‘Blue economy’ concept has opened a new window of opportunity for Bangladesh to exploit and utilize the coastal and marine resources in a sustainable way. To maintain sustainability and monitor the coastal ecosystems while exploiting resources for economic benefits, delineation of the major ecological provinces and systematic assessment of their ecosystems services is essential. This study aims to map and delineate the major ecological provinces of the coastal belt of Bangladesh. This study also aims to identify the ecosystem services provided by these ecosystems and finally to determine the threats of these ecosystems. Secondary data were collected through consultation and brief interviews with the experts on relevant fields, NGO’s and field observation was chosen to identify the ecosystem services and threats towards the ecological provinces. Landsat-5TM\/7ETM imageries were used for mapping the ecological provinces and other secondary data sources such as policy review, journals and newspaper articles were also used. The major ecological provinces- mangrove, coral, estuary, salt marsh and turtle nesting were identified along the coastal belt and delineated. The most significant and unique ecosystem services of the ecosystem and key threats were identified qualitatively. Mangrove ecological province is the largest and most beneficial active ecosystem in both ecological and economic aspects but human intervention is imposing a major threat. The coral ecological province in Saint Martin’s island identified as the most vulnerable due to the constant tourism pressure. This study, however, recommended policy formulation and management planning to protect the coastal ecosystem to achieve sustainable development at the end.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Keywords:<\/strong> Ecosystem service, Ecological province, Geospatial mapping, Coastal zone, Bangladesh.<\/p>","file":"\/files\/econtents\/6184f57c2b8edMS - 16 A.pdf","downloaded":26,"created_at":"5\/11\/2021 8:12 PM","updated_at":"27\/2\/2022 2:49 PM"}