Mangrove forest policy and management: Prevailing policy issues, actors’ public claims and informal interests in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh

Ocean and Coastal Management 186 (2020) 105090

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Research Article

Mangrove forest policy and management: Prevailing policy issues, actors’ public claims and informal interests in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh Md Faisal Abedin Khan a, b, *, Md Saifur Rahman b, Lukas Giessen c, d a

Chair Group of Forest and Nature Conservation Policy, Georg-August University, Goettingen, Germany Ministry of Public Administration, Bangladesh c European Forest Institute, Governance Programme, Bonn Office, Germany d IPB, Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia b

A R T I C L E I N F O

A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The Sundarbans of Bangladesh Policy issues Formal and informal interests Policy actors’ claims and arguments

Mangrove forests have enormous ecological and socio-economic importance for a number of different stake­ holders and policy actors. Hence, a wide range of often conflicting material interests can be expected surrounding mangrove forest policy and management. These conflicts result in different issues of mangrove policy and management, on which different actors articulate their positions through publicly stated claims. It is unclear, in how far these publicly stated positions and claims resemble the formal interest of the actors only, or if they also reveal parts of their informal interests. In the Sundarbans mangrove forests, a number of issues have arisen, which are of contemporary policy concern. The aim of this study is to identify the most recent issues relating to the Sundarbans in Bangladesh and analyse the actors’ claims/arguments on the identified issues which were publicly stated as an expression of formal or informal interest. In order to analyse these public claims, content analysis of selected Bangladeshi national newspapers, experts’ deliberations and national policy documents was undertaken as an empirical method to ascertain relevant issues and actors’ claims. A theory-based actor typology was applied to distinguish the relevant actors, and the concept of formal and informal interests was employed. The results indicate that the most salient policy issues around mangrove forest policy and management are: establishing Rampal power plant; protection of the Sundarbans forest area; environmental pollution; biodiversity conservation; reputation as a World Natural Heritage Site; relevance for climate change adaptation and miti­ gation; and local people’s livelihoods. Government and Administration are found to be the most active actor in all the observed issues. Surprisingly, only very few administrations partake in public deliberations and the Prime Minister seems to dominate the public debate. This might be explained by the fact that the Rampal power plant project is perceived as the most contentious issue among all actors, with strong discursive support from the Prime Minister. In light of this issue structure, non-governmental actors as well as most bureaucracies are rarely found to actively engage in public debate on mangrove issues while informal interests were being displayed by Prime Minister and non-ruling political parties to a limited extent. Future empirical study to be conducted on the historical trajectory of Rampal power plant addressing the Prime Minister’s arguments and environmental concerns of civil society actors. Also it would be worth to map the high degree of bureaucratic rivalry which can be assumed form the conflicting interest in mangrove forests between the responsible ministry—the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and other ministries in their struggle for power.

1. Introduction and empirical background Comprising diverse ecosystems, with a range of flora, fauna and their habitats, the Sundarbans is characterized as a unique mangrove forest (Islam, 2003), and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Ramsar designated wetland of international importance. In terms of

proportion, the total area of the Sundarbans mangrove forest (SMF) is 601,700 ha, which is quite significant: it covers 38.12 per cent of the entire forest land and 4.13 per cent of the land mass of the whole of Bangladesh (Bangladesh Forest Department, 2019). Through multiple uses (Hoq, 2007, 2014; Iftekhar, 2006; Roy, 2016), such as timber extraction, fisheries, honey production and others, the resources of the

* Corresponding author. Chair Group of Forest and Nature Conservation Policy, Georg-August University, Busgenweg-3, 37077, G€ ottingen, Germany. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (M.F.A. Khan). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2019.105090 Received 8 July 2019; Received in revised form 8 November 2019; Accepted 26 December 2019 Available online 27 January 2020 0964-5691/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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SMF support the livelihoods (Roy, 2017) of 3.5 million people in coastal communities (Kabir and Hossain, 2008). Thus, the Sundarbans is an area of national as well as international importance from policy and man­ agement perspectives. Over time, the Sundarbans has been adversely affected by both natural and man-made factors. The natural factors include the courses of rivers changing, reduced freshwater supply to the mangroves, silt deposition in riverbeds, sea level rise, salinity intrusion, etc. In future, salinity intrusion and pollution may significantly reduce the fish di­ versity and production in this region (International Union for Conser­ vation of Nature-Bangladesh, 2001), since mangroves are critical areas for sustainable coastal fisheries production (Primavera, 1998; Manson et al., 2005; cf. Dharmawan et al., 2016). The anthropogenic factors include land use change due to shrimp farming and agriculture (Hoq, 2014) in areas adjoining the forest, and increased pollution of water from industrial and urban waste, altering the hydrological and morphological settings and the quality of the fish habitats in the Sun­ darban delta. Moreover, the SMF is being continuously degraded: its total tree cover has been reduced by 50 per cent over the past 20 years (Kabir and Hossain, 2008), as global mangroves are being degraded at an alarming rate (Alongi, 2002; Feka, 2015; Polidoro et al., 2010). High demand for the diverse resources among dependents on the SMF results in severe degradation. The management of the Sundarbans is entirely entrusted to the Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), which also performs development projects through its Annual Development Programme (ADP) with a clear budget and objectives every year. The BFD allocates fishing permit li­ cences to control fishery resources on a regular basis (Hoq, 2003): these are heavily under-priced in comparison to fishing patterns and the amount harvested, and sustainability and conservation aspects are clearly overlooked (Roy and Alam, 2012). Diverse resources demand imperative multi-bureaucratic involvement in a coordinated manner for the SMF, which is significantly absent in the Sundarbans. Conflicts exist among different bureaucratic agencies (here in after mentioned as ‘administration’) due to their overlapping interests in SMF (Roy, 2014). Some BFD development projects have incurred expertise from different fields to recommend a complete management plan for the future. Nonetheless, different policies prepared for the Sundarbans have rec­ ommended integrated management of all resources, which has not yet been put into practice. It is clear that the Sundarbans, like mangrove forests in different parts of the world, are utilized in multiple ways (Datta et al., 2010; �ndez et al., 2008; Jusoff and Taha, 2008), resulting in po­ García-Ferna tential conflicts of interest among diverse users of the environmental resources (Adger et al., 2003; Krott, 2005). In the case of the Sundar­ bans, these users include local communities, politicians, non-governmental organizations and associations, as well as different administrations at multiple levels (Roy, 2014), which is very much consistent with the mangrove ecosystem (Feka, 2015). Due to the combination of maritime and forest ecosystem properties, mangrove forest management and policy can be assumed to be extremely multi­ faceted and contentious, with many issues arising around their man­ agement. The ways in which local and national actors voice their claims relating to issues of mangrove management and policy, and the degree to which they do so, however, is currently unknown. Hence, this article aims: (i) to reveal the current and contentious issues relating to Sun­ darbans policy and management; (ii) to identify actors’ publicly stated claims and arguments on these issues; and (iii) to analyse if the actors’ full interests can be identified based on their public claims, or if they do not fully display both their formal and informal interests.

