Public Disclosure Authorized REPORT

Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized

Trans-boundary elected representative workshop on Challenges and Management of

Public Disclosure Authorized Sundarbans Landscape: Finding a Shared Way Forward on Sundarbans

On MV Paramhansa Cruise; 20 – 22 March, 2015 1

Table of Contents 1. Introduction ...... 4 1.1. Background ...... 4 1.2. Objectives of the event ...... 5 1.3. Scope of the event ...... 6

2. Background for the event ...... 6 2.1. Assessment of current situation ...... 6 2.1.1. Key issues and challenges ...... 6 2.1.2. Current perception of key stakeholders ...... 7 2.1.3. Possible problem solving approaches ...... 7 2.2. Approach and methodology ...... 8 2.2.1. Justification for the selected event ...... 8 2.2.2. Salient features of the pre-event consultation and communication process ...... 8 2.3. Stakeholders and participants ...... 9 2.3.1. Key stakeholders and participants in the event...... 9 2.4. Design of the event ...... 10 2.4.1. Type of Event ...... 10 2.4.2. Selection of issues and content ...... 10 2.4.3. Methodology used to ensure maximum participation and outcomes ...... 11

3. Description of Event ...... 12 3.1. Description of the deliberations, presentations, etc...... 12 3.2. Key findings and recommendation ...... 28 3.3. Outcome of the event...... 34 3.4. Way forward ...... 35

4. Lessons learnt ...... 36 4.1. Salient features ...... 36 4.2. Challenges faced ...... 36 4.3. Degree of engagement ...... 37 4.4. General recommendation ...... 37

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5. Annex ...... 38 5.1. Background Materials circulated for the Event ...... 38 5.2. Summary of proceedings...... 67 5.3. List of participants ...... 68 5.4. Details of photos and videos – Shared separately ...... 70 5.5. List of media coverage with dates ...... 70 5.6. Details of media coverage ...... 71

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1. Introduction 1.1. Background

India, especially the state of West Bengal, and Bangladesh share a strong history, culture and geographical proximity. However the social and economic ties between India and Bangladesh are yet to unfold adequately and there is ample scope to enhance the relation further especially in the backdrop of rapid growth in both the countries. In late 2011, Bangladesh and India signed (non-binding) agreements on a host of issues to pave way for joint actions. The issues were for collaboration in international waters, information-sharing, disaster management, and addressing climate change induced issues; and memorandum of understanding on specific areas like (i) management of the Sundarbans, (ii) management of Royal Bengal tigers, (iii) fisheries, and (iv) exchange and sharing of information between the respective national televisions. Given the socio-political context of South Asia, unsurprisingly it has taken decades for Bangladesh and India to sign the aforementioned framework agreements on joint actions and also that the understanding are yet to be operationalized. But in the present discourse of climate change and rapid anthropogenic growth, it is necessary to build an institutional political framework involving elected representatives to push for operationalization of the agreements. This would also help in integration between two countries to improve both in their policy and practice; the absence of which not only affects economic development but also hampers management of shared natural resources such as forests and transboundary river basins. A special focus is needed for facilitating joint, sustainable development of the shared Sundarbans landscape with stress on realizing economic growth and enhancing climate resilience. This includes in building the confidence, knowledge and capacity of national and local institutions to effectively implement the 2011 Bangladesh-India Memorandum of understandings (MoU’s) for joint sustainable management of the Sundarbans landscape. Although the civil society, media groups, research bodies, and community-based organizations in both the countries are interested and participating, the crucial need is for the two national governments to take lead and ownership. It is felt that creating and sustaining a Joint Platform, comprising decision-makers representing government and non-government bodies in Bangladesh and India will be a very effective and sustainable way forward to ensure continuous and meaningful collaboration and joint actions. This Platform will plan and coordinate joint actions that help reduce poverty and vulnerability to high intensity weather events, promote prosperity in the shared landscape, and lead to better management of the globally significant natural heritage. In view to forge partnership for the Sundarbans landscape, WWF-India has been entrusted with organizing a multi-stakeholder engagement to develop an alternative scenario to the

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“business as usual” informed by best available current knowledge and research. Along with other modes of inter and intra country exchanges on Sundarbans, trans-boundary elected representatives workshop has been planned with an aim to positively engage the fourth estate into conservation of trans-boundary Sundarbans and, through them, suitably influence both the policy and practice in India and Bangladesh regarding the agenda. The trans-boundary elected representative workshop spread from March 20th to 22nd, 2015 on cruise M V Paramhansa, involving 32 participants was organized under this backdrop.

1.2. Objectives of the event

To facilitate the process of transboundary integration, World Bank, under its ‘South Asian Water Initiative’ (SAWI) programme, has focused on transboundary Sundarbans area. The overall objective of SAWI Sundarbans focus area programme is to operationalize the joint management of Sundarbans landscape for sustainable development and to deliver mutual benefits for two countries. Under this programme, along with Government of India; Government of Bangladesh; Government of West Bengal, civil society and media are slated to have key role. The programme identifies that a common process of dialogue and stakeholders’ engagement will be able to guide implementation of SAWI Sundarbans focus area strategy as being envisioned. The expected activities include regular exchange of lesson within multiple stakeholders which includes political leaders, legislators, academicians and experts. Along with other modes of inter and intra country exchanges on Sundarbans, transboundary political workshops have also been planned with an aim to positively engage the key decision makers into conservation of transboundary Sundarbans landscape and, in turn, suitably influence both the policy and practice in India and Bangladesh regarding the issue. The major objectives of the workshop include the following: 1. Providing critical inputs to the political representatives of both India and Bangladesh regarding the present and projected scenario of key conservational issues pertaining to Sundarbans landscape including climate change and its impacts. 2. Enabling joint discourse on Sundarbans landscape, particularly its climate change linked vulnerability, to attract global attention on the issue of conserve Sundarbans. 3. Facilitating dialogue and encourage unrestrained interchanges within political delegations so that the political deliverables about conserving transboundary Sundarbans landscape can be identified and unanimity can be developed on low hanging prioities of policy and practice. 4. Emphasizing importance to consider transboundary Sundarbans landscape as single ecological unit and charting out the roadmap to undertake joint efforts to manage the area sustainably.

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5. Preparing an atmosphere and mechanism for continuous multi-stakeholder including political engagement about Sundarbans landscape and build up a political constituency for the same within two countries so that the formal interaction between India and Bangladesh can be suitably influenced.

1.3. Scope of the event

Undivided Sundarbans and habitation zones influenced by it vis-à-vis climate change have 1.3 billion people among which nearly one-fourth stand extremely vulnerable to possible high intensity weather events triggered by climate change. Though the number – as a single unit – can be matched by few climate threatened areas in the world, either individually or collectively as a group, still Sundarbans has never been highlighted adequately at global platforms in context to vulnerability to climate change. The facilitation of these issues through transboundary political discourse and undertaking appropriate strategy was planned through the stated workshop. It is also believed that once the parliamentarians and legislatives being properly engaged and facilitated, the discourse will serve as a push to the actual decision makers of two countries to appreciate the need to see Sundarbans landscape as the single ecological unit and start formal engagement in that direction; apart from encouraging the non-state actors to pursue the joint action.

2. Background for the event 2.1. Assessment of current situation

2.1.1. Key issues and challenges

While the Sundarbans landscape is celebrated for its ecological attributes, it is also a region that accommodates nearly 0.2 percent of the global population. In the context of human development, the Sundarbans landscape is much further behind other parts of Bangladesh and India, with poverty ratio is as high as 43.23% which is almost twice the country average of Bangladesh (26%) and India (21.92%). The landscape is also very backward in terms of conventional development characteristics due to lack of modern energy services, infrastructural improvement, and healthcare delivery etc. Along with this the traditional development deficit, Sundarbans is magnified with the ever increasing impacts of climate change in the region. The landscape is witnessing higher than global average sea level rise (around double) and accelerated erosion, as well as more intense high intensity weather events putting millions of lives and livelihoods at risk. Cyclones Sidr and Aila that hit Sundarbans in November 2007 and May 2009 respectively are some of the examples those vindicate the vulnerability. Apart from putting millions to physical risk, the climate change also impacts livelihood of millions involved in agriculture 6

and fishery. It is quite clear that unless both the countries draw up synergistic policy and practice in combating this type of critical issues, Sundarbans will not be able to escape from the high intensity impacts of climate change in the long run. To encourage sustainability in this landscape and to give a global importance to the region, the shared landscape retains a strong opportunity for strategic cooperation and joint actions. This joint action would help in poverty reduction and sustainable ecosystem management across border. A special focus is also needed for facilitating joint, sustainable development of the shared Sundarbans landscape with stress on realizing economic growth and enhancing climate resilience.

2.1.2. Current perception of key stakeholders

The current perception of key stakeholders is unable to acknowledge and imitate joint action under the backdrop of bilateral instruments signed in 2011 for the Sundarbans landscape. These non-binding bilateral protocols are also not flexible for decision makers across the borders to initiate transboundary joint actions for the region. Both India and Bangladesh have so far largely tried to address the said issues in a standalone manner. But the impact of climate change is still to be adequately appreciated in political and governmental discourse within both countries, the key decision makers generally perceive them as merely another bout of disaster and often act in a business as usual manner. Hence it is quite likely that a high apportionment of vulnerability in Sundarbans linked to climate change will be imbibed by the habitations there and even cities like Kolkata or Dhaka may be significantly affected by the high intensity events sooner or later. Due to the above understanding there is an immediate need to push for a regional policy which has so far been strikingly absent among the decision makers in both countries. The scenario is such mostly due to the fact that decision making has always been a top down approach. The Sundarbans region requires a paradigm shift and a delta centric form of sustainable development that has not yet been addressed by both the government till date.

2.1.3. Possible problem solving approaches The approaches include facilitating better awareness among all stakeholders and building up of focused strategy to inbuilt the understanding within both the state and non-state actors. Enhanced transboundary dialogue and interaction at both political and civil society level through a Track II dialogue will able to cater mainstreaming of the agenda in appropriate governmental intervention; so that properly designed and defined programmes can be undertaken. With this understanding the current workshop has been planned where apart from political representatives from two countries; experts and civil society members did also participate. .

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2.2. Approach and methodology

2.2.1. Justification for the selected event

Track II dialogue was envisaged to influence the formal discourse and actions of respective governments and other major stakeholders in regards to Sundarbans. The importance of the event was to ensure that key political personnel from both countries get exposed first hand to key problems of Sundarbans together; as well as have dialogue, interface and share knowledge, information and experiences among themselves and also with other stakeholders. The workshop was planned to initiate the process of building a proper transboundary political discourse strategy and a road map to achieve the desired objectives of the event.

2.2.2. Salient features of the pre-event consultation and communication process

The salient feature of the pre event consultation was to ensure that appropriate representations from political field, civil society and experts are included in the workshop so that the workshop objectives are met. The important pre requisite to such consultation was to make sure that continuity can be sustained as far as possible with a larger aim of building a favorable constituency within the participants of the workshop and more specifically within the political groups. Keeping this mind, Dr. Mohammed Hasan Mahmud, former environment minister of Bangladesh and presently chairman of the standing committee of Bangladesh Parliament, was persuaded to lead the delegation from Bangladesh. Dr. Mahmud along with the then union environment minister of India Jairam Ramesh, participated in a pioneering 2010 transboundary Sundarbans meeting. The meeting had not only highlighted the Sundarbans agenda for the first time in public domain but also led to signing of series of ‘memorandum of understanding’ (MoUs) in 2011 between Government of Bangladesh and Government of India. Similarly Shri Biman Banerjee, Speaker in West Bengal Legislative Assembly, was made the leader of Indian (West Bengal) delegation through a process of continuous engagement. Quite a few meetings were held with Shri Banerjee in the presence of Janab Javed Ahmed Khan, Minister of Disaster Management in Government of West Bengal. The nomination of other members in delegations was mainly left to the delegation leaders; the organizers also provided inputs to ensure that the delegations include appropriate macro and micro level political stakeholders to have ownership in the process. Members of Parliament (MPs) from Bangladesh Sundarbans and adjacent area as well as a Mayor from the region constituted the Bangladesh delegation. Similarly the Indian delegation constituted Member of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from Sundarbans. Subject experts were chosen to address the key issues in Sundarbans including climate change, physical

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infrastructural gap areas, socioeconomic gap areas, water and river issues, bilateral relationship and likewise in both the countries and present before the elected representatives. The event attempted to deliberate on the mentioned issues and challenges pertaining to current policy and strategic environment regarding conservation of Sundarbans landscape in both the countries. Following process of engagement with the elected representatives were envisaged in the workshop to meet the objectives. a. Brief interface with media delegations from both countries and discuss the government’s commitments towards the bilateral agreements and giving importance towards sustainable development in Sundarbans landscape. b. Dialogue and interface between political representatives from both countries based on bilateral formal agreements, already in place, regarding the conservation of Sundarbans; and on inputs from civil society representatives/experts; c. Sharing of experiences and exposure to critical Sundarbans issues including climate change impacts.

2.3. Stakeholders and participants

2.3.1. Key stakeholders and participants in the event

Attempt was made to include all key groups, however, on hindsight, it seemed that few groups more would have added value to the proceedings (see section 5.3). One major group is the representative/s from Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, without whom this Track II initiative will never be included in the Track I deliberation of India and Bangladesh. The selection of participants was been done in a manner so as to ensure that the key issues and challenges in conservation of transboundary Sundarbans are addressed: a. By facilitating proper understanding, information sharing and imbibing appropriate strategy by transboundary (TB) political groups regarding climate change triggered problems of Sundarbans. b. By influencing the government policy and practice in both India and Bangladesh independently and collectively. Moreover a wider variety of thematic experts including those with the specialization of biodiversity conservation, hydrogeology / river dynamics and International Relations including legality areas vis-à-vis transboundary/ international platforms, livelihood specialists may be considered to facilitate future deliberations. However this is just the beginning of the process, may be identified as breaking the ice stage, and it is expected such key groups will be added in future discourses.

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2.4. Design of the event

2.4.1. Type of Event

The event was designed as a workshop mode with brief presentations from key stakeholders punctuating the event. The idea was to facilitate a freewheeling dialogue and exchanges within the participants with inputs from the experts flagging of broad agendas. A total of two sessions was designed; deliberation on overall aspect of Sundarbans conservation on the first day and on the second day the agenda was harped on climate linked and other disasters in Sundarbans landscape and the need and options to work together to counter the trend. Conscious efforts were also made through appropriate moderation to ensure maximum participation of elected representatives from both countries to share their views and recommendations and facilitate proper drawing of transboundary political strategy. In between the discussions, following exposure trips were organized to facilitate the first hand exposure towards the development deficits and need for the transboundary political strategy. a. Exposure visit to Netidhopani and Boney camp to understand Sundarbans ecosystem, protection regime and remote monitoring on March 21, 2015.

