Impacts of mangrove plantations on land stabilization along the coastline in Bangladesh

Rapid degradation of stabilized mangrove plantations in the southern and south-eastern part of Bangladesh has raised much concern to the scientists and environmentalists. In the past, land stabilization concept in connection to mangrove plantations is poorly understood. This study aimed at assessing the current status of mangrove plantations and understanding more about their impacts on land stabilization along the coastline of Bangladesh. The study was carried out at five Coastal Afforestation Divisions (here mentioned as CADs) of Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) from September 2014 to August 2015. Primary data on stabilized mangrove plantations over the time period of 1966 - 2014 were collected from BFD field offices. Secondary data on natural accretion and erosion were collected from a large number of existing literatures. The results showed that more than 192,395 ha of mangrove plantations were stabilized over the period from 1966 through 2014 in five CADs with the highest distribution in Noakhali (40%) followed by that in Chittagong (26%), Bhola (20%) and Patuakhali (14%). The total area of stabilized mangroves maintained a significant (

People's dependency on forest resources and contributions of forests to the livelihoods: a case study in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh

The study was conducted to investigate people's forest dependency and contributions of forests to the livelihoods in the three hill districts of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh. The study revealed that forest resources contribute significantly to rural community's livelihoods and economic well-being. Using generalized logistic regressions, this study has also investigated the socioeconomic factors that affect people's dependency on forest resources of CHT. The study revealed that people's income from forest and forest-related occupation was positively aligned with their forest dependency. However, their education level significantly reduced their dependency on forest resources. Thus, educating the forest-dependent people and supporting alternative income generation activities should be appreciated for effective forest management in CHT. This study will be helpful to forest and environmental policy makers for CHT