contexts which are relevant to the particular issue might influence public policy decisions (Rahman and Giessen, 2014). Myint (2003) identified issues as being socially and politically crafted, with the in­ terests, which are economically driven. Issues that influence the policy process are those disclosed to the public by active actors that implement an agenda and are taken up in political manifestos to motivate a large number of people. Depending on the scope of an issue and the urgency, actors work to achieve pre-set goals, whether the issue has arisen from within or beyond the country context (Wibowo and Giessen, 2015). Actors are the key players, ranging from different government or non-government organizations to individual persons (Krott, 2005). They have active roles in relation to specific issues, and perform a plan of action based on self-interest, often covertly. An actor is an entity that has a distinct interest and possibility of influencing a policy (Schusser et al., 2015). Based on this definition, actors are identified in this analysis as those who have delivered statements focusing on the Sundarbans, with a distinct interest in it and a possibility of influencing. Lack of ability to influence a policy has no impact on identifying an actor, but does in­ fluence their interests and thus how they behave (Schusser et al., 2015, 2016). Therefore, actors’ choices are always concentrated on either is­ sues or interests (Myint, 2003). In the current context, actors are classified according to Krott (2005) as mangrove forest users/dependents (i.e. local inhabitants and workers), associations and political parties, and government and administration. Practically, the government and administrations are responsible for ensuring public welfare (Krott, 2005), while actors hardly kept their interests unfold. Government exists as a powerful public actor at the centre of the political organization (Krott, 2005), where political decisions in general come from. Bureaucracy is a body of non-elective government officials or administrative policy making group characterized by specialization of functions, adherence to fixed rules, hierarchy of authority and impartiality (Islam, 2016). Ministries are the key components of public bureaucracy, and based on their characteris­ tics, they perform and provide services to achieve their goals in light of a pre-set vision. Domestic bureaucracy comprises ministries and departments—i.e. public organizations which are responsible for implementing government agendas in relation to public issues. The head of the government has strong and dominant executive power over do­ mestic bureaucracy to pursue the government’s interest by default. Fights for financial allocations and authoritative powers to attain ob­ jectives or mandates are very common within bureaucratic institutions; thus searching for actors with similar interests happens to assist argu­ ment and the establishment of a self-predetermined agenda (Peters, 2010). Sometimes, public bodies form a close relationship with destructive businesses rather than promoting common welfare (Hum­ phreys, 2012; Rahman and Giessen, 2014). Development partners (DPs), often known as donors, have a significant influence on the formulation and implementation of policy (Biermann et al., 2009; Willetts, 2001) through technical and financial support activities (Aurenhammer, 2012) in the form of projects or programmes depending on the beneficiary country’s practice. Based on issues and interests, both domestic and international actors may play an important role in policy formulation. Associations and political parties are subgroups of actor types, ac­ cording to Krott (2005), where associations representing organizations attempt to implement their interests by lobbying politicians. Political parties are also kind of voluntary organizations, working independently to promote votes in competition with other parties, with the goal of representing themselves when elected to political office (Krott, 2005). In this analysis, different associations and political parties who have the potential to act as actors in the case of the Sundarbans are identified. The Mangrove Forest User group comprises people involved primarily with economic activities (Schusser et al., 2016)—i.e. honey collectors, fish­ ermen and timber collectors—in the Sundarbans. Hence, the involved actors represent a range of interests in their plan of action to achieve a policy goal. Significant relations are sketched for the different types of actors by

1.1. Conceptual Framework Issues are defined as a specific agenda which is discussed in a considered way, particularly when different actors come together with a common interest (Krott, 2005). The social, economic and environmental 2

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several scholars. According to Krott (2005), forest administration takes the dominant role based on its forest policy mandate. Achieving the forest policy, forestry programs are enacted by politicians in the gov­ ernment with the help of administration and associations. Forest users including various companies are regulatory in nature in their action orientation. According to Schusser et al. (2015), actors exist on different geographical levels and build social relationship through exchanging €cher information. However, actors’ position made them interlinked as Bo €ller (2012) rightly pointed out that actors’ interests determined as and To driving factor in a way how actors behave. The different types of actors (Table 1) those possibly have the distinct interests with positions either in public or beyond it for the SMF are actively considered and inter­ linked in this study. Interests, according to Krott (2005:8), “are based on action orien­ tation, adhered to by individuals or groups, and they designate the benefits the individual or group can receive from a certain object, such as a forest”. These are favours which are often kept secret (Krott, 2005) but that influence issues to be adopted and considered for imple­ mentation by politicians. Common interests are the major driving force for all relevant actors to come forward under the same umbrella. The interests of politicians and parliamentary representatives become the engine of governance as a whole in a democratic system, which demands analysis of the dynamic interplay of interests in relation to issues and actors (Myint, 2003). Also, interests lead the key players within the process to carry out actions in different respective strategic modes in order to win. Thus influential actors that pursue the ultimate objective of the programme have a strong position among others, and they want to uphold their self-interest as much as possible. Self-interests could be informal interests—to increase budgets, staff and fields of responsibility in the case of public bureaucracy, for example (Rahman and Giessen, 2017). Due to the presence of apparent diversity of different actors, informal interests are often not disclosed, though they can be predicted.

Thus interests and informal interests are largely synonymous (Rahman and Giessen, 2017), having an important role in influencing policies and contributing to changing positions on distinct issues over time (Schusser et al., 2015). Thus managing conflicting interests in the growing polit­ icized environmental policy process is widely agreed to be crucial to attain justified and functional policy solutions (e.g. Fischer, 2000; Juntti et al., 2009; Papadopoulos and Warin, 2007). There are formal interests of actors, who clearly set out their responsibility according to their mandates towards policy goals (Krott, 1990); while implementing formal interests, actors always try to accomplish informal interests simultaneously. This is how informal rather than formal interests are at the forefront of driving controversial issues underlying political, social and economic issues ones within the actors’ purview. Positions of actors are simply deliberate public statements or proclamations before bene­ ficiaries, shown as policy preferences on issues rather than disclosing actors’ interests (Rahman and Giessen, 2014). Here, public media pre­ sent a dynamic role in displaying actors’ positions on important issues. Media comprise a powerful entity, as they can express, change and control public opinions on any issue with or without interest. The dissemination of information by the mass media is regarded as an un­ disputed function in modern societies (Holzer, 1971). Media in this context play a predominantly passive role in the political process through exchanging information among a variety of actors (Eilders, 2000). In this study, media are used to express claims and opinions publicly (Kleinschmit, 2012; Kleinschmit and Krott, 2008; Park, 2009). Generally, actors convey their public views and agenda initially by mass media (Wibowo and Giessen, 2015): it can lead to failure or confusion among the public if actors delivered these views only in private spheres (Krott, 2005). Moreover, the role of the media is not restricted to transmitting available information, but also involves interpreting, dis­ torting, undervaluing or over-emphasizing in the process of opinion formation, linking with potential interests. On the other hand, observing the information and discourse among relevant actors in the media helps the general population to form opinions on specific issues with multi-dimensional interpretations. Understanding theoretical background on the above four variables collocate an interlinked framework among them (Fig. 1). Actors are the key players to the political discourse, those exists at different levels and use social, economic and environmental contexts of the issues in order to accomplish their interests. Based on specific issues, interests could be

Table 1 Typology of Policy Actors and their exemplary application to the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest. Actors Typology

Example

Broad

Detailed

Government and Administration

Head of the Government Domestic Bureaucracies/ Administrations Development Partners

Associations and Political Parties

Non-ruling Political Parties National/International NGOs and Organizations Academics and Researchers Civil Society/ Associations

Mangrove Forest Users

–

Prime Minister Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), Department of Environment (DoE) Bilateral: e.g., USAID, GIZ, FAO etc. Multilateral: e.g., World Bank, Asian Development Bank etc. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bikolpo Dhara, 20-party Alliance etc Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), UNESCO, Winrock International, Greenpeace etc. Universities, Scientists, Research Centers, Environmental Experts etc. National Committee for Saving the Sundarbans; National Committee to protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports, Bangladesh Environmental Network (BEN), Rights activists etc. Honey Collectors; Fishermen; Timber Collectors; Community Peoples etc.

