Role Of Co-Management In Wetland Productivity:

Abstract

This study provides an overview of the current resources and fisheries status of the Hail haor, and identifies the scope of opportunities to evolve existing fisheries management strategies, focusing on fish biodiversity conservation. Hail haor is one of the largest, most important wetland in the North East Bangladesh, and covers an area of about 18,000 ha during the monsoon season. A fish catch survey was carried out in the fishing season (April to June 2013) in the studied areas. A total of 1310 individuals was found, representing 54 fish species. To preserve this wetland, the government introduced a comanagement system in 1998 through a project entitled “Management of Aquatic Ecosystems through Community Husbandry (MACH)”. Through this project some Resource Management Organizations (RMOs) were formed by involving all resource users and stakeholders from the adjacent haor regions. RMOs in Hail haor serve as a platform for bringing together community people and concerned stakeholders to work towards sustainable development of this haor. We compared the performance of Borogangina and Dumuria RMOs who are responsible for managing the major part of the Hail haor.