Land from the sea: The mangrove afforestation program of Bangladesh

The coastal areas of Bangladesh have a high cyclone frequency. The protection from cyclone damage afforded by the natural mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, led the Forest Department in 1966 to initiate a mangrove afforestation programme. These initial plantings proved highly successful in protecting and stabilizing coastal areas, and led to a large-scale mangrove afforestation initiative. To date, approximately 120 000 ha of mangroves have been planted. Nursery and planting techniques have been developed for the major species, while additional species are still being investigated. As a result of the extensive monospecific plantations, however, outbreaks of two major insect pest species have been observed. In addition, a number of other problems were also encountered but in terms of coastal protection and stabilization, wood production and land reclamation, large-scale mangrove afforestation appears to be both technically possible and socio-economically beneficial.