From the River to the Forest: How Bangladesh’s Coastal People in Bangladesh are Maintaining their Livelihoods
By MD. Rayhanur Rahman, (BUET)
“Without a constant livelihood, there will be no constant heart-- Ueda Akinari”.
I relate this quote to the people who are living in the marginalised portion of Bangladesh’s coastal area. Recently, we visited two communities in the western and central zones to collect survey responses and interview members of the community.
By understanding people’s perceptions, their stories, experiences, and knowledge we will be able to inform our Coupled Human and Natural System (CHANS) model development. The model aims to simulate livelihood risk and tipping points. Understanding livelihood risks and tipping points is crucial. By identifying the potential challenges and vulnerabilities faced by individuals or communities in maintaining their livelihoods communities, policymakers, and development practitioner can design effective strategies for building resilience and adaptive capacity. By recognising the interconnectedness of various factors affecting livelihoods and identifying interventions that can help prevent or mitigate the negative impacts that could push a community beyond its capacity to recover and adapt. So we embarked upon our journey to visit the communities.
Nalbunia village, Barguna District
Our first visit was to Nalbunia village situated in Barguna District near the Payra River in the central region of coastal Bangladesh. This village is particularly susceptible to tidal flooding and tropical cyclones.
The primary source of income for the villagers is agriculture, with 50% of the population engaged in farming or sharecropping. However, a significant challenge arose after cyclone Sidr struck in 2007, leading to heightened soil salinity. The cyclone caused a breach in the polder (a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments), and saline water destroyed agricultural land. Subsequently, heightened salinity made agricultural production impossible. Faced with this crisis, many individuals transitioned from agriculture-focused livelihoods to labor, while some even temporarily relocated to larger cities like Dhaka in search of employment.
Before getting hit, the people of the village didn’t have any idea how bad the cyclone SIDR could be. But after hitting it was too late to do anything. Many people lost their houses, lands, and livestock. I am also the victim of cyclone SIDR. I have lost my house and land. For around 3 months I didn’t have any work to do. I moved to Barisal for pulling Rickshaw.
Kutub Ali (54)
But recently agricultural production is improving, and salinity is reducing, and a better-quality embankment has been constructed by the Water Development Board. Lately people are returning and starting to earn a living locally form agriculture once again. Nature is finally returning to what it was like before the cyclone.
Chakbara village, Gabura Union
“a substantial 40% of the Sundarban was damaged by the cyclone in 2007”
Chakbara village in Gabura Union, Satkhira District lies close to the Kholpetua River along the west coast of Bangladesh and within the protected area of the Sundarbans. The Sundarbans has a complex ecosystem and is home to one of the largest single tracts of mangrove forests in the world. It is also the largest sourceof forest materials in Bangladesh. In addition to traditional materials like timber, fuelwood, pulpwood, the forest also provides products like honey, beeswax, fish, crustacean and mollusk resources, and materials needed for thatching. The forest also acts as a natural storm surge buffer.
Risk map of Chakbara Village, Gabura (Md. Rayhanur Rahman)
Embankment condition of Chakbara Village, Gabura (Md. Rayhanur Rahman)
The village is vulnerable to salinity and tropical cyclones and as such, very little agriculture can be found, with most of the land used for shrimp and crab cultivation. Villagers rely heavily on the Sundarbans for their livelihoods. They collect honey, crab, river fish, wood, palm leaves, wooden fuel, fruits, and other aquatic resources from the Sundarbans. 80% of people are fishers, and 30% of fishers are also directly involved in honey collecting as Maowali and leaf collecting as Baowali.
Women are also involved in fishing, Chakbara Village, Gabura (Md. Rayhanur Rahman)
Most female villagers are also involved with household earnings. I met Nurani Begum (51), a childless widow who lost her husband 20 years ago in Sundarban in a tiger incident.
“The People who don't have any livelihood, are there any options that they would change their livelihood? Most of the time I had to be hungry. Sometimes neighbors gave me something to eat. I have an ache in my knees that’s why I can’t do any heavy work. Sometimes I use a fishing net to collect shrimp eggs or small fish from the river. But most of the time I didn’t get enough money to buy one-day food”
Nurani Begum (51)
I also spoke with Golam Mostofa (47), who has worked as a fisher and Maowali for 28 years. His father was an experienced Baowali and Maowali and so Golam came to his profession the traditional way learning from his father and currently, his sons are learning from him.
