|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
  |
 |
  |
Bangladesh
>> Regional Overview >> Bangladesh Overview Program Data Sheet
388-006
USAID MISSION: Bangladesh
PROGRAM TITLE: Environment (Pillar: Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade)
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE AND NUMBER: Improved Management of Open Water and Tropical Forest Resources, 388-006
STATUS: Continuing
PLANNED FY 2002 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $2,900,000 DA
UNOBLIGATED PRIOR YEAR FUNDS AND FUNDING SOURCE: $86,095 DA
PROPOSED FY 2003 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $2,700,000 DA; $500,000 ESF
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 2001 ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2006Summary: USAID’s program to improve the management of open water and tropical forest resources, funded by DA resources, includes—
- technical assistance to establish community-based resource management systems;
- technical assistance to restore selected aquatic and tropical forest habitats and ecosystems;
- assistance to implement selected policies at the local level and to create awareness among the stakeholders, local government and the national level policy-makers;
- training for public awareness campaigns on the management of natural resources; and
- training to build local capacity that will improve natural resources management by government and concerned non-government organizations (NGOs).
Direct beneficiaries include target communities of poor fisher folk whose lives depend upon open water resources; indirect beneficiaries are found in surrounding communities where 80% of families are dependent on these resources on a seasonal basis.
Inputs, Outputs, and Activities: FY 2002 Program: USAID will use DA resources for the environment sector to fund ongoing activities. USAID will strengthen and expand 36 existing community resource management organizations and form additional groups. Another 10 community fish sanctuaries and three Government of Bangladesh (GOB)-approved permanent sanctuaries will be established bringing the total to sixty-one. Actions such as re-establishing aquatic linkages, permanent water bodies and riparian corridors to restore and maintain aquatic ecosystem functions will be expanded with local currency resources, as available. Awareness and communications activities to publicize best practices and to enhance transparency in natural resource-related decision-making at all levels will be stepped up. A management plan covering an entire watershed will be completed. USAID will also participate in a multi donor-assisted fisheries sector review that will establish the strategy for future development programs in fisheries and aquatic biodiversity conservation and management.
In forestry, USAID will help to establish the Arannyak Foundation (The Bangladesh Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation) under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act, which will make funds available through a debt relief mechanism to implement tropical forest conservation activities, mostly by NGOs. Assistance will be provided to help the Foundation develop a long-term strategy, to aid in preliminary site selection and a biodiversity inventory, to develop a curriculum for NGO capacity-building training and to develop a communication strategy.
FY 2003 Program: USAID intends to continue to build the capacity and sustainability of local resource management groups, to strengthen links with local government, and to further policy dialogue at the national level. USAID plans to continue with awareness raising activities as well as physical interventions to restore aquatic ecosystems. Opportunities for synergies with other local level-projects will be explored and future directions will be examined. USAID will look at ways to more closely integrate its work in open water and forestry to enhance synergies and sustainability, including initiating a new, integrated resource management activity. USAID intends to provide technical assistance emphasizing capacity building in order to launch the Arannyak Foundation and help it initiate programming.
SUBMISSION OF THIS PROGRAM DATA SHEET CONSTITUTES FORMAL RENOTIFICATION OF USAID’S INTENT TO OBLIGATE FY 2002 RESOURCES FOR THE ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED ABOVE. Performance and Results: A total of 16 local Resource Management Organizations (RMOs) have been formed to "self-regulate" presently unsustainable fishing practices. Watershed restoration activities in four streams at one of the three project sites have begun and will continue over the next two years. Over 484 awareness-raising meetings and rallies have been held, attended by more than 62,000 concerned community members since the inception of the effort. The RMOs continue to promote and implement restrictions on fishing in an effort to reduce the catch of both brood and juvenile fish and thus help replenish dwindling fish stocks.
In FY 2001 efforts to assist fisher folk make up for lost income due to better-controlled fishing resulted in the introduction of supplemental income-generating activities and the formation of 54 new community credit groups, bringing the total to 159 groups made up of 3,180 members. Through partner NGOs, a total of 550 individuals are now receiving credit and technological support. Ongoing efforts in floodplain management include, participatory community resource planning, sanctuary development tied to physical interventions, watershed and riverbanks restoration and protection, and policy guideline development.
The signing of the Debt Exchange and the Tropical Forest Conservation Agreements on September 12, 2000, set the stage for the tropical forest component of USAID’s program. Subsequently legal, institutional, fiscal, and administrative options for implementing the agreements have been developed for the Arannyak Foundation. This work will prepare the Foundation to implement a small grants program for conservation and management of tropical forest biodiversity.
By FY 2006, USAID expects that its pioneering work in local community resource management will educate and empower local communities and provide them with knowledge and skills to manage environmental resources sustainably while serving as a model throughout the country. Biodiversity will be maintained and possibly increased. USAID support will establish Bangladesh’s first debt exchange agreement and help direct critically needed resources to the conservation of badly depleted forest resources.
Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: USAID’s open water resource activities are implemented through Winrock International (prime) with subcontracts to the Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies, the Center for Natural Resources Studies, Caritas, and a separate agreement with Chemonics International (prime) for forestry research.
US Financing in Thousands of Dollars
388-006 Improved management of open water and tropical forest resources CSD DA Through September 30, 2000 Obligations 2,066 1,000 Expenditures 329 421 Unliquidated 1,737 579 Fiscal Year 2001 Obligations 0 1,714 Expenditures 1,356 230 Through September 30, 2001 Obligations 2,066 2,714 Expenditures 1,685 651 Unliquidated 381 2,063 Prior Year Unobligated Funds Obligations 0 86 Planned Fiscal Year 2002 NOA Obligations 0 4,400 Total Planned Fiscal Year 2002 Obligations 0 4,486 Proposed Fiscal Year 2003 NOA Obligations 0 2,700 Future Obligations 0 7,500 Est. Total Cost 2,066 17,400
 |
|||
Last Updated on: May 29, 2002 |
