Background
The National Land Use Policy. 2001 of the Ministry of Land highlights the Need, the importance and m
odalities of land zoning for integrated planning and management of land resources of the country. Many other policies, Strategies, plans of the government have also recommended
for land zoning since long. The National Land use Policy 2001 also mentioned the need of formulating a Zoning Law and Village Improvement Act for materializing the the identified
land zoning area. The National Land Use Policy specially highlights the need for land zoning for the coastal area of Bangladesh. It describes about the need for definite guidelines
and raises the possibility of doing coastal land zoning through an inter-ministerial task force.
The Land Zoning of the coastal area has also been advocated in the Coastal Zone Policy 2005 prepared by the Ministry of Water Resources. The Pove
rty Reduction Strategy (PRS) of the Government also gave importance on prevention of alarming loss agricultural land and wasteful use of acquired land. On the basis of these policy statements and urgency of land use zoning for
sustainable land resource management of the coastal area, the Program Development Office for Integrated Coastal Zone Management (PDO-ICZM) initiated the process of reconnaissance type of land zoning of the coastal areas. This could be
designated as indicative remote sensing data and geographic information systems considering the occurrence of current land use classifications and other important parameters of the project area.
For doing this exercise, several discussions were held with many government and non-government agencies in July 2004. All agencies expressed the need for integrated zoning in support of planning for 'best po
ssible' economic land uses, through preventing land degradation and protecting the natural environment, and other areas having cultural heritage values.
A meeting of land Use Implementation Committee was held on 13th February 2005 at the Ministry of Land where Ministers, State Ministers and Secretaries of different ministries were present.
The Indicative Coastal Land Zoning, prepared by PDO-ICZM was presented in the meeting as one of the agenda. The meeting decided to deliverate land zoning initially for the coastal area, which will
be implemented by the Ministry of Land. Again an inter-Ministerial meeting was held on 24th November 2005 in the Minister of Land on the issue of Detailed Coastal Land Zoning. The reprentativees attending
the meeting from deferent Ministries unanimously took the decision to include Natore and Brahmmanbaria in the project as pilot districts for National Level Land Zoning.
Objectives of the project
The land zoning will be considered as one of the proposed tools of the government to help planning and management for optimum and sustainable land uses of the country. It would help to make informed choices
for investment in human and physical resources and impose protective regulations where needed.
A major strength of land zoning is that it will help the development planners, policy makers to assess present and potential land uses, limitations and vulnerabilities of different kinds of land in a systematic way by making them explicit which will ultimately help to use the land for more economic uses. The main objectives of the land zoning are:
• To assign land to its best possible uses like: agriculture, fisheries, forestry, shrimp culture, livestock, nature reserve, tourism and industrial development in order to get maximum economic benefits from land resolving all kinds of conflict of interest.
• To prevent (further) land degradation and restore degraded lands.
• To preserve and protect eco-systems with high ecological and cultural values.
• To prevent or resolve conflicts of interest among different land users and line agencies.
• To grow awareness among the planners, land users, policy makers and decision makers for rational utilization of land resources.
The other specific objectives are:
• To ensure that natural resources especially land resources are used within their capability and potentials in a very proper way.
• To minimize the impacts arising from other uses of natural resources.
• To ensure that native flora and fauna are properly protected and to maintain a sound ecosystem.
• To promote appropriate planning and management of land resources.
• To preserve places having cultural heritage values.
Expected Outputs
• Land Use based Upazila wise Zoning Maps for agriculture, fisheries, forestry, rural settlements, industrial and commercial areas and other land uses for obtaining optimum economic benefits;
• Development of Land Resources Database and Land Zoning Information System;
• A detailed land zoning report covering all features and attributes of the project area;
• Reports on community-based Information, Social and Environmental Impact Assessment;
• Comprehensive Reports on Char Lands and Ecological Critical Areas of the project.
