A basin-wide governance approach needed for saving Halda’s ecosystem

Since the river’s sustainability depend crucially on processes occurring in the watershed area and on connectivity with the land and the river network, effective river conservation needs to take a holistic watershed perspective which requires fundamental realignment of present institutions and governance structures

The Halda river ecosystem is not only a pride heritage of Chittagong, it is also a unique and only naturally occurring carp spawning area and source of pure gene bank of carps in Bangladesh. It is the only globally known tidal river supporting natural carp spawning ground with higher number of fish species than many other larger Asian rivers system. The river is also home to a number of globally endangered species including the Gangetic dolphin. Originating in Khagrachari hills, the river pass through the basin area covering about 1727 square kilometer or more and fed by more than 34 numbers of tributaries from Rangamati-Khagrachari hill ranges in the north and east, Sitakunda hill range in the west. Local population in the watershed area is dependent for their living and livelihood on the ecosystem services of the Halda river ecosystem. An approximate population of about 6.6 million lives in 92 unions covering 18 upazilas under 3 districts, Chittagong, Khagrachari and Rangamati, including urban areas with 5 municipalities and industrial area of metropolitan city of Chittagong who are dependent on the river for drinking water, agricultural production, fisheries and industrial production. Monitory valuation of the ecosystem service of the river (provisioning services) estimated to be approximately BDT 1753 million. This is however an underestimation since it excluded the value of regulatory and other ecosystem services. This unique heritage of the country is in peril due to unsustainable use of resources in the watershed area and the river itself. This article attempts to analyze the constraints of present Halda river resources management and suggests a watershed based governance model as precursor to ecosystem management for the long term sustainability of the Halda river ecosystem and its unique biodiversity.
BADC, BWDB and LGED have made a number of engineering structures on the river to withdraw water for irrigation thus reducing the dry season river flow and obstructing movement of fish and other aquatic animals. Use of fertilizer and insecticides for the agriculture are also nonpoint sources of pollution to the river. The river also used for sand querying and provides navigation. The deep pools at the river’s oxbow-bends are sites for the spawning of carps. During the last hundred years about 11 oxbow bends have been canalized seriously reducing the spawning area. A number of brick kilns and poultry farms, tobacco farming in the catchment area and about 300 different industries in the Bayezid industrial estate are also discharging pollutants in the river deteriorating the water quality of the river. Erratic rainfall particularly low rainfall due to global climate change also causes high salinity in the river water detrimental to the spawning behaviour of the carps and supply of drinking water for human consumption in the urban and rural areas of the Halda river watershed.
Two parallel academic research studies by IFCU and BUET scientists recently revealed that forest vegetation in the basin covered more than 63% of the land area in the year 1978 which has now declined to about 40% in 2017. Agriculture land increased from 23% to 42% in the year 2017. Settlement area also increased from 5.2% to 12% during the same period. Water area including rivers and tributaries declined from 6.8% to about 1% in 2017. These changes in land use clearly indicate the conversion of vegetated land and encroachment of tributaries for agriculture and expansion of settlements resulting in reduced number of streams around the river basin yearly basis. Encroachment to tributaries and deforestation in the basin leads to the disruption to hydrological cycle resulting diminished water flow which is threatening the survival of the fish spawning in the river.
Due to increasing popular demand various government departments are now making some interventions with an aim to save biodiversity and fisheries resources. Historically, the fisheries department since 1950 uses seasonal fishing ban in 14 tributary rivers or khals of Halda river and is still continuing under the Protection and Conservation of Fish Act, 1950 and also Fish Rule 1983. The FD is also planning to implement a project “Restoration of the natural fish breeding habitats of the river Halda” with GOB funding. Water ministry took a five-year project in 2007 for river dredging, repairing existing sluice gates, etc., in the name of “Halda Restoration Project”. The objectives being the establishment of fish sanctuary in certain river reach, and preserving the brood (mother) fish. But the role of some of the proposed components of the project in achieving the objectives is debated by the scientists. With the assistance from UNDP, Forest Department has also undertaken Dolphin Conservation Plan for 20km of lower reaches of the river under Wildlife Security Act 2010 to protect the Ganges river dolphin. This single species protection policing is simply an emergency activity to protect dolphin from killing by local people. It can hardly be considered as appropriate biodiversity conservation plan. It is learnt that the government is also contemplating to declare the 107 km of the river as ECA under ECA Rule 1997. Besides these governmental initiatives, Chittagong University Halda River Research group and other universities are also involved in the Halda river ecosystem research. Some nonprofit foundations like Isabela Foundation, Halda River Raksha Committee are also involved in ecological research and awareness activities.
