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Social, hydro-ecological and climatic change in the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh

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Abstract

This study investigates the historical development of the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh through the lens of human-delta co-evolutionary system. The change process of social and hydro-ecological systems is described based on the drivers–pressure–state–impact–response (DPSIR) framework. The multiple physical and socio-economic drivers such as climatic change, upstream development, geologic process, land use change-affected river flow, salinity, water logging and cyclones are creating adverse impacts on ecology (e.g. mangrove forest) and society (e.g. population migration). Existing management practices such as the Coastal Embankment project (CEP) also created adverse impacts on social–ecological system. In addition to the geology of this region that plays the major role in the delta development process, human interventions such as large coastal development projects have intervened the land formation processes. The trends and impacts of these changes along the coast unfold the necessity of integrated management approach such as Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM). Comprehensive understanding of social and hydro-ecological system in southwest coastal region through DPSIR approach presented in this study can provide effective solution for implementing ongoing management strategies.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Leverhulme Trust for launching this special issue. Special thanks to Mr. Mehedi Hasan, Mr. Md. Rezaul Karim and Ms. Farjana Akter for assistance in data collection and field insights. The authors are grateful to Prof. Steven Goodbred Jr. and unnamed referees for their constructive comments on the draft paper. AK Gain is supported by Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, which is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Science Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna, 9208, Bangladesh

    Kushal Roy

  2. Section 5.4, Hydrology, GFZ German Research Centre for Geoscience, Telegrafenberg, 14473, Potsdam, Germany

    Animesh K. Gain

  3. International Migration Institute (IMI), University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Bishawjit Mallick

  4. Department of Political Science, Vandebilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Bishawjit Mallick

  5. Institute of Regional Science (IfR), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kaiser Strasse 12, Building #10:50, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Bishawjit Mallick & Joachim Vogt

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  1. Kushal Roy
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  2. Animesh K. Gain
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Correspondence to Kushal Roy.

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Roy, K., Gain, A.K., Mallick, B. et al. Social, hydro-ecological and climatic change in the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh. Reg Environ Change 17, 1895–1906 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-017-1158-9

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