Mainstreaming Ecosystem Management

Bangladesh is one of the most innocent victims to climate change and the coastal region is one of the hot spot in the country. The people of this region are mainly dependent on the productivity of coastal ecosystem for their livelihood. This study reveals the change in the livelihood and the present livelihood pattern as agriculture, fisheries, forestry and small scale business of 53.1%, 18.5%, 10.6%, and 8.2%, respectively. Over the last 20 to 30 years most of the people (60%) converted their paddy field to shrimp cultivation due to salinity intrusion. It also intended to make an inventory of major ecosystem services and its contribution to livelihood of the community such as crop (50.25%), fish (22.75%), livestock (11.50%), wild food (6%), and homestead resources (3.5%). It also assesses the impact of climate change on these ecosystem services as well as the livelihood of the coastal community by considering different drivers of degradation such as climatic events, intensive shrimp farming, and population density and over exploitation of 87.25%, 63.75%, 18.17% and 39.26%, respectively.