The ecosystem of the South-West coastal area of Bangladesh is resourceful and unique. Regrettably, this distinctive area is vulnerable to numerous climatic factors, for instance, sea water intrusion, temperature variation, unpredictable behavior of rainfall, and frequent occurrence of cyclones and drought. Undesirably, the effects of those climatic factors have been enhancing on account of human behavior, one of which is the frequent change of land-use pattern in this area. The land-use pattern of the coastal Bangladesh has been changed continuously over the last 60 years in order to increase the agricultural production for improvement of livelihood. The unrealistic improvement projects (coastal embankment project, increased unscientific shrimp cultivation, and so on) brought the unforeseen disaster in the area. As a result, the salinity level of the area has been increased considerably, resulting in decreased production of different kind of crops and vegetables. Unstable economy and the emergence of calamities, leading to damage to ecology and ecosystem, made livelihood insecure in the area.

This book highlights the diverse nature of the scientific domains associated with landscape architecture. It emphasises the need to acknowledge that the contribution of each research domain is equally important, offering complementary development opportunities while enabling landscapes to fulfill their multiple functions and ecosystem services in an integrated way, underlining the relevance of theory, methods, and practice to promote sustainable landscape planning and design.

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2014 in the subject Geography / Earth Science - Physical Geography, Geomorphology, Environmental Studies, grade: A+, Khulna University (Economics Discipline), course: BSS (Honrs) in Economics, language: English, abstract: Like all other parts of the world, land use patterns in Bangladesh especially of south-west part have been observed to change rapidly since late of 20th century. Lands of south-west region were generally used for rice farming since the middle of 20th century but polderization project of Bangladesh during 1970s caused major changes in land use pattern either through transformation or modification of land cover and cropping. Literature shows that single cropped rice areas of past decades have already been cultivated twice or thrice per year while some such lands have already been converted for shrimp farming. This paper examines the determinants of land use patterns and their corresponding changes (i.e. rice and shrimp farming) over time at pirozpur village of Kaligonj upazila under Satkhira district of Khulna division in Bangladesh. The study is being done on the basis of cross-sectional data collected from the decision maker or head of each sample household. Here data have been collected through questionnaire as well as focus group discussion from a sample size of 80 households; each forty from shrimp and rice farming. Here logistic regression considering rice farming land as the reference dummy as well as cost-benefit analysis is being done to know the extents of land use determinants. However, the study area being close to river Hariavanga, shrimp farming has become predominant in the study area and young people are more interested in shrimp farming than in any other land use alternatives. Analysis shows that cost free irrigation for shrimp farming as well as higher profit, lower cost and available inputs are the major factors of increased shrimp farming in the study area. The study also finds that if rice can be cultivated thrice per year then shrimp is less attractive while there lacks training facilities for the rice farmers which may cause dissatisfaction to land owners causing conversion of rice land into shrimp. Available land holders primarily decide their land use pattern based on short run cost benefit calculation rather than long run impact of land use in their livelihood as well as ecology. The study finds age, natural calamities, family type and availability of credit to be negatively related with shrimp farming while land engagement process, accessibility, economically active family number, proximity to service sector, neighborhood land use patterns, land ownership and land rent to be positively related.

Though land is an important component of eco-system, there remains very little landscape on earth in their natural state especially because of rapid urbanization and industrialization since the start of civilization. As a result, changes of land use- forest into farmland, farmland into periphery- have attracted global concern. Though lands of south-west region were generally used for rice farming since the middle of 20th century, polderization project of Bangladesh during 1970s caused major changes in land use pattern.The study area being close to river Hariavanga, shrimp farming has been observed to be predominant while youngs are more interested in shrimp farming than in any other land use alternatives. Analysis shows that cost free irrigation for shrimp farming as well as higher profit, lower cost and available inputs are the major factors of increased shrimp farming in the study area. The study also finds that if rice can be cultivated thrice per year then shrimp is less attractive while rare training facilities for the rice farmers are found to cause dissatisfaction and conversion of rice land into shrimp.Whatever be the determinants, mass awareness should be emphasized much.

Master's Thesis from the year 2009 in the subject Geography / Earth Science - Demographics, Urban Management, Planning, , language: English, abstract: This study aims to measure the people’s perception regarding climate change vulnerabilities in south-west coastal Bangladesh. The broader objective of the study is to assess the climate induced vulnerabilities and to view their adaptive capacity with the climate change vulnerabilities. Both purposive and simple random samplings were used to conduct this study. Data were collected from 120 respondents through interview schedule technique. In the interview schedule technique, question was asked and filled by the interviewers in face-to-face situation. Climate induced changes such as extreme cyclone, devastating tidal surges, severe floods, tremendous river erosion, excessive rainfall, overwhelming salinity intrusion etc, are occurring more frequently in greater intensities and in an unpredictable manner around the world including Bangladesh. To perceive the vulnerability, the southwestern coastal Bangladesh is selected as a research area where high vulnerability to natural climate is due to its low lying delta. The research mainly focuses on the perception level of the people on climate change vulnerability and its impact on their livelihood patterns. The research revealed that various climatic events adversely affect the people of the study area. Among all natural disasters like cyclone affects severely the livelihood pattern of the study area. Peoples of the affected area experienced that disproportionate rate of salinity intrusion into the land mass increased less fertility that causes failure of crop production. As a consequence, most of the low income families are now facing food insecurity and a huge amount of potable water crisis that makes the people more vulnerable along with a threat of different water borne diseases. Finally consideration of the mentioned vulnerable factors, a simplified adaptation strategy based on the respondent view is recommended. The findings of this study explicate that climate change resulted the vulnerability of the people in the coastal areas of Bangladesh.

This book presents selected papers from the 7th International Conference on Water and Flood Management,with a special focus on Water Security under Climate Change, held in Dhaka, Bangladesh in March 2019. The biennial conference is organized by Institute of Water and Flood Management of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. The recent decades have experienced more frequent natural calamities and it is believed that climate change is an important driving factor for such hazards. Each part of the hydrological cycle is affected by global climate change. Moreover, increasing population and economic activities are posing a bigger threat to water sources. To ensure sustainable livelihoods, safeguard ecosystem services, and enhance socio-economic development, water security needs to be investigated widely in a global and regional context.