Fig. 1. Conceptual Framework: Links among variables—Issues, Actors, In­ terests and Media (Adapted from Krott, 2005; Rahman and Giessen, 2017; Schusser et al., 2015, 2016).

3

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either formal—documented or informal—predicted or could be both, those influence actors to state claims or arguments to fulfil itself. Issuespecific public opinions including actors’ statements are reflected in media, where multi-dimensional interpretations are also made and consequently influenced issues to be interplayed by actors again.

forests, we hypothesize that none of the actors’ informal interests are displayed in the public discourse on the multiple policy issues—i.e. in the public debate, claims and argumentations of the actors. In order to scrutinize this, the study covers three research objectives: first of all, to identify the current issues which are publicly debated in respect of the multiple uses and management of the Sundarbans; secondly, to analyse actors’ public claims and arguments concerning those issues; and thirdly, to assess if only formal interests are reported or if actors’ informal interests are also partially revealed in the public deliberations.

1.2. Linking concepts into key arguments and hypotheses The multiple uses of mangrove forests cause conflicts amongst the interests of multiple actors (Adger et al., 2003; Krott, 2005). These conflicts of interest remain latent until an actor involved mobilizes material or non-material resources against conflicting uses, making the conflict of interests publicly visible and advancing it to a policy issue (Yusran et al., 2017). Media multiplies the actors’ public voice with their preferences and make claims and arguments about an issue (Kleinsch­ mit, 2012). These actors may range from concerned individuals to non-governmental organizations to government bureaucracies. Interest theory suggests that political actors do not fully display their interests and hide certain elements (Fatem et al., 2018; Hubo and Krott, 2013; Krott, 2005; Rahman and Giessen, 2017). In particular, public actors, such as ministries and agencies, are reported to display dual interests, consisting of their formal interests, as publicly stated in their public mandates, and their informal interests regarding responsibility for is­ sues, resulting budgets and staff resources (Giessen et al., 2014). The formal interests of such actors are seen to be publicly stated and claimed in public debates, such as media reporting or position papers, strategies and the like. The informal interests around a policy issue are assumed, not being displayed in public deliberations at all (Rahman and Giessen, 2017), though this is yet to be empirically proved. Using the case of the multiple uses, interests and conflicts in the management of mangrove

2. Methodology 2.1. Study area: Sundarbans Mangrove Forest The study focuses on the Sundarbans (Fig. 2), which encompasses the largest contiguous single tract of mangrove ecosystem in the world (Hussain and Karim, 1994; Siddiqi, 2001), containing the Royal Bengal tiger. Covering a vast delta which comprises a large area of mangrove forest with rich biodiversity (Das and Mandal, 2016; Hussain, 2013), the Sundarbans is an important area of discussion for conservation and for investment, as it is very close to the country’s second largest seaport, Mongla. Mangrove forests provide various economic, social and envi­ ronmental benefits. In a developing country like Bangladesh, mangroves are an important source of livelihood through fishing, honey and wax collection, ecotourism, wood and wood products. A recent initiative of the government of Bangladesh to build the Rampal coal-based power plant is also a considerable focus for this study.

Fig. 2. Location of the Sundarbans mangrove forest (source: Forest Department, 2015).

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Table 2 Issues, Actors and their Positions. (þ): positions detected in support of the issue; ( ) positions detected in opposition to the issue. Actor Type

Government and Administration

Issues

Head of the Government

Domestic Bureaucracies/ Administrations

Development Partners

Non-ruling Political Parties

National/ International NGOs and Organizations

Academics and Researchers

Civil Society/ Associations

Honey Collectors/ Fishermen/ Timber Collectors

Establishing Rampal Power Plant

Claim A: (þ) Prime Minister (PM) argues strongly for the power generation project

–

–

Claim A: (¡) APMDD urges a halt as it will create climate crisis

–

Claim A: (þ) PM has taken various initiatives to protect the Sundarbans through coastal belt programme, afforestation, etc.

Claim A: (þ) Home Minister stated establishment of more RAB camps

–

–

Environmental Pollution

Claim A: (þ) PM emphasizes stop to unplanned urbanization and industrialization in order to reduce environmental pollution

–

–

–

Claim A: (¡) Support of research activities and shows massive area polluted due to spill away Claim B: (¡) Coalcarrying vessels might be disastrous to flora and fauna

Claim A: (¡) The role of government is worthless Claim B: (¡) Pollution affects the habitat of fauna

–

Biodiversity Conservation

Claim A: (þ) PM repeatedly claimed different initiatives for the Sundarbans’ biodiversity

–

–

Claim A: (¡) Industrialization in the ECA of the Sundarbans is against own policy of biodiversity conservation Claim B: (¡) Longterm impact on floral and faunal growth activities

Claim A: (¡) Government initiatives of permitting several industrial units threatened the tigers’ habitat, the Sundarbans

–

Reputation as Natural World Heritage Site

Claim A: (þ) Important for country’s existence, and initiatives have been undertaken to expand the mangrove forest Claim A: (±) Creation of Climate Change Trust Fund and coastal green belt by afforestation Claim B: (þ) Adaptation and mitigation programmes have been undertaken Claim A: (þ) Adaptation programmes

Claim A:(þ) BFD implemented a number of projects to conserve biodiversity Claim B:(þ) All possible interventions were undertaken Claim C:(þ) Tiger Action Plan (2009–2017) prepared and implemented –

Claim A: (þ) Winrock International supports research activities Claim B: (þ) UNESCO recommends that government takes necessary steps Claim A: (¡) Industrialization around the Sundarbans will pollute the Pashur River Claim B: (¡) Air pollution from coal burning at Rampal power plant would cause premature death and low birth weights Claim A: (¡) Hot water discharged from power plant will damage aquatic life

Claim A: (¡) NC to protect OGMPP does not support the plant due to it being coalbased and near the Sundarbans Claim A: (þ) NCSS criticizes government activities

–

Protection of Sundarbans Forest Area

Claim A: (¡) Harmful to the country Claim B: (¡) Anti-people and unprofitable project –

–

–

Claim A: (¡) Decreasing Sundari trees leads to loss of Sundarbans’ attributes

Claim A: (¡) No one has the right to gamble with the SMF as a World Heritage Site

–

–

–

–

Claim A: (¡) SMF will lose the Heritage Site designation if the natural resources are not protected; suggested the need to take steps –

–

Claim A: (¡) The Sundarbans offer natural protection from the adverse effects of climate change

–

–

–

–

–

–

Claim A: (¡) Government is reluctant for

–

Relevance for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation

Local People’s Livelihoods

Associations and Political Parties

Mangrove Forest Users

–

(continued on next page)

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Table 2 (continued ) Actor Type

Government and Administration

Issues

Head of the Government

Domestic Bureaucracies/ Administrations

Associations and Political Parties Development Partners

Non-ruling Political Parties

targeted to protect people’s livelihoods

National/ International NGOs and Organizations

Mangrove Forest Users Academics and Researchers

Civil Society/ Associations

Honey Collectors/ Fishermen/ Timber Collectors

local people’s livelihoods Claim B: (¡) Livelihoods of local people are being jeopardized due to unplanned development

PM: Prime Minister; BFD: Bangladesh Forest Department; APMDD: Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development; SMF: Sundarbans Mangrove Forest; NC: National Committee; ECA: Ecologically Critical Area; OGMPP: Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports; NCSS: National Committee for Saving the Sundarbans; RAB: Rapid Action Battalion.

