GovTwin / Institution
Moulvibazar District
Local Gov
Moulvibazar is Bangladesh's tea-country district, where colonial-era estates, mixed evergreen forests, and haor wetlands shape both economy and ecology. It is close to the national wealth median but carries the highest forest loss of the four districts, even as its overall greenness remains the highest in the group.
Wealth rank 35/64
(1 = poorest district)
Warming +0.95°C
(1980s–2020s)
Air NO₂ #60/64
(1 = most polluted)
Night-lights +66%
(2014–23 activity)
Built-up 40 km²
Forest loss 6,366 ha
(2001–23)
Rainfall 2,945 mm/yr
Indicators: Meta RWI (HDX); ERA5-Land; MODIS; Sentinel-5P; VIIRS night-lights; GHSL; Hansen v1.11; CHIRPS v2.0. Exposure: GloFAS v2.1, FABDEM, MODIS LST, ACAG PM2.5, WorldPop 2020.
Problems and issues
- environment Forest loss of about 6,366 ha over 2001-2023 is the highest of the four districts, eating into the Lawachara-area mixed evergreen and hill forests, even though district NDVI (recent about 0.584, the highest of the four) reflects dense tea and plantation cover. So what: High plantation greenness disguises the loss of irreplaceable natural forest and its biodiversity, the district's distinctive ecological asset. Source: Hansen Global Forest Change v1.11 (UMD) via Google Earth Engine
- social The tea-estate economy concentrates a large, historically marginalized labour workforce on plantation land, while the district's mean Relative Wealth Index of about -0.059 (35th of 64) masks acute deprivation among estate workers behind a near-median average. So what: Estate workers face entrenched low wages, weak land rights, and poor services that a district-average wealth figure hides from policymakers. Source: Meta Data for Good Relative Wealth Index (HDX), ~2.4 km grid
- climate disaster Air has warmed about 0.95 C and rainfall is about 2,945 mm, sharpening both haor flash-flood risk in the lowlands and heat-and-rainfall stress on tea cultivation in the hills. So what: Tea yields and the haor boro crop are both climate-sensitive, so warming threatens the district's two main rural livelihoods at once. Source: ERA5-Land reanalysis (Copernicus/ECMWF) via Google Earth Engine, district mean
- economy Nightlight radiance grew about 66%, ranking 55th of 64 districts, indicating that beyond tea and remittances the local economy has added little new broad-based activity. So what: A narrow tea-and-remittance base leaves the district exposed to commodity-price and overseas-labour shocks with few alternatives. Source: VIIRS nighttime lights (annual radiance) via Google Earth Engine
- water Permanent surface water is about 16 sq km in the Hakaluki and other haors, a seasonally swollen system that dries down sharply, leaving the wetland fishery and dry-season water supply under stress. So what: Degradation and dry-season dewatering of the haors undercut fisheries and biodiversity that supplement estate-area incomes. Source: JRC Global Surface Water (permanent water) via Google Earth Engine
Probable solutions
- Protect and restore the remaining mixed evergreen and hill forest through co-management around protected areas and a halt to estate and settlement encroachment on natural forest. Responsible: Bangladesh Forest Department · Bangladesh Forest Department
- Enforce minimum-wage, housing, land-tenure, and basic-services standards for tea-estate workers and provide schooling and skills pathways off the estates. Responsible: Ministry of Labour and Employment / Department of Labour · policy proposal
- Support climate-resilient tea varieties, shade management, and economic diversification (eco-tourism, agro-processing) to reduce dependence on a single warming-sensitive crop. Responsible: Bangladesh Tea Board / Department of Agricultural Extension · Bangladesh Tea Board
- Establish community-managed dry-season fish sanctuaries and water-retention rules for Hakaluki and other haors to sustain the wetland fishery. Responsible: Department of Fisheries / Department of Environment · Department of Fisheries