Commercial cultivation by farmers of medicinal plants in Northern Bangladesh

Medicinal plants (MPs) are an important component of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), which are traditionally used in healthcare and source of livelihood all over the world. In an over-populated country like Bangladesh, the pressure on natural forests is immense; thus the cultivation of MPs can significantly contribute towards improving the livelihood of poor people, reducing the pressure on natural forests and enhancing biological diversity. Notwithstanding the growing recognition of its importance and economic and ecological potential, there has been little research on MPs, especially the cultivation, management and marketing aspects, in Bangladesh. Based on extensive fieldwork in a northern district of Bangladesh, this study explores various aspects of the cultivation, management and marketing of MPs. How collective efforts have brought economic and social benefits to communities was also examined in this study. It assesses the major processes and elements of management, identifies key problems and challenges and indicates ways of maximizing the potential of this important sector. The issues covered in this research include: farmers ’ perceptions and experiences; existing research and policy-making processes related to the MP sector; constraining factors (such as lack of processing technology, inadequate transportation, logistics, financial and storage infrastructure, lack of institutional capacity); markets, finance and networking; land use; pattern of livelihood and value chain issue

A new estimate of carbon for Bangladesh forest ecosystems with their spatial distribution and REDD+ implications

In tropical developing countries, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is becoming an important mechanism for conserving forests and protecting biodiversity. A key prerequisite for any successful REDD+ project, however, is obtaining baseline estimates of carbon in forest ecosystems. Using available published data, we provide here a new and more reliable estimate of carbon in Bangladesh forest ecosystems, along with their geo-spatial distribution. Our study reveals great variability in carbon density in different forests and higher carbon stock in the mangrove ecosystems, followed by in hill forests and in inland Sal (Shorea robusta) forests in the country. Due to its coverage, degraded nature, and diverse stakeholder engagement, the hill forests of Bangladesh can be used to obtain maximum REDD+ benefits. Further research on carbon and biodiversity in under-represented forest ecosystems using a commonly accepted protocol is essential for the establishment of successful REDD+ projects and for the protection of the country’s degraded forests and for addressing declining levels of biodiversity

Legal framework for community participation in governance : the role of co-management in the forest protected areas management of Bangladesh

The co-management of protected areas (PAs) have been developed and supported in many countries through international and national approaches and practices as well as legal, policy and institutional frameworks. Many international standards, guidelines and best practices are non-binding principles (soft law) in international regimes, yet they have become embedded in national legal and policy frameworks in forest and PA management. Sustainable development (SD) requires livelihood support, capacity building of the stakeholders, widespread community participation and effective local governance. International law and policy particularly related to these attributes have been promoted through the Rio Declaration, Agenda21, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Forest Principles. The research questions addressed in this thesis seek to identify the scope, problems and the challenges of implementing co-management in the forest PAs of Bangladesh. The main focus of research and analysis in this thesis is investigating whether co-management is an appropriate governance approach to contribute to sustainable development goals, particularly in context of community participation, livelihoods, tenural rights and capacity building for devolution of power (to communities) in the long term. The long-established role of Community Forestry (CF), Social Forestry (SF) and Community-Based Environmental Management (CBEM) as participatory governance approaches for forest PAs in Bangladesh is critically reviewed. Through a case study of the Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS), the implementation of co-management regimes in Bangladesh is explored with particular regard to the needs and perspectives of community partners, other key stakeholders and the institutions through which they govern the sanctuary. This enables a deeper understanding of the strengths and weakness of the existing co-management regimes in Bangladesh.As co-management in Bangladesh evolves from these examples, experiences, ad hoc case studies and pilot projects, developing supportive legal, policy and institutional frameworks will become increasingly important. Therefore, existing Bangladesh regimes for participatory governance and co-management are reviewed with the objectives of identifying the problems and challenges of the concept of co-management and to integrate them with best practices (internationally and nationally) in participatory governance of PA's that incorporate SD principles in a developing country context. This then provides the basis for making recommendations for improvements and identifying future governance through co-management that reflects the needs and aspirations of forest-dependent communities

A STUDY ON THE INDIGENOUS MEDICINAL PLANTS AND HEALING PRACTICES IN CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS (BANGLADESH)

It has been unequivocally established that medicinal plants and associated knowledge play a significant role in the general welfare of the upland communities of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh. Notwithstanding the recognition, however, organised research on indigenous medicinal plants and knowledge has been strikingly limited. This local wisdom is fast eroding for such reasons as biotic interference, shrinking land resource base, deforestation, insufficient support from the government and public policies, and lack of appropriate management and institutional structure. In this context, this article, drawing on an empirical fieldwork, sheds some lights on the indigenous medicinal plants and associated practices in six selected locations of CHT. After a general introduction, the second section summaries selected key literature on the subject. The third section presents some observation on the medicinal plant resources in the study areas, while the next section introduces the practice of traditional healers or Baidyas together with their problems. The concluding section furnishes the following clues on improvement: (a) systematic documentation and recording of the existing medicinal plants; (b) organised motivational and awareness raising campaign regarding medicinal plants and their benefits; (c) establishment of experimental propagation nurseries; (d) research support for proper documentation and dissemination of the knowledge on medicinal plants and associated folk and herbal treatment methods; (e) utilisation of the local press, media and folk cultural practices as community-based extension and dissemination media to highlight the importance of medicinal plants and knowledge; (f) development of a network or platform to bring the Baidyas together by utilizing the community-based organisations

Managing protected areas in a changing world: new insights and opportunities

Establishment of protected areas (PAs) is one of the key global conservation strategies that currently cover approximately 15% of the earth’s land surface. Globally, PA networks are designed to curb the growing anthropogenic pressures in areas with high biological diversity. