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Implications of agricultural land use change to ecosystem services in the Ganges delta

Implications of agricultural land use change to ecosystem services in the Ganges delta
Implications of agricultural land use change to ecosystem services in the Ganges delta
Ecosystems provide the basis for human civilization and natural capital for green economy and sustainable development. Ecosystem services may range from crops, fish, freshwater to those that are harder to see such as erosion regulation, carbon sequestration, and pest control. Land use changes have been identified as the main sources of coastal and marine pollution in Bangladesh. This paper explores the temporal variation of agricultural land use change and its implications with ecosystem services in the Ganges delta. With time agricultural lands have been decreased and wetlands have been increased at a very high rate mainly due to the growing popularity of saltwater shrimp farming. In a span of 28 years, the agricultural lands have been reduced by approximately 50%, while the wetlands have been increased by over 500%. A large portion (nearly 40%) of the study area is covered by the Sundarbans which remained almost constant which can be attributed to the strict regulatory intervention to preserve the Sundarbans. The settlement & others land use type has also been increased to nearly 5%. There is a gradual uptrend of shrimp and fish production in the study area. The findings suggest that there are significant linkages between agricultural land use change and ecosystem services in the Ganges delta in Bangladesh. The continuous decline of agricultural land (due to salinization) and an increase of wetland have been attributed to the conversion of agricultural land into shrimp farming in the study area. Such land use change requires significant capital, therefore, only investors and wealthier land owners can get the higher profit from the land conversion while the poor people is left with the environmental consequences that affect their long-term lives and livelihood. An environmental management plan is proposed for sustainable land use in the Ganges delta in Bangladesh
agriculture, land use, ecosystem, ganges, delta
0301-4797
443-452
Islam, G.M.T.
f1fd8076-5e97-421f-b1a2-8ddb5545a9a9
Islam, A.K.M.S.
5a80e247-fbd2-4746-9c5d-86bc10e59b8c
Shopan, A.A.
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Rahman, M.M.
6a82a261-4982-40f3-88d8-a96b2a770cd2
Lazar, Attila N.
d7f835e7-1e3d-4742-b366-af19cf5fc881
Mukhopadhyay, A.
316f81e0-bec3-42c7-befe-abf42e738213
Islam, G.M.T.
f1fd8076-5e97-421f-b1a2-8ddb5545a9a9
Islam, A.K.M.S.
5a80e247-fbd2-4746-9c5d-86bc10e59b8c
Shopan, A.A.
31fbbbd0-860b-4e4c-853a-d24c6741c5aa
Rahman, M.M.
6a82a261-4982-40f3-88d8-a96b2a770cd2
Lazar, Attila N.
d7f835e7-1e3d-4742-b366-af19cf5fc881
Mukhopadhyay, A.
316f81e0-bec3-42c7-befe-abf42e738213

Islam, G.M.T., Islam, A.K.M.S., Shopan, A.A., Rahman, M.M., Lazar, Attila N. and Mukhopadhyay, A. (2014) Implications of agricultural land use change to ecosystem services in the Ganges delta. Journal of Environmental Management, 161, 443-452. (doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.11.018).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Ecosystems provide the basis for human civilization and natural capital for green economy and sustainable development. Ecosystem services may range from crops, fish, freshwater to those that are harder to see such as erosion regulation, carbon sequestration, and pest control. Land use changes have been identified as the main sources of coastal and marine pollution in Bangladesh. This paper explores the temporal variation of agricultural land use change and its implications with ecosystem services in the Ganges delta. With time agricultural lands have been decreased and wetlands have been increased at a very high rate mainly due to the growing popularity of saltwater shrimp farming. In a span of 28 years, the agricultural lands have been reduced by approximately 50%, while the wetlands have been increased by over 500%. A large portion (nearly 40%) of the study area is covered by the Sundarbans which remained almost constant which can be attributed to the strict regulatory intervention to preserve the Sundarbans. The settlement & others land use type has also been increased to nearly 5%. There is a gradual uptrend of shrimp and fish production in the study area. The findings suggest that there are significant linkages between agricultural land use change and ecosystem services in the Ganges delta in Bangladesh. The continuous decline of agricultural land (due to salinization) and an increase of wetland have been attributed to the conversion of agricultural land into shrimp farming in the study area. Such land use change requires significant capital, therefore, only investors and wealthier land owners can get the higher profit from the land conversion while the poor people is left with the environmental consequences that affect their long-term lives and livelihood. An environmental management plan is proposed for sustainable land use in the Ganges delta in Bangladesh

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Accepted/In Press date: 18 November 2014
Published date: 13 December 2014
Keywords: agriculture, land use, ecosystem, ganges, delta
Organisations: Civil Maritime & Env. Eng & Sci Unit

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 381717
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/381717
ISSN: 0301-4797
PURE UUID: 7d0e42cc-2148-4ba2-b872-026f9b01a9ff
ORCID for Attila N. Lazar: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2033-2013

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Date deposited: 19 Oct 2015 08:17
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:45

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Contributors

Author: G.M.T. Islam
Author: A.K.M.S. Islam
Author: A.A. Shopan
Author: M.M. Rahman
Author: Attila N. Lazar ORCID iD
Author: A. Mukhopadhyay

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