The article argues that proper attention to five major emerging trends will be crucial for the success of any development framework beyond 2015: (a) poverty and inequality, (b) economic crisis and job loss, (c) trade, finance and aid (d) rights, violation and violence and (e) climate change. The article goes on to use these trends to review the latest proposals on the post-2015, and provides a set of indicators based on new five fundamental principles of rights, equality, justice, sustainability and partnership for development through historic responsibility.
The political definition of 'natural geography' with regard to trans-boundary waters may pose challenges to their environmental importance. Availability and distribution of trans-boundary waters may thus give rise to dissatisfaction, disbelief and dispute among its stakeholders. The Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna (GBM) basins, shared between Bangladesh and India, as a whole, receive more water than necessary over the year, but the spatial and temporal distribution of water availability are very uneven. Focused on the trans-boundary water regime of the GBM basins, this paper discusses core issues related to environmental security by analyzing various environmental impacts due to water diversion and its significance at the national and regional levels between Bangladesh and India. Both countries have built dams and barrages on these rivers to satisfy their water needs without considering the ecological settings. Consequently, the dwindling supply of water in dry season has become one of the key contested issues between the two countries. Negotiations, however, for water sharing in this region are mostly based on anecdotal rather than scientific evidences. Both Bangladesh and India classify river flow data as secret and use the lack of mutually acceptable data as a tactic to promote their own national interests. Reviewing the environmental challenges, the paper opines for an ecosystem orientation of international norms and regimes flows for the GBM basins.
This chapter attempts to (a) identify the drivers of biodiversity degradation of the Sundarbans of Bangladesh, (b) present an alternative understanding on the measures for sustainable utilisation and conservation of resources and (c) suggest actions and policy alternatives to reverse the process of degradation and to move towards transformative harmonious human-nature interactions. While it is documented that the size of the Sundarbans of Bangladesh reduced and several floral and faunal species of the forest have been facing threat of extinction, the causes of continuous and unabated loss of the resources of this forest region have not been rigorously demonstrated. By challenging the mainstream approaches, the chapter theoretically and empirically exhibits that the exclusion of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in the conservation and management process has contributed to the losses of biological diversity and suggests that the IPLCs have been practising several unique production methods based upon their traditional knowledge which can significantly contribute to the sustainable management of resources through symbiotic human-nature relationships. Following multiple evidence base (MEB) approaches, it is found that human sociality-based conservation practice positively impacts on resilient indicators and helps achieve Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
This study attempts to explore the interdependent relationship between humans and nature, and to comprehend the community understanding of the “One Health” approach in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Sundarbans in Bangladesh. It explores challenges in socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS) management, response of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs), and corresponding outcomes, and also examines factors affecting the ecosystem’s balance. It particularly draws on the insights of traditional resource users (TRUs) in a part of the Sundarbans who are wood collectors (Bawali), fishermen (Jele), honey and wax collectors (Mouali), and crab collectors. The study adopts a multiple evidence base (MEB) approach in order to bring in the participatory insights of IPLCs, coupled with scientific knowledge and interdisciplinary heterodox perspectives. Based on the community conceptualisation of the One Health approach, this study demonstrates that the appropriation of nature (conservation, restoration, sustainable use, access, and benefit sharing) instead of expropriation (anthropogenic pressures) can serve as a yardstick to ensure a virtuous cycle in the ecosystem and a harmonious relationship between humans and nature. The study presents a modified One Health framework for the post-2020 period that calls for ensuring rights-oriented universal social entitlements, provision of livelihood security, and promotion of human-nature cooperation underwritten by customary sustainable practices and traditional knowledge in SEPLS management.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.