Ecosystems supply numerous valuable services which are
crucial for maintaining human wellbeing. However, the value of
these Ecosystem Services (ESS) are yet to be fully captured or
quantified and how they contribute to ecosystem conservation and
the wellbeing of people are not properly understood. This thesis
aims to add to this knowledge through the use of four case
studies from two forests in Asia. Using these two important
forests, this research project aimed to answer four key research
questions: 1. What is the estimated value of the ESS obtained
from the forest ecosystem? 2. What are the potentials of
recreational service based management in sustainable
conservation? 3. What are the interactions between livelihood
capitals and access of local communities to the forest ecosystem
services and how does this impact their daily lives and
wellbeing? 4. What are the potentials of ecosystem services for
improving human wellbeing of directly dependent communities? The
case studies were conducted at the Veun Sai-Siem Pang National
Park (VSSPNP) in Cambodia, and the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest
(SMF) in Bangladesh. In order to estimate the value of VSSPNP, I
used academically well-established formulas and methods for each
service. Primary data were collected by conducting interview and
secondary data were obtained from published literature and
official records of the respective authorities. I estimated the
total annual contribution of VSSPNP to be US129.84millioncontributedbyairpurification,waterstorage,soil−erosionreduction,soil−fertilityimprovement,carbonsequestration,provisioningservicesandrecreation.Theareaalsogeneratedvaluablenon−monetaryvaluesincludingacademicandnon−academicknowledge,createdadiversenetworkworldwide,andshapedthecultureoflocalindigenouspeople.Giventhehighvalueofthearea,aproperlydesignedecosystem−basedecotourismprogram(CBET)wasdeveloped.ThisprogramwasassessedintermsofitsimpactonhumanwellbeingbysurveyingthedemographyoftouristsandtheirconservationattitudestowardstheCBETprogram.Intotal36touristswereinterviewedtwice(beforeandaftervisitingthesite).Inaddition,datawerecollectedfromtheofficialrecordsofthemanagementauthority(ConservationInternationalorCI),facetofaceinterviewswith35indigenousfamiliesandfocusgroupdiscussionswithlocalpeopleincludingbothCBETmembersandnon−members.IfoundthattheCBETprogramincreasedtherecreationalvalueofVSSPNPandtherewasasignificantimprovementinthelevelofsatisfactionofthetouristsaftervisitingthesite.CBETalsosignificantlyincreasedtheintentionforcollectiveactionandcooperationforconservationoftheforestamongstpeople.Similarly,intheShyamnagarupazilavicinityoftheSundarbansMangroveForest(SMF),Iconductedinterviewswiththeheadsof104householdstodeterminethelevelofaccesstoprovisioningservices(atypeofESS)tobetterunderstandthetrade−offsmadebythehouseholdswhenselectingwhichservicestouse.Ifoundthattheinteractionsbetweenlivelihoodcapitals(human,physical,financial,naturalandsocial)arekeycontributorstothelevelofaccessapersonhastoagivenserviceandthatPScontributedsignificantlyinavailabilityandcleanlinessofnon−drinkingwateraswellassignificantlyimprovingthecapacityofpeopletomaintainsocialfreedom.Ithendividedthese104householdsintohighaccess(income≥US893/yr) and lower access
(<US$893/yr) families based on the income they received from
provisioning service collection and collected data on four
general wellbeing criteria. The effect of each criterion on
wellbeing was measured and showed that only physical health and
economic security significantly improved with the increase in PS
collection as food sufficiency was significantly decreased with
the increase in the amount of PS collection. A higher amount of
PS extraction also tends to significantly weaken the collectors
physically while mental health decreased. These case studies
suggest a participatory approach of forest conservation has the
potentials to make a difference for wildlife and human
populations and these relationships need to be better understood
to fully understand how important forests are for local people.
This will help make better conservation action plans that ensure
forests are maintained and that people’s expectations of how
they can use the forest are secured
‘Marin Drăcea’ National Research-Development Institute in Forestry
Publication date
01/11/2012
Field of study
This study is to know the physical and mechanical properties ofparticle board made up of jute sticks (jutex board) and wood chips (woodex board) of Trewia nudiflora. Two leading particle board manufacturing industries of Bangladesh were selected first which have the same manufacturing process and adhesive composition. Boards of available thicknesses were collected randomly. From each thickness category, three replications were taken. The parameters were studied as adhesive composition, mass of a board, density, bending strength, modulus of elasticity, surface soundness, tensile strength, screw withdrawal, pressure and pressing time. Urea formaldehyde resin is used to manufacture both types of particle board. For achieving the greater efficiency of boards, some chemical compounds were mixed with the resin. Due to the change in thicknesses, boards were not always different in terms of the physical and mechanical properties. Moreover, except the modulus of elasticity (MOE), woodex boards were superior to the properties of jutex boards
'Marin Dracea National Research-Development Institute in Forestry'
Publication date
01/12/2012
Field of study
This study is to know the physical and mechanical properties of particle board made up of jute sticks (jutex board) and wood chips (woodex board) of Trewia nudiflora. Two leading particle board manufacturing industries of Bangladesh were selected first which have the same manufacturing process and adhesive composition. Boards of available thicknesses were collected randomly. From each thickness category, three replications were taken. The parameters were studied as adhesive composition,mass of a board, density, bending strength, modulus of elasticity,surface soundness, tensile strength, screw withdrawal, pressure and pressing time. Urea formaldehyde resin is used to manufacture both types of particle board. For achieving the greater efficiency of boards, some chemical compounds were mixed with the resin. Due to the change in thicknesses, boards were not always different in terms of the physical and mechanical properties. Moreover, except the modulus of elasticity (MOE), woodex boards were superior to the properties of jutex boards. </span