2.2. Empirical methods

the articles were simultaneously classified according to the issues or topics. Around 250 articles were initially collected from these three sources for further analysis. The authors found some duplication of message among some of the articles in different newspapers. On the other hand, some articles were found to be related to poetry or to the love of nature, for example, which were not related to the focus of this study. Finally, in May 2018, 110 articles were selected, which seems a very useful number for analysing the discourse of different actors addressing most discussed issues concerning the Sundarbans. The arti­ cles were categorized and grouped according to the identification of issues (subject category), actors’ position and public discourse on the Sundarbans for qualitative content analysis of the articles (e.g. Neuman, 2013; Rahman and Giessen, 2014). This type of data sources and methods were used previously in media discourse analysis by several authors (e.g., Logmani et al., 2016; Sadath and Krott, 2013; Sadath et al., 2012, 2013; Wibowo and Giessen, 2012). Additionally, to collect experts’ views and opinions on Sundarbans issues, the authors selected three different sources. First of all, the au­ thors searched relevant government departments’ periodical journals as an important source of expert deliberations. The Ministry of Environ­ ment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is the supervising ministry of the Department of Environment (DoE) and Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), and is considered the most relevant department in relation to this study. National Tree Plantation Movement and Tree Fair and Bangladesh Environment Journal are the two non-scientific journals published annually by the BFD and DoE respectively (Rahman and Giessen, 2014). These two professional journals publish the writing of various of the country’s experts, offering their views and opinions on actors’ position in the fields of forestry and the environment and covering contemporary issues. After screening publications of these two journals from 2013 to 2017, the contents were analysed for this study. Secondly, some important strategic and informational publications, plans and national policy documents of Bangladesh were followed in this study (Rahman and Giessen, 2014). In this regard, Bangladesh Country Investment Plan for Environment, Forestry and Climate Change (2016–2021), Seventh Five Year Plan (FY2016–FY2020), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), Vision-2021 of Bangladesh Govern­ ment, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Action Plan of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Forest Investment Plan (2017), etc. were scrutinized and qualitative content analysis carried out. Finally, participants’ observation (Emerson et al., 2001) by the first and second authors, long-standing civil servants in the bureaucracy of Bangladesh for more than a decade at different national ministries, was used as an important source to add value, especially in understanding

To identify the current discussed issues and the claims of active ac­ tors involved in Sundarbans policy and management, broadly two different sources are used, taking into account a similar study carried out by Rahman and Giessen (2014). Firstly, print media acts as an important source of different actors’ deliberations in terms of the media discourse, and the content is analysed (Sadath and Krott, 2013). While forest policy decisions come from the government, public consent is badly needed, and government machineries depend on print media as a good indicator to show or endorse public concerns (Kleinschmit, 2012). Secondly, we select actors’ opinions, discussions and debates in expert circles (Rah­ man and Giessen, 2014) to argue public claims on aspects of the Sun­ darbans. The dynamics of public discourses are widely elaborated in expert deliberations on future impacts, as well as the perceptions of generalists, who influence the government in managing crises. At the first source of empirical methods in this qualitative content analysis, two national newspapers (The Daily Prothom Alo and The Daily Star) and one local newspaper (The Daily Purbanchal) were selected for data collection. The selection of two national newspapers considers the highest circulation in the country in the native language and in English (similar to Rahman and Giessen, 2014). These two newspapers are popular for covering contemporary environmental issues, and received national environmental awards. On the other hand, the most circulated newspaper is The Daily Purbanchal in the Khulna region—the very much adjacent locality of the Sundarbans. Data collected from these three newspapers were published between 2013 and 2017 and in the first four months of 2018 in order to cover contemporary issues. Firstly, authors collected data for the year 2017 by physically visiting the archives of the newspapers’ offices and searching every day’s edition manually. After that, data from the online news portal of those newspapers were collected for the same year. Authors then verified and cross-checked all the data from the two sources, and found high similarity between real circulation and the website. The authors then established a dependable method for collecting data for the remaining four years (2013–2016) and the early part of 2018 through online-based sources (https://www. prothomalo.com/, https://www.thedailystar.net/, https://purbanchal. com/). In order to conduct study in efficient ways, important empir­ ical materials could be collected easily using online archives that re­ duces researchers’ time and costs (He and Han, 2017) and this idea avoids the necessary research permission following complex bureau­ cratic process even if the same data are available in online archives (Rahayu et al., 2019). The articles retrieved from all sources were then read carefully in order to identify the issues that were discussed most; 6

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the contexts and subsequent critical analysis. Using their professional network, experiences and inter-personal relationships, information and periodicals were collected from the archives of the stakeholder organi­ zations and databases of MoEFCC, BFD, Department of Environment and Bangladesh Planning Commission, which would have been quite impossible without the prior attachment to the civil service of the first two authors. From media and expert deliberations, public claims and arguments were identified, clustered and interpreted based on qualita­ tive content analysis (Rahman and Giessen, 2014).

emitted though a 275-m chimney and would remain within a radius of 1.6 km (DS, 2016a, 2017c), whereas other sources revealed the tech­ nology was super-critical rather than ultra-super-critical (Power Divi­ sion, 2018b). She also claimed that the density of gases would be within the tolerable limit recommended by the World Health Organization and the coal would be the best quality, imported from Australia, Indonesia and South Africa (DS, 2016a). The coal would be brought using covered barges from the deep sea and, as project consultant, German group Fichtneris had been appointed by the government to maintain the highest standards.

3. Results

3.2. Protection of the Sundarbans forest area

The issues identified in relation to the Sundarbans mangrove forest management and policy in Bangladesh are broadly presented in two sections. Firstly, issues for the Sundarbans are examined under the purview of their relevance and evolution in the policy context, political discourses, policy documentation and implementation according to bureaucratic procedures are presented in appendix A. Relevant actors’ claims and arguments based on each issue, which clarifies the positions of the active players, are sketched in Table 2 and presented here as below.

Actors’ public claims and arguments The Prime Minister claimed that her government had taken various initiatives to protect the Sundarbans through the coastal green belt afforestation programme (DS, 2017c) and creating an artificial mangrove forest (DS, 2017d). Her government would not undertake any development activities which would harm the Sundarbans (DPA, 2017a). The Home Minister stated that the government would establish four more Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) camps to protect and secure the Sundarbans from any illegal activities (DP, 2018b). Research from Winrock International showed that the Sundarbans saved US$ 485.29 million during Cyclone Sidr, a natural calamity that happened on 15 November 2007 (DPA, 2018a). A mangrove plantation on the southwest coastal belt of Bangladesh, the prohibition of fish farming in a 10 km surrounding zone and collection of firewood from the Sundarbans are recommended for protection of the Sundarbans and to avert natural disaster (DPA, 2018a). On the other hand, the Member Secretary of the National Committee for Saving the Sundarbans (NCSS) claimed that the Sundarbans had already been destroyed to some extent due to various activities under­ taken by the government. Further industrialization, including the Rampal power plant project, would hinder protection of the Sundarbans forever, and greedy companies from home and abroad have come without considering the principle of Sundarbans protection (DPA, 2013). UNESCO suggested the proposal of steps necessary to save the Sundarbans from probable loss due to development initiatives (DPA, 2018b). The NCSS urged the government to protect the Sundarbans by cancelling the approval of 320 new industries near the Sundarbans and moving them further away (DPA, 2017b).

