Coastal Zones

Biography

Biography: Nazma Chamely

Abstract

Coastal plains and lowland river valleys have been places for human civilization throughout the history of human beings ((Wolanski et al. 2006) although there is an uneasy relationship existed between the coasts with man. The coast provides rich ecological conditions (Van der Zwiep 1991) and different attractive and culturally important landscapes are situated in these highly complex areas. Due to high biological productivity (Blaber et al. 2000) and valuable ecosystem service and functions (Costanza et al. 1997) the coastal zones of the world are under pressure from human activities. Currently at about 60% of the world’s population is living near the coast (Lindeboom 2002).Bangladesh has coast area of about 20,000 km2 with about 24 million or 22% of the population living there (Hossain 2001) and they are directly or indirectly dependent on the resources of the coast. Exploitation of the coastal resources of Bangladesh .Management for the socio-economy and ecology of the country. Introduction of deer Ecosystem services problems. Selection of the correct stocking rate for vegetation, livestock, wildlife and economic return. Experience in stocking rate decisions .Procedures now available . Considerable financial investment, strong capacity building, acceptance and cooperation by the local communities. Guidelines based on field level data, stakeholders' opinion and modern techniques such as Satellite images, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for the effective and sustainable management of any resource (Ahmed et al. 2010, 2011; Ali et al. 2013, Giri et al. 1997).Lack of policy guidelines for the management of the natural resources of the coastal ecosystems.Focus on the coastal habitat to understand the ecology.Find out proper management policies of coastal islands by proposing the appropriate stoking rate and hence carrying capacity.Twenty 1m × 1m quadrats were established at different places throughout the char and fresh weight were measured to measure production of Uri-grass since December 22, 2010 to March 2013 (three times a year). First we need to know the average forage production by an area or landscape and the minimum residual biomass to be left for the key forage species, the initial stocking rate can be determined as follows (Holechek 1988, Holechek and Piper 1992)Forage demand of the spotted deer with body weight of 45 kg (for female) and 65 kg (for male ) is about 328.5 kg/y and 474.5 kg/y respectively. If only female in the herd - 4566 individuals. If only male is used – 3161 individuals. If we use 50:50 of female and male then the number will half in either case.But in case of commercial carrying capacity, i.e. meat is the goal, and then male spotted dear with higher body weight might be preferable to the authority. But in this case reproduction of next generation will be a problem. In western ranches, usually 2 bulls are maintained per 20 oxen. If we take this into consideration then of 4566 deer we will need 456 male.This indicated that the studied island can carry 4110 female deer and 456 male deer. Toxel and White (1989) proposed a more simpler and conservative procedure - allocated 25% of current year forage production to livestock, another 25% to natural disappearance (insects, wildlife, weathering) and 50% is left for the protection of the area. Besides Keora plant could be considered as another key species and deer like Keora leaves very much. Monkey can be introduced also – new ecosystem build up.Maximize the utilization of the natural resources - no harm to the island.Vulnerability of coastal zone of Bangladesh - mitigating the natural calamities and saving lives and millions of dollar. Scaling up the knowledge to help manage other similar coastal islands. Meat produced can be sold in local market in higher price as meat of deer has a higher demand. Besides deer can be used as sacrificing animals during the Eid-Ul-Azha festival. CBNRM - Natural resources will be better managed.