The above said fragmented initiatives by different governmental agencies are basically river water oriented delinked from the actual sources of impacts particularly expansion of population, urbanization and agricultural expansion for living and livelihood activities in the land area of the river catchment that influence the flow and quality of the river system. The High Court has recently formed a committee and directed the Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong to coordinate the Halda river protection activities. This is a welcome initiative as an emergency measure. In the historical context of Bangladesh, the effectiveness of such committee for the long term sustainable protection of Halda river and dependent biodiversity is doubtful. The most important weakness of the committee is that there is no single scientifically designed integrated resource management and biodiversity conservation plan before the committee which addresses the strategic issues of complex functionally related water, land and human population in the Halda river watershed and also lack of adequate financial arrangement. Moreover, the DCs of other two relevant impacting districts, Khagrachari and Rangamati, are not included in the committee. For the purpose of saving the Halda’s ecosystem further initiative is required by the government.
As mentioned earlier the quality of the river and the habitat for many globally threatened wildlife in the Halda are intricately related to the impacts from the activities of the river catchment population for the production of food and economic development. These impacts and their complex linkages also transcend present administrative and political boundaries which make it impossible for sustainable management under business as usual governance regime. No individual agency alone has the mandate or capacity to address the issues causing deterioration of Halda river ecosystem. Since the river’s sustainability depend crucially on processes occurring in the watershed area and on connectivity with the land and the river network, effective river conservation needs to take a holistic watershed perspective which requires fundamental realignment of present institutions and governance structures. Unlike many other rivers in Bangladesh whose watershed lies outside the country’s geographic bounds, the Halda’s ecosystem watershed lies within Bangladesh territory. This provides a comparative advantage to undertake a holistic approach of basin wide watershed management by Bangladesh government alone.
For the purpose a legally mandated authority may be established (may be Halda Basin or Watershed Integrated Resource Management Authority) that can plan and implement an integrated resource management including biodiversity protection in a coordinated way for the Halda river basin area. The plan should be made based on appropriate scientific information incorporating the hydrological linkages of water within the basin area particularly competing water uses, such as agriculture, fisheries, environment, industry or tourism. The plan should also elaborate mechanism for coordinating multiple government agencies, public representatives, local governments, NGOs and representatives of scientific disciplines. Proposed body should also be able to receiving finance from state and private sources as well. The form and rules of the proposed body can be a legally mandated association of state and non-state organizations involved in resource management in the area maintaining their individual identity based on the principle of subsidiarity and polycentricism. There are examples for such an autonomous organizations functioning in Bangladesh like Barind Multipurpose Authority, Haor Development Board, etc.
Some form of leadership is critical to the success of such a polycentric management body. The establishment and recognition of a leader clarifies who is ultimately responsible for the initiative and coordination. Using the present legal provision of Water Act 2013, the Ministry of Water Resources through the National Water Resource Council can take the initiative to establish Halda Watershed Management Board/Authority which will be able to take a long term view working towards its vision for integrated watershed resource management and biodiversity conservation. The ministry of local government can be co-leader with their technical experiences for integrated resource planning, management and rural development. It has also political clout with its control on local government whose participation is inevitable for the success of the programme. The other concerned ministries such as ministry of environment, forest and climate change, ministry of fisheries, ministry of agriculture etc. can be executive members. The elected representatives of the area, NGOs and representatives of scientific community will also be members in the proposed body.