2.4.2. Selection of issues and content

The selection of issues and content development was done keeping in focus the critical issues that the Sundarbans landscape is facing. Following issues were taken in account during the discussion and presentation: a. Status of Sundarbans related formal and informal negotiation between India and Bangladesh. b. Focus on the need to have joint efforts to conserve Sundarbans landscape and people dependent on it. c. Climate change impacts in Sundarbans vis-à-vis global context. d. Status of present and potential disasters in Sundarbans vis-à-vis climate change. e. Vulnerability of population living in Sundarbans and Sundarbans influenced zone in India and Bangladesh. f. Status of biodiversity in Sundarbans. g. Physical infrastructural deficit.

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h. Socio-economical deficit. i. Changing paradigm of livelihood practices like agriculture and fishery. j. Water issues in Sundarbans including salinity. k. Global recognition of Sundarbans especially its climate linked vulnerability.

2.4.3. Methodology used to ensure maximum participation and outcomes

The methodology used was a combination of brief issue triggering presentations followed by workshop mode freewheeling dialogues and sharing of experiences and suggestions from the participants. The informal deliberation was facilitated at the sidelines of designated meetings especially during the exposure trips organized to give the delegation members a first-hand feel of the scenario. All the deliberations have been documented, in print and audio visually, and the same have been subsequently streamlined in structured manner. The maximum participation and derivation of outcomes was ensured through appropriate moderation.

• Audio Visual Presentations by experts Field Exposure •Freeflowing dialogue and • Lecturues by experts in Sundarbans sharing experiences •Suggestions , •Visit to different recomendations and final Hilighting the present forest camps clarifications with parties scenario of •Interaction with forest • Planning for next phase for Sundarbans and department personnel platform and local people briefing on the De-breifing and background of the Discussion event

Background material and a detailed background paper was produced, and circulated within the participants. The paper elaborated on key issues about Sundarbans including the level of current engagement of political and other stakeholders’ regarding Sundarbans and its developmental and infrastructural deficits, present and potential climate change impacts and vulnerable population vis-à-vis global context, transboundary Sundarbans platform in light of similar such international case studies and current level of media coverage for Sundarbans.

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3. Description of Event 3.1. Description of the deliberations, presentations, etc. Program Schedule

DAY 1/20 March, 2015……………………………………………………….13 Post Afternoon Session Session I: Introduction Welcome Address Session II: Setting the agenda

DAY 2/21 March, 2015……………………………………………………….19 Morning Session Exposure visit to Netidhopani and Bonnie camp to understand the ecosystem, enforcement and protection

Post Afternoon Session Session: Dialogue and deliberation about the challenges of conserving transboundary Sundarbans

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Proceedings 20th March, 2015 Post Afternoon Session Session I: Introduction and Setting the agenda Agenda: (i) Share background of the World Bank- SAWI funded project and expectations from the workshop, (ii) Highlight conservational challenges of trans-boundary Sundarbans in light of climate change Welcome Address

Mr. Ratul Saha Landscape Coordinator- Sundarbans Landscape WWF-India Mr. Saha thanked all participants for taking time out of their busy schedule and participate in this workshop. Mr. Saha reiterated the importance of this transboundary workshop in terms of addressing the issues of common concern for Sundarbans. He also said that Sundarbans is an ecoregion which supports, either directly or indirectly, a population of 13 million. The expert also highlighted the rich biodiversity in terms of flora and fauna of Sundarbans. He spoke briefly about the livelihood of the people where he mentioned agriculture being a major activity of the people in this region are greatly damaged by Aila 2009. Natural disasters has not only impacted agriculture but also damaged other livelihood options. This damage is triggered by climate change and intense extreme weather events like tropical cyclone. Rise in global temperature is also causing imbalance in acid base and also creating direct impact on flora and fauna. But due to the increase in population, other main activities like uncontrolled shrimp farming has already caused serious damage in many places within Sundarbans. Rampant catching of tiger shrimp larvae from the rivers with mosquito net not only lead to killing of larvae of other fishes but also causes great damage in river ecosystems and species diversity. The expert also highlighted the need to operationalize the bilateral agreements signed between two countries on Sundarbans landscape.

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Mr. Jayanta Basu Director- EnGIO

Mr. Basu gave a short talk regarding the objective of the event and discussed the proposed way forward for joint elected representatives to opt for conservation of Sundarbans. The expert mentioned that there is a need for a joint platform and an initiative involving all stakeholders including government and non-government triggered ones. The expert reiterated that such a Track II initiative like the ongoing one in presence of the then union environment ministers of both India and Bangladesh in 2010 had paved the way for Track I deliberation and signing of Sundarbans related bilateral agreements in 2011. The expert added that civil society and national / regional governments should complement each other and such Track II initiatives to supplement the Track I initiative between two countries. The expert pointed out that at present there is not vigorous sharing of data and information. Data and resources being an important aspect of the transboundary initiative needs to be encouraged through a joint platform. Mr. Basu concluded by mentioning that only joint efforts should be made to highlight the climate change related vulnerability of transboundary Sundarbans in global platforms and try to ensure as much support as possible for the unique ecological area. Particularly the issue of climate liability formally called ‘Loss and Damage’, a new aspect in global climate negotiation, needs to be seen in context to Sundarbans.

Ms. Bushra Nishat Programme Manager, South Asia, International Water Association Ms. Nishat highlighted her earlier engagements with transboundary projects similar to this one. The most important being the Hilsa project and stated the different aspects of stakeholder engagement and how the engagement facilitated and influenced policies. The expert stated that culture value of Sundarbans should be leveraged for conservation of Sundarbans. She reiterated that though there have been various studies in Sundarbans in both India and Bangladesh, but hardly any joint reports have been developed. The expert concluded that joint reports should be initiated; and knowledge management is an area that should be pursued for proper planning of Sundarbans natural resources.

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Dr. Tapas Paul, Senior Environment Specialist, World Bank Dr. Paul highlighted the uniqueness of pan Sundarbans region and the rich biodiversity it hosts. The expert also highlighted the sheer size of marginalized population residing in the region and is majorly dependant on the natural resources. With World Bank’s major objective being poverty reduction in developing and underdeveloped countries, it has been observed from several studies, that most of the places in the world that has economic integration have managed to eradicate poverty in the region. The expert reiterated that South Asia is the most dis- integrated region in the world and due to lack of cooperation between neighbouring countries, economic and social relationship remains sour. The expert indicated that in another five to six years, Bangladesh will become a middle income country based on the present economic scenario in the region. The expert also pointed out that Bangladesh has less than 9% imports from India and Bangladesh’s export that reaches India is less than 10%. Major export and trading in Bangladesh is also geared towards Europe and USA. The expert commented that both countries have not much developed any significant trade or business relationship. The expert stressed that this issue should be a discussion point in this meeting to improve cooperation between the two countries. The expert highlighted the World Bank stakeholder engagements including the dialogue for inland water transport system and their eagerness to participate in transboundary projects initiated by the Governments. The expert cited that Indus river treaty is one of the most successful water sharing and management treaties in the world. If one has to manage trans- boundary water, MoU is required, which already exists between India and Bangladesh. So the initial stepping stone already exits. Dr. Paul concluded his session by saying that Sundarbans is really important, and all the stakeholders need to target that in the next Global Fund on climate change, which has 500 million dollar, Sundarbans should get at least 50 million dollars. To make this happen both the Governments should discuss and follow exemplary transboundary projects like Mekong organization and Arab economic Forum trans- boundary cooperation. The expert also requested that the elected representatives in this workshop should use their leadership to facilitate processes which can lead to cooperation between the two countries.

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Dr. Mohammed Hasan Mahmud Member of Parliament, Bangladesh Chairman of Parliament Standing Committee on Environment Dr. Hasan Mahmud started his session by citing similarities between the two neighbouring countries and the necessity to work together. The cultural integration between two countries can be a major component for unified actions but unfortunately such integration is hardly evident. Dr. Mahmud mentioned the existing legal instruments between two countries for shared management of Sundarbans and also the critical problems of Sundarbans that exists. Dr. Mahmud stressed on building a joint platform to develop and facilitate a transboundary Sundarbans collaboration. He also pointed out that such collaboration will require involving various stakeholders including civil society. Dr. Mahmud also highlighted the institutional structure of a Mekong river council, a transboundary initiative among various countries to conserve the Mekong River. Dr. Mahmud reiterated that based on the ongoing studies and the workshop discussion, it is evident that biodiversity is at stake and efforts should be taken to save the population in and around Sundarbans Influence Zone which is also prone to climate change impacts. He thinks that the concept for joint council for management of Sundarbans in both countries as a single entity would be very productive. Dr. Mohammed Hasan continued to emphasize on the fact that technical know-how and cross country exchanges is important to save transboundary Sundarbans.

Mr. Biman Banerjee Speaker of West Bengal Legislative Assembly Hon’ble speaker Mr. Banerjee started his session by mentioning that he would make sure to send his delegation to New Delhi and initiate a discussion in the legislative assembly regarding the conservation of Sundarbans. He continued that he is confident regarding the support from all the parties and he expects that Bangladesh would also approach the issue parallel with their higher authority. This workshop would help appropriate authorities in different levels in both Government of India and Government of West Bengal to build a roadmap to save the Sundarbans landscape. Mr. Banerjee thinks that it is the responsibility of both countries to raise the profile of Sundarbans in global context and a joint platform should be formulated from this workshop. Mr. Banerjee also stressed to operationalise all the bilateral agreements between India and Bangladesh for Sundarbans landscape.

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Mr. Manturam Pakhira Minister of State, Dept. of Sundarbans Affairs, Government of West Bengal, India Mr. Pakhira started his session with citing examples of climate change impacts in Sundarbans and aftermath of the high intensity weather events. The elected representative also shared the recent impacts on the livelihood activities in Sagar Island, India due to sudden high intensity weather events. He stressed that the meeting output should also pave the way to address the issues. Mr. Pakhira continued his session by mentioning that recently 370 crores INR was earmarked in the 2014-2015 Sundarbans Affairs Department’s budget for Sundarbans. Vocational trainings were also been given for various livelihood sectors in the region for skill development to enhance the resilience of local community. Mr. Pakhira shared the wide array of development interventions that is also being implemented in Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve. The representative also believes that it is extremely important to undertake appropriate research to save mangroves and other biodiversity in Sundarbans. Mr. Pakhira is also in agreement with Honourable Speaker of West Bengal Legislative Assembly regarding the recommendations and also the ways suggested to take up the issues related to Sundarbans at central level. He shared the ongoing partnership with World Bank and have high hopes for success with any initiatives with World Bank in Sundarbans.

Ms. Mahbub Ara Begum Gini Member of Parliament & Whip, Bangladesh Ms. Gini started her session stating the importance of mangroves with reference to Sundarban. She stressed and highlighted the importance of addressing issues of Sundarbans in its entirety in India and Bangladesh. She also stated that the different interventions that is required to be carried out for the community dependent on Sundarbans to achieve sustainable development. Ms. Gini has high hopes from this workshop and is willing to participate in the joint platform for Sundarbans. She expects that the joint platform should pave the way for a joint plan to conserve Sundarbans landscape. At the same time she also stated that knowledge sharing and management is important to facilitate the joint platform. Ms. Gini also pointed out that she would facilitate in expediting the process to operationalise the bilateral agreements for conservation of Sundarbans. Ms. Gini commented that a white paper needs to be drafted to start the process of transboundary collaboration and dialogue. There is also a need to push from both sides and convince respective Governments to prioritise Sundarbans as a top most priority.

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Mr. Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay Chief Whip, Government of West Bengal, India Mr. Chattopadhyay pointed out the uniqueness of Sundarbans and the community dependent on the natural resources. He continued by saying that this region is a world heritage site and the world community have to shoulder responsibility for its protection and conservation. According to Mr. Chattopadhyay, sustainability of Sundarbans resources is a key to build the resilience of the community living in Sundarbans. Mr. Chattopadhyay assured that the Government of West Bengal will fully support all the initiatives taken to conserve Sundarbans and participate in joint efforts with Bangladesh in achieving the desired results planned in this workshop. White paper, may be in a form of research paper, may be prepared jointly and shared with Government of India and Bangladesh. He ended his talk by saying that both Bangladesh and India as separate nations has always pursued their own strategic interests. If India has committed mistake by putting up barbed wire on the border then I also feel that Bangladesh has done a mistake by not trading much with India. So, there are misunderstandings but dialogue on common issues will open up other avenues of cooperation.

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21st March, 2015 Morning Session Exposure visit to Netidhopani and Bonnie camp Netidhopani and Bonnie camp are located in 24 Parganas (South) forest division and Sundarbans Tiger Reserve respectively. The camps are surrounded by array of biodiversity. The elected representatives were explained that mangrove swamps which not only have a high rate of primary productivity, but also export organic matter and support a wide variety of aquatic, benthic and terrestrial organisms. The mangroves of Sundarbans provide a wide variety of ecosystem services, viz. protection from natural calamities as buffer, erosion control, imparting shoreline stability by controlling nutrient and sediment distribution in estuarine waters; maintenance of water quality and supply; maintenance of near-shore marine habitats, providing food, shelter and breeding grounds to a variety of terrestrial, benthic, inshore, offshore and marine organisms; replenishment, rejuvenation and reclamation of soil; clean air and other common property resources all have economic as well as intrinsic value. The elected representatives were also informed that although the services are not traded in conventional markets, these are eventual reasons for which conservation efforts are imperative. The elected representatives were briefed regarding the present enforcement and protection regime in Sundarbans Tiger Reserve. The idea of remote monitoring was an important point that came out in the discussion held in the camp with forest department personnel. The representatives stressed on the idea of joint monitoring to prevent poaching in landscape.

