Ecological health of rivers: A case for integrating government, community and private sector

Alam, M.K. and Marinova, D. (2003) Ecological health of rivers: A case for integrating government, community and private sector. In: International Sustainability Conference, 17 - 19 September, Fremantle, Western Australia

Abstract

Many cities and towns are established on the banks of rivers. People have long relied on rivers for trade, transportation, fishing and recreation as well as for cleaning and waste removal. Historically, the Buriganga River, which crosses Dahka, the capital of Bangladesh, has facilitated the urbanisation of the country. The physical nature of the river however is being constantly changed due to human intervention. Its ecological health is now threatened; it has become a dying river both hydrologically and biologically. The government and city authorities find it difficult to provide the funds for cleaning up the river and preventing further pollution. Using an extended contingency valuation approach, this paper argues that there are resources available within the community that can be mobilised to improve the ecological health of the river. It also proposes government-community-private sector partnerships for restoring the ecological health of the river as well as eliminating or abating the potential sources of pollution. Part of this model is a decentralised system for waste collection, processing and management.

Item Type:	Conference Paper
Murdoch Affiliation(s):	Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/21196

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