Ecological sustainability amid an uncertain refugee crisis

Since the Rohingya began arriving in Bangladesh back in 2017, the verdant landscapes of Cox's Bazar–Teknaf have borne a heavy toll. Forests, once dense and teeming with life, have been steadily cleared to make way for makeshift shelters. 

Dr Mohammad Emran Hasan, an associate professor at Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) and his team calculated that between 2017 and 2019, more than 5,400 hectares of forest had been degraded—a number far higher than the Environment Ministry's official figure of 3,238 hectares.

In the years that followed, researchers found that between 2017 and 2021, around 5,488 hectares of forest were lost. The pace of destruction may have slowed, but even a slowdown offers little comfort. The forests continue to shrink, and unless we take active steps to restore them, the scars on the land—and on the ecosystem—will only deepen.

Tracking the slow march of ecological recovery in Cox's Bazar can be done in a few key ways. One of the most visible is the Joint Response Plan (JRP), produced each year by UN agencies in collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh. The JRP lays out the major activities and budgets needed to manage the refugee crisis—and over time, it has become clear that nature can no longer be an afterthought.

The 2025–2026 JRP, the first to span a full 24 months, signals a turning point. Of its five strategic objectives, two are now dedicated entirely to conserving and rehabilitating the environment. And lessons from the past years are shaping the approach: nature-based solutions, or NbS, have emerged as the most effective tools for helping the land and ecosystems heal. 

The message is clear—rebuilding human lives cannot come at the cost of the forests and rivers that sustain them.

The effort to heal Cox's Bazar's battered landscapes has taken shape in many forms. Beyond large-scale reforestation both inside and outside the camps, riparian plantations and wetland restorations have been rolled out to curb flooding, while ecosystem-based land stabilisation has helped tame the ever-present threat of landslides.

In 2018, the camps' plantation areas barely covered 40 hectares. By 2024, that figure had soared to nearly 4,100 hectares of once-degraded forest now replanted—a testament to persistent effort, as highlighted in the current JRP. The vision extends even further: Bhasan Char, the offshore island sheltering 37,000 refugees, is set to see its own plantations to stabilise the land and shield it from cyclones. Perhaps most striking is the role of the refugees themselves, actively shaping the recovery of the lands they now call home, turning survival into stewardship.

Among the largest recurring costs of managing the refugee crisis in Cox's Bazar is something as everyday as a gas cylinder. The regular supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to refugee families is intended to ease the relentless pressure on nearby forests, reducing the need for fuelwood.

Yet, the way the response is structured tells its own story. The current JRP maps funding across 11 sectors—but there is no dedicated 'environment' sector. Instead, the budget for ecological restoration is woven into other priorities, tucked under 'food security' and 'shelter, camp coordination, and camp management'. Nature, it seems, remains a silent partner in a system designed primarily to meet immediate human needs.

Another lens through which to view ecological conservation in the camps is the wealth of reports and documentation produced by UN agencies and NGOs. From the very first year of the refugee crisis, the Energy and Environment Technical Working Group (EETWG) meticulously tracked environmental initiatives across agencies. Though the group stopped publishing a few years ago, its work lives on through the Energy and Environment Network (EEN) of the Rohingya Refugee Response in Bangladesh, which now curates a rich repository of environmental reports.

I was particularly drawn to UNHCR's quarterly Energy and Environment Factsheet, a resource that sadly ceased publication after December 2022. Beyond these, countless agencies have created guidelines, assessments, studies, and action plans—all designed to restore biodiversity and strengthen ecological resilience, guided by careful evidence. Together, these documents tell the story of persistent, if sometimes unseen, efforts to heal the environment amidst one of the world's most challenging humanitarian crises.

A third way to measure conservation efforts in the camps comes from the world of academic research—but the picture here is stark. Between 1 January 2018 and 22 August 2025, a search on Google Scholar shows 917 articles with both 'Rohingya' and 'Bangladesh' in their titles. Yet when terms like 'Biodiversity', 'Conservation', 'Plantation', or 'Tree' were added, the search came up empty. Only 17 articles mentioned 'Forest', 'Vegetation', or 'Wildlife'—a mere 1.85% of the total.

The conclusion is clear: the ecological dimensions of the Rohingya refugee crisis have largely been ignored by scholars. Without academic attention to complement the reporting of UN agencies and NGOs, much of the progress and challenges in environmental restoration remains under-documented and under-discussed.

One of the most striking conservation initiatives I witnessed firsthand was led by IUCN and UNHCR back in 2018, when I was also involved. The project enlisted refugee men to help protect the camps from potential wild elephant attacks, a collaboration that proved vital in keeping both people and elephants safe. Over seven and a half years, this Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) reduction project grew into a model of coexistence—until 31 July 2025, when it concluded, reportedly due to a shift in UNHCR's operational priorities.

But the story did not end there. On 1 August 2025, UNHCR began seeking proposals for a new project, "Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) for Rohingya Refugees," designed to continue the HEC mitigation measures. 

The plan involves engaging the already trained refugee volunteers, known as Elephant Response Teams (ERTs), and maintaining both existing and new Elephant Watch Towers along camp borders to prevent injuries and property loss. The project will also take on wildlife rescue and release activities, in coordination with camp authorities and the Bangladesh Forest Department, ensuring that the delicate balance between humans and nature continues to be protected.

This latest call for proposals signals two important shifts in how conservation in the camps is being approached. For years, nearly all ecological projects were confined to a one-year horizon, but the new CCCM project will stretch over four years (2026–2029). This longer timeframe promises more thoughtful, medium-term planning, greater job security for conservation staff, and stronger sustainability for the NGOs carrying out the work.

The second shift lies in localisation. Whereas IUCN had long led most ecological initiatives, the CCCM project opens the door for national NGOs to take a more prominent role. Yet the success of this transition hinges on one critical factor: UNHCR must ensure that experienced staff from previous conservation projects are brought on board, so their deep understanding of camp dynamics, technical know-how, and experience navigating the delicate intersection of humanitarian response and environmental protection is not lost.

Back in March 2025, a sense of cautious optimism filled the air during the visit of the Honourable Chief Advisor and the UN Secretary-General to the camps, with hopes for Rohingya repatriation taking center stage. 

Yet the political realities in both Bangladesh and Myanmar remain far from supportive. In this context, focusing on ecological conservation with a medium-term perspective emerges as the most practical—and perhaps the only—strategy for now, ensuring that the fragile environment is protected even amid ongoing uncertainty.

Dr Haseeb Md Irfanullah is an independent consultant working on environment, climate change, and research systems, and a visiting research fellow at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB). Email: hmirfanullah@outlook.com

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.