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Location
 This site is in the most southwest coastal part of Bangladesh which is adjacent to the Sunderbans, the single ever largest Mangrove Forest in the world. It is also the World Heritage declared by UNESCO. The site is 120 km off from its Divisional Headquarter of Khulna and about 400 km off from the Capita city of Dhaka (see location map).
Transport and Communication
The site can be reached by air via Jessore airport and also by road from Dhaka. The field trip organizer will arrange tickets for the participants to travel from Dhaka to Jessore by air and vehicles for Jessore to Munshigonj by road.
Accommodation facilities
Hotel Castle Salam, Khulna is one of the best international hotel for accommodation with modern facilities and best location for visit to field. The hotel is providing the following facilities.
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35 AC Rooms (Twin and Single) with modern furniture & fittings
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Colour TV in each room
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24 hour reception and room service
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Intercom Telephone
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Laundry service
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Hot and cold running water
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Restaurant etc
Local Host Organization
Caritas Bangladesh is a renowned national NGO working for human development and poverty reduction since 1972. It will host the CBA workshop participants for the field visit to their working area at Munshigonj and Ramzannagar Unions. At this site Caritas is implementing the project “Sustainable Resources Management in the Brackish Water Areas”. The community in the area are susceptible to a wide range of vulnerabilities including natural hazards, ecosystem degradation and lack of opportunities. These vulnerabilities affect the livelihoods of the communities. The poor are more vulnerable. All these issues affect their households and aggravates their hardship and poverty. In this context, Caritas Bangladesh intervened with a package of activities i.e. shrimp-rice rotation culture, plant nursery, home gardening, crab fattening, apiculture, livestock/poultry, canal re-excavation, pond-re-excavation, sanitary latrine, biogas, pond-sand filtering, rainwater harvesting, solar energy, improved chula, eco village, vocational training, awareness raising, resource center etc.
Natural configuration of the area
Biophysical system in the coastal zone of Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to salinity, sea level rise, cyclone and tidal surges. Within the coastal zone, the Munshigang Union in the Shyamnagar Upazila under Satkhira district reveals that the enhanced salinity in the locality has affected water, soils, agriculture, vegetation, mangrove, fisheries and livelihoods of the communities and their households. The locality also faces serious health risk due to increased salinity resulting in scarcity of drinking water. The local people have informed that cyclones with tidal surge, increase width of river and tidal levels are also damaging human settlements, homesteads, infrastructures, productive land and natural resources, which in return decrease the livelihoods assets and livelihood potentials of the poor and marginal community.
The poor, marginal, women and children groups of people are suffered mostly from salinity intrusion, decrease of agricultural productivity, enhanced cyclones and tidal surges. They have very limited capacity and resources to deal with shocks and fluctuation of natural systems. They are also engaged in risky jobs like fishing in the off shore areas and collecting materials from the mangrove forest for their mere survival. They lack proper understanding and awareness about the emerging changes in nature, environment, climate and society. Further, they don’t have adequate disaster preparedness at family and community levels.
List of visiting activities by villages to visit
in Munshiganj Union
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Coastal Resource Research Centre which is locally known as Caritas Resource Centre at Kachukhali village.
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Environment child schooling programme at Mothurapur village.
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Extreme backward fisherman community (locally known as jele community) along with solar electrification (household level) at Mathurapur village.
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Pond Sand Filter (PSF) for drinking water in the earthen pond at Mothurapur village.
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Surface water preservation through canal re-excavation for diversified agriculture actitvities and fish culture at Jelekhali village.
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School based Rainwater Harvesting and storage for drinking purpose a Primary School at Dhankhali Village.
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Mangrove plantation in the mudflat (river bank) of by the local community at Shinghertali village.
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