Climate Adaptation and Resilience Building on the Sundarbans Islands – Endline Evaluation

Contributed By: Dr. M.N. Roy, Dr. Sanghamitra Kanjilal Bhaduri, Dr. Sabari Bandyopadhyay, Mr. Sangram Mukherjee, Ms. Mayuri Sen, Dr. Tanusree Dutta, Mr. Debojyoti Majumder, Ms. Riyanka Ghosh, Mr. Saptadip Chakraborty

Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope (SoH, an organization based in Germany) has implemented a project (Jan 2018-Jun 2021), entitled, ‘Adaptation to climate change in the Sundarbans Islands’, in partnership with Development Research Communication and Services Centre (DRCSC). The German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has cofunded the project. The principal aim of the project was to protect the ecosystem and the livelihood of the local population. Long-term, sustainable strategies were developed together to achieve these goals. This final evaluation is commissioned at the end of the project implementation. The purpose of the final evaluation is to elaborate whether the implemented measures are showing the expected results in order to reach the projected outcomes and impact. Under the evaluation, primary survey (both quantitative as well as qualitative) was carried out in project region (16 villages in Patharpratima and Ramganga block of South 24 Parganas) along with review of project documents. Also, extensive use of satellite images were processed to assess the forest cover and its changes. It was found that the project intervention, which included mangrove plantation in the coastal region, led to a significant increase in the awareness of the community regarding the extinction of mangrove species and change in the mangrove coverage, thus, leading to an enhanced community participation towards mangrove plantation. Inhabitants of the area were now aware of factors contributing to degradation of biodiversity. Beneficiaries were aware of the linkage between agriculture/exploitation of natural resources, which were being practiced in that area and threat to the eco-system. Introduction of alternative forms of income and climate awareness caused a reduction in reliance on negative management strategies during the course of intervention. Women beneficiaries were given phase-wise responsibility of planting local multi-purpose tree saplings by the roadside and monitoring them, to ensure protection against climatic extremes, like cyclones and reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere. The Endline survey found drastic reduction of another negative management strategy – collection of shrimp seeds. There has been a significant reduction in the incidence of wild animal attack and resultant death form it over the years.

Climate Adaptation and Resilience Building on the Sundarbans Islands – Endline Evaluation