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Post Afternoon Session Agenda: Dialogue and deliberation about the challenges of conserving transboundary Sundarbans with a focus on possible joint initiative to combat the climate change triggered disasters in the region

Mr. Jayanta Basu Director- EnGIO

Mr. Basu started his session by briefing the political delegates from both India and Bangladesh regarding the the deliberations since last two days. Mr. Basu also acknowledged and appreciated the role of Janab Javed Ahmed Khan and Disaster Management Department of Government of West Bengal for supporting the transboundary initiative. Mr. Basu also stressed on the fact that Sundarbans must be protected at all costs because the unique ecosystem acts as one of the only natural barrier against nature’s fury and protects one of the most densely populated towns and cities behind and beyond it. He also added that the region is in fact one of the most densely populated regions in the world. A joint platform between two countries is the need of the hour. The expert highlighted that Sundarbans landscape is already stressed and any further pressure on this ecosystem may prove counterproductive. He said that both long term as well as immediate impacts of climate change are already visible in Sundarbans (the annual average mean sea level rise 8 mm; way more than the global annual average mean sea level rise figure). He also added that increasing population in this region is a major concern along with climate change impacts on agriculture and fisheries. These two are the major economic activities which supports livelihood of millions of people in Sundarbans landscape. The risk is particularly pronounced in context of huge population load within Sundarbans influence zone (SIZ). As migration is not an acceptable option, the climate adaptation pathway need to be pursued. Spatial planning needs to be undertaken on basis of climate change vulnerability standpoint. To achieve this desired outcome, networking within the stakeholders is a possible option. Mr. Basu highlighted some serious issues like depletion of the fish stock, eroding landmass that is making thousands of people homeless and landless. So it is important to share data and transboundary agreements needs to be operationalised. Also it is important to designate and define area within Sundarbans and its influence zone, vulnerable to climate change for better implementation of activities. The expert mentioned that some climate smart or resilient cities should be planned in the zone to reduce vulnerability. To successfully mitigate the above problems, a macro- picture needs to be drawn for risks reduction associated with climate change in the Sundarbans which would facilitate the platform too.

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Ms. Bushra Nishat Programme Manager, South Asia, International Water Association Ms. Nishat started her session with highlighting the topography of Sundarbans and major rivers that both the countries share. She also spoke about how vulnerable this region is from the perspective of changing climate and increasing frequency of high intensity weather events like cyclone Sidr and Aila. The expert continued by highlighting the critical role of mangrove. She stressed on the need of disaster preparedness in both countries especially on the backdrop of recent oil spill in the Sundarbans. Later she discussed about the Ganges catchment and reducing fresh water flow in Bangladesh and its impact on Sundarbans in terms of increasing salinity and loss of floral diversity. The expert pointed out the researches that has shown, waves and surges get significantly buffered in areas having mangrove forest; and historical decrease of Ganges flow in Bangladesh as well as increase of river water salinity in Sundarbans. Such increase in salinity within rivers catering to Sundarbans is creating severe impact on Sundari trees and other natural resources. The expert urged the representatives that there is a need to design and set up proper climate modelling network for the region and also a need to establish appropriate database and information system to monitor the impacts of climate change on Sundarbans ecosystem. This is because integrated coastal zone management is extremely important. Afforestation and reforestation by salt tolerant species should be encouraged and a need of the hour is a transboundary cooperation among India, Nepal & Bangladesh for basin level management of Ganges.

Mr. Sanjay Gupta Consultant, World Bank Mr. Gupta emphasized the possible problem solving approaches in the region that can reduce the vulnerability of the people. The expert pointed out that over 12 million people who live either in Sundarbans or within its immediate hinterland needs to be acknowledged that though Sundarbans is celebrated for its ecological attributes but also a difficult place to live especially in the back drop that people of Sundarbans are immersed in severe poverty. Biodiversity, though environmentally extremely important, does not greatly help in context to livelihood options for people so far. The people living here lack capabilities to pursue more attractive option elsewhere; and the situation worsen due to lack of capital. The region is also prone to mal-adaptations such as large and uncontrolled development, false sense of security and lack of encouragement of “high yield” varieties of paddy add to the problems in short and long run. The expert commented that unplanned conventional growth is not a solution because it damages and compromises natural resources. Mr. Gupta stressed that vulnerability reduction is important through disaster risk management and estuary management through threat reduction investments. 21

The expert pointed that controlling population pressure, capturing livelihood opportunities and building basic physical infrastructure like health and education will lead to poverty reduction. He also commented incentive measures, property rights and co-management; developing conservation partnership, mangrove restoration and marine protection will lead to biodiversity conservation in Sundarbans. So to undergo all these institutional changes, bilateral cooperation between the governments of India and Bangladesh has to be expedited. Mr. Gupta in the later part of his talk reiterated the uniqueness of this ecoregion of global importance. He said that multiple studies have been done on different issues of Sundarbans, but there is a lack of investment in service and industrial sector. He also pointed out that people are not been able to move out of the region for better opportunity because of lack of skills and incentives associated with the status as a resident of these areas which hinders the process of permanent migration out of these places. The expert stressed that long term solutions are required to address these problems but it should not include strengthening of embankments and huge investment associated with the same. Some of the expert recommendations were to have a joint mechanism to forecast the location and intensity of cyclonic events and also 15-20 days in advance of their arrival. He said that joint program on risk communication should be done to help local populations integrate vulnerability and climate change, so that it is considered into their decision-making and planning process. Lessons can also be learnt from the more advanced community early warning system of the Bangladesh Sundarbans.

Mr. Jayanta Naskar Member of Legislative Assembly West Bengal, India Mr. Naskar welcomed the participants and started to highlight the trend in change in weather pattern and salinity gradient and its resultant impact on forest, fish stock. Mr. Naskar commended the engagement that Sundarban Biosphere Reserve Directorate has with the community since Joint Forest Management policy. Now people are more aware about the value of forest and wildlife and also help forest department to capture, rescue and release of tiger back in forest. But illegal fishing is on the rise and so is human wildlife conflict situation. Mr. Naskar stressed that both the countries have to work towards conservation of Sundarbans and also to reduce the vulnerability of people dwelling here. He pointed out that it is important to strengthen the embankments through mangrove plantation which can protect the region from damages due to high wind speed during cyclone. He urged all other elected representatives to push for operationalising the bilateral agreements on Sundarbans and formulate a joint platform. He also pointed out that the platform should have scientists and researchers to identify the core reasons for vulnerabilities and constantly monitor the issues.

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Mr. Samir Kumar Jana Member of Legislative Assembly West Bengal, India Mr. Jana explained the very importance for communities as well as biodiversity to coexist as the people and the biodiversity are interdependent on each other. The representative pointed out that if actions are not taken to mitigate problems mentioned by the experts so far, the cities which contributes to the economic growth of a country will be devastated. So, the region not only has global importance in terms of biodiversity but also in terms of economy and hence one need to protect it. He mentioned that a transboundary initiative could be a stepping stone. Mr. Jana further added that population explosion in this region has added to the existing concerns of climate change impacts. Embankment improvement, mangrove plantation in mud flats, social forestry programmes in the islands can help a lot to offset the impact of cyclonic events. The representative urged the experts present in the workshop to identify stable zones in Sundarbans and design climate smart cities. Mr. Jana requested help from World Bank to improve the embankments and other infrastructural development in terms of good roads and electricity for overall development and thus reducing vulnerability. Mr. Jana recommended that initiatives taken by government for disaster preparedness have to be operationalized properly and quite clearly alternative livelihood options are required in the region. The representative concluded his session by providing two major recommendations i.e. social forestry is required in every island wherever possible, along with this erosion zone mapping is very important for long term risk management planning.

Mr. Subhas Naskar Member of Legislative Assembly West Bengal, India Mr. Naskar started his session by mentioning the burgeoning population in the Sundarbans and major concern for achieving sustainable development goals. As a representative of state Mr. Naskar feels that the Central government does not show much concern regarding the present scenario of Sundarbans. The central government has only responded majorly when any major event took place. The representative urged that both State and Central Government have to think about the welfare of Sundarbans. He also urged that a proper Joint Platform is required to address the critically important issues in Sundarbans. He pointed out that Global fund can be directed to protect Sundarbans as it is a World Heritage site, and secondly, Sundarbans suffers from climate change despite almost contributing nothing to the phenomenon. Planned migration may be contemplated for people living in extremely vulnerable areas. He also pointed out that political differences should not come in the way for working together to save Sundarbans and an all-party political delegation from West Bengal assembly should go to Central

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Government to demand appropriate support to conserve Sundarbans and achieve sustainable development.

Mr. Bankim Chandra Hazra Member of Legislative Assembly & Chairman, Sundarbans Development Board West Bengal, India Mr. Hazra started his session with sharing experiences from his past. He shared that how difficult it was for the people of Sundarbans to recover from Aila. He admits that adequate support has not been provided to build the resilience of the people. Under Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Project, 40-50 cyclone relief shelter is planned to be built. But only building shelters will not be sufficient; there is a need for other basic amenities to build the resilience of the people. Mr. Hazra requested the participants to prepare white paper which could be sent to Government of India. The representative urged that janab Javed Ahmed Khan should take the leadership on the matter. One of the important recommendations from Mr. Hazra is that there is a need for more cyclone shelters, since sea level rise is a major issue and erosion of land mass is a common occurrence.

Md. Yahya Chowdhury Member of Parliament, Bangladesh Md. Yahya Chowdhury urged the participants to have a single definition of Sundarbans as the definition is different in both the countries. In Bangladesh, Sundarbans is just about forest whereas in India, Sundarbans is a biosphere reserve where community and forest coexist. He has high hopes that this platform would surely take up this issue. Mr. Chowdhury commended the spirit and eagerness shown by Members of West Bengal Legislative Assembly to pursue the vision for Sundarbans and believes that surely the Central Indian Government will take up this issue when approached by them. He assured that he would support for joint initiatives whenever planned with India to conserve Sundarbans.

Mr. Tipu Sultan Member of Parliament, Bangladesh Mr. Sultan shared his experiences from Barisal and how the paddy production in this area has reduced in past due to drying of rivers. He also highlighted that the region lost indigenous paddy varieties including salt tolerant paddy variety. Now whenever there is salt water inundation, the farmers feels the problem in agriculture as the new variety cannot withstand the salinity. The case is similar across Sundarbans. Mr. Sultan is in agreement with Mr. Jayanta Naskar that many faunal diversity has been lost due to anthropogenic and climate change impacts. Thus protection of the Sundarbans is extremely important.

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Mr. Golam Rabbani Member of Parliament, Bangladesh Mr. Rabbani following his motivational speech said that Sundarbans is a unique ecosystem and it needs to be protected at all costs. He has high hopes from this workshop and will support any initiatives to expedite operationalisation of bilateral agreements for Sundarbans. Mr. Rabbani said that transboundary cooperation is required to achieve the sustainability of the ecosystem.

Md. Nobi Newaz Member of Parliament, Bangladesh Mr. Nobi Newaz thanked the participants for the transboundary initiative to save Sundarbans. He urged that the platform should form a Permanent Joint Committee to carry out joint research to identify the core problems, the causal factors and ways to address the problems shared by participants in the workshop. Mr. Newaz suggested that this committee should have representatives from both India, West Bengal and Bangladesh. The committee should undertake appropriate research for Sundarbans sustainable development, build a road map and push both national governments to take necessary steps to implement the roadmap.

Mahbub Ara Begum Gini, Member of Parliament and Whip, Bangladesh Ms. Gini commended the way Indian Sundarban is being managed and especially the development projects in the community inhabited area of Sundarbans. She has a learning take away home and push the same in Bangladesh Sundarbans. Ms. Gini requested World Bank participants to support initiatives similar to what they are supporting in India. She also commend the transboundary initiative and assured to support all the recommendations coming out of this initiative for conservation of Sundarbans landscape.

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Dr. A.F.M Ruhal Haque Minister-in-Charge: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Bangladesh Dr. Haque thanked the organisers in organising the transboundary initiative. To Dr. Haque too, the management of Sundarbans in India is commendable. He mentioned that even though he is not an expert on forest but he does believe that scientist should do the research and facilitate the platform in taking decisions. Dr. Haque urged the partcipants to share ideas and initate dialogues similar to this one. He assured that he will support the recommendations from this platform and the initiatives required to expedite operationalise the bilateral instruments for Sundarbans landscape.

Dr. Mohammed Hasan Mahmud Member of Parliamnent, Bangladesh Chairman of Parliament Standing Committee on Environment Dr. Mahmud recapitulated what has been discussed so far in the workshop. He urged the organisers to draw a white paper at earliest. The paper should focus on ways to save Sundarbans through cooperation and take a holistic approach to tackle both community and wildlife issues across transboundary region. The two countries have legal provision of wildlife protection and to penalize poaching as well as option of compensation for wildlife attack victim. People participation is required to garner support for Sundarbans conservation also. Dr. Mahmud stated that Bangladesh have already started alternative livelihood programmes to support people on forest fringes/impact zone. World Bank survey in 2011 showed that in Bangladesh Sundarbans, forest resources in 70% of the area have increased. Response teams have also been formed to respond to situations like wildlife straying. They are equipped to respond properly. He also thinks it is important to fill up the empty spaces in the forest with appropriate species of trees. According to Dr. Mahmud some of the major threats of Sundarbans are (i) heavy siltation (ii) increasing salinity, (iii) climate change, (iv) Sea level rise, and (v) population pressure. Dr. Mahmud suggested a formation of platform similar to Amazon, Mekong etc. As both the countries also have Joint River Commission and they meet with each other periodically it is important to bring the issue of Sundarbans in those meetings too. Dr. Mahmud pointed out that there is a need to create fund (as grant of 100 million dollar) for joint studies. He requested World Bank to create a fund for conservation and protection of Sundarbans landscape. Dr. Mahmud urged the organisers to send a joint proposal to the Bank involving community development and capacity building of the community to build their resilience and be the custodians for conservation of Sundarbans. Eco-tourism opportunities should be encouraged as a livelihood alternative as nothing has been done so far in the region.

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Janab Javed Ahmed Khan Honourable Minister-in-Charge, Department of Disaster Management & Civil Defense and Fire & Emergency Services, Government of West Bengal, India Mr. Khan started his presentation by thanking the entire Bangladesh political delegation for participating in this dialogue. He said that he is thankful to the organizers (WWF-India, World Bank and EnGIO) for organizing such an important dialogue and then started summing up the deliberation. Mr. Khan said that this initiative was a beginning of the joint platform. He urged the elected representatives of both countries to expedite operationalisation of bilateral agreements on Sundarbans. Mr. Khan emphasized that there is a need to form a nodal agency to make both countries work together. So, a platform is required. The representative also commented that it is not a feasible option to relocate people from the forest fringe but the state always welcome discussion on how to support them as well as protect forest at the same time. Thus opportunities need to be created outside the vulnerable zone. He requested that World Bank should give 1000 million dollar for the activities.

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3.2. Key findings and recommendation

The key findings and recommendations from the meeting have been summarized below and have been categorized into following thematic areas.

