Hail Haor is a large freshwater wetland complex covering approximately 21,800 hectares in Moulvibazar District, Sylhet Division, in north-east Bangladesh. The site consists of a shallow, saucer-shaped wetland system comprising seasonal and permanent freshwater lakes, marshes, pools, rivers, and shrub-dominated wetlands that expand and contract dramatically between the monsoon and dry seasons. Hail Haor supports internationally important populations of migratory waterbirds, including the Critically Endangered Baer’s Pochard, large congregations of migratory ducks, and species such as the Black-tailed Godwit. The site was designated as a wildlife sanctuary in 1983 and has been recognized as a Flyway Network Site under the East Asian–Australasian Flyway Partnership since 2011.

 

The wetland plays a critical role in sustaining local livelihoods and food security, with an estimated 172,000 people living in surrounding villages and relying on fisheries, wet rice cultivation, and wetland resources. Hail Haor provides essential ecosystem services, particularly flood hazard regulation and cultivated food production, but faces growing pressure from unsustainable water use for agriculture, sedimentation, livestock grazing, and climate change. The Baikka Beel fish sanctuary within Hail Haor demonstrates a successful co-management model that combines fish conservation, community participation, and nature-based tourism. Scaling up wetland restoration, strengthening fisheries co-management, improving water connectivity, and carefully developing ecotourism offer key opportunities to enhance climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, and livelihoods across the wider Hail Haor landscape.