“My father was an expert Baowali and Fisherman. [.…] Anyway, at that time there were no regulations imposed by the government. We can move as deep into the forest as we wish. My father and his mate were able to harvest more than 3 tons of wood and leaves in a week. But after the declaration of UNESCO on Sundarban as a heritage site, several restrictions were imposed on us. My father changed his livelihood because of these restrictions and the availability of boats. Because boatowners started to face losses in their business. Most of the boats have restrictions to enter the deep forest. With time the restrictions for entering into the deep forest are increasing day by day. Now, we have permission to enter only 25 percent of the total forest area.”
At this point, I stopped Golam Mostofa and asked him whether he realised that the government restrictions are for conserving wildlife. He replied:
“We collect honey and nipa palm leaves (locally known as Golpata) from Sundarban. These two products have a specific time to harvest. Honey has only two months production time. If you don’t harvest the honey in time, you will never find any sources to harvest honey for the rest of the months. Similarly, for harvesting nipa palm leaves, we need to collect them before their maturity. After being matured, Nipa palm leaves are started to die.”
I asked him whether the restrictions on the forest are the only reason that Maowali and Baowali are, changing their livelihoods. He replied:
“we the people of this village who earned their earnings from the forest, never considered “collecting honey” as our main occupation. Because honey is a seasonal product. We identify ourselves as a fisherman, who capture fish from the rivers of Sundarban. Yes, we can consider “harvesting leaves or wood” could be our main occupation but now it’s diminishing day by day due to lack of big boats. As I mentioned before, making a boat for harvesting wood is costly. 99% of people in this village don’t have money to build those types of boats. Oh!! Another reason for people changing their livelihood, I forgot to mention. It applies to any profession that is dependent on Sundarban. “The Royal Bengal Tiger!” He is the king of this forest. About 35% family of this village are direct or indirect victims of the Royal Bengal Tiger. I saw many people who ever faced Royal Bengal Tiger very close, were never wish to go to forest. Especially people who went for collecting honey. Because when you go for a honey collection, you have to keep your eyes on the branch of the trees. That is the moment tigers generally attacked. I saw tigers several times but never too close.”
This incident is an example of social bonding (social capital), which largely determines why many livelihoods still sustain although they are very close to the tipping points.
Residents and workers along the coast of Bangladesh face constant exposure to natural hazards. In the central zone, the social fabric and livelihoods of the people are significantly influenced by freshwater riverine ecology.
In the western Sundarban area, livelihoods hinge largely on the Sundarban ecosystem. The traditional Maowalis and Baowalis in this region find themselves perilously close to a tipping point, primarily due to government policies and the absence of essential supporting facilities, leading to socioeconomic vulnerabilities.
It's essential to note that the characteristics of fishers in the central and western zones differ fundamentally from those in the Sundarban region, where dependence on the ecosystem coexists with a traditional Maowali identity. The Fisher-Maowali livelihood group in the Sundarban is distinctive in that their Maowali identity is deeply rooted in tradition. They engage in honey collection (Baowli) as a secondary occupation during fishing expeditions in the Sundarban rivers.. In contrast, other fishers in the Sundarban, who don’t have the traditional Maowali characteristics, form a separate group. The Baowali another traditional livelihood, differs from Fisher-Maowali in that they collect leaves as a secondary occupation only when not engaged in fishing activities.
The Survey Team l-r: Ashiqul Islam, Atiqul Islam, Rayhanur Rahman, Maria Akter, Marjana Akter, Ahona binte Rashid, Taheratul Jannat Mohona, Ayon Saha, Ripa Das (Mostafizur Rahman)
Moreover, the livelihood constraints faced by Maowalis and Baowalis vary. Despite both being considered secondary occupations within the same fisher group, and with both livelihoods on the brink of tipping points, the thresholds that trigger these tipping points are likely to differ for Maowali and Baowali.
On our last day of fieldwork, whilst waiting for our boat home I saw Nurani Begum catching fish with her handmade fishing net, and she asked me a question that I can’t answer:
“The People who don't have any livelihood, are there any options that they would change their livelihood?”
Final Thoughts
During our field visit to the Sundarbans, we gained a better understanding of the complex dynamics of the socioecological system. This insight serves as input for the CHANS model, which predicts potential tipping points for various livelihoods within Bangladesh's coastal socioecological systems. The CHANS model employs Bayesian Network and non-linear optimisation techniques to assess livelihood risks, taking into account the interconnected nature and constraints of different livelihoods. Information will be translated into mathematical formulas within the CHANS model to calculate the baseline risks associated with livelihoods.
Read the UNESCO report ‘Bangladesh: Life-saving Sundarbans may take years to recover from cyclone’