Thematic areas Elected Representatives in the workshop Occurrence

of the

san thematic

area during

discussions

Biman Banerjee Janab Javed Ahmed Khan Manturam Pakhira Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay Jayanta Naskar Samir Jana NaskarSubhas Bankim Chandra Hazra Dr. Mohammed Ha Mahmud Mahabub Ara Begum Gini Achintya Kumar Mondal Yahya Chowdhury Tipu Sultan Golam Rabbani Nabi Newaz AFM Ruhal Haque Integration - * 1 Needs Cultural & Commercial integration Legal instrument * * * * * * * 7 - Existing Legal instrument for Sundarbans management including the MoUs need to be operationalized Joint Platform - A * * * * * * * * * * 10 transboundary multi-stakeholder platform should be developed Collaboration - * * * * * * 6 Civil society, policy makers should work collaboratively from both India and Bangladesh to save Sundarbans Population * * * * * * 6 vulnerability - Survival of vulnerable population in Sundarbans and Sundarban Influence Zone should be considered Technical sharing * 1 - Technical

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knowhow should be shared International * * 2 attention - The issue of Sundarbans vulnerability should get adequate international attention International * * * 3 support - As Sundarbans has the tag of World heritage site hence it should get global support for conservation Awareness - Both * * * * * * 6 countries should work jointly to create awareness to save Sundarbans Government to * * * * * * * * 8 Government effort - Bangladesh and Indian governments may engage in a joint effort to conserve Sundarbans State Report - * * 2 West Bengal government will give a detailed report to Centre about Sundarbans Climate triggered * * * * * 5 livelihood problems and migration - Issues like migration, loss of agricultural land and livelihood due to climate change and otherwise should be considered Climate * * * 3 adaptation and training - Training should be given 29

in various sectors for better climate adaptation Communication - * 1 There should be better communication especially with urban mega cities Research - There * * * 3 should be research on critical issues of Sundarbans like mangroves and other biodiversity Conservation - * 1 Sundarbans need to be fully conserved Deforestation - * * 2 Felling of trees should be prevented and social forestry needs to be encouraged Disaster * * * * * * 6 vulnerability - Vulnerability from immediate and longtime natural disasters are rising in Sundarbans Alternative * * 2 livelihoods - Alternative livelihoods should be encouraged to reduce pressure on forest Mangroves - * * * 3 Mangroves need to be planted at large scale to protect the soil erosion and strengthen the embankments Erosion mapping * 1 Human * 1 development - Integrated human development

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strategy should be adopted Infrastructure - * * 2 improvement of infrastructure should be pursued Follow up - The * * * 3 discussions need to be followed up properly Center State * * 2 relation - Political differences between center and state is an obstacle and should be minimized Cyclone shelters - * 1 Need more cyclone shelters Central * * * 3 government representation - Needs central government representation from India Salinity - Salinity * 1 is a critical issue and is increasing due to less flow of fresh water from the upper stream of river and also because of gradual reduction in river depth. Mutual * 1 relationship - Mutual negativity should be reduced. Biodiversity - * * 2 Conservation of biodiversity in Sundarbans is a priority Disaster * 1 management - Community based disaster management

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should be encouraged Tigers - Tigers * 1 need to be protected in adjoining transboundary countries Ecotourism - * 1 There can be ecotourism but should not be any tourism project against nature Dredging - There * 1 should be adequate dredging in the rivers Status Report - A * * * 3 detailed status report needs to be created Nepal and Bhutan * 1 engagement - Nepal and Bhutan can be included in the transboundary exercise Poverty reduction * * * 3 - Opportunities in Sundarbans need to be increased. Develop integrated economic zone to reduction of poverty Transboundary - water issues - India and Bangladesh need to prioritize and solve their water issues Leadership - - Leadership should be taken from the side of policy makers in case of joint stakeholder exercises Insurance - The - climate change linked insurance mechanism like 32

crop insurance – poorly understood and executed now – needs to be strengthened Capacity building * * * * * 5 - Multi capacity building within frontline workers, telemetry, using of expertise from army personnel Forecasting - * * * 3 Micro level weather monitoring mechanism – Karnataka model– may be considered in region supposed to be hardest hit from climate change and hence affecting agriculture. Need early warning system and integrated disaster management Climate smart - cities - Some climate smart/resilient cities may be planned. Shrimp farming - * 1 Uncontrolled shrimp farming already cause serious damage in many places in Sundarbans Institutional * 1 weakness - Institutional weakness is widespread Embankments - * * * * 4 Mass failure of embankments due to natural and human-induced causes

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Limited capacity * 1 of population - Limited capabilities to pursue more attractive options elsewhere due to lack of skills, lack of capital, low income and low- attraction migration Develop low risk * * * 3 areas: Develop lower-risk areas to provide improved access to employment, health and educational services

3.3. Outcome of the event

The above mentioned key findings to identify the priority opinions and recommendations of the elected representatives from India (West Bengal) and Bangladesh and accordingly the outcome of the event has been assessed. It may be pointed out that though the opinions or observations of all the participants were recorded above; the analysis has been made only with the opinions and comments received from elected representatives. Following are the names of the elected representatives whose comments have been analyzed. Participants A. Biman Banerjee (Hon’ble Speaker, WB Legislative Assembly) B. Janab Javed Ahmed Khan (Minister-in-charge, Dept. Of Disaster Management & Civil Defense and Fire & Emergency Services, GoWB) C. Manturam Pakhira (Minister of State, Dept. Of Sundarban Affair, GoWB) D. Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay (Chief Whip, GoWB) E. Jayanta Naskar (MLA, WB) F. Samir Jana (MLA, WB) G. Subhas Naskar (MLA, WB) H. Bankim Chandra Hazra (MLA, WB) I. Dr. Mohammed Hasan Mahmud (MP, Bangladesh) J. Mahabub Ara Begum Gini (MP, Whip) K. Achintya Kumar Mondal (Mayor, Chalna Pourasabha) L. Yahya Chowdhury (MP)

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M. Tipu Sultan (MP) N. Golam Rabbani (MP) O. Nabi Newaz (MP) P. AFM Ruhal Haque (MP) Out of the 48 modes of opinions expressed overall - in varying languages - some opinions received more acceptance than others from political delegation members. Opinions being supported by 25 % (4 out of 16) or more participants are listed below and it is felt that these can be important components in subsequent designing of the political strategy for transboundary Sundarbans. However it needs also to be kept in mind that other opinions, observations, which might have received less support, are no less important and will also contribute in formulation of the future political discourse. The dominant observations opinions are as follows and may be categorized in different aspects: 1. Legal instrument - Existing Legal instrument for Sundarbans management including the MoUs need to be operationalized. 2. Joint Platform - A transboundary multistakeholder platform should be developed. 3. Collaboration - Civil society, policy makers should work collaboratively from both India and Bangladesh to save Sundarbans. 4. Population vulnerability - Survival of vulnerable population in Sundarbans and Sundarban Influence Zone should be considered. 5. Awareness - Both countries should work jointly to create awareness to save Sundarbans. 6. Government to Government effort - Bangladesh and Indian governments may engage in a joint effort to conserve Sundarbans. 7. Climate triggered livelihood problems and migration - Issues like migration, loss of agricultural land and livelihood due to climate change and otherwise should be considered. 8. Disaster vulnerability - Vulnerability from immediate and longtime natural disasters are rising in Sundarbans. 9. Capacity building - Multi capacity building within frontline workers , telemetry, using of expertise from army personnel 10. Embankments - Mass failure of embankments due to natural and human-induced causes. 3.4. Way forward

The first of its kind cruise political workshop has broadly outlined the way forward for the future discourse. The major way forward modes are as listed below

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1. Continue the dialogue within political representatives of both India and Bangladesh targeting greater understanding, exchanges and exposure both as macro and micro levels. 2. Targeting possible Track I and II political collaboration to emphasize and with focus on “Sundarbans; single ecological unit” understanding. 3. Facilitating the creation of Sundarbans joint platform. 4. Utilizing the existing legal instruments including operationalization of Moues between India and Bangladesh regarding Sundarbans. 5. Involving Union Government of India to facilitate the process. 6. Generating greater awareness within all stakeholders including the political one/s. 7. Highlighting the climate triggered vulnerability of Sundarbans within regional and global platforms through various modes.

4. Lessons learnt

4.1. Salient features

The idea of having political workshop on cruise interspersed with exposure trips / meetings has been overall well taken and has been able to cater to the desired objectives to a reasonable extent. However, taking cue from the present meeting, in future wider expert inputs may be considered. In case of unavailability in persons, such inputs may be pre-recorded for sharing during the meeting. A video conference /skype meeting may also be organized (based on logistics). The effort may also be taken to share critical information and strategies beforehand for better facilitation. 4.2. Challenges faced

The key challenge was to drive home the message that Sundarbans, despite being split with political boundaries, is actually single ecological unit and unless concrete transboundary exercise is taken, the same will not survive. The challenge has become harder because two countries, over the last six decades or more, treated few of the core issues differently; be it embankment, conservation of biodiversity, human habitation etc. Certain natural and anthropogenic actions sometimes statedly catered by one country or another have also led to certain difficulties in conservation; leading to a contrasting and contradictory mindsets and reducing the ability to appreciate other’s point of view. However the dialogue, once initiated, quickly acknowledged the need to work jointly on Sundarbans and kept aside the

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contradictions. It is expected with more such interactions, a sustainable transboundary political strategy will be developed to conserve Sundarbans. 4.3. Degree of engagement

The degree of engagement as expressed by the delegates has been exemplary with all the participants taking part in the discussions not only at formal meeting period but also at the sidelines of it. Overall it was a very serious political discourse. Organizing and carrying out of different tasks went on reasonably as per the plan. However, it is felt that a more detailed planning would have made the exercise smoother. Considering the occupational nature of political representatives, there is bound to be certain last minute adjustments. 4.4. General recommendation

1. Continue the process of intra and inter engagement and dialogue within political representatives of both India and Bangladesh targeting greater understanding, exchanges and exposure both as macro and micro levels. 2. Ensure engagement of Government of India in the process to make it more effective. 3. Continue focusing the issues of Sundarbans in global platforms vis-à-vis climate change impacts considering “Sundarbans as single ecological unit”. 4. Creation of Sundarbans joint platform to coordinate more collaborative exercise. 5. Enhanced media – experts – political executives interface aimed to influence policy and practice in two countries (including in West Bengal) about Sundarbans as well as their formal deliberation.

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5. Annex 5.1. Background Materials circulated for the Event

Bon Beyond Border “AAMARSUNDARBAN, SONAR SUNDARBAN” International Workshop on Collaboration among Media from Bangladesh and India on

Promoting Human Development and Ecological Management in the Sundarbans

1. Introduction

Despite bonds of culture and a shared history, as well as neighborly proximity, social and economic ties between Bangladesh and India have ample opportunities to prosper especially in light of the rapid growth in both countries and economic opportunities in the offering. Although some progress has been made, the level of integration between two countries is less than adequate in terms of policy, trade, and infrastructure; affecting not only economic development but hampers management of shared natural resources, such as forests and cross-boundary river basins. India-Bangladesh transboundary cooperation offers a win-win prospect for both countries. Greater bilateral engagement would stimulate employment and other economic and social activities, which in turn would help to reduce poverty (particularly in the border areas), and enhance and generate new business opportunities. Bilateral cooperation and integration between these two economies is a critical step for an integrated South Asia, and will be beneficial to a more effective SAARC in moving towards higher sustainable growth.

2. Sundarbans is a unique opportunity for transboundary cooperation

Sundarbans delta in its entirety (81% in Bangladesh and 19% in India) is the largest mangrove delta in the world, fed by rivers from Bhutan, China, India, and Nepal. It is also the only mangrove tiger habitat in the world. It is the tide dominated lower part of the Bengal Delta or the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta and home to about 13 million people, of whom more than half lie below the poverty line, majorly relying on subsistence agriculture and fishing. The Sundarbans, based on biological diversity, are considered one of the seven most important wetlands globally. Home to a significant portion of one of the world’s largest contiguous stretch of mangrove forests, portions of the natural vegetation hold prominent global place as UNESCO World Heritage sites. The hydrological and salinity gradients found in the Sundarbans support diverse faunal assemblages and economically significant fisheries; over 315 bird species has been recorded from this region. Besides 38

provisioning services of the mangrove ecosystem, ecological services are in the form of protecting the coast from fury of cyclones, floods, wave action and coastal erosion. But transboundary Sundarbans are not only about the tigers and the pristine ecological system that it harbours. While the Sundarbans landscape is celebrated for its ecological attributes, it is also a region that accommodates nearly 0.2 percent of the global population, which is almost equivalent to the population of 12 Small Island Developing States.1 Compared with the demographically largest SIDS, Cuba, the Sundarbans landscape harbours more people but lags way behind in terms of human development; Cuba’s HDI raking is 44, Bangladesh is ranked 144 and India 135. In the context of human development, the Sundarbans landscape is much further behind other parts of Bangladesh and India, with poverty ratio is as high as 43.23% which is almost twice the country average of Bangladesh (26%) and India (21.92%). If that is not enough, this traditional development deficit of Sundarbans is magnified with the ever increasing impacts of climate change in the region. The landscape is witnessing higher than global average sea level rise (around double) and accelerated erosion, as well as more intense high intensity weather events putting millions of lives and livelihoods at risk. Cyclones Sidr and Aila that hit Sundarbans in November 2007 and May 2009 respectively are some of the examples those vindicate the vulnerability. The severe poverty in the inhabited portions of the Sundarbans both contributes to and arises from the vulnerability of the population to a growing range of natural hazards. The estimated cost of environmental damage in the Indian Sundarbans alone associated with ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss is about INR 670 crores annually, which is equivalent to about 5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009.Resilience is characterized by a capacity to adapt to changing conditions and persistent stresses by responding effectively, but the resilience of those residing in the Sundarbans has been undermined by a long series of persistent pressures (rubber band resilience syndrome). Sea level rise, cyclonic storms, flooding, and salinization of soil and water have combined over the past century to render this one of the world’s most hazardous areas (with the largest number of people in any landscape threatened by sea level rise). Natural stresses are compounded by human-induced stresses, including reductions in fresh-water flows to the delta and an expansion in tidal aquaculture. The predicted changes associated with global climate change will provide no respite: increased intensity of cyclonic storms coupled with continuing sea level rise will further increase hazards to the local population.

