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<p>The Baral River is a vital ecological corridor supporting irrigation, agriculture, aquatic habitats, and the livelihoods of surrounding communities. However, reduced water flow, largely driven by sluice gate construction, has placed the river system under increasing stress. This study evaluates multi-decadal land use and land cover (LULC) transitions, their underlying drivers, and associated environmental and socio-ecological impacts using remote sensing–based spatial analysis and qualitative field surveys conducted between 1987 and 2024. The results indicate a substantial increase in vegetation cover (including settlements) by 65.97&#xa0;km², alongside a significant decline in depressed land areas. Both the upstream and downstream reaches of the river experienced notable fluctuations in agricultural land. Over the past 37 years, the Baral River ecosystem has undergone considerable degradation, driven by encroachment, sand mining, groundwater depletion and contamination, reduced river flow, pollution, flooding, land conversion, and the deterioration of ecologically important wetland systems such as <i>Chalan Beel</i>. These findings provide robust scientific evidence of the coupled geospatial and socio-ecological processes driving riverine degradation and offer a critical basis for developing integrated, policy-relevant strategies for sustainable river management, ecosystem restoration, and climate-resilient water resource planning.</p>

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Integrating geospatial and socio-ecological analysis to assess environmental change in the Baral river, Bangladesh

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月20日

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  • Sharmin Shishir,
  • Sudipayan Bhattacharyya,
  • Md. Nazrul Islam,
  • Arnab Bhattacharjya

摘要

The Baral River is a vital ecological corridor supporting irrigation, agriculture, aquatic habitats, and the livelihoods of surrounding communities. However, reduced water flow, largely driven by sluice gate construction, has placed the river system under increasing stress. This study evaluates multi-decadal land use and land cover (LULC) transitions, their underlying drivers, and associated environmental and socio-ecological impacts using remote sensing–based spatial analysis and qualitative field surveys conducted between 1987 and 2024. The results indicate a substantial increase in vegetation cover (including settlements) by 65.97 km², alongside a significant decline in depressed land areas. Both the upstream and downstream reaches of the river experienced notable fluctuations in agricultural land. Over the past 37 years, the Baral River ecosystem has undergone considerable degradation, driven by encroachment, sand mining, groundwater depletion and contamination, reduced river flow, pollution, flooding, land conversion, and the deterioration of ecologically important wetland systems such as Chalan Beel. These findings provide robust scientific evidence of the coupled geospatial and socio-ecological processes driving riverine degradation and offer a critical basis for developing integrated, policy-relevant strategies for sustainable river management, ecosystem restoration, and climate-resilient water resource planning.