3.1. Establishing Rampal power plant Actors’ public claims and arguments The National Committee (NC) to protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports (OGMPP) is a powerful actor representing civil society, playing an important role to save the Sundarbans from the proposed Rampal coal-fired power plant. In order to save the Sundarbans, this committee appealed to global environmental organizations to observe 7 January as a global day to protest against the Rampal coal-fired power plant project (DS, 2017a). The Member Secretary of this committee stated before a coastal conference held on 9 March 2018 in Khulna (the nearby big city where the plant is being built) that the Rampal power plant is a threat to the people as well as the locality without any doubt, as this coastal region, including the Sundarbans, has already become vulnerable due to climate change The Daily Purbanchal (DP, 2018a). A regional alliance, the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Develop­ ment (APMDD), also urged the President and Prime Minister to stop the Rampal project (APMDD, 2018; DS, 2017,). The APMDD claimed that the power plant would not only endanger the lives and communities near the plant but would also contribute to the climate crisis and deepen the vulnerability of Bangladesh to the effect of climate change. Ac­ cording to The Daily Prothom Alo (DPA, 2016a), Chairman Bikolpo Dhara said that if the proposed plant is not harmful to the environment, why did the Indian government not take the project near the Indian part of the Sundarbans, and why had two projects been repealed already? On behalf of a 20-party alliance, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson urged the government to stop this plant as it was anti-people and unprofitable. She also stated that in ignoring public interests, this autocratic ruling government was implementing an anti-people power project (DS, 2016b). The Prime Minister of Bangladesh took a position strongly in favour of the construction of Rampal power plant before the plenary session of the 47th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2017 (DS, 2017c). She pointed out that the proposed plant was being set up around 14 km away from the outer boundary of the Sundarbans and was about 70 km off the World Heri­ tage site, but still a community opposed it with baseless and absurd speech against the plant in order to mislead people (DP, 2017a). She also argued that in Bangladesh, coal-based electricity accounted for a little more than one per cent of total demanded, whereas in developed countries, 40 to 98 per cent of electricity demand was fulfilled from coal (DS, 2016a). Concerning environmental aspects, the Prime Minister mentioned that ultra-super-critical technology would be used, which has attributes of near zero carbon emissions, adding that CO2 would be

3.3. Environmental pollution Actors’ public claims and arguments A report from research assessing the impact of spill away of an oil tanker in the Shella River on 9 December 2014 stated that an area of more than 500 km2 in the Sundarbans was polluted by the incident, and regeneration of the Sundari tree was affected (DPA, 2015). Environ­ mentalists mentioned that a vessel laden with 100 tonnes of coal sank on 13 January 2017 in the south of the Sundarbans, and this might have a disastrous effect on aquatic life as well as being harmful to the forest, as this low-grade coal contains several types of heavy metal including sulphur, lead, cadmium, barium and mercury, along with toxic materials (DS, 2017f). The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Re­ sources, Power and Ports claims that the role of government was useless and it has not taken significant steps following this disaster (DPA, 2017c). UNESCO stated that apart from the problem of salinity intrusion in the rivers of the Sundarbans, water pollution is a new addition in the recent past, and the IUCN claimed that this type of pollution affects the habitat of fauna in the Sundarbans (DPA, 2018b). The Bangladesh Environmental Network (BEN) stated that the recent initiative to establish industries around the Sundarbans will certainly pollute the water of the Pashur River, as previously happened in the Buriganga (DPA, 2017e). According to DS (2017d), the Prime Minister stated that her government had taken effective steps to reduce environmental 7

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pollution by discouraging unplanned urbanization and industrialization. Global environment organization Greenpeace mentioned that the Rampal power plant would cause at least 6000 premature deaths and low birth weights of 24,000 babies during its 40-year life due to air pollution from burning coal (DS, 2017g).

3.6. Relevance for climate change adaptation and mitigation Actors’ public claims and arguments The Prime Minister has claimed that the effect of climate change is not created by countries like Bangladesh, but by developed ones. Her government created the Climate Change Trust Fund with local funding of $400 million, and took various measures to manage the adverse im­ pacts of climate change, like creating green belts in the coastal areas through afforestation, and implementing various adaptation and miti­ gation programmes (DPA, 2017a; DS, 2017c). The Prime Minister also stated that her government is dealing with the adverse impacts of climate change through tree plantation, further emphasizing planned urbanization and industrialization with a view to protecting the envi­ ronment (DS, 2017d). According to the DPA (2017d), the NCSS stated that the Sundarbans is acting as a natural protector from adverse effects of climate change and expressed anxiety about the development projects undertaken around the Sundarbans by the present government.

3.4. Biodiversity conservation Actors’ public claims and arguments The Bangladesh Forest Department completed thirteen development projects for the protection and management of the Sundarbans (BFD, 2014). The Seventh Five Year Plan (GED, 2015: 329) claims that all possible interventions were undertaken to conserve the biodiversity of the Sundarbans mangrove forests, and extraction of all types of tree was stopped after Cyclone Sidr; furthermore, a proposal for a total halt to harvesting forest resources in the SMF is now under active consideration by the authorities. To protect the Royal Bengal tiger, the main flagship wildlife species of Bangladesh, a Tiger Action Plan was prepared for the period 2009–2017 and different conservation activities have been implemented accordingly (GED, 2015: 448). The Sundarbans mangrove forest is highly productive and provides abundant food and shelter, which facilitates rapid growth of aquatic species (BFD, 2017). According to DS (2014), the Prime Minister, in her inaugural speech, stated that her “government will do everything for conservation of the tigers”. A civil society actor of the NCSS stated that “these words sound rhetorical and absurd since the government has also been planning several projects threatening the Sundarbans’ survival, the main habitat of tigers in the region. According to DS (2018), experts claim that the government permitted the establishment of 190 industrial and commercial units in the ECA of the Sundarbans over the last few years, which is against its own policy and poses a serious threat to the biodiversity of the world’s largest mangrove forest. An academic stated that the Sundarbans will face a long-term impact from Rampal power plant through hindering the physical growth of plants, and their flowering and fruiting. In the case of fauna, the breeding capacity of birds and the wildlife of the forests will be lost, he added (DS, 2014). UNESCO also argued that hot water and chemicals to be discharged from the Rampal power plant into water bodies would cause significant damage to aquatic life in the river and canal networks in the Sundarbans (DS, 2016c). However, the Prime Minister repeatedly claimed in different speeches that her government had undertaken various initiatives to protect the biodiversity of the SMF (DPA, 2017a).

3.7. Local People’s livelihoods Actors’ Public Claims and Arguments The Prime Minister has said “all of our activities have been targeted toward adaptation to environmental changes with a view to protecting human lives” (DS, 2016d), including those whose livelihood is based on forest activities. A human rights worker said that the government is not thinking about local people’s livelihood, which is being threatened, but is rather considering the economic benefit by taking initiatives to establish several industries around the Sundarbans (DPA, 2017b). Ac­ cording to the DS (2017i), a rights activist claimed that the livelihoods of the people around the Sundarbans are being jeopardized due to un­ planned development and industrial works near this mangrove forest. Other public claims by professional associations in respect of individual enterprises in wood processing, bee keeping, timber collection, fishing, etc. could not be observed. 4. Discussion 4.1. Claims, Arguments and Resulting Fields of Conflict among Actors’ Interests The government and administration are found to be the most active actors, presenting a strong position on all aspects of the issues related to the Sundarbans, whereas associations were found to be the main actor in the study by Logmani et al. (2016) on international forest issues in Germany. Results in the analysis of international forest-related issues in Indonesia by Wibowo and Giessen (2015) showed administration (Ministry of Forestry) as active actors, which is very similar to this study. This finding resembles Peters (2010) theory of bureaucratic politics, which suggests only a single actor has a dominant role in a specific sector. On the other hand, civil society and associations show their po­ sition on all issues, though their statements are in opposition to the actions taken by the government. Their positions were not found to be very different. Similar results were observed in Rahman and Giessen (2014) in the case of international forest policy issues in Bangladesh. Under the bureaucratic system, the Prime Minister gave more important statements than other bureaucracies, which sometimes remained silent. When the head of the government makes a statement on an issue, the ministries or agencies are more likely to follow the instructions of the Prime Minister and do not therefore have a reason to make official statements to the mass media. This harmonization of lower bureaucracy with the head of the government does not match the findings of Sahide and Giessen (2015), who conclude that the main conflict of interests between the core bureaucracies was in the case of tropical rainforest transformation systems in Indonesia. Also, the findings of Logmani et al. (2016) showed different positions of ministries, which were quite vibrant and active actors in the media in the debate on forest policy

