Towards Building Coastal Resilience in South and South-East Asia

With an aim to draw knowledge from other countries in South and Southeast Asia and to share lessons and practical solutions for tackling complex coastal issues, Mangroves For the Future (MFF) in collaboration with IUCN's Ecosystems for Life: A Bangladesh-India Initiative organized a regional symposium on Coastal Community Resilience in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It will provide a platform for multi-stakeholder and multi-country dialogue on a broad spectrum of issues related to coastal community resilience and transboundary water resources management.

Honorable Minister, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Mr Anwar Hossain Manju, MP inaugurated the symposium as Chief Guest while Mr. Md. Shafiqur Rahman Patwari, Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests and Chair of National Coordinating Body of MFF Bangladesh chaired the inaugural session. Md. Yunus Ali, Chief Conservator of Forests, Bangladesh Forest Department and Member Secretary of National Coordinating Body of MFF Bangladesh and Mr. Ishtiaq Uddin Ahmad, Country Representative, IUCN Bangladesh Country Office were also present at the event.

“Understanding how people living in coastal communities cope with climate-related hazards, as well as other disruptions, can help us design more proactive and comprehensive policies to support coastal communities’ resilience in the future,” said Mr Anwar Hossain Manju, MP.

MFF, with financial support from Danida, is piloting coastal community resilience projects in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Viet Nam with a focus on promoting ecosystem-based approaches. MFF also showcases climate change adaptation and mitigation benefits that can be achieved with healthy mangrove forests and other types of coastal vegetation. MFF also works to improve governance and management of coastal resources by promoting models of co-management, payments for ecosystem services (PES) and similar resource-sharing mechanisms that will benefit traditional coastal communities in the three countries.

A diverse participation ranging from governments to civil society and member of the research community from different countries attended the symposium. The recommendations and other key outcomes of the symposium will be shared with key stakeholders, including governments, to promote nature-based policy and practice in coastal areas.

“One of the key objectives of MFF is to disseminate scientific and local knowledge on coastal resources management, that will support national to regional policies. Such policies will be aimed at building resilience among the vulnerable coastal communities of Asia”, said Dr. Don Macintosh, Senior Adviser, MFF.  “Today’s Symposium is an appropriate platform for MFF countries to learn from each other,” he concluded.