Tanguar Haor : A Diversified Freshwater Wetland: Local People\'s Dependence of Resources and Participation in Conservation Practices

Contents: Acknowledgements. 1. Overview and goals. 2. Wetland : the least understood ecosystem. 3. Wetlands of Bangladesh. 4. Tanguar Haor: a diversified Wetland. 5. Conventions of Wetlands of especial importance. 6. The people of Tanguar Haor. 7. Peoples reliance on Wetland resources. 8. Current physical state of Tanguar Haor and management issues. 9. Community participation in Haor conservation. 10. Conclusions and recommendations. Bibliography.

"About 50% of the land in Bangladesh is classified as wetlands, and a major part of this area is covered by freshwater wetlands. Tanguar Haor, located in the Northeastern part, is one of the largest natural freshwater wetlands of the country. It occupies an area of 10,000 hectares with forty-six villages scattered in surrounding private lands. This Haor is extremely important for its large and diverse waterfowl populations and other biological resources. To preserve the diverse biological resources, especially the large number of waterfowl species, Tanguar Haor has been declared as the second Ramsar Site of the country in 2000. Since 2003 the district administration of Sunamganj has been managing the vast wetland resource of the Haor. However, in contrary to the Ramsar guidelines of wise-use policy the local people have been totally ignored in the present Haor management system. This study found that most of the villagers depend on the Haor for fishing, grazing, farming, and wetland vegetation for fuel. Most importantly, the Haor is also used for rice (staple food) cultivation during the winter flood-free season. Total exclusion of local people from the current management practices greatly impacted the local people whose livelihood depends on the resources of the Haor. Ramsar convention Bureau defines wise-use as the sustainable utilization of wetlands for the benefit of humankind that is compatible with the maintenance of the natural properties of the ecosystem. Community participation has been identified as one of the key factors in promoting wise-use principle of natural resource management. As a designated member of the Ramsar Convention, Bangladesh is obliged to implement the wise-use principle prescribed by Ramsar Convention Bureau. Unfortunately, till to date, this important guideline of Ramsar Convention has not been implemented at Tanguar Haor due to various reasons. This book illustrates the importance of Tanguar Haor resources on local peoples, livelihood and their willingness, constraints and opportunities to participation in the Haor management." (jacket)