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Jewel Das

Institution: Leib­niz Cen­ter for Trop­ical Mar­ine Eco­logy (ZMT), Bre­men
Office: ZMT, room 2212
Phone: +49 421 238000
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Other webpage(s): Jewel's ZMT web page

 

Jewel Das

PhD Project

Coastal mega-projects and marginal rural people in Bangladesh: Assessing Blue justice and livelihood aspects

The “Blue Economy” agenda frames the ocean as one of the newer economic frontiers, particularly attracting multi-national investment landscapes for the economic development of the coastal countries. The blue economy is conceptualized as the integration of coastal and marine resource-based economic development with the principles of social inclusion, environmental sustainability and innovative, dynamic business models, all critical to the sustenance of human livelihoods. The Government of Bangladesh adopted the concept of the “Blue Economy” as a policy objective of the Seventh Five-Year Plan and considered it a major opportunity for the economic development of the country’s coastal regions. The maritime areas of the Bay of Bengal (BOB) in the national jurisdiction of Bangladesh are a ‘hotspot’ in the geo-political arena of south-east Asia; the resources therein and the aspirations of blue growth offer both opportunities and challenges for the sustainable management of the coastal-marine resources and environment. The country’s coasts along the northern BOB have long been the centers of human habitation (about 40 million people), civilization and their livelihood.

With growing demand for blue economy products, equitable resource allocations are crucial to ensure equitable and environmentally sustainable arrangements that are needed to deal with ongoing changes in ocean uses, resource abundance and distribution. A participatory form of genuine adaptive governance which focuses on environmental and resource entitlements of the poor fishers, with a rights-based distribution of natural resources and a reduced socio-economic inequality, is central to addressing complex coastal resource management issues. This requires an in-depth understanding of both natural and anthropogenic stressors affecting the livelihoods of small-scale fishers within their socio-economic and political contexts and is fundamental to coastal resource planning and management. My research will therefore examine the interests of the rural coastal poor groups with special focus on small-scale fishers. It asks how do blue economy mega-projects in Bangladesh impact poor people’s access to natural resources and livelihoods and what are the future options? This study targets two different case regions (south-east region represented by Moheskhali Island and south-west region represented by Rampal) with different resources and livelihood systems of Bangladesh. A combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches will be used to assess social and economic inequalities and the ‘emic’ of vulnerable communities. This research is participatory and people-centered; it will work with people ensuring a collaborative and iterative process of shared learning and knowledge exchange.

This study will generate a well-anchored analysis of conflicting uses of coastal resources in light of proposed large-scale blue economy projects in Bangladesh. This research will analyze existing coastal/marine governance systems and suggest specific governance choices, ways for democratic deliberation, and options for decision-support tools for stakeholders at multiple levels of coastal resource management.

Thesis Committee

PD Dr. Marion Glaser Leib­niz Cen­ter for Trop­ical Mar­ine Eco­logy (ZMT), Bre­men
Dr. Martin C. Lukas University of Bremen
Dr. Samiya Ahmed Selim Leib­niz Cen­ter for Trop­ical Mar­ine Eco­logy (ZMT), Bre­men