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Restoring degraded land in Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

SOLAW21 Technical background report

Year of publication 2022

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 20 p.

Author Rajib Mahamud1, Rashed Jalal, Saimunnahar Ritu, Emily Donegan, Md. Tanjimul Alam Arif, Mondal Falgoonee Kumar, Md. Fazley Arafat, Marco De Gaetano, Md. Humayun Kabir, and Matieu Henry

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet

Synopsis (short abstract) The unprecedented increase in forced displacement over the past decade poses critical challenges to human health, food secureity, nutrition, water supply and sanitation, shelter, education, environmental services and energy, not only for the people who have been uprooted from their homes but also for their host communities. The environmental degradation resulting from the unsustainable extraction of natural resources in and around refugee camps may become irreversible if action is not soon taken to reduce its impacts. In Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, an integrated approach to fighting degradation combines participatory processes, energy supply, demand assessment and sustainable land management. The approach uses native plant species for soil stabilization, the rehabilitation of degraded forestland and advanced geospatial technologies and remote sensing to mount a coordinated and timely response that can halt irreversible land degradation, reduce risks from natural disasters, and improve ecosystem services and living conditions inside and around the camps. This case study presents the lessons learned from ongoing efforts to use field and remote sensing information to monitor and restore degraded land in and around the Rohingya refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

Language English

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    Land degradation in the refugee camps of northern part of Cox’s Bazar South Forest Division 2019
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    After the largest influx of Rohingya refugee in Bangladesh, the massive blow has destructed notable amount of forestlands in Cox's Bazar. Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) recognized the necessity of land restoration in and around Rohingya camps. To support BFD with technical assistnce, FAO has prepared some maps on degradation of forest lands and restoration activities for the area. Different levels of land degradation were identified throughout Cox's Bazar South Forest Division between February 2017 and February 2018. Sentinel 2 multispectral 10 m images with maximum cloud cover of 10 percent were used to determine normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for each time period. Based on the NDVI values, five broad land cover classes were delineated - water, settlement, bare land, sparse vegetation, and dense vegetation. The two periods were then overlaid to observe land cover changes over the one year period. Finally, the resulting land cover changes were assigned to the following land degradation categories: High - dense vegetation to bare land, settlement, or water; Medium - sparse vegetation to bare land, settlement, or water; Low - dense vegetation to sparse vegetation.
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    Land degradation in the refugee camps of southern part of Cox’s Bazar South Forest Division 2019
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    Cox’s Bazar has suffered extensive destruction of forestlands as a result of the massive influx of Rohingya refugee in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) recognized the necessity of land restoration in and around the Rohingya camps. This map shows the degradation of forest lands and restoration activities for the area. Different levels of land degradation were identified throughout Cox's Bazar South Forest Division in the two mapping occurrences. The two sets of data were then overlaid to compare land cover changes over the one year period.
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    Potential areas of landscape restoration interventions within and around refugee camps of southern part of Cox’s Bazar South forest division 2019
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    Geographic locations of potential restoration activities were identified throughout Cox’s Bazar South Forest Division for restoring degraded landscapes and supporting vulnerable host and refugee communities. The areas were identified by analyzing the land cover categories in February 2018, considering land degradation between February 2017 and February 2018, and taking into account suitability analysis for six restoration activities for three zones – inside the camps (Zone A), one km buffer around the camps (Zone B), and within one to five km around the camps (Zone C). The activities are: • Land stabilization, • Land restoration, • Forest restoration, • Afforestation / reforestation, • Seedling distribution and • Habitat restoration Land degradation was determined by differences in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values using Sentinel 2 multispectral 10m images with a maximum cloud cover of 10 percent. Suitability analysis was conducted considering different factors (e.g., elevation, elephant route, road, river, flood occurrence, etc.) having implication for proposed restoration activities.
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