Impact of Climate Change on Indigenous Communities in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries due to global climate change. It faces several challenges such as submerge of low lands, the salinity of water in coastal areas, soil erosion, flash floods, tropical cyclone, and irregular rainfalls are among others. Both rural and urban communities are the sufferers but the story of rural communities is least covered in media. The indigenous community is one of the rural communities that suffer the most in this case. In today’s discussion, we will have an idea of how they suffer, how their life becomes miserable. We also try to explore their adaptation strategy to cope with these challenges.

The term indigenous community, ethnic minority, and tribal groups are enunciated to indicate socially and culturally distinct people from the dominant group or society. In Bangladesh, there are 45 indigenous communities consisting of 1% of the total population. Most indigenous people live in the rural areas of Mymensingh, Sylhet, Rajshahi, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts who are highly dependent on nature for their livelihood sources. Their socio-cultural settings are inevitably intertwined with nature they live in. They used to engage in agro-forest farming systems for generations. This process is inextricably related to seasonal patterns. But, this nexus between nature and community is being adverse due to climate change implications.

The impact of climate change on indigenous communities is multifold such as livelihood problems emanating from drying up of streams and wells, groundwater depletion, depletion of wildlife, infertility of crops, the mortality of seedlings; disaster vulnerability resulting from irregular and heavy rainfall, storm surge, soil erosion, landslides; climate-induced diseases such as respiratory dysfunction, arsenic, skin diseases and social competition regarding scarce natural livelihood resources. In addition, land acquisition in name of development and tourism imperils the situation because the concept of eco-tourism has not developed yet in this country.

There is also diversification among indigenous communities in Bangladesh in terms of origin, culture, ethnicity, farming practice, and residual area. Some of the communities live in hilly tracts of Sylhet, Chittagong where others live in plain land of Rajshahi, Mymansing areas. Thus, the impact patterns are also different. For example, a study by Akter et. al. (2013) found that the agricultural production of the Garo, Khasia, Tripura, and Manipuri communities were affected by climate change while communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts area face scarcity of drinking water, landslides, etc (Mamtaz, 2018). On the other hand, the unplanned tourism industry and development projects lead to the acquisition of lands which deteriorates the situation. Though the construction of roads and buildings seems economic growth literally it costs natural, cultural, and social originality as these projects merely aimed at a monetary profit rather than broader sustainability. When I visited a remote village of Bandarban, a district of Chittagong Hill Tract area, I had a chance to discuss with indigenous people. I young indigenous person expressed his opinion that,

“Once there weren’t tourist spots. We used to have a simple but harmonious life. Now, it’s a tourist spot, most of the time the place remains crowded and it produces wastages. Gradually, the area is losing its panoramic exposure.”

His face was full of frustration while talking about the issue. The actual mechanism of “Eco-tourism” is not maintained over there when I visited some other places also. In short, climate change, human-induced offenses leads to long-term implications for indigenous people such as livelihood natural resource scarcity, disaster vulnerability, and social conflict. The recent protest against building a 5-star hotel and tourist spot in Chimbuk hill demonstrates the long-term grievance of indigenous people (“Stop building hotel”, 2020).

The floating garden is a local adaptation strategy. Image source: FAO

On the other hand, historically indigenous people tend to explore solutions in line with natural change. A study found that indigenous communities in Bangladesh invented several adaptation mechanisms to cope up with climate change by their own knowledge. Planting multiple crops, digging water reservoir, terracing, altering patterns of house and staircase are some of these adaptation strategies. For example, Khasia and Tripura communities utilize fallen litters, leaves, and slash wastes to save soil from erosion. They also constructed terraces to cultivate lemon, banana, and pineapple trees in hill slopes (Rahman, 2016). But their efforts are fragmented and not enough to the gigantic implication of global climate change.

Considering the perspectives, the climate change impact on indigenous people should be addressed more vibrantly. Along with the acknowledgment, proper steps should be taken to envisage their voices and indigenous knowledge. The policy initiative should be aimed at inclusion, capacity, and trust-building. The climate change impact on indigenous people is not only a climatic issue but also a social, cultural aspect from a broader point of view.

References:

Akhter, S., Raihan, F., Sohel, M. S. I., Syed, M. A., Das, S. K., & Alamgir, M. (2013). Coping with climate change by using indigenous knowledge of ethnic communities from in and around Lawachara National Park of Bangladesh. Journal of forest and environmental science, 29(3), 181-193.

Climate change | United Nations for Indigenous Peoples. (2015, June 5). Retrieved from https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/climate-change.html

Mamtaz, S., Murshed, M. M., Asaduzzaman, M., & Islam, M. N. (2018). Risks and Adaptation Strategies for Climate Change: A Community-Based Assessment Study in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. In Bangladesh I: Climate Change Impacts, Mitigation and Adaptation in Developing Countries (pp. 119-143). Springer, Cham.

Rahman, M., & Alam, K. (2016). Forest dependent indigenous communities’ perception and adaptation to climate change through local knowledge in the protected area—A Bangladesh case study. Climate, 4(1), 12.

Sharif Mustajib. (2017, November 24). The road to sustainable energy production in Bangladesh. Retrieved from https://internationalaffairsbd.com/sustainable-energy-production/

Stop building hotel on Chimbuk hill: WP. (2020, November). Retrieved from https://www.newagebd.net/article/121504/stop-building-hotel-on-chimbuk-hill-wp