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3. The vulnerability brings unique & joint opportunity or Sundarbans

The shared Sundarbans landscape presents a strong opportunity for strategic cooperation and joint actions between Bangladesh and India, resulting in simultaneous poverty reduction and sustainable ecosystem management. Sundarbans houses a total population of about 1.3 crore (over 50 lakh in India, 70 lakh or more in Bangladesh) and suffers from several and similar dimensions of poverty in both the countries. If one takes into account the population living within Sundarbans Influence Zone (SIZ) – the area being vulnerable to climatic changes due to proximity to Sundarbans – the number will increase significantly. For example, 7 out of global top 20 cities in terms of population density live in Kolkata Metropolitan Area, which is around 100–150 km of Sundarbans and are under threat. Coming back to populace in the area; the major impediments include poor health conditions, relatively low education levels, limited employment opportunities with far more limited enterprise, inadequate water supply and sanitation, absence of electricity in many places, difficult and primarily river-based transport, and very high risk of persistent cyclones, floods and embankment failures. Given that each country’s portion of the Sundarbans is essentially part of the same ecosystem, the Sundarbans would be better managed if both countries developed a co-management policy aimed at conservation and development, or at least collaborated together to adopt a coordinated policy that could be implemented by each country individually. In 2010, civil society groups from both countries including EnGIO (which is also a part of the current exercise) organized a meeting in Kolkata focusing the need to tans-boundary cooperation on Sundarbans in presence of central environmental ministers from both countries apart from other experts. WWF –India also undertook similar trans-boundary exercise – albeit predominantly at academic level – around same time. In 2011, Bangladesh and India signed MoUs on a host of issues to pave the way for joint actions. These were defined in an overall framework agreement of understanding which includes a framework for such collaboration in international waters, information-sharing, disaster management, and addressing climate change induced issues; and memorandum of understanding on specific areas of (i) management of the Sundarbans, (ii) management of tigers, (iii) fisheries, and (iv) exchange and sharing of relevant information and programs between the respective national televisions. These agreements or understanding are yet to be operationalized. However the civil society

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push for trans-boundary collaboration continued with a cruise meeting being held in Sundarbans waters in 2012 in presence of experts and organizations from both India and Bangladesh. MoUs for cooperation on Sundarbans Bangladesh and India signed (non-binding) agreements in late 2011 on a number of issues to pave the way for joint action. Following are the highlights of the bilateral agreements between the two countries on the Sundarbans or relevant to the landscape (bold and italics for emphasis).

Sr. Name of Agreement/ Date of Salient features Responsibility No. MOU Signing

Framework Agreement September Lays down the framework for enhancing A Joint Consultative on Cooperation for 06, 2011 mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation Commission would be Development in a wide range of areas. These include established to monitor promotion of trade, investment and effective and smooth economic cooperation; connectivity; water implementation of the resources; Management of natural Agreement that shall disasters; generation, transmission and meet annually. distribution of electricity, including from renewable or other sources; Promotion of scientific, educational and cultural cooperation; People to people exchanges; Environmental protection and responding to challenges of climate change through adaptation; Sub regional cooperation in the power sector, water resources management, physical connectivity, environment and sustainable development; And enhancing cooperation in security.

2 MOU on Conservation September Seeks to facilitate cooperation in the areas A Working Group will be of the Sundarban 06, 2011 of conservation of biodiversity, joint set up to define activities, management of resources, livelihood responsibilities, time, and generation for poverty alleviation and resources involved, development, cataloguing of local flora according to the activities and fauna and studying the impacts of established as per this climate change. Memorandum.

3 Protocol on September Provides for bilateral cooperation in Forest Officers or Park conservation of the 06, 2011 undertaking scientific research, Directors from both the Royal Bengal Tiger of knowledge sharing and patrolling of the countries will hold the Sundarban waterways on their respective periodic meetings on sides to prevent poaching or smuggling of either side of the Sundarban derivatives from wildlife and bilateral Sundarban alternately initiatives to ensure survival and High level Ministerial conservation of the Royal Bengal Tiger in level meetings will be the unique ecosystem of the Sundarban. held to follow up all the 41

Sr. Name of Agreement/ Date of Salient features Responsibility No. MOU Signing

The Protocol also provides for cooperation recommended actions to promote understanding & knowledge between the two of Royal Bengal Tigers, exchange of countries. personnel for training and promotion of education.

4 MOU on cooperation September Seeks to promote development of A Joint Working Group 06, 2011 cooperation in fisheries and aquaculture would be set up to in the field of fisheries and allied activities between the two facilitate cooperation countries through joint activities, under the MoU programmes, exchange of scientific The Ministry of materials, information and personnel. Agriculture of the Government of India and the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock of the Government of Bangladesh would coordinate implementation of the MoU.

Remark: A special focus is needed for facilitating joint, sustainable development of the shared Sundarbans landscape with stress on realizing economic growth and enhancing climate resilience. One approach will be on helping build the confidence, knowledge and capacity to effectively implement the 2011 Bangladesh-India MoUs for joint sustainable management of the Sundarbans (as mentioned above). Although the civil society, media groups, research bodies, and community-based organizations in both the countries are interested and participating, the crucial need of the hour is the participation of two national governments in the process and takes ownership along with the civil society groups. A strong analytical basis is needed to exclusively support the effort towards integrated planning and management. Bilateral research and information exchange – to be catered by academician, civil society groups etc. - help provide this analytical basis and help build technical capacity and thus support enhanced cooperation as a basis for joint action. A key ultimate outcome is shared or a coordinated approach to water resources management to underpin and sustainable development across the entire Sundarbans.

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4. Analytical studies

4.1 The Bangladesh Sundarbans NLTA: A non-lending technical assistance (NLTA) from the World Bank was requested by the Government of Bangladesh in 2009, with aims to identify interventions that respond to (i) the conservation challenges of the Sundarbans Reserve Forests, and (ii) the socio- economic challenges of the population inhabiting the area surrounding the forest, usually called the Sundarbans Impact Zone. The work of the NLTA started by July 2010 and completed by June 2013. The major recommendations were as follows:

Pillars Recommended activities

 Selective realign embankments (including managed realignment); mangrove afforestation to create a bio-shield to attenuate wind and wave energy  Increase embankment height

 Implement judicious sediment husbandry initiatives

Exposure  Investing lifeline facilities such as early warning system and accessible cyclone shelters  Selective land warping on the peripheries of and outside of the Sundarbans Impact Resilient Landscape: Reducing Immediate Zone (SIZ)  Rely on sustainable locally appropriate infrastructure 

Restructure incentives for social services (education and health)  Support increased productivity opportunities outside the Sundarbans Impact Zone (SIZ) that are similar to those inside the SIZ Poverty Resilient Reducing

Population:  Target selected sustainable tourism opportunities in areas close to the Sundarbans Vulnerability & Reserved Forests (SRF)  Eliminate perverse incentives (such as unregulated open access to free resources) that deplete forest and marine resources and related strengthening of regulatory and enforcement capacity of the Forest Department

 Develop enforceable property rights on forest resources; improving community

management of the forest; and scaling-up co-management models for natural

resources management and eco-restoration in protected areas

Resilient  Capture carbons linked to REDD-plus or similar programs Conserving Ecosystem: Biodiversity  Develop sustainable aquaculture to ensure a non-destructive relationship with the environment  Develop sediment husbandry initiatives including programs to regenerate mangroves  Promote trans-boundary cooperation for management of Sundarbans  Give formal recognition of the SIZ and adjoining areas  Set institutional priorities based on analytical work and incorporating them into multi- year planning processes

 Develop a coastal zone regulation specifically for the SIZ with the objective of

Resilient increasing the coverage of protected areas over time Institutions

Management: Strengthening  Develop and institutionalize a process of social learning and evaluation  Vest coordination responsibilities to a new Sundarbans Planning Agency

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4.2 India (West Bengal) Sundarbans NLTA: In 2009, the Government of West Bengal requested non- lending technical assistance (NLTA) from the World Bank for an analysis of opportunities and options to implement a comprehensive program for socio-economic development of the Sundarbans. The NLTA commenced in July 2009 and was completed in July 2012. The Government of West Bengal agreed to the recommendation of the NLTA report, and is taking steps to implement some of these recommendations; the major recommendations were:

Theme Recommended activities

 Embankments realignment and retreat, and community-led restoration of mangrove bio-

shields based on geomorphological evaluation of each estuary  Early warning systems, multi-purpose cyclone shelters  Safe drinking water supply and sanitation facilities  Movie away from tidal aquaculture to modernized sustainable aquaculture (hatcheries and tidal water management)  Sluicing of smaller creeks, closing portions of channels, regulating recharge of aquaculture

Vulnerability reduction ponds to adapt to sea level rise; the height of the (new) interior embankments should be increased in a stepwise fashion  Improve access to better education, health and nutrition facilities  Increase mobility and connectivity (road, ferry)  Capitalize on gradually increasing urbanization in stable zone

 Study and cope with ill-effects of salinization on economic development (salinity-resistant agriculture)  Skill development to access higher paying jobs and help out-migration to safer areas  High-end sustainable Eco-tourism with local input and development;  Provide basic physical infrastructure; Grid and off-grid electricity solutions  Clusters of development programs including services, infrastructure and incentives for private

Economic development investment  Closure of tidal creeks to improve fresh-water storage capacity; raising existing tube well sources at spot water supply sources by 3–4 meters; raising floors of pump assemblies; protecting fresh-water ponds by raising their encircling bunds  New coordination and management model for overall social and economic development of the Sundarbans

 Deep involvement of communities and other stakeholders in the development process  Strengthen capacities of all related departments and institutions to develop and implement change

Institutional innovative solutions  Create R&D unit at State level to focus on Sundarbans related problems and solutions

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5. Consequences of inaction for the Sundarbans Landscape

As already discussed , a combination of high population pressure on natural resources in the absence of requisite infrastructure development and non-primary livelihood options, degrading ecosystem, geographic location prone to high intensity weather events resulting in disasters that are likely to further intensify due to global warming and climate change, hamper the goal of poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation. All of these are adversely impacting the environmental and economic sustainability of Sundarbans landscape and its people. In the absence of the needed new adaptive solutions, the landscape is rapidly heading towards an uncertain future.

At the same time, the ecosystem has no space to keep pace with rising sea level. Already, the Indian portion of the landscape is experiencing net land loss due to accelerated erosion. It is not only the human population that is adversely affected due to loss of land but also the terrestrial component of the ecosystem, including tigers. Degradation of the only mangrove tiger habitat is unacceptable as this is the last stronghold of the tiger possibly harbouring the largest population in the wild.

Besides bilateral cooperation, the landscape is in need of global attention and investment for adaptation and sustainable development, as well as biodiversity conservation. However, institutions in both the countries are yet to be equipped and capacitated to address coherently and comprehensively the issues that threaten the Sundarbans, its people and the ecosystem. Without a fundamental shift in how government institutions and their various partners work together, the vulnerability is unlikely to be reduced.

At this point of time the governance in the landscape is narrow sector driven and lacks coherence of purpose. Sectoral projects and programs, often in conflict with each other (or at least not in coherence with each other) are implemented without an integrated framework of decision-making. While it is up to the respective national governments to move toward integrated planning and management, analytical underpinning to move in the direction of integrated management will be a useful input to the governments. With this in view, it is proposed that a suitable mechanism for cooperation from among the various examples worldwide be discussed, analysed and recommended.

6. Proposed modus of cooperation

Although the agreement and memoranda signed in September 2011, are declarations of intent, these do not articulate the institutional and financial arrangements to operationalise the instruments already agreed upon. The objective being devising a way to support operationalization of the Sundarbans agreements between Bangladesh and India, and enhancing technical cooperation, the following mechanism is suggested to bring to fruition the aims and objectives contained in the agreement and memoranda. This, if taken up, could be a worldwide example of effective trans-boundary ecosystem- based collaboration for conservation of World Heritage sites and sustainable development of a trans- boundary landscape.

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The basic rider is that the joint initiative needs to be driven jointly by governments and civil society as that will significantly contribute to the sustainability of the initiative as the structure will remain relatively insular to the political discourses in the countries and their fallouts.

1. The financial and institutional arrangements could be stipulated in an Administrative Agreement to be concluded by the designated ministries of the Parties and could include equal financial contribution by the Parties and that the working language of the Cooperation would be English. 2. The Bilateral Sundarbans Landscape Cooperation should comprise of two levels of decision making, the Council of Ministers and the Sundarbans Landscape Board.

(1) Sundarbans Landscape Governmental Council The Bilateral Sundarbans Landscape Governmental Council comprising the ministers responsible for the Sundarbans affairs from the two countries (along with state minister responsible as applicable) should come together every two years for a conference. At the conference, the Council is to discuss Sundarbans Landscape matters, and provide political leadership, harmonisation and decision-making between the two governments. (2) Sundarbans Landscape Conferences The Council meetings are to be held within the context of the Sundarbans Landscape Conferences. The Conferences are meant to be a forum for stakeholders from the whole Sundarbans Landscape aimed to inform policy-making and the Cooperation in its work. (3) Sundarbans Landscape Board The Sundarbans Landscape Board (SLB) would be the governing body of the Cooperation. It would run and oversee the work of the Cooperation between the Ministerial Council meetings, and prepare, adopt and implement the Strategy for the work of the Cooperation. It should appoint Task Groups to prepare and to undertake specific tasks, plans or projects. The Board would be chaired by a senior government official, appointed by the Council. The chair would rotate between the two countries. There should be two official members (government employees) appointed per country and four non-official members with expertise and experience relevant to the Sundarbans Landscape and the Cooperation. The Cooperation should have several expert groups to carry out specific monitoring and scientific tasks such as joint monitoring and management of resources, conservation and protection, and habitat restoration and rehabilitation with the aim of carbon sequestration, enhancing ecotourism and revenue, livelihoods and human development, and adaptation to climate change. (4) Common Sundarbans Landscape Secretariat The Common Sundarbans Landscape Secretariat (CSLS) would need to be established and possibly be located in Khulna, Bangladesh or in Kolkata, India. There may be a sub secretariat if required. The Sundarbans Landscape Board would supervise the performance of the CSLS. The legal status and the functions and rulings of the CSLS are to be stipulated in the Administrative Agreement to be concluded between the Parties. Each Party should finance appropriately to the budget.

