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Good practice Imported

Bangladesh's Cyclone Preparedness Programme & Sundarbans Mangrove Shelterbelt — Fifty Years Cutting Cyclone Deaths

Bangladesh · Khulna · See the Bangladesh profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 41% 47/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Bangladesh's Cyclone Preparedness Programme trains 76,000+ Red Crescent volunteers across 13 coastal districts and evacuated 2.1 million people ahead of Cyclone Bulbul; storm deaths fell from ~300,000 in 1970's Bhola cyclone to under 10 in 2018's Fani and ~20 in 2020's Amphan.

~300,000
Cyclone deaths (Bhola) (1970)
3,500
Cyclone deaths (Sidr) (2007)
<10
Cyclone deaths (Fani) (2018)
~20
Cyclone deaths (Amphan) (2020)
2.1 million
People evacuated ahead of Cyclone Bulbul (2019)
76,000+
Trained CPP volunteers

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Bangladesh Red Crescent Society & Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief
Period
1973-present
Keywords
disaster risk reduction, mangrove conservation, community early warning, coastal protection

Context

Bangladesh's low-lying, densely populated coast is among the world's most cyclone-exposed regions; the 1970 Bhola cyclone killed an estimated 300,000 people, prompting government and Red Crescent action.

Activities

Since 1973, the joint Government of Bangladesh/Bangladesh Red Crescent Society Cyclone Preparedness Programme has trained 76,000+ community volunteers across 13 coastal districts, while the government maintains the 571,500-hectare Sundarbans mangrove as a storm-surge buffer and built 552 cyclone shelters and 550+ km of evacuation roads under the World Bank-financed Multipurpose Disaster Shelter Project.

Results

Cyclone deaths fell from roughly 300,000 in 1970 to 3,500 in 2007's Sidr, fewer than 10 in 2018's Fani and about 20 in 2020's Amphan; the CPP evacuated 2.1 million people ahead of 2019's Cyclone Bulbul.

Conclusions

The decline reflects the combined effect of shelters, roads, early warning and the mangrove buffer together; continued Sundarbans degradation pressures remain a documented risk to the buffer's future effectiveness.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
76,000+ Bangladesh Red Crescent Society volunteers, Government disaster-management agencies

Conditions for success

  • Continued shelter and road maintenance
  • Sundarbans mangrove protection
  • Sustained volunteer training pipeline

Common failure modes

  • Continued Sundarbans degradation pressures documented as a risk to the buffer's future effectiveness

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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