Project profile — Addressing Environmental Degradation in Cox's Bazar District

• Bangladesh (100.00%)

• Energy Generation, Renewable Resources: Energy conservation and demand-side efficiency (23183) (20.00%)
• Forestry: Forestry development (31220) (40.00%)
• Environmental policy and administrative management:
Environmental policy and administrative management (41010) (10.00%)
Environmental education/training (41081) (25.00%)
Environmental research (41082) (5.00%)

• Climate Change Adaptation (significant objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (principal objective)
• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Climate change mitigation (significant objective)

This project aims to contribute to environmental rehabilitation and long-term development of Cox’s Bazar District (CXB) through supporting an ecologically sustainable approach in host communities and Rohingya refugee camps. Project activities include: (1) securing access to cleaner energy by providing alternative cooking fuel through continued provision of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) instead of firewood to reduce deforestation in CXB; (2) contributing to environmental and ecosystem protection by restoring local forestland and watershed, with a view to enhance climate resilience to landslides, flooding and droughts; (3) developing and updating environmental and watershed management plans using participatory planning at territorial level; (4) providing technical support for a multi-sectoral joint monitoring platform for environmental and socio-ecological assessments; (5) promoting renewable energy technology in farming communities; and (6) training Rohingya women beneficiaries in resilience building through green skills development. The project targets meeting 14% of the LPG needs of up to 900,000 Rohingya refugees over its lifespan. As well, up to 167,000 people in host and refugee communities are expected to indirectly benefit from the improved ecosystem and resource management in their surrounding environments.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) maintained provision of alternative, clean cooking fuel and technology to all refugee households; (2) improved climate resilience, and reduced negative environmental impacts through ecosystem restoration and improved management of natural resources benefitting refugee and host populations of Cox’s Bazar District; and (3) sustained resilience of Rohingya refugees, especially the most vulnerable among them.

Results achieved as of March 2025: (1) distributed over 1.77 million liquefied petroleum gas refills in 2024, leading to protecting 14,539.7 hectares of forests and reducing 376,822 tons of carbon dioxide compared to the use of firewood; (2) revegetated and restored 578 hectares of degraded land, capturing 25,802 tons of carbon dioxide; (3) repurposed approximately 2.9 million foil packages into nearly 48,000 handmade products, reducing waste and generating income; (4) trained over 30,000 refugees in home gardening, empowering them to grow food for their families; (5) trained 1,000 participants in community aquaculture, leading to the production of 8 metric tons of fish, which contributed to dietary diversity and nutrition; and (6) provided 5,000 Bangladeshi farmers and 600 Rohingya beneficiaries high-yielding hybrid and open-pollinated varieties of vegetable seeds, capacity-building training, and market linkage initiatives. From the summer and winter vegetable production in 2023, each supported host community farmer generated an average profit of US$43, while Rohingya beneficiaries generated an average profit of US$14 per 1.7 metric tons of vegetables, with a total value of US$673 sold. On average, farmers sold 79 kilograms of vegetables consumed per homestead-practicing household in 2023, demonstrating higher food security levels.

• Proactive disclosure