Course No: GS 4253

Course Title: Ecology and Environment

Assignment on:Wetland Restoration in Bangladesh

Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at or near the
surface of the soil all year or for varying periods of time during the year, including during
the growing season.

Importance of Wetlands:
1.Wetlands can play a role in reducing the frequency and intensity of floods by acting as
natural buffers, soaking up and storing a significant amount of floodwater

2.Wetland can typically store about three-acre feet - three acres covered in water three
feet deep - or one million gallons of water

3.Coastal wetlands serve as storm surge protectors when hurricanes or tropical storms
come ashore

4.Forested Wetlands features of the coastal landscape can provide a significant and
potentially sustainable buffer from wind wave action.

5.Forested Wetlands features of the coastal landscape can provide a significant and
potentially sustainable buffer from storm surge generated by tropical storms and
hurricanes.

6.Wetlands provide critical habitat, breeding grounds and sources of food for shellfish, fish,
birds, amphibians and other organisms.

7.Wetlands play a crucial role in many state and tribal fishing economies.

8.Wetlands are also preserved to provide feeding and resting grounds for migratory birds
and to create habitat corridors for wildlife populations.

9.These services generate state and tribal commercial, recreational and aesthetic benefits
as well.

10.Wetlands also control erosion, limit flooding, moderate groundwater levels and base
flow, assimilate nutrients, protect drinking water sources and buffer coastal areas from
storm surges.
Ecological Restoration is The process of intentionally altering a site to establish a
defined, indigenous, historic ecosystem.
Due to the severe impact humans have already inflicted on the landscape and the
expensive cost of real estate, restoring a landscape may be more feasible than other
options.

Restoration practices include:

1.Rehabilitation
2.Reclamation
3.Revegetation
4.Re-creation
5.Re-establishment
6.Creation
7.Enhancement
8.Reallocation
9.Mitigation

Rehabilitation is simply improving degraded habitat, maybe not restoring it

Reclamation may be stabilisation of the land and/or minimizing further degradation
Re-creation is an attempt to return to historic condition, accuracy
Replacement may recreate a site, which may not be historically accurate
Re-establishment, the rebuilding a former wetland

Wetlands Restoration and Protection:

Wetland restoration is the manipulation of a former or degraded wetland's physical,

chemical, or biological characteristics to return its natural functions.

Wetlands protection is defined as removing a threat or preventing the decline of

wetland conditions .In addition to restoring compromised wetlands, voluntary protection of
naturally occurring wetlands is a valuable part of voluntary wetland restoration and
protection.

Objects of restoration and protection:

1.Clearly and consistently define restoration and protection goals throughout state or tribal
territory;
2.Protect wetlands from degradation or destruction;
3.Restore wetland acres, condition and function; and
4.Track progress over time, document results and modify practices as appropriate.

Restoration process: Restoration Process may be explained by 4 steps:

 1.Treatment of invasive species
2.Placement of clean sand and sediment
3.Seeding and planting
4.Maintenance and monitoring

1.Treatment of Invasive Species:

Even before excavation work occurs, the steps to remove invasive species begin.
This is often done with herbicide treatment, controlled burning, or even mowing and
trimming. Herbicide applications are the most common and should be performed in
a manner that has the least environmental impact to native species.When treating
areas, minimizing any particle drift and off-target damage to local fauna and flora is
essential. By utilizing tactics such as modifying spray droplet size and selecting
nozzle tips appropriate for specific environmental factors such as wind speed, wind

direction, temperature, and humidity, you drastically reduce damage to non-

invasive plants. Also, consider posting public notices indicating areas of recent
herbicide application, including information that clearly delineates the treatment
area, the date of treatment, appropriate precautions to be taken, the date when re-
entry is safe, and a phone number for additional information.
2.Placement of Clean Sand and sediment:

After the excavation and removal of impacted sediments has been completed, we
begin rebuilding the wetland using clean materials. Rebuilding efforts can include
the installation of clean sand, engineered caps, and organic black dirt. This
material can come from nearby borrow sites, or is brought in from distant
locations.

Placement of clean material can be facilitated in several ways. It can be brought in

by dump truck, by barge, by amphibious equipment, or it can even be pumped in
hydraulically. Each project must be evaluated to determine

which method is the most economical, and the least damaging to undisturbed
areas.

Placement of clean material can be facilitated in several ways. It can be brought in

by dump truck, by barge, by amphibious equipment, or it can even be pumped in
hydraulically. Each project must be evaluated to determine which method is the
most economical, and the least damaging to undisturbed areas.

