An FAO project that promoted sustainable land management and improved understanding of land degradation in Bangladesh, closes today.

In the last few decades land degradation has become an alarming issue in Bangladesh, threatening land and water resources, food productivity, food security, biodiversity, and greenhouse gas emissions.

FAO defines sustainable land management as the use of land resources, including soils, water, animals and plants, for the production of goods to meet changing human needs while simultaneously ensuring the long-term productive potential of these resources and the maintenance of their environmental functions. In other words, sustainable land management helps to achieve the long-term productive potential of these resources, resulting in productive and healthy ecosystems and sustainable rural development.

The ‘Decision Support for Mainstreaming and Scaling Up of Sustainable Land Management’ project helped to integrate sustainable land management good practice into national government plans and policies spanning agriculture, the environment, and the economy.

The project’s achievements lay the foundations for scaling up sustainable land management practices in Bangladesh. Bangladesh was one of 15 countries that implemented the project, which was funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by FAO in partnership with the Ministry of Environment. FAO initiated implementation in Bangladesh in April 2018.

The project:

• Developed a sustainable land management strategy.

• Produced a national land degradation map.

• Launched a web platform to monitor land degradation across Bangladesh.

• Educated government and other partners about land degradation.

• Published a guide explaining 25 recommended sustainable land management practices.

• Demonstrated the effects of good practice at three sites that were badly affected by land degradation.

The photo shows one example of sustainable land management – agroforesty in the Barind region, in north-western Bangladesh. Agroforestry is a land use management system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or pastureland. This intentional combination of agriculture and forestry has varied benefits, including increased biodiversity and reduced erosion.