The author is a former Professor of Botany, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. E-mail: [email protected]

 

A basin-wide governance approach needed for saving Haldas ecosystem

Since the rivers sustainability depend crucially on processes occurring in the watershed area and on connectivity with the land and the river network, effective river conservation needs to take a holistic watershed perspective which requires fundamental realignment of present institutions and governance structures

The Halda river ecosystem is not only a pride heritage of Chittagong, it is also a unique and only naturally occurring carp spawning area and source of pure gene bank of carps in Bangladesh. It is the only globally known tidal river supporting natural carp spawning ground with higher number of fish species than many other larger Asian rivers system. The river is also home to a number of globally endangered species including the Gangetic dolphin. Originating in Khagrachari hills, the river pass through the basin area covering about 1727 square kilometer or more and fed by more than 34 numbers of tributaries from Rangamati-Khagrachari hill ranges in the north and east, Sitakunda hill range in the west. Local population in the watershed area is dependent for their living and livelihood on the ecosystem services of the Halda river ecosystem. An approximate population of about 6.6 million lives in 92 unions covering 18 upazilas under 3 districts, Chittagong, Khagrachari and Rangamati, including urban areas with 5 municipalities and industrial area of metropolitan city of Chittagong who are dependent on the river for drinking water, agricultural production, fisheries and industrial production. Monitory valuation of the ecosystem service of the river (provisioning services) estimated to be approximately BDT 1753 million. This is however an underestimation since it excluded the value of regulatory and other ecosystem services. This unique heritage of the country is in peril due to unsustainable use of resources in the watershed area and the river itself. This article attempts to analyze the constraints of present Halda river resources management and suggests a watershed based governance model as precursor to ecosystem management for the long term sustainability of the Halda river ecosystem and its unique biodiversity. BADC, BWDB and LGED have made a number of engineering structures on the river to withdraw water for irrigation thus reducing the dry season river flow and obstructing movement of fish and other aquatic animals. Use of fertilizer and insecticides for the agriculture are also nonpoint sources of pollution to the river. The river also used for sand querying and provides navigation. The deep pools at the rivers oxbow-bends are sites for the spawning of carps. During the last hundred years about 11 oxbow bends have been canalized seriously reducing the spawning area. A number of brick kilns and poultry farms, tobacco farming in the catchment area and about 300 different industries in the Bayezid industrial estate are also discharging pollutants in the river deteriorating the water quality of the river. Erratic rainfall particularly low rainfall due to global climate change also causes high salinity in the river water detrimental to the spawning behaviour of the carps and supply of drinking water for human consumption in the urban and rural areas of the Halda river watershed. Two parallel academic research studies by IFCU and BUET scientists recently revealed that forest vegetation in the basin covered more than 63% of the land area in the year 1978 which has now declined to about 40% in 2017. Agriculture land increased from 23% to 42% in the year 2017. Settlement area also increased from 5.2% to 12% during the same period. Water area including rivers and tributaries declined from 6.8% to about 1% in 2017. These changes in land use clearly indicate the conversion of vegetated land and encroachment of tributaries for agriculture and expansion of settlements resulting in reduced number of streams around the river basin yearly basis. Encroachment to tributaries and deforestation in the basin leads to the disruption to hydrological cycle resulting diminished water flow which is threatening the survival of the fish spawning in the river. Due to increasing popular demand various government departments are now making some interventions with an aim to save biodiversity and fisheries resources. Historically, the fisheries department since 1950 uses seasonal fishing ban in 14 tributary rivers or khals of Halda river and is still continuing under the Protection and Conservation of Fish Act, 1950 and also Fish Rule 1983. The FD is also planning to implement a project Restoration of the natural fish breeding habitats of the river Halda with GOB funding. Water ministry took a five-year project in 2007 for river dredging, repairing existing sluice gates, etc., in the name of Halda Restoration Project. The objectives being the establishment of fish sanctuary in certain river reach, and preserving the brood (mother) fish. But the role of some of the proposed components of the project in achieving the objectives is debated by the scientists. With the assistance from UNDP, Forest Department has also undertaken Dolphin Conservation Plan for 20km of lower reaches of the river under Wildlife Security Act 2010 to protect the Ganges river dolphin. This single species protection policing is simply an emergency activity to protect dolphin from killing by local people. It