in Bangladesh’’ which is a follow-up project of CBACC-CF Project. The new project aimed at reducing climate vulnerability of communities to the adverse impacts of climate change through participatory planning, community-based management, and integration of livelihood with coastal afforestation and reforestation in 9 upazilas of four highly vulnerable coastal districts namely Bhola, Barguna, Patuakhali, Pirojpur and Noakhali. OBJECTIVE