Recent trends in ecosystem services in Coastal Bangladesh

Abstract

Coastal Bangladesh has experienced social and economic progress over the last 30 years. Rising average income, literacy levels and health outcomes have occurred, often by developing local ecosystem services such as agriculture and fisheries. At the same time, other ecosystem services such as water availability and quality and land stability have deteriorated. Environment-income analysis suggests that the point at which economic wealth feeds into effective environmental protection has not yet been reached for water resources. The study area is characterised by widespread non-stationary dynamics and slowly changing variables, declining resilience, and a growing probability of major system changes in the near future. This suggests that national policies need to address such potential changes to enable sustainable pathways for delta development and management.