3.Seeding and Planting:

 After the new material has been placed and graded, it is imperative to seed the
area and plant native vegetation and trees quickly. This will ensure a quicker
recovery, and it will help prevent erosion

Much like a surgical procedure, wetland restoration requires time for recovery.
Grasses and shrubbery may take a year or two, while the reintroduction of trees,
such as willows, may

4.Maintenance and Monitoring:

Once restoration is complete, there is typically a period of time where the

contractor, engineer, or owner is required to monitor the wetland. Periodic
maintenance is needed to replace plants that don’t grow or invasive species that
move in while the native plants are taking root.

Maintenance includes, but is not limited to, selective herbicide application, mowing,
reseeding, replanting, and watering. Controlling any leftover or regrown invasive
species can be accomplished through physical removal, mowing, and spot
 herbicide application. Maintaining the wetland areas is a continuous process
throughout the growing period until the vegetation takes hold.

Importance of wetland Restoration:

1.Wetland restoration offers more long term ecological benefits for the land

2.Wetlands have economical value too so restoration of wetlands may add some
economical value to overall economy of a country.

3.Wetland restoration eventually minimizes the risk of flood so restoration of wetlands help
to minimize flood and its effects.

4.Properties with wetlands do not run the risk of any surge and at times they help contain it
protecting neighboring properties.

5.Restoration also improves the water quality.

6.Restored wetlands can even serve as an alternative irrigation source if the wetland is
large enough.

8.Wetlands restoration a cost effective way to help reestablish ecological balance for a
piece of property while providing more economic opportunities through the protection and
cultivation of commercially viable species.

Wetlands of Bangladesh:

Wetlands in the past were thought to be “wastelands” in Bangladesh and government’s

goal was to drain out and “recover” them for agriculture production (albeit for one crop a
year during the dry season). Even in areas that have not been converted to agriculture,
wetland ecosystems have been threatened by other pressures:

1.Flood embankments and water control structures have blocked many fish migration
routes.

2.Irrigation has expanded winter rice cultivation but reduced the surface water that aquatic
life needs to survive in the six-month dry season.

3.The government leases out fishing rights in public water bodies, but short- term leases
have encouraged maximum exploitation without giving incentives to protect resources for
the next generation.

4.Industrial development causes severe local pollution that kills breeding fish populations
during the dry season, residual pesticides and agro-chemicals also adversely affect
wetland habitat.
5.Deforestation and poor land management cause high rates of siltation, often filling in dry
season wetlands that serve as fish holding habitat during a crucial time of the year.
More and more people fish destructively by dewatering or using fine mesh nets.

Institutions and organisations That deals with Restoration of wetlands

in Bangladesh:

1. TheResourceManagementOrganizations(RMOs) established to protect and sustain

wetland resources represent all stakeholders.

2. Separateorganisationsofpoorpeople–FederationsofResourceUser Groups (FRUGs) –

were formed to help diversify and enhance their livelihoods.

3.Thesecommunitybasedorganizations(CBOs)havebeenformallylinkedwith local
government (both Union Parishads – elected local councils, and Upazila or sub-district
administration) through Upazila Fisheries Committees.

4.SeparatepartnerNGOsworkedtosupporteachofthesetypesofbodyand their activities in a

collaborative and coordinated way, giving equal weight to conservation and development.

Types of Benefits get from Restoration of wetlands in Bangladesh:

Fisheries: Because of restoration of wetlands fisheries get benefits by getting
opportunities of fishing.
Non-Fish product: Apart from fishing wetlands food source for villagers

vegetation: It gives more opportunities for vegetation

Boro rice in dry season: By restoration, Boro rice can be harvested in season dry
season.

Flood control: wetlands reduce the frequency and effects of flood.

Water quality: It helps to refine the water.

Biodiversity:It Improves the Biodiversity of the villages eventually Bangladesh.

Reference:

United States Environment Protection Agency ( EPA.gov)

Brennan ( jfbrennan.com)

Convention on Biological Diversity (cbd.int)

 ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (IUT)
ORGANIZATION OF ISLAMIC COOPERATION (OIC)

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING (CEE)

Course No: GS 4253

Course Title: Ecology and Environment
Assignment on:Wetland Restoration in Bangladesh

Student Name : Md. Wahid Hasan

Student ID : 180051138
Section : 1
Date of Submission : 17.11.19