Environmental awareness and involvement of local people in development projects

Abstract

A physical slnlcture, whether a bridge, an embankment, polder. road or settlemonl, has both po,illve and negative impaclSon the envirollIDent.It is assumed !hat a project is feasible when the po,itive impacts of the physical structure outweigh its negalive impacts. To minimize the enviroIlIDenta!degradation II is now increasingly recognized that environmental concerns have to be integrated into the planning process. It has been ob.!lervedthat a project or a program based on people', own as,e,sment of their needs, implemented through their active partidpalion and monitored by them has always yielded bener results than tb. one's to avoid ;ocb partlclpation. It should, however, he Te<:ogruzedthat effective people's participation is not automatic, They must have awareness of subject. Chances of development for a sustainable tivehhood are far better in a situation wnere people do care for theu environment Bangladesh IS a developing countty with a low lileraCyrate and half of the populations live in e~treme poverty. It is now widely recogruzed that thaI economic devdopment should be acltieved in a way thaI consider environmental consequences. It is also recognized thaI people should be aware a!>outtheir enVlronment and WLthoultheir effeclive partieipalion sustainable development can not be acl1ie"ed. The Government of Bangladesh has laken a number of policy measure, 10 protecl the envirotlntent and manyNGDs and CBDs are also working in this area. ThIS srudy examines the relalionsbip between developmenl projects, people's awareness and the environmentaI5ll,tain.bility. It tri.s to review the present siNation of the environmental aWareness in Bangladesh and 10make some ,uggeslions ahout strategie, to harness people's awareness about lhe environmental degradation in the light of present prnclice,. It is expecled thaI this ,rudy will help to understand the problem" fonnulation of polIcy guidelines and design institutional framework for developing environmental awareness among the general people. A queslionnaite ,urvey ha, been conducted among government and private organizatIOn, to assess their ,land about awarenes, huildup and people's participation issues. A detalled llleramre survey was 0150conducted to e~amine and e,plore how these concepts are !Deludedin different poliCies, straleg,es .nd practIces. It is ob"l"\'ed that lhere exl,,, " '!rong reiatlon,hip among environment, quality of hfe and SU5tainabledevelopment. Envirorunent LSno longer a subject for the specialisl; it is now a globai concern as well as local and national level concern. Environmenl is a new agenda for Bangladesh. ThflUgh the environmental measures ~.ve been obligatory for fonnulation of policy and development pl.tIlIing but in real,ty it has been so far poorly reflected ill different arena of project planrung and implementation. The general peopie are ignoranl about the policie.; laws and reb",1ation, tokon up for protecting the envirorunent. There Is an urgent need for propagating measures among the general people to make .ware about the exiting laws. It is imperative for the government as well as for other organizalions, working for the developmonl of the country, to inform the rna" .bout the importance of enVironment for Lmprovingstandard .nd quality of !Jfe and .ustalOable development aC1Jvlties,ensuring wide access and effeclive participation in dec'Slon making.