Restoring degraded land in Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

The unprecedented increase in forced displacement over the past decade poses critical challenges to human health, food security, nutrition, water supply and sanitation, shelter, education, environmental services and energy, not only for the people who have been uprooted from their homes but also for their host communities. The environmental degradation resulting from the unsustainable extraction of natural resources in and around refugee camps may become irreversible if action is not soon taken to reduce its impacts. In Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, an integrated approach to fighting degradation combines participatory processes, energy supply, demand assessment and sustainable land management. The approach uses native plant species for soil stabilization, the rehabilitation of degraded forestland and advanced geospatial technologies and remote sensing to mount a coordinated and timely response that can halt irreversible land degradation, reduce risks from natural disasters, and improve ecosystem services and living conditions inside and around the camps. This case study presents the lessons learned from ongoing efforts to use field and remote sensing information to monitor and restore degraded land in and around the Rohingya refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.