Unraveling Livelihood Interactions in the Mangrove Sundarban:

Evidence from Koyra Upazila using PRA and Geospatial Analysis

Abstract

The Sundarban is one of the largest mangroves in the world and it is facing a lot of difficulties due to the global climate change. The event of Climate change is not only hampering the wildlife and marine resources but also impacting the livelihood of the surrounding people. The aim of this study is to develop and evaluate the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI), a multi-component index that measures household livelihoods' susceptibility to climate variability and change in the two unions -Uttar Bedkashi and Dakshin Bedkashi in the Koyra Upazila under Khulna division, in order to clarify the disparate effects of climate change on communities living in the vicinity of the Sundarbans. The overall result of LVI-IPCC is -0.192 which shows that the study area has moderate level of vulnerability. Besides, the people of the study area have high levels of vulnerability in sensitivity, moderate level of vulnerability in adaptive capacity and less vulnerability in exposure with the score of 0.604, 0.449, and 0.123 respectively. However, the dynamic mystiques of mangrove shows that there is a gradual decrease of vegetation and agricultural practices but an increasing trend of the bare land is visible in the Koyra Upazila surrounding the Sundarban mangrove areas.