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Integrated assessment of social and environmental sustainability dynamics in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta, Bangladesh

Integrated assessment of social and environmental sustainability dynamics in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta, Bangladesh
Integrated assessment of social and environmental sustainability dynamics in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta, Bangladesh
Deltas provide diverse ecosystem services and benefits for their populations. At the same time, deltas are also recognised as one of the most vulnerable coastal environments, with a range of drivers operating at multiple scales, from global climate change and sea-level rise to deltaic-scale subsidence and land cover change. These drivers threaten these ecosystem services, which often provide livelihoods for the poorest communities in these regions. The imperative to maintain ecosystem services presents a development challenge: how to develop deltaic areas in ways that are sustainable and benefit all residents including the most vulnerable. Here we present an integrated framework to analyse changing ecosystem services in deltas and the implications for human well-being, focussing in particular on the provisioning ecosystem services of agriculture, inland and offshore capture fisheries, aquaculture and mangroves that directly support livelihoods. The framework is applied to the world’s most populated delta, the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta within Bangladesh. The framework adopts a systemic perspective to represent the principal biophysical and socio-ecological components and their interaction. A range of methods are integrated within a quantitative framework, including biophysical and socio-economic modelling and analyses of governance through scenario development. The approach is iterative, with learning both within the project team and with national policy-making stakeholders. The analysis is used to explore physical and social outcomes for the delta under different scenarios and policy choices. We consider how the approach is transferable to other deltas and potentially other coastal areas.
0272-7714
370-381
Nicholls, R.J.
4ce1e355-cc5d-4702-8124-820932c57076
Hutton, C.W.
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Lazar, A.N.
d7f835e7-1e3d-4742-b366-af19cf5fc881
Allan, A.
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Adger, W.N.
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Adams, H.
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Wolf, J.
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Rahman, M.
2579d8ef-1bdd-4f29-be0b-5f056e40f357
Salehin, M.
a2a3f1f2-3826-427a-a35f-750b8fb7990e
Nicholls, R.J.
4ce1e355-cc5d-4702-8124-820932c57076
Hutton, C.W.
9102617b-caf7-4538-9414-c29e72f5fe2e
Lazar, A.N.
d7f835e7-1e3d-4742-b366-af19cf5fc881
Allan, A.
e5d1044c-99b9-4944-9c96-140a8fcecb5e
Adger, W.N.
3ea78e95-a5ce-4a50-a59a-722bbee23e8a
Adams, H.
8b36a1da-74d5-4d92-84b1-7183c25f8214
Wolf, J.
13cf5067-f460-4851-9a09-d6bf7efe575b
Rahman, M.
2579d8ef-1bdd-4f29-be0b-5f056e40f357
Salehin, M.
a2a3f1f2-3826-427a-a35f-750b8fb7990e

Nicholls, R.J., Hutton, C.W., Lazar, A.N., Allan, A., Adger, W.N., Adams, H., Wolf, J., Rahman, M. and Salehin, M. (2016) Integrated assessment of social and environmental sustainability dynamics in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta, Bangladesh. [in special issue: Sustainability of Future Coasts and Estuaries] Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 183, part B, 370-381. (doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2016.08.017).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Deltas provide diverse ecosystem services and benefits for their populations. At the same time, deltas are also recognised as one of the most vulnerable coastal environments, with a range of drivers operating at multiple scales, from global climate change and sea-level rise to deltaic-scale subsidence and land cover change. These drivers threaten these ecosystem services, which often provide livelihoods for the poorest communities in these regions. The imperative to maintain ecosystem services presents a development challenge: how to develop deltaic areas in ways that are sustainable and benefit all residents including the most vulnerable. Here we present an integrated framework to analyse changing ecosystem services in deltas and the implications for human well-being, focussing in particular on the provisioning ecosystem services of agriculture, inland and offshore capture fisheries, aquaculture and mangroves that directly support livelihoods. The framework is applied to the world’s most populated delta, the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta within Bangladesh. The framework adopts a systemic perspective to represent the principal biophysical and socio-ecological components and their interaction. A range of methods are integrated within a quantitative framework, including biophysical and socio-economic modelling and analyses of governance through scenario development. The approach is iterative, with learning both within the project team and with national policy-making stakeholders. The analysis is used to explore physical and social outcomes for the delta under different scenarios and policy choices. We consider how the approach is transferable to other deltas and potentially other coastal areas.

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Accepted/In Press date: 16 August 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 18 August 2016
Published date: 20 December 2016
Organisations: Energy & Climate Change Group, GeoData

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 400422
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/400422
ISSN: 0272-7714
PURE UUID: b4cc7331-beeb-490d-8686-807807889c5f
ORCID for R.J. Nicholls: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9715-1109
ORCID for C.W. Hutton: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5896-756X
ORCID for A.N. Lazar: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2033-2013

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Date deposited: 16 Sep 2016 09:34
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 05:53

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Contributors

Author: R.J. Nicholls ORCID iD
Author: C.W. Hutton ORCID iD
Author: A.N. Lazar ORCID iD
Author: A. Allan
Author: W.N. Adger
Author: H. Adams
Author: J. Wolf
Author: M. Rahman
Author: M. Salehin

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