The CSLS would be manned by professionals and undertake the following activities (indicative)

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(i) coordinate, promote and support activities of the Cooperation; (ii) responsible for the preparation and production of documents for ministerial conferences, meetings of the Sundarbans Landscape Board (SLB) and expert work groups; (iii) collect and evaluate information on monitoring, protection and the ecological condition of the entire Sundarbans Landscape; (iv) be the central contact for the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Sundarbans; (v) produce and publish reports by the Cooperation; (vi) involve the public in the protection of the entire Sundarbans Landscape area through communications, awareness building and environmental education; (vii) coordinate with agencies, line departments, institutes and the like for implementation of the decisions of the Cooperation and SLB

7. Need for Media Collaboration and Advocacy

The coverage of Sundarbans by the mainstream media in Bangladesh, India and across the world is still dominated by issues related to Royal Bengal Tiger (16%, refer EnGIO analysis) and impact of storm events such as cyclones (21%, refer EnGIO analysis) but not on critical aspects related to climate change vulnerability, need for accelerated human development, need for enhanced climate adaptation, potential benefits of collaboration between the two countries, joint landscape narrative, and how it could be positively affect the livelihoods of nearly 1.3 million mostly poor people. Sundarbans is projected as a wildlife or biodiversity protection versus human development debate but there is little focus on possible collaboration at the national or bilateral level to understand the region better and plan for sustainable development through bilateral cooperation and collaboration. The climate vulnerability reporting about Sundarbans has also been up there considering the bench mark of Maldives and likewise though the potential impact is perhaps many times greater. There is also a critical need to enhance the public discourse on Sundarbans-related issues treating it as a single geographical, ecological and economic unit. Both Bangladesh and India enjoy a robust civil society, vibrant academia and an independent media that influences policymaking and government thinking. Furthermore, the media is simultaneously reflecting the public opinion as well as influencing the thought process of policymakers, decision-makers, and the general public. Increasing transparency in the recent years in decision-making and governance has also made the policymakers more sensitive to not only the views of the journalists but also to what they believe could be the mood of the public reflected via the media.

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AmankiAsha Aman ki Asha (AKA) is a campaign for peace between India and Pakistan, jointly initiated by the Jang Group of Pakistan and The Times of India Group. The words Aman ki Asha mean ‘hope for peace’. Aman is an Urdu word, meaning peace. Asha is a Hindi word, meaning hope. The combination of the two languages reflects the collaborative spirit of this initiative. AKA attempts to push the peace process through a three pronged strategy: facilitate a fair and equitable resolution of all disputes through dialogue, strongly advocate economic collaboration as the single most powerful driver of the peace process and increased cultural exchanges through greater people to people contacts. The AKA campaign is seen as a game changer not only because it has captured the imagination of the people of the two countries by giving voice to their opinion, but also because of its many practical achievements: it has brought the business communities of Pakistan and India closer by holding two of the biggest ever economic conferences. Attended by top govt functionaries, business icons and senior leaders of political parties, these conferences articulated the benefits of economic collaboration and mapped the strategy and direction for taking it forward. AKA has conducted independent, identical surveys in both countries which showed the overwhelming desire of the people of both countries for resolution of disputes and normalization of relations. AKA has tackled difficult and contentious issues in a transparent and effective manner. By openly and rigorously discussing the Pakistani, Indian and global view on the water, Siachin, Sir Creek and Kashmir disputes, it has facilitated greater understanding of the complex issues as well as a better appreciation of each other’s point of view between the governments and peoples of India and Pakistan. Within Pakistan and India, Aman ki Asha can be credited with initiating a sea change in perceptions of the people of the two countries. The Jang Group and the Times of India had independent surveys conducted prior to launching Aman ki Asha, and on its first anniversary. The survey results indicated that every single negative perception had declined, and that all positive perceptions had increased. Polls revealed that 87% of Pakistanis and 74% of Indians felt that the Aman ki Asha campaign had helped create greater awareness about the core issues between India in Pakistan. The threat perception had gone down by over 20% in both countries. The brand recall of Aman ki Asha campaign was 94%. Most significantly, two thirds of people polled felt that peace was attainable in their lifetime, up 35% from the previous year. Source: http://geoboxer.com/projects/aka/?page_id=619

The media could play a key role in developing, popularizing and helping gain acceptance of the Sundarbans being a common resource and heritage of Bangladesh and India. Further, it will also help create the momentum for more concerted action towards its sustainable management on both sides of the international border. It is expected that the media would play a facilitative role, including providing the structures and mechanisms for critical aspects such as dialogue with and within diverse stakeholders, policy advocacy, consensus building, knowledge management and behaviour change. This component will support the formation and operation of a joint media communication platform (involving major public and private televisions and the print media in both countries) for focused outreach on climate change and environmental challenges of managing the conservation, growth and development aspects of the Sundarbans to (i) help the respective governments engage in formal joint 48

actions, (ii) work as a constructive pressure group and fore-bearer of larger public opinion, (iii) increase awareness among stakeholders and citizens including aiming to influence individual and community behavior with respect to conservation of biodiversity and water resources.

Media Dialogue on Transboundary Resources Management by IUCN Led by IUCN, the Ecosystems for Life: A Bangladesh-India Initiative is a civil society led multi-stakeholder dialogue process to promote better understanding of the management of natural resources in Bangladesh and India. Ecosystems for Life works to develop a shared vision and understanding of food, livelihood and water security issues through collaborative research and studies, creation of a knowledge hub, developing research-based policy options and enhancing the capacity of civil society stakeholders to participate in the management of natural resources. It also included a significant component on engagement with the media in Bangladesh and India. The project planned to organize a dialogue on news reporting about trans-boundary resource management from a regional perspective on December 7, 2011. This workshop allowed media representativesfrom Bangladesh and India to work together to facilitate greater interest among journalists in reporting on trans-boundary issues, bringing positive changes. Some 20 media professionals comprising journalists, editors, and academia from Bangladesh and India and also representatives from IUCN attended the media dialogue. The objectives of this dialogue were:  To create a neutral platform for media representatives from Bangladesh and India to work together to facilitate greater interest among journalists in reporting on trans-boundary issues  To provide sources of information and share knowledge with particular emphasis on scientific aspects of water resources management  To increase awareness about the three major river systems between Bangladesh and India, Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna  To focus on issues that directly affect the lives and livelihoods of people; e.g. food security, climate change, inland navigation, environmental security and biodiversity conservation  To highlight positive aspect of cooperation and avoiding stereotypes about other countries in order to promote trans-boundary resource sharing and management  To keep the public and media informed about the progress of the trans-boundary water dialogue project “Ecosystems for Life: A Bangladesh-India Initiative” Source: http://www.iucn.org/about/union/secretariat/offices/asia/regional_activities/ecosystems_for_life/

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6. Possible Collaboration Opportunities

The international workshop presents a critical opening for journalists from Bangladesh and India to discuss, deliberate and arrive at specific understanding on possible collaboration opportunities and platforms. Among others, discussion could range around the following issues:

i. How can the media collaborate to bring a paradigm shift in the thinking of the decision-makers in Bangladesh and India to begin considering joint and/or management of the Sundarbans? ii. Can the media shift from “mere reporting” to becoming a partner in development in the Sundarbans? iii. How can the media advocate the joint landscape narrative? iv. How could the media be the catalyst for change in the Sundarbans – to make the shift from information to knowledge, from motivation to empowerment and then to change? v. How can the media help in shifting the public discourse from “tigers” to “human interest story” (overall development, including human factor)? vi. What can media be catered to report not only on disasters but on the potential of disasters? vii. How can be media pushed to report not only gross Sundarbans but on specific parts under it as the region has great heterogeneity? viii. How can the media from the two countries, in cooperation with the global media, raise the global profile of the Sundarbans, especially among the climate change community?

Notably, as stated, there exists an MOU between the two countries for mutual broadcast of television programmes between Doordarshan, India and Bangladesh Television (BTV). But no formal mechanism has been developed to operationalize this MOU. Other possible collaboration opportunities exist in the following areas:

 MOU between India and Bangladesh on mutual broadcast of television programmes (see attached document); how to help operationalize it and can private players be included to share content and broadcast  Sharing of content among government and private media houses from the two countries  Joint production of feature articles and audio-visuals on Sundarbans  Preparation of joint proposals to seek funding for media collaborative activities on Sundarbans  Visiting Media Fellowships or Exchange Programs for young journalists  Joint field visits  Media Partnership Program workshops, which may focus on information sharing, field visits, sharing of priority issues, and brainstorming for future collaboration.  Creation of joint social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter)  Hosting a Sundarbans section on YouTube for audiovisuals  Setting up a “Peer Judged Award” for reporting on Sundarbans  How to link community / local media with mainstream media outlets providing them a platform

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 How to move from reporting to becoming “Partners in Sundarbans Development” - influencing the discourse?  Joint media campaigns to raise awareness, sensitize policymakers, catalyze action at local, national and international level

The Climate News Mosaic: Collaborative Journalism Project Beginning as a transboundary collaborative journalism project covering the UN Climate Conference in Warsaw (COP-19) in November 2013, this has progressed into covering more such global events including the recently concluded COP-19 in Warsaw. The Climate News Mosaic (CNM) is a network of 15 environmental journalists concerned with the consequences of climate change. They believe that the media play a crucial role in spreading knowledge and creating awareness around climate change. In the last years, coverage of the climate talks has been largely confined to dispatches from (mostly Western) international news agencies. Using an innovative crowd-funding model to send journalists to attend the COPs as well as form a dynamic network in many other places around the world at the same time, they seek to bring the latest developments from the COPs and live reactions from policymakers, activists and experts around the world. They share what climate change means to the people, the environment and the economies of our countries, what problems and solutions are discussed and how they are told in different media. The three CNM journalists in Warsaw (COP-19) moderated a live-blog that all the members of CNM would update constantly with snippets of interviews, photos, statements and any sort of information they would gather for their own articles, radio or TV pieces. Any reporter following the CNM live-blog was be able to access, strictly for free and from their own desk, a continuous flow of content coming from all corners of the world. The result was an innovative, ‘local’ approach to environmental journalism that combined cross-border cooperation and new technologies to enhance and deliver quality information. Source: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-climate-news-mosaic-collaborative-journalism-project

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Examples of mechanisms for Multi-stakeholder Platform THE MEKONG RIVER BASIN The Mekong River is 4800 kilometers in length and flows through six countries: China, Myanmar, Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The area of 795,000 square kilometers that drains into the Mekong is known as the Mekong River Basin. As a trans-boundary river basin, the Mekong is a shared resource. Exploitation by one country affects the uses of the river by other countries. However, it is not a simple case of water sharing between governments. Uses of the river for one purpose, such as power generation, have implications for other resource sectors, for example fisheries. Thus, a holistic understanding of river basin management requires an integrated approach which involves the complex science of catchment ecology, based on linkages between upstream and downstream, the river and its floodplain, the flow regime and fish migration, and many other linkages and interconnections. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) provides an example of a model for an international drainage basin management that have made significant progress in establishing appropriate structures and mechanisms for sustainable development in a challenging political landscape. Mekong River Catchment The Mekong river basin can be divided into two sub-basins. Largely mountainous upper Mekong basin (about 24% of the area of the basin) is within the territories of China and Myanmar and has a population of 15 million. Lower Mekong basin (about 76% of the area of the basin) is within the national territories of Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, home to about 60 million people. Lower Mekong basin consists of vast areas of lowland and flood plain. The population of the Lower Basin is overwhelmingly rural and heavily dependent on the basin’s natural resources. The Mekong River is responsible for the supply of these natural resources, most notably by providing fish and nurturing agricultural land. An important feature of the Mekong is that it is monsoonal, which means a very great difference in wet and dry season flow. The very unequal wet and dry season flows

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have encouraged engineers to consider building dams that hold water in the wet season and release it during the dry season. Mekong Committee to Mekong River Commission Mekong Committee’s origins were in the activities of the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East’s (ECAFE) Bureau of Flood Control. In the early 1950’s this Bureau sought to implement the concept of river basin management in one of the 18 international rivers, which included the Ganges-Brahmaputra, Indus and Yangtze rivers. Because of Political and other considerations, the Mekong emerged as the most promising candidate, and the Bureau and ECAFE focused their attention on the lower Mekong basin. Representatives from Cambodia, Laos, South Vietnam and Thailand established Mekong Committee (as a part of United Nation’s ECAFE) in 1957. This committee represented the UN’s first direct involvement in the international river basin planning. China was not a member of United Nations in early 1950’s and Burma was simply not interested to participate in this committee. Hence the opportunity to include upper Mekong was lost. For next few decades the Mekong and Interim Mekong Committee operated in a context of instability. The war in Indo-China and political instability in the region affected the donor contributions, memberships, data collection and initiation of planned projects. However, this committee provided a sustained forum for discussion on issues of common interest, especially during a long period during which these nations found little to agree upon. This period of Mekong Committee demonstrates how regional security and international relations were enhanced through the Mekong Secretariat’s collaborative, science based programmes. Managing a basin the size of the Mekong is an awesomely challenging task, but it is a necessary one. Mekong River Commission (MRC) was established in 1995. Impetus to create the MRC came from the stabilization of Cambodia’s internal politics. So far, only the four lower countries belong to the MRC, while China and Myanmar have status as observers (1995 Legal agreement allows them to join the MRC provided they abide by its provisions) and are engaged in discussion with MRC. There is a tension between promoting development of the river’s water resources on the one hand, and maintaining the river’s ability to sustain livelihoods and environmental values including biodiversity on the other. The entire basin is an extremely large and difficult scale on which to manage a resource of such complexity. In fact, the river is, and needs to be, managed at other scales. Several countries in the Mekong have begun establishing river basin organizations at a sub-basin level. Organizational structure The 1995 ‘Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin’ created the Mekong River Commission, articulated principles of cooperation and 53

outlined a set of rules for reasonable and equitable use of the basin’s water resources. The agreement represents a milestone in international water resources management treaties due to its emphasis on joint development, ecological protection, and a dynamic process of water allocation (Radosevich and Olson 1999). It also mandated a new organizational structure consisting of three permanent bodies: the council, the joint committee, and the MRC Secretariat. The council and joint committee each consist of one high-ranking governmental official from each member nation. The MRC Secretariat executes technical and administrative roles and is headed by a chief executive officer. As opposed to the Mekong and Interim Mekong Committees, the MRC does not operate under United Nations’ auspices (Radosevich and Olson 1999). MRC has a mandate to address both technical and policy issues. MRC is a policy making body whose decisions have binding authority upon the riparian governments. The MRC is funded through contributions from the four Member Countries, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam, and through technical and financial collaborations with the following countries/organizations through their bilateral and multilateral development and financial institutions: Australia, Belgium, Denmark, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, The United States, World Bank. The MRC works with many different partners under jointly funded projects, under formal Memoranda of Understanding or in a research capacity. In 2001, observer status for regional partner organizations (ADB ASEAN, IUCN, UNDP, UNESCAP and WWF) was agreed upon by member countries and invitations for their participation in MRC Governance meetings were extended for these long-time regional partner organizations to attend the MRC Council and Joint Committee meetings.

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Shifting perspectives MRC has adopted a vision statement for the river basin and has adopted a mission statement for the MRC. Key changes embodied within the Work Programme is a shift from a previous emphasis on constructing individual water projects to more comprehensive , spatially integrated and science based orientation toward wise management of existing resources. MRC has put an effort to design its Work Programme to be adaptable to the Mekong basin’s dynamic environmental and social conditions. The Work Programme recognizes rapid population growth and watershed degradation as crucial challenges and emphasizes adaptation and flexibility (to social, economic and political changes in the basin) as key planning themes. The Work Programme is divided into three areas: a. Core- Basin development plan, a water utilization programme1 and an environmental programme. b. Support- Capacity building, strategic planning, human resources improvement and improved financial. c. Sectoral- Fisheries, agriculture/irrigation/forestry, water resources and hydrology, navigation and tourism.