3.5. Reputation as World Natural Heritage Site Actors’ public claims and arguments According to the UNESCO World Heritage Commission, after an oil spill occurred on 9 December 2014, the WHC was seriously concerned about the impact of oil spills on the World Heritage area (UNESCO, 2014). The Sundarbans will lose the honour of being a designated World Heritage Site and fall into the World Heritage in Danger list if the gov­ ernment fails to protect the natural resources of this mangrove forest in respect of the proposed Rampal power plant project (DPA, 2014), and UNESCO prescribed three important steps necessary to uphold the her­ itage honour (DPA, 2016b). An environmentalist from the World Bank Bangladesh Office claimed that the number of Sundari trees, which are dependent on freshwater, is decreasing due to salinity intrusion in the Sundarbans, leading to the loss of attributes of the mangrove forest as well (DPA, 2017f). According to the DS (2017h), an NCSS member said that “there are many ways to develop the country, many places to establish power and other industrial units, but the Sundarbans is unique; no one has the right to gamble with this unique mangrove forest and world heritage site”. The Prime Minister said that the Sundarbans is not only part of Bangladesh’s heritage, but is also important for the coun­ try’s existence and her government has taken initiatives to expand the Sundarbans by creating artificial mangrove (DS, 2017d). 8

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helps define public understanding about active actors, demands and the path to social change within the movement (Andrews and Caren, 2010). From the analysis, conflicting arguments and views on the Rampal project from different actors were clearly observed, which creates media attention. The empirical evidence does not confirm the actors’ usage of political language to support their positions in public €cher, 2012; Kleinschmit and Krott, 2008; Logmani et al., 2016), (Bo except in the case of the head of the government and civil societies in this analysis. Print media are used to promote policy decisions of active actors (government and administration), and the democratic system’s civil society actors use the media to publicize their views through rational arguments (Kleinschmit and Krott, 2008). The study did not find any arguments from donors or from forest user groups, suggesting a lack of interests in the issues identified for the Sundarbans. Vobruba (2000) rightly mentions that exclusion from and inclusion in the realm of normality is driven by interests in belonging to it and participating in its advantage. On the other hand, researchers and academics want to prove their scientific thoughts, which are clearly observed in media as being critical. It helps general people who have a poorer understanding on a particular issue to rely on the information reported by the media (Cuadrado-Ballesteros et al., 2014; Thogersen, 2006). However, the media always aim to increasing sales by covering the news and state­ ments against the ruling government’s arguments. This complies with the notion of negative bias in news about governmental affairs, where Klite et al. (1998) concluded that 39 per cent of news stories are dedi­ cated to cases of crime and natural disasters, though it does not support �ndez et al. (2012) result of a lack of media attention for environ­ Ferna mental issues that affect people less directly. The Sundarbans has received proper attention, primarily in policy documents in terms of conservation, protection and other issues within the natural resources sector, though this attention is questionable for the Rampal project, which belongs to the power sector. As public awareness of environmental and social issues has risen sharply in recent years (Cuadrado-Ballesteros et al., 2014), and the public sector is highly committed in terms of information transparency due to its public re­ �nchez et al., 2013), climate change and other envi­ sources (García-Sa ronmental issues have come to the fore with the Sundarbans in terms of the national policy design. The Seventh Five Year Plan—the most active policy document for the current development of Bangladesh—has received great attention in relation to the Sundarbans. Thus, the public sector sets out policy action plans in order to disclose its commitment to environmental issues, proving an image of informational transparency to meet the demands of diverse areas of society, including the media (García and García, 2008; Navarro et al., 2010). Bloch-Elkon (2007) and Lee (1999) rightly mention that the degree of acceptance of certain government policy actions is strongly correlated with media content, public opinion and the role of the press in times of crisis. The MoEFCC has also undertaken significant initiatives in terms of international ob­ ligations to formulate further policies with the aim of controlling in­ ternational ecological problems, haven’t seen the parsimonious view of the country’s preferences of interests (Sprinz and Vaahtoranta, 1994). Importantly, the BFD prepared the Integrated Resources Management Plans for the Sundarbans (2010–2020), being the most relevant and comprehensive policy guidelines for the Sundarbans, addressing the is­ sues identified in this analysis. Additionally, policy planning documentation maintains an intrinsic inertia and complies with the government’s vision, and so has no connection with media dissemination. In just a few cases, the govern­ ment defends criticism of its initiatives. Therefore, media discourse has only minimal influential power over policy changes in relation to Sun­ darbans issues, a similar observation to that made by Sadath and Krott (2013) on forest policy in Bangladesh.

issues. The present analysis has found the Rampal power plant to be the most contentious issue which is creating conflicts among actors. Since the government took the initiative to generating coal-based power a few years back, other issues have fallen out of prime focus, except conserving the Royal Bengal tiger. While making statements in favour of the Rampal power plant, the government mostly linked other issues in positive manner. Hogl et al. (2009) rightly mentioned that strong conflicts among actors results in a general reluctance towards policy change, whereas the government still argues about the Rampal project. Hence, actors at the different level of the government and administration played decision-making role in public policy outcome with varying interests, abilities and power (similar to Maryudi and Sahide, 2017 Prabowo et al., 2016; Sahide and Giessen, 2015; cf. Sahide et al., 2018). In contrast, civil society and associations took a critical position on the government’s reluctance to address the issues raised, while offering confrontation over the Rampal power plant issue. Hence, civil society and associations seem active for the betterment of the Sundarbans, as seen in their informative arguments in statements. National and international NGOs were found to be more active actors compared to the academics and researchers group. This might be due to the number of institutions speaking out at home and abroad, which is easier than for a single entity like a researcher or an academic, and the media readily accept it. These two actor groups have similar arguments in relation to the possibility of losing outstanding universal characteristics of the mangrove forest by initiating the Rampal project. There is no empirical evidence on the formation of coalitions and joint statements to the media from different actor groups standing together. Interestingly, no statement on any issue was found from donors or development partners and mangrove forest user groups. Since the Rampal issue creates conflict between the government and other actors, and development partners have their own official procedures to publish any statement, they were absent from the media. This might be due to the conflict between their financial involvement and their working relationship with the government; international organizations, on the other hand, took a critical stance on the Rampal issue. The study did not confirm the role donors found by Rahman and Giessen (2014), where they had slight involvement in arguments, probably because of the sensitivity of the Rampal issue. The absence of statements from forest user groups reveals the unorganized association of people on the basis of profession or livelihoods; they were unable to show mass movement in support of their interests, which does not align with the findings of Logmani et al. (2016). This observation agnate to that pointed out by Rahman and Giessen (2014) for their reduced activity as actors, which might be seen as the user groups’ aloofness in respect of their own benefits. Non-ruling political parties’ statements were observed only in the case of the Rampal plant issue, as it is the most profound activity around the Sundarbans; which might create conflict as well as drawing attention of the people towards reducing mass support to the ruling government. 4.2. Framing Issues with ‘the Sundarbans’ through Media and Policy Documentation The role of the media is not restricted to mediating information, but includes disseminating their own opinions on the political system. Thus the media tries to influence the thoughts of citizens and active actors, or even the formation of policy decisions (Eilders, 2000). Since 2010, when the government took the initiative to establish the Rampal power plant near the Sundarbans, the media have covered the news on it, linking to its pros and cons. Apart from that, news related to robbery, promising aquaculture activities, tourism, nature, etc. is present to the same extent as before. The Rampal project created a movement in relation to conserving the outstanding universal characteristics of the Sundarbans, gathering people together, followed by arguments from active actors. The media have helped shape the public agenda by drawing attention to issues, claims and supporters, and media attention 9

