Bangladesh: Island protection programme struggles for funding

Residents of Sandwip island, are urging the government to fund a multi-million-dollar, three-kilometre-long stretch of concrete and earth wall to halt erosion, threatening the earthen embankments that protect 400,000 people, reports Syful Islam for Reuters AlertNet.

"Climate scientists say low-lying areas like islands and coastal belts are under threat of vanishing due to sea level rise. There is no long-term solution except to try to save the island through increasing its size by building a dam," Chowdhury said.