1 The water utilization programme includes hydrological modelling, social science analysis of trans- boundary management issues, and institutional and human resources capacity building activities. 55

The key change is a shift in the MRC’s overall perspectives and approach to river basin planning. The historical emphasis in lower Mekong basin wide planning was hydropower and irrigation. The MRC’s 2001 Work Programme emphasises international cooperation, monitoring of environmental changes, values of biodiversity and an ability to improve social and economic conditions while adapting to change. It also addresses relations between economic and social development, environmental resources and preservations, food security and conflict resolution. These interdisciplinary links especially important given regional population growth and increasing pressure on environmental resources and upstream development in China. The 1995 Legal Agreement is an example of how differing visions of Mekong River development between the riparian nations were synchronized by working cooperatively through MRC. China plans to build several dams on the upper Mekong river for hydropower production. These dams and storage reservoirs could eventually be operated to augment low Mekong River Flows between January and May. This could be beneficial to the lower basin, especially in Mekong delta, where salinity intrusion from the South China Sea during dry season limits rice production. However, same dams may create negative downstream impact and international tensions. MRC engagement with China and Myanmar (not expressed interest in formally joining MRC) is of special significance here, as cooperative operations of these dams may make a significant difference in the dams’ downstream ecological impacts. The MRC is building upon the foundation of scientific knowledge and international diplomacy provided by its predecessor organizations. It is now in position to promote sustainable development of the Mekong Basin’s water and related resources as well as international cooperation and regional security.

Lessons learnt

The history of Mekong/Interim Mekong Committee and Mekong River Commission shows that the organizations that have learned to operate effectively in a context of change and surprise are often prepared to cope well with future changes. Mekong River Commission’s survival of the Vietnam War and successful engagement of Upper Mekong Basin countries (China and Myanmar) is a case in point here.

This is also an example of how participatory governance enhances efficiency in natural resource management by involving all relevant stakeholders in managing a common resource such as a Trans- boundary rivers and deltas. The overall aim remains avoiding resource conflicts by managing resources 56

in a sustainable way. Participatory governance is designed to prevent resource conflicts between user groups, thus creating a regional public good of equitable resource sharing while maintaining economic development. The central question is whether participatory governance leads to the avoidance of conflict and better resource management, and therefore the creation or maintenance of a regional public good. The inherent challenge is that different stakeholders may have different ideas about what the public good is or how it should be achieved: opinions may vary from poverty reduction (by which resources are subjected to fast-track economic development), to a focus on quality issues such as pollution control and hence resource protection, or quantity issues such as water allocation.

Nile Basin Initiative

Understanding the Nile Basin

The Nile is one of the world’s longest rivers, traversing 6,695 kilometers as it journeys from its farthest source at the headwaters of the Kagera Basin to its delta in Egypt. The drainage Basin of the Nile covers about 3.2 million square kilometers. This area is about one tenth of the land area of Africa and is shared by 11 countries namely Burundi, DR Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, The Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda.

The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) 2012 State of the Nile River Basin report subdivides the basin into 16 eco-regions. These feature large rivers, waterfalls, lakes, wetlands, floodplains, forests, savannahs, montane ecosystems, and arid and hyper-arid lands. One of the world’s largest freshwater wetlands, the Sudd, and the world’s second largest inland lake, Lake Victoria, are prominent features of the basin.

The Nile Basin hosts some of the world’s largest congregations of large mammals and flocks of migratory birds from Eurasia and other regions of Africa. The Nile Basin is a relatively water-scarce region. The average annual flow at its entrance to Egypt is about 2,660 m3/s – about 6 per cent that of the Congo River at Inga. Most of the stream flow is generated from less than a third of the basin. The basin is prone to seasonal and inter-annual variability.

In the upper reaches the watersheds are undergoing continued and accelerating degradation. From the Ethiopian catchments alone where over 86 per cent of the river flow originates, for example, 157-207 million tons of topsoil is washed away annually, resulting in economic loss upstream and downstream. In the midstream, important wetlands – critical in regulating the hydro- logical balance and river flow, hosting endangered flora and fauna, and providing environmental services to local communities – are

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shrinking. In the most downstream reaches in the delta, salt water intrusion into the Nile is posing growing challenges

Water resources development is needed at the upstream part (comprising seven of the 11 riparian countries) where nearly all river flow is generated is at its infancy. The downstream part (comprising two riparian countries), is almost entirely dependent on upstream flow and has relatively better developed water infrastructure and institutions.

Across the entire Nile Basin, biodiversity hotspots and unique habitats were increasingly disappearing. Both due to sheer demographic pressure and demand driven by economic growth, the stress on the finite and fragile water resources of the Nile is likely to grow to unmanageable proportions. The problem is compounded by the fact that each riparian country plans and implements its national water resources development plan on the Nile in unilateral fashion.

The Nile Basin has been characterized by a preponderance of intra and inter-country conflicts and political instabilities. Conflicts and civil strife related to electoral politics have been common features. The intensity and costliness of the conflicts has been aggravated by direct or proxy support of combatants across borders.

The scientific understanding of the Nile was limited prior to this initiative due to insufficient basin-wide hydrologic, meteorological, climatic, socio-economic, ecosystem related data and information, not to speak of analytic tools and systems and institutional capabilities. There was also asymmetry among the riparian countries in terms of water infrastructure development, institutional and technical capacity. These challenges and threats are by their very nature trans-boundary and no single country is capable of addressing them or their consequences on its own.

Opportunities for Cooperation

Despite these seemingly formidable challenges, the River Nile holds tremendous opportunities for growth, being one of the least developed rivers in the world. The Nile Basin offers significant potentials for cooperative management and development of the common water resources that would confer direct and indirect win-win benefits to all riparian countries.

The Basin had significant potential for clean energy (hydropower) development and power trade; for improving and expanding both irrigated and rain-fed agricultural production and increasing water use efficiency; for preservation and use for eco-tourism of designated biospheres which are significant to sustaining global biological diversity. The River Nile also provides a key resource for drinking water, fisheries production, navigation, recreation and ecosystem maintenance. There is also potential for broader economic-regional integration, promotion of regional peace and security; and most important for jointly ensuring the continued existence of the River Nile for posterity through prudent and judicious utilization.

The Nile Basin Initiative

Nile Cooperation started with the Hydro met project in 1967, focusing on hydro meteorological survey in the lakes region. Running in parallel to Hydro met was ‘Undugu’ from 1983 to 1992 whose focus was on the establishment of Nile Basin Economic Community. This was later followed by the Technical Cooperation Committee for the Promotion of Development and Environmental Protection of the Basin 58

(TECCONILE) in 1993 among others. TECCONILE focused on technical cooperation (environmental and water quality). However, all these initiatives were beset with lack of inclusivity (there were riparian countries not represented in the effort) and above all, they did not anchor the cooperation effort in a comprehensive institutional setting and within the ambit of a Shared Vision.

Appreciating the above challenges, the realization of the potential inter-riparian conflict that would ensue from poorly managed, increasingly shrinking and scarce Nile water resources and aware of the significance of an all-inclusive partnership in unlocking the huge mutual benefits from coordinated management and development of the common Nile Basin water resources, the riparian states, with significant support from the international community launched a remarkable partnership, the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) on 22 February 1999.

The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) is a regional intergovernmental partnership that seeks to develop the River Nile in a cooperative manner, share substantial socio-economic benefits and promote regional peace and security. It was launched by Ministers in charge of Water Affairs in the riparian countries namely Burundi, DR Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, The Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Eritrea participates as an observer.

NBI provides riparian countries with the first and only all- inclusive regional platform for multi stakeholder dialogue, information sharing as well as joint planning and management of water and related resources in the Nile Basin. NBI was conceived as a transitional institution until the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) negotiations were finalized and a permanent institution created.

The highest decision and policy-making body of NBI is the Nile Council of Ministers (Nile-COM), comprised of Ministers in charge of Water Affairs in each NBI Member State. The Nile-COM is supported by the Nile Technical Advisory Committee (Nile-TAC), comprised of 20 senior government officials, two from each of the Member States.

NBI Objectives

1. To develop the Nile Basin water resources in a sustainable and equitable way to ensure prosperity, security, and peace for all its peoples 2. To ensure efficient water management and the optimal use of the resources 3. To ensure cooperation and joint action between the riparian countries, seeking win-win gains 4. To target poverty eradication and promote economic integration

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5. To ensure that the program results in a move from planning to action

NBI Structure

The NBI is a 10 Member regional inter- governmental partnership (Eritrea participates as an observer) which was established as a transitional mechanism that will phase out when the permanent River Nile Basin Commission is established following the conclusion of the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) negotiations.

Ministers in charge of Water Affairs (Nile-COM) in the riparian countries form NBI’s highest decision and policy-making organ. The Nile-COM is supported by a Nobody in the basin any longer Technical Advisory Committee (Nile-TAC), comprised of 20 questions whether cooperation on senior government officials, two from each of the partner the Nile is necessary, desirable or states. doable.

The NBI is managed from three Centers: the Secretariat Rather, the conversation has shifted (Nile-SEC) based in Entebbe - Uganda, the Eastern Nile focus onto how to promote and Technical Regional Office (ENTRO) based in Addis Ababa - expedite it. Ethiopia and the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program Coordination Unit (NELSAP-CU) based in Kigali – Rwanda.

NBI implements three core programs, namely Basin Cooperation, Water Resource Management and Water Resource Development.

Facilitating cooperation

NBI has provided the first and only inclusive platform for dialogue among all riparian states. Given the earlier history of non-cooperation characteristic of the Nile Basin, creating an enabling environment was made a priority. This included building trans-boundary institutions and raising awareness; building inter- riparian confidence and mutuality; and paving the way for cooperative development such as water resources investment and planning and management of the shared Nile water resources. Forums created and facilitated by NBI have brought together decision and policy makers, technicians, engineers, academicians and other experts from across the basin.

Today, in contrast to the past, Nile riparian’s share data, own a jointly developed state-of-the-art decision support system and work together in the planning of water resources development projects with trans-boundary significance. This has resulted in joint identification and preparation of over US$1 billion of investment projects in the power, agriculture, water supply, and watershed management and fishery sectors. Further, NBI provides the necessary enabling policy framework for trans-boundary cooperation.

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Shared Vision Program (SVP)

The NBI has, since 2004, been coordinating a number of basin-wide actions under the Shared Vision Program SVP is complemented by (SVP), designed to build confidence and trust amongst Eastern Nile SAP and Equatorial Lakes member states, address capacity issues, and lay a sub-basins SAP foundation for greater regional cooperation. The projects involve local communities Eight projects were implemented under the Shared from inception to implementation. Vision Program, focused on confidence building and stakeholder involvement, socio-economic development and benefit sharing, efficient water use in agriculture, trans-boundary environmental action, water resources planning and management, and applied training. The most significant of these projects (and the only one still running) is the Water Resources Planning and Management Project, which has developed a world- class decision-support system to facilitate knowledge-based water resources planning at basin-wide level.

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Subsidiary Action Programs (SAPs)

The Shared Vision Program has been complemented by Subsidiary Action Programs (SAPs) in the Eastern Nile and Equatorial Lakes sub-basins, which have initiated investments and concrete actions on the ground to address the environmental and socio-economic development challenges in the basin. The investment portfolio of projects prepared under the two SAPs has passed the US$2 billion mark.

Financing for project preparation has largely been through grants from international development partners, supported by counterpart and in-kind contributions from NBI member states. The investment projects in the two SAPs, which are at different stages of preparation and implementation, are in the areas of agricultural irrigation and drainage, agricultural trade, power infrastructure development, regional power trade, flood warning and preparedness, integrated sub-basin management, and watershed restoration. A number of projects, such as the Power Interconnection Project between Ethiopia and The Sudan, have been completed.

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Fostering trans-boundary water resources management

NBI has accumulated a comprehensive knowledge base on the water and related resources of the Nile. A system of portals has been launched to enhance public access to NBI knowledge resources.

The first comprehensive State of the Nile River Basin report Shared knowledge systems are vital was published in 2012. NBI developed and operationalized for trans-boundary cooperation. a number of water resources planning and management analytic tools. These include the Nile Equatorial Lakes and The first comprehensive State of the Eastern Nile planning models, and the Nile Basin Decision Nile River Basin report was published Support System (DSS). in 2012.

The Nile Basin DSS provides the necessary modelling and NBI developed tools like Nile Basin decision-making tools for collaborative water resources Decision Support System (DSS). planning and management. The Nile Basin Agricultural Trade and Productivity Model and a number of toolkits for specific applications have also been developed. NBI has formulated, and is at various stages of implementing, an environment and social policy, environmental and social safeguards guidelines, wetlands management strategy and climate change strategy.

Cooperative development of shared water resources

NBI assists member states by preparing water resources investment projects, which provide benefits and distribute costs among participating countries. In pursuit of this, NBI facilitates agreements between countries for investment financing and for future management.

Expanding access to potable water

A number of projects contributed towards the promotion of sustainable and affordable access to safe water supply, sanitation and waste management services for communities.

Fostering sustainable water resources management NBI Environment and Social Policy and Wetland Strategy will guide A number of Nile Basin environmental assets are trans- trans-boundary water resource boundary or have trans-boundary significance and require development and management, cross-border cooperation for their management and including investment planning and sustainable use. NBI has been providing this regional forum implementation. for member states, and has taken a number of measures to address the threats posed to these assets. The measures range from high-level policy formulation to community-level awareness raising and the implementation of community-managed environmental restoration projects.

The NBI Environment and Social Policy and Wetland Strategy have been endorsed by the Nile Council of Ministers. These documents will guide trans-boundary water resource development and management, including investment planning and implementation.

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Success factors

NBI provides its Member States with a recognized service hence their commitment to the Nile cooperation. The latter is demonstrated by Member States continuation to work together despite the hurdles faced by the ‘political track’ in relation to the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA). The ‘development track’ continues to operate focusing on technical issues and building practical channels of trans-boundary cooperation.

Effective multi-level and multi-stakeholder engagement is a key requirement for cooperation to succeed. While the NBI approach of convening various fora, organizing different events, targeting multi- stakeholders and at various levels may have been lengthy and slow, it was worth it. This approach effectively brought together experts across the region and other stakeholder groups into constructive engagement, dialogue and decision making to respond to the identified challenges and address identified needs.

