11 November 2010: The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is working with Bangladesh’s Ministry of Environment and Forest on a project to expand mangrove frontiers in coastal areas, which is expected to reduce the vulnerability of local communities to climate change and help them adapt to its effects.

Mangrove forests can absorb 97.57 tons of carbon per hectare, three times more than non-mangrove forests; provide physical protection from rising sea levels; and combat coastal erosion. It is estimated that sea levels will rise up to 23cm in Bangladesh’s coastal areas, which will affect the lives of 38 million people.

UNDP Administrator Helen Clark traveled to one of the four sites of the project located in Char Kukri-Mukri Island on the southeast coast. The island, with a population of 20,000 of which 70% subsist on crop agriculture and fishing, is establishing 6,100 hectares of mangrove plantations and 935 hectares of timber species and fruit trees. The project is training women to grow mangrove saplings, as well as trees used for timber, such as bamboo, and in forest management. [UNDP Press Release]