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4.3. Actors’ Display of Formal and Informal Interests

different claims in public deliberations. Among the seven issues identi­ fied, establishing the Rampal power plant seems the main issue because of recent initiatives undertaken by the government and the strong discursive support by the Prime Minister, which also creates interna­ tional media attention. Since, the Prime Minister acts as the most vocal actor in the government machinery favouring the mega issue of Rampal project, other ministries and departments act in line with the head of the government to follow the norms. Hence, as the responsible line ministry, the MoEFCC has an option to play a more active role in each and every issue related to the Sundarbans. Apparently, civil society and associa­ tions hold the opposite position to the government, though their aim is to protect the outstanding universal value of the Sundarbans. This analysis proves the strong commitment of all actors to the betterment of this mangrove forest, which is similar to the findings in the study con­ ducted by Rahman and Giessen (2014) in relation to international forest-related issues in Bangladesh, but contrary to the study on the same issues of Indonesia by Wibowo and Giessen (2012). This study suggests that future research should be address the historical trajectory of the Rampal power plant issue, also addressing Prime Minister’s arguments as well as environmental concerns of local and civil society actors. Policy issues related to the Sundarbans, especially the Rampal plant issue, have attracted important media attention. Therefore, there is a need to carry out a further study on whether the spirit of media attention has any significance on changes of policy by the government, considering the argument of Andrews and Caren (2010), which states that media attention helps define public understanding of active actors, demands and the path to social change within the movement. Formal and informal interests are not significantly different for civil society and associations, whereas a distinct difference is observed in case of government and administration, as well as non-ruling parties. Non-ruling parties often form allies with similar voices, partly display­ ing informal interests in terms of decreasing people’s level of acceptance of the ruling government. Civil society and organizations are basically focused on long-term effects on the environment and human beings: this has been displayed in publicly stated formal interests, while informal interests are completely covered up. Though not all informal interests are made public, the government states some which could be formal interests in another sector, like the demand for power from any source. This is due to the distinctive strength of the government, as it has the responsibility and could be stated as ‘the generation of power is demanded’ for all sectors. Therefore, actors state part of their informal interests for specific purposes. Assuming this context of conflicting in­ terests in mangrove forests, it would be worthwhile to conduct further research to map out policy interests of different administrations in relation to the Sundarbans mangrove forests and to analyse the bureaucratic rivalry within the government in relation to public claims and policy interests in the Sundarbans.

The government and administration, as an active actor, took the opportunity to highlight its formal and informal interests. As the power sector is one of the thirsty sectors in Bangladesh, and rapid infra­ structural development can arise from various sources of power, the government proclaims interests in the development of infrastructure, for which power is a need. Supporting claims in favour of the Rampal power plant by government actors might reflect their informal interests in the political process. Implementing development dogma, both formal and informal interests can be revealed in various ways, to show the visibility, presence and prospects of the ruling government. These interests are often influenced by the development actors active in the market (e.g. contract parties at national/international level). On the other hand, as a natural feature, the SMF might not have immediate hazardous effect for taking different development projects by the government taken around it. Informal interests significantly influence actors in terms of their retaining positions of power in the future, which is the case with the Sundarbans, especially for the democratic state government, which seeks to motivate a large number of people. Schusser et al. (2015) noted that political strategies are predictable regardless of their diversity though the concealment of the informal interests to people happens. Hence both formal and informal interests of the government and administration are often disclosed in public statements and in planning documentation in a specified sector. The public sector dominates forest policies in Bangladesh (Rahman and Giessen, 2014; Sadath and Krott, 2013) in terms of either informal or formal interests. DasGupta and Shaw (2013) argue that local communities are in many cases motivated by the local actors to achieve their political interests (here, informal interests) rather than conserve the Indian mangrove forests, which is not the case in this study. In the case of civil society or other national and international orga­ nizations, formal and informal interests are driven by their own mission objectives, and minimal differences were observed in the arguments. They might showcase their activity at national and international forums as a form of conservation effort. Rahman and Giessen (2017) argue that international donor organizations have mandates as well as political responsibility to achieve formal interests in a recipient country, and as their informal interests are not officially recorded in policy documents, differences are not displayed like formal interests. Researchers and ac­ ademics have not displayed their informal interests of disruption to the ongoing research and academic effort if any risk occurs to the Sundar­ bans. Similarly, various kinds of management activity, along with the funding, might be hampered for civil society and various associations if any new challenges persist with the Sundarbans. Some other actors, like non-ruling political parties, have taken the opportunity to criticize the government’s activity to achieve their informal interest in demotivating people with the ruling government, which was partly disclosed. As a whole, it is obvious that different types of actors possess distinct in­ terests which are interlinked among each other with positions on the SMF regardless of their interests are fully displayed either.

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest.

5. Conclusion

Acknowledgement

The unique characteristics of mangroves, located between dry land and shallow marine areas with brackish water, bring complexities to the management of the resource, and active actors compete among them­ selves with overlapping interests. Since the Sundarbans account for a significant proportion of the forest coverage of Bangladesh, its presence is considered hugely important, and a number of issues have been perceived, in relation to which policy actors are presently arguing

This research was supported by the Government of Bangladesh, for pursuing doctoral study with Chair Group of Forest and Nature Con­ servation Policy, Georg-August University, G€ ottingen, Germany. We thank The Daily Prothom Alo, The Daily Star, The Daily Purbanchal, Bangladesh Forest Department and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change for providing valued data.