The approach has continued to greatly contribute to building the much needed trust and confidence and to keep NBI’s diverse stakeholders well informed, actively engaged and committed to the Nile cooperation and the NBI processes.

Sources of Financing- Nile Basin Trust Fund (NBTF)

The NBI’s revenues are derived from contributions from Member States and from grant agreements with development partners. NBI has benefitted from the consistent, predictable, long term and flexible financial support from development partners. The latter have provided more than USD 200 million for NBI’s programs over the last 11 years, channeled through the World Bank administered Nile Basin Trust Fund (NBTF).

This is in addition to the coordinated key bilateral financing arrangements made with the African Development Bank, Sweden through SIDA and the Federal Republic of Germany through GIZ as well as annual subscriptions from Member States.

The NBTF was established in 2001, at the request of the Nile Council of Ministers, as the preferred funding mechanism to administer donor support pledged to NBI at the International Consortium for Cooperation on the Nile (ICCON1) held in Geneva, Switzerland. The NBTF is scheduled to close on 30th June 2015.

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The pie chart summarizes the relative contributions to the NBI’s budget since its establishment. The Member States’ cash contributions represent approximately 3% while in-kind contributions represent 19% of total financial resources (cash and in kind). In kind contribution includes actual rent paid by the host governments for NBI centers and for Project Management Units among other cash equivalents.

Member States contributions

Each Member State contributes USD 35,000 per year to Nile-Sec (Nile-Secretariat). Each EN (Eastern Nile) Member State contributes USD 80,000 per year to ENTRO (Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office) while each NEL (Nile Equatorial Lakes) Member State provides USD 15,000 per year to NELSAP-CU (Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program Coordination Unit). To date, Member States have contributed over USD 8.7 million in cash.

Citizen Participation

Citizen participation throughout the decision-making processes of public projects that affects their lives is now widely believed to be crucial for easy implementation and for creating a sense of ownership over the project itself. Yet, the NBI has not made allowance for citizen and NGO participation. However, the NBI does have links with three civic organizations: Nile Basin Discourse (NBD)- exert affirmative pressure over the development projects, East African Community (EAC)- aimed at improving quality of life by bringing about increased competitiveness; value added production, trade and investment through increased socio-economic and cultural integration and Global Water Partnership (GWP)- build a water secure world through supporting sustainable development and management of water resources at all levels.

A strong institution

NBI has achieved a strong foundation for institutional sustainability, enhanced capacity and harmonized corporate management to more effectively deliver its core functions and serve its Member States. Policy, technical and strategic guidance provided by the Nile-COM and Nile-TAC continues to play a role in strengthening the NBI. Complementing this is the scientific based information and knowledge generated by NBI, which is vital for strengthening cooperation.

The diversity in the geographical expanse and physical characteristics of the Nile Basin underscores the need for a multi-faceted approach to the management and development 65

of the Basin. Addressing the challenges which are sometimes varied requires action to take place at the lowest appropriate level. This was the basis for the NBI set-up, hence the two Subsidiary Action Programs (SAPs), Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program (ENSAP) and Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program (NELSAP). This set up has enabled NBI to leverage the unique potentials and mitigate risks in the respective sub-basins.

Key-takeaway

The multidisciplinary network creation is vital tool for While multi-country, multi-level and solving complex environmental problems since it multi-sectoral consultative processes provides broader platform to exchange views and are complex, lengthy and expensive solutions than a disciplinary network which provides no requiring consistent, predictable and platform for exchange of knowledge thus leading to flexible funding, they are key to narrow views and solutions or no solutions at all. ensure relevance to country needs Public Participation and Partnerships – and ownership.

Public participation in the NBI program occurred on two levels; on the regional level through the inclusion of a wide range of stakeholders and interest groups- from policy and decision makers, to small business men and women, to fishermen and farmers, to religious and youth groups in the programmatic process; on the project level relevant stakeholders participate during the design and preparation phase by way of regular stakeholder consultations and public Cooperative approach has proved to information processes. In addition to public participation be an option to sustain what has activities implemented by the NBI, an independent been accomplished, jointly address a network of civil society organizations in the Nile Basin, region’s trans-boundary water the Nile Basin Discourse, has emerged as a counter- resources management and weight to the government-led Nile Basin Initiative. The development challenges and take Nile Basin Discourse (NBD) promotes participation and advantage of the opportunities for dialogue towards poverty reduction and sustainable win-win benefits. development in the Nile River Basin on the civil society level.

On the national level, activities focused on civil society engagement in and awareness of NBI projects through dissemination of information and discussion forums. The NBD acts as umbrella organization for national civil society organizations in all basin countries.

In each country a Country Coordinating Institution (CCI) oversees the activities of the National Discourse Forums (NDFs). The key governing organ of the NBD is its General Assembly, which meets annually to determine the strategic direction of activities. It is composed of three representatives from each country.

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5.2. Summary of proceedings

Summary of the Proceedings (Day- 1) The workshop session in the first day focused on deliberations and discussions on key conservational issues regarding trans-boundary as well as importance of working jointly on the Sundarbans issues. A Joint Platform, including all stakeholders, is required to coordinate and chart out the roadmap; opined a major portion of delegates. Most of the participants agreed on the need to work together to conserve transboundary Sundarbans and many of them stressed on the need to operationalize the existing agreements between two countries. It was recognized that the Sundarbans in India and Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable area in the world considering the scale of climate change induced threat and as well as huge population at risk. Both the delegations harped on the need to highlight the overall vulnerability of transboundary Sundarbans at global platforms. It was recognized that such Track II deliberations need to continue to influence the Track I or formal deliberation of two countries vis-à-vis saving Sundarbans. Apart from the stakeholders already involved, involvement of union government of India was also considered critical to the process. The members of West Bengal delegation observed that a special session on Sundarbans’s vulnerability may be organized in state assembly as well as a team may be sent to central government to continue the engagement subject to approval of state leadership. Summary of the Proceedings (Day- 2) Triggered by a range of presentations from experts and civil society representatives, the workshop session continued to deliberate on the agendas focused the day before; though more emphasis was given on the management of disaster in Sundarbans region with the backdrop of climate change impacts in the area. It was unanimously agreed that both the countries need to work jointly on the issues though it was also recognized there have been few practical problems in taking the course; which need to be identified and solved out at the earliest like the common definition on Sundarbans. The involvement of Government of India was also stressed. Both the delegations agreed that global support should be organized to save the Sundarbans as it is being affected by the impact of climate change without any fault of the region as it contributes almost nothing in the changing climate phenomenon. The need for training of front line workers and involvement of community in disaster preparedness and Sundarbans conservation was also discussed. Both the delegations promised to take up the agenda with their respective political heads and it was decided a detailed report would be prepared to start the ball rolling in both countries and also in the state of West Bengal.

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5.3. List of participants

Sl. Name Particulars No.

Political Delegation - Bangladesh

1 Dr. Mohammed Hasan Mahmud MP, Chittagong , Bangladesh, Chairman of Parliament Standing Committee on Environment

2 Prof. Dr. AFM Ruhal Haque MP, Satkhira , Bangladesh, Chairman of Parliament Standing Committee on Science and Tehnology

3 Ms. Mahabub Ara Begum Gini MP, Whip, Gaibandha, Bangladesh

4 Mr. Tipu Sultan MP, Jessore, Bangladesh

5 Mr. Nobi Newaz MP, Jhenaidah, Bangladesh

6 Mr. Yahya Chowdhury MP, Sylhet, Bangladesh

7 Mr. Golam Rabbani MP, Chapai Nawabganj, Bangladesh

8 Dr. Achintya Kumar Mondal Mayor, Chalna Pourasabha, Bangladesh

9 Mofakkharul Iqbal First Secretary, Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata

Political Delegation - India

10. Mr. Biman Banerjee Hon’ble Speaker, West Bengal Legislative

Assembly, MLA, Baruipur, WB, India

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11. Janab Javed Ahmed Khan Minister-in-charge, department of disaster Management& Civil Defense and Fire & Emergency Services, MLA, Kasba, Govt of WB, India

12. Mr. Manturam Pakhira Minister of State, Department of Sundarban Affairs MLA, Kakdwip, Govt. of WB, India

13. Mr. Sobhandeb Chattopadhay Chief Whip, West Bengal Legislative Assembly, MLA, Rashbihari Avenue, WB, India

14. Mr. Bankim Chandra Hazra MLA, Sagar, WB, India; Chairman, Sundarbans Development Board

15. Mr. Subhas Naskar MLA, Basanti, WB, India

16 Mr. Jayanta Naskar MLA, Gosaba, WB, India

17 Mr. Samir Kumar Jana MLA, Patharpratima, WB, India

18 Mr. Arabinda Panchadhyai Asst Secretary, West Bengal Legislative Assembly, India

19 PS to MIC, Disaster Management Dept, Mr. Indranil Basu Govt. of WB

Civil Society / Thematic Experts of India and Bangladesh

20 Sundarbans Expert; Member, Sundarban Development Board; India Mr. Subhas Acharya

21 Mr. Tapas Paul Senior Enviroment Expert, World Bank

22 Mr. Sanjay Gupta Communication Expert, World Bank

23 Ms. Bushra Nishat IWA, Bangladesh

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24 Mr. Ratul Saha WWF-India

25 Mr. Subhro Sen WWF-India

26 Ms. Titash Choudhury WWF-India

27 Mr. Jayanta Basu EnGIO-India

28 Mr. Sumit Chakraborty EnGIO-India

29 Ms. Arshiya Ghosh EnGIO-India

30 Ms. Elja Roy EnGIO-India

31 Mr. Sourav Dutta EnGIO-India

32 Mr. Dharmendra Kumar Singh EnGIO-India

5.4. Details of photos and videos – Shared separately 5.5. List of media coverage with dates

Sl. No. Headline Date & Author Publishing House 1 India and Bangladesh agree 8.04.2015, by Kamran Reza The Third Pole joint initiative for Sundarbans 2 Somadhaner udyog nite hobe Bharat 28.03.15, By Saumya Prothom Alo kei Bandyopadhyay

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5.6. Details of media coverage

1. The Third Pole India and Bangladesh agree joint initiative for Sundarbans Kamran Reza Chowdhury 08.04.2015 · Comment

MPS from India and Bangladesh agree to set up a joint initiative to save the world’s largest mangrove forest from being rapidly destroyed by environmental change

Reduced flow of the Ganga River is increasing the salinity of the Sundarbans and destroying the forests MPs in Bangladesh and India have agreed for the first time to set up a joint platform to preserve the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest that straddles the two South Asian nations. The parliamentary standing committee of the Ministry of Forest and Environment of Bangladesh recommended the government move forward with the proposed joint platform to protect the ecology of the Sundarbans located in the country’s south-western region. The Sundarbans is home to Bengal tigers, river dolphins and other endangered species. Its tangled forests also protect the densely populated Bay of Bengal from cyclones and the worst extremes of nature. Yet, it is now threatened by land reclamation, logging and shrimp farming, rising sea levels and dwindling fresh water from the Ganga River. Hasan Mahmud, chairman of the standing committee and Bangladesh’s former environment minister said an India-Bangladesh joint initiative was a must to save the Sundarbans. The speaker of India’s West Bengal state legislative assembly, Biman Banerjee, the state minister of disaster management, Javed Khan, and other senior MPs met the Bangladesh parliamentary delegation in Kolkata from March 19-21. “All the members of the standing committee members were unanimous that we have to form the joint platform to save the Sundarbans from destruction. This (the Sundarbans) is our common pride,” said Yahya Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi committee member. The Bangladesh environment minister assured MPs that the body would be formed through diplomatic channels. “The body would be similar

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to that of the Joint Rivers Commission between Bangladesh and India. They would discuss the issues affecting the Sundarbans and recommend the respective governments to execute the decision,” said Chowdhury. In 1972 Bangladesh and India set up the Joint Rivers Commission to manage the 54 common rivers that flow from India to Bangladesh before emptying into the Bay of Bengal. Md. Yunus Ali, chief conservator of forest, argued the move was essential since ecosystems have no boundaries. “If we cause pollution in Bangladesh, the Indian side will also be affected,” he said. Separate management of the Sundarbans has led to some practical problems, the chief conservator said; for example, making it difficult to stop wildlife poaching. Around 10 years ago, he said, Indian Navy personnel mistakenly killed a boatman guarding the Bangladesh portion of the Sundarbans in Satkhira’s Mandarbari area. “Joint management would stop such misunderstandings in future,” he said. The political authorities of the two countries will now discuss the modus operandi of executing the joint platform. Dr. Dilip Kumar Datta, a professor of environmental science at Khulna University, believes the platform will also provide an opportunity for India to learn from Bangladesh. “In terms of all environmental parametres, the condition of the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans is better than that of the West Bengal portion. The human activities and exploitation of resources from the Indian portion of the Sundarbans is higher than in our portion,” said Datta, who completed his Ph.D. from India’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. For instance, Bangladesh can share its experience restricting economic activities—such as logging, fishing, extracting honey and other natural resources— and reducing pollution in the mangrove forest, which provides a natural buffer against extreme weather events.

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Reviving Ganga flow essential Dr Datta said reduction of water flow from the Ganga River was one of the reasons for the deteriorating ecosystem of the Sunderbans. The Sundarbans covers over 10,000 square kilometres in the mouth of the Bay of Bengal, where fresh water from the Ganga mixes with the saline water of the bay. The construction of India’s Farraka barrage on the Ganga has reduced the flow of water downstream in Bangladesh over the past four decades, resulting in rising salinity levels in the Sundarbans and damage the flora and fauna of the mangrove forest, 60% of which lies in Bangladesh. In 1997 India and Bangladesh signed an agreement to share the waters of the Ganga. But the volume of water available is not enough to sustain the ecology of the Sundarbans, which supports the livelihoods of millions of poor people on both sides of the border. “Creation of the proposed joint platform will strengthen our demand for more water release from upstream. If it works in a cordial manner, India is likely to do whatever possible to increase the flow of sweet water from the Ganga to save our common resources,” said professor Datta. Former ambassador Humayaun Kabir was also optimistic about the proposal: “There are ways of implementing the recommendations. For instance, there could a joint working group that would develop policies, monitor and give necessary guidelines in the preservation of the Sundarbans,” Kabir told thethirdpole.net. “If we preserve the Sundarbans with concerted efforts, the Sundarbans would attract thousands of tourists. Through responsible tourism, we can ensure livelihood of the common men living in the Sundarbans areas.” The joint body, however, will only be effective if there is political will. The Joint River Commission is legally bound to hold at least one meeting every six months, but often the commission has not met for years because of the reluctance of the two governments.

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2. Prothom Alo Somadhaner udyog nite hobe Bharat kei 28.03.15

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