Estimation of Ecosystem Services Loss due to Rohingya Influx in Eastern
Coast of Bangladesh using Multi-Temporal Satellite Data
Abstract
Nearly one million Rohingya refugees of Myanmar have fled to neighboring
Bangladesh for seeking shelter from systematic oppression since 25
August 2017. The speed and scale of the influx has led to unprecedented
growth of the Kutupalong refugee camp of eastern coast of Bangladesh
within few months. There is a few study focused on environmental
degradation of the refugee camp, however, no study has been done so far
to estimate the impact of camp expansion on ecosystem services loss.
This study, therefore, made an attempt to estimate the changes of
Ecosystem Services Value (ESV) in response to camp expansion for the
year July 2017 (pre-camp) and July 2018 by GIS technique and
corresponding global value coefficient developed by Costanza et.al.
(1997). Land cover map of the study area was prepared by using Landsat 8
satellite data. Results show an overall decrease of vegetation of 2486
hectares, of which 20% were used to expand the camp and 80% were
deforested. Total ecosystem service values of the study area reduced
dramatically, from 51.53×106 US$ to 49.12×106 US$ in the study period.
This represents a 4.63% net decline in annual value of ecosystem
services in the study area. In terms of 2 km buffer of the camp, the net
decline rate is found 32.58%. The significant changes are also recorded
in individual ecosystem services function of the area. Hence, the
findings of this study may motivate the Bangladesh government to develop
better plans to protect the ecologically sensitive forested land and
wildlife habitats surrounding the refugee camps and assist in more
sustainable resource mobilization for the Rohingya refugees.