can hardly be considered as appropriate biodiversity conservation plan. It is learnt that the government is also contemplating to declare the 107 km of the river as ECA under ECA Rule 1997. Besides these governmental initiatives, Chittagong University Halda River Research group and other universities are also involved in the Halda river ecosystem research. Some nonprofit foundations like Isabela Foundation, Halda River Raksha Committee are also involved in ecological research and awareness activities. The above said fragmented initiatives by different governmental agencies are basically river water oriented delinked from the actual sources of impacts particularly expansion of population, urbanization and agricultural expansion for living and livelihood activities in the land area of the river catchment that influence the flow and quality of the river system. The High Court has recently formed a committee and directed the Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong to coordinate the Halda river protection activities. This is a welcome initiative as an emergency measure. In the historical context of Bangladesh, the effectiveness of such committee for the long term sustainable protection of Halda river and dependent biodiversity is doubtful. The most important weakness of the committee is that there is no single scientifically designed integrated resource management and biodiversity conservation plan before the committee which addresses the strategic issues of complex functionally related water, land and human population in the Halda river watershed and also lack of adequate financial arrangement. Moreover, the DCs of other two relevant impacting districts, Khagrachari and Rangamati, are not included in the committee. For the purpose of saving the Haldas ecosystem further initiative is required by the government. As mentioned earlier the quality of the river and the habitat for many globally threatened wildlife in the Halda are intricately related to the impacts from the activities of the river catchment population for the production of food and economic development. These impacts and their complex linkages also transcend present administrative and political boundaries which make it impossible for sustainable management under business as usual governance regime. No individual agency alone has the mandate or capacity to address the issues causing deterioration of Halda river ecosystem. Since the rivers sustainability depend crucially on processes occurring in the watershed area and on connectivity with the land and the river network, effective river conservation needs to take a holistic watershed perspective which requires fundamental realignment of present institutions and governance structures. Unlike many other rivers in Bangladesh whose watershed lies outside the countrys geographic bounds, the Haldas ecosystem watershed lies within Bangladesh territory. This provides a comparative advantage to undertake a holistic approach of basin wide watershed management by Bangladesh government alone. For the purpose a legally mandated authority may be established (may be Halda Basin or Watershed Integrated Resource Management Authority) that can plan and implement an integrated resource management including biodiversity protection in a coordinated way for the Halda river basin area. The plan should be made based on appropriate scientific information incorporating the hydrological linkages of water within the basin area particularly competing water uses, such as agriculture, fisheries, environment, industry or tourism. The plan should also elaborate mechanism for coordinating multiple government agencies, public representatives, local governments, NGOs and representatives of scientific disciplines. Proposed body should also be able to receiving finance from state and private sources as well. The form and rules of the proposed body can be a legally mandated association of state and non-state organizations involved in resource management in the area maintaining their individual identity based on the principle of subsidiarity and polycentricism. There are examples for such an autonomous organizations functioning in Bangladesh like Barind Multipurpose Authority, Haor Development Board, etc. Some form of leadership is critical to the success of such a polycentric management body. The establishment and recognition of a leader clarifies who is ultimately responsible for the initiative and coordination. Using the present legal provision of Water Act 2013, the Ministry of Water Resources through the National Water Resource Council can take the initiative to establish Halda Watershed Management Board/Authority which will be able to take a long term view working towards its vision for integrated watershed resource management and biodiversity conservation. The ministry of local government can be co-leader with their technical experiences for integrated resource planning, management and rural development. It has also political clout with its control on local government whose participation is inevitable for the success of the programme. The other concerned ministries such as ministry of environment, forest and climate change, ministry of fisheries, ministry of agriculture etc. can be executive members. The elected representatives of the area, NGOs and representatives of scientific community will also be members in the proposed body. The author is a former Professor of Botany, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. E-mail: [email protected]