By Rafiqul Islam Montu, Independent Environment Journalist, Bangladesh

Coastal communities in Bangladesh are facing extreme crises due to climate change. Rising sea levels, cyclones, tidal surges, floods, salinity, and extreme heat are severely affecting their lives and livelihoods. Their lives and properties are being severely damaged. As the crises increase, people’s struggle for livelihood is becoming increasingly difficult. But how do people survive in the face of so many crises? What strategies are they adopting for climate resilience? We have sought answers to those questions, which are lessons in climate resilience for us.

From Kalabogi village in Dakop upazila of Khulna district on the west coast of Bangladesh. Hundreds of houses in this village are hanging like this from bamboo poles. Wooden planks are level with the poles. They have been living on these for years. No, no one has taught this technique to the people of this area. They have learned from the disaster that if they want to live here, they have to build their houses like this. ‘Look at the waves of the Shivsa River; this is where my house used to be. My days were going well with work. There was a little land. I used to cultivate. But Aila came and finished us off. We have lost our land. Now our means of earning income are closed. We don’t even have a place to live. In the end, we are building our houses like this. Where will we go? There is no other option but to stay here. The tide water rises; so we have raised the foundation. Now this is our house,’ said Elias Hossain.

Elias is not alone, there are many other stories of men and women in my notebook, which bear great examples of climate resilience. Like Kalabogi village, the people of Rekhamari village, adjacent to the Sundarbans, also survive by fighting high tides in a way. These people of the hanging village are forced to raise their houses every year as the tide water rises. After Cyclone Aila in 2009, the lives of the people here changed drastically. Their houses were washed away by the waves of Aila that day. No one’s house was intact. On the other hand, people are unable to leave the area for livelihood. The higher the water rose in Aila, the higher the houses were built to get lofts. The people of Kalabogi’s hanging neighbourhood are living in those houses.

The cyclone, intense heat, drought and salinity caused extensive damage to the crops on the southwestern coast of Bangladesh. Families faced food shortages. Many people then moved to other areas for work. A women’s initiative in the region for climate adaptation in agriculture has been successful. They have brought back the cultivation of rice and vegetables by saving local varieties of seeds, using organic fertilizers in the land, conserving fresh water, etc. The land that was uncultivated is now producing green crops.

Being very close to the sea and the embankment is very low, it is difficult to keep the houses safe. The roof is almost attached to the ground around the house, so that it cannot be damaged by storms. Numerous such houses have been seen in the Tabalar Char area south of Kutubdia in Cox’s Bazar on the east coast. To escape the effects of cyclones, coastal communities use ropes to strengthen their houses. They use various strategies so that people can survive easily during tidal waves or cyclones.

The coastal communities of Bangladesh take various steps to deal with the climate crisis. That is why they can survive even in such a crisis. But the stories of these adaptations are unknown to everyone. People have real experiences in adaptation. These experiences need to come to the fore. These experiences can be helpful in our climate resilience.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of AIDMI