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Appendix A Table A1 Policy Relevance and Evolution of the Identified Issues Applicable for the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest: Issues

Policy Relevance and Evolution of the Issue

Establishing Rampal Power Plant

According to the government vision, Bangladesh needs 24,000MW of power by 2021, 40,000MW by 2030, and 60,000MW by 2041 (Power Division, 2018a), while the maximum production ever recorded was 11,623MW on 19 September 2018 (Power Division, 2018c). In view of this, the government has prepared a roadmap with many long- and short-term projects for generating power. The Rampal project is a coal-based power plant, productivity of which would be 1320MW in total (Power Division, 2018b). The government of Bangladesh has decided to build this power plant in Rampal, which is near to the Sundarbans, in order to meet the growing electricity demand referred to in the Prime Minister’s statement according to The Daily Star (DS, 2016a). In the energy strategy of Sixth Five Year Plan (FYP), domestic and imported coal should be used to provide energy options (General Economics Division, 2011: 130). According to the Indian Forest Act 1927, a full degree of protection was first documented in the concept of reserved forest, in which all activities are restricted unless permission is granted by the competent authority (IFA, 1927). From the international perspective, Agenda 21 (Chapter 11) of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio 1992 first formally conceptualized combating deforestation with a view to protecting forest coverage (Humphreys, 2012). Subsequently, this issue became significant in other international forums (Rahman and Giessen, 2014). Reduction in the extent of forest coverage is one of the three degradation processes which has been raised as a concern in past decades (e.g. Iftekhar and Islam, 2004; IUCN-Bangladesh, 2001; Siddiqui, 2001). To protect the Sundarbans, the Bangladesh government has adopted several policies and laws (BFD, 2018a) banning encroachment and illegal cutting of timber and firewood, which are identified as major problems (Paul et al., 2017) resulting from the growing demand for wood and unemployment of adjacent people. Out of 16 protected areas in Bangladesh, the Sundarbans is the biggest protected area, and three wildlife sanctuaries among the four marine protected areas of Bangladesh are situated in Sundarbans (GED, 2011: 454). Importantly, Government of Bangladesh (GoB) introduced the Statement of the National Forest Policy 1994 of Bangladesh in an attempt to increase by 10 per cent of protected areas like wildlife sanctuaries (BFD, 1994). As per the provisions of the Environmental Conservation Act 1995, the MoEFCC declared a 10km wide band surrounding the northern and eastern boundaries of the Sundarbans an ecologically critical area (ECA), with the main objective of providing protection to the SMF (MoEFCC, 2018). The Integrated Resources Management Plan for the Sundarbans, the first ever comprehensive plan document for the Sundarbans, recommends protecting, restoring, sustaining and enhancing the biodiversity of the SMF and its interface landscape as Goal 1 (BFD, 2018c). Human intervention in the natural environment was first voiced as a concern at the 1972 UN conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) held in Stockholm, though conceptualization of the notion came earlier (Haas, 2016). Later, Agenda 21 (Principle 13) from the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio adopted that States will develop respective national laws and cooperate to develop international law regarding liability and compensation for the victims of pollution and other environmental damage (UNCED, 1992). In principle, the environmental policy of Bangladesh recognized the concept of sustainable development of the economy with a view to controlling environmental pollution (Afroz et al., 2016; Roy, 2017). The Bangladesh National Forest Policy 1994 acknowledges the need to reduce wastage by increasing efficiency and modernizing the technology for extracting forest resources (BFD, 2016). Consequently, the Sixth and Seventh Five Year Plans addressed the forest’s contribution to protecting environmental pollution and the need to keep the bio-physical characteristics of the Sundarbans intact (GED, 2011: 199; GED, 2015: 489). The BFD identified that pollutants find their way to the SMF wetlands through the Pasur-Sibsa river system to Mongla port, where the country’s maritime activities happen and thus significant water pollution occurs (BFD, 2018c). According to the World Heritage Commission, both terrestrial and marine environments are supported by the Sundarbans. Having high biodiversity and characterized by unique mangrove influences (Islam, 2003), the coastal zone of Bangladesh is among the richest ecosystems in the world. Bangladesh was a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992 at the UN Conference on Environment and Development addressing the conservation of biodiversity to protect the environment. As a contracting party to the CBD, which is the most concrete instrument of the international forest regime (Humphreys, 2012), Bangladesh is committed to initiating and implementing the conservation and sustainable management of its biological diversity according to the CBD principles for sustenance for the present and future generations. Bangladesh is also a signatory to the Bonn Convention, which deals with the conservation of migratory species of wild animals and the protection and conservation of fragile ecosystems. Bangladesh has shown a profound commitment to biodiversity conservation through declaration of the Wildlife (Preservation and Security) Act 2012 and the Bangladesh Biodiversity Act 2017. The National Forest Policy 2016 also emphasizes that the degraded forests need to be enriched by conserving the biodiversity of the remaining natural habitat (BFD, 2016). Bangladesh declared the 10 km periphery of the mangrove forest the ECA in 1999, a couple of years after UNESCO listed it as a natural World Heritage Site and, as per the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act 1995 (amended in 2010), no one is allowed to set up any factory in the ECA (DS, 2018). The Sixth and Seventh Five Year Plans have ascribed significant importance to conservation of the biodiversity of the Sundarbans (GED, 2011: 464; GED, 2015: 489) with a view to taking further development initiatives. The BFD has also set strategic goals and possible outcomes in favour of restoration of the biodiversity of the SMF (BFD, 2018c). Three wildlife sanctuaries of the Sundarbans fell under the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, and it was also designated a Ramsar Site of International Importance in 1992 (BFD, 2018b). According to the 1972 WHC Convention, a World Heritage Site is a special place of outstanding universal value (OUV), containing features of high value. These values are paramount and should be conserved and managed by the state party responsible with the help of the IUCN and the international community (UNESCO, 2012: 20). The world community’s first attempt to promote the consideration of climate change issues came through the formation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988, with a view to underpinning international negotiations on climate change insights scientifically (IPCC, 2018). The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an international treaty, was signed in 1992 to bring the world together to curb greenhouse gas emissions and climate change adaptation (UNFCCC, 2018); this was adopted legally as the Kyoto Protocol at the third Conference of the Parties (Humphreys, 2012; UNFCCC, 2018). Bangladesh is one of the signatories of the UNFCCC; it joined the Kyoto Protocol in order to address the climate change issue. In 2015, Bangladesh also joined the UNFCCC’s Paris Agreement, which is the biggest recent global climate deal for reducing carbon emissions and adapting to climate change impacts. The country also submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) for implementing the Paris Agreement and preparing the implementation roadmap to the UNFCCC in 2015. Importantly, considering coastal protection and extreme climatic events, the Sundarbans mangrove forest acts as a strong barrier against natural calamities like tsunamis and cyclones, thus protecting coastal inhabitants (Silori, 2010). Moreover, the mangrove forest has proved in recent experiences to weaken wave energy and reduce damage in Southeast Asia (Latief and Hadi, 2007). Thus, the Sundarbans draw attention to the policy context as an important consideration for mitigating climate change scenarios in the deltaic land of Bangladesh. The government of Bangladesh had already adopted the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) for Bangladesh in 2005 as a response to the decision taken at the Seventh Session of the COP of the UNFCCC, followed by the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan in 2009 (Rahman and Giessen, 2014). For the forest sub-sector in the Seventh Five Year Plan

Protection of the Sundarbans Forest Area

Environmental Pollution

Biodiversity Conservation

Reputation as World Natural Heritage Site

Relevance for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation

(continued on next page)

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Table A1 (continued ) Issues

Local People’s Livelihoods

Policy Relevance and Evolution of the Issue (FYP), the goal is to conserve and protect forest biodiversity and overall environmental stability, with due emphasis on climate change adaptation and mitigation as a follow-up strategy (GED, 2015: 331). According to UNESCO (2018), millions of people are dependent on the Sundarbans, which acts as a shelterbelt to protect the people from natural calamities. The sustainable livelihood of these people depends on this mangrove forest. The National Forest Policy 1994 of Bangladesh recognizes the local people’s forest livelihood through creating employment opportunities in forest-based rural development with a participatory approach, ecotourism activities, etc. (BFD, 1994). The BFD designs activities to increase economic development through forest-based employment opportunities (BFD, 2018d), which is linked to its mission to alleviate poverty through people’s active participation (BFD, 2018e). The Seventh Five Year Plan has given due importance to the creation of alternative livelihoods for SMF-dependent people in order to lessen the anthropogenic pressure on the forest (GED, 2015: 489).

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