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Resource management for sustainable development: a community- and GIS-based approach

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Abstract

A combined approach utilizing GIS, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) has been developed for resource mapping in a rural poverty-prone area of Bangladesh. This model integrated GIS and participatory tools to include the voices of the stakeholders in assessing available resources and needs. The resource mapping framework, developed using PRA with local community people and community gatekeepers, was aimed at sustainable resource management, and ArcView GIS was used to digitize the resource maps as a Decision Support System (DSS). A detailed assessment and analysis of the quality, quantity and physical status of resources was first mapped in the field and then digitized using GIS. FGD-based interaction with community people at each union in a subdistrict of Bangladesh revealed stakeholders’ opinions on land and water body management. The present paper demonstrates the power of this model as a policy-making tool for sustainable development and poverty eradication. It also recognized the need for collaboration between interdisciplinary policy planners and researchers to develop and implement a policy on agricultural resource management for poverty-prone areas.

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Notes

  1. 70 Tk = 1 US$.

Abbreviations

PRA:

Participatory Rural Appraisal

FGD:

Focus Group discussion

DoF:

Directorate of Fisheries

TOR:

Terms of Reference

CBRMP:

Community Based Resource Management Project

DAE:

Department of Agricultural and Extension

LGED:

Local Government and Engineering Division

MIS:

Management Information System

EADS:

Environment, Agriculture, and Development Services

CS:

Cadastral Survey

DLRS:

Directorate of Land Records and Surveys

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the IFAD-assisted Community Based Research Management Project Launched by LGED and coordinated by EADS, Dhaka. The gratitude also extended to DLRS, DAE, DoF, village participants, local NGO workers, facilitator, local elites, and local governments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

    Tofael Ahamed, Tomohiro Takigawa & Masayuki Koike

  2. Environment, Agriculture, and Development Services, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    M. I. N. Khan & J. M. Q. Zaman

  3. Graduate School of Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

    Farhat Tasnim

Authors
  1. Tofael Ahamed
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  2. M. I. N. Khan
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  3. Tomohiro Takigawa
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  4. Masayuki Koike
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  5. Farhat Tasnim
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  6. J. M. Q. Zaman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tofael Ahamed.

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Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.

Glossary

Glossary

Aus :

Aus paddy and jute are cultivated during the Kharif-I crop calendar, which is in the wet season lasting from April to July

Aman :

Aman paddy is cultivated during the Kharif-II crop calendar in the wet season lasting from July to November

Beel :

A seasonally flooded permanent or semi-permanent water body located within a river floodplain and connected to the river by a natural system of drainage channels, equivalent to a lake, and a very important fish habitat

Boro :

Rice crop cultivated during the Rabi crop calendar in the dry season lasting from December to April

Hoar :

Large natural inter-riverine depression typically extending over 1000 ha or more may be inundated to depths of three meters or more during the monsoon season

Khal or natural canal :

A natural water channel located within a river floodplain, which enables floodwaters to flow over the floodplain and to drain back into river channels, important for fish migration and breeding

Khas :

Government-owned land available for leasing to the public

Kanda :

Raised land near beel, hoar and river used for grazing livestock, threshing, and/or other purposes

Mouza :

Smallest revenue unit, which may consist of one or more village

Gopat :

A narrow pathway which connect two crop field

Upazila :

Administrative unit of local government, equivalent to a subdistrict, consisting typically of about five to ten unions

Union :

Smallest administrative unit, consisting of one or more mouzas

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Ahamed, T., Khan, M.I.N., Takigawa, T. et al. Resource management for sustainable development: a community- and GIS-based approach. Environ Dev Sustain 11, 933–954 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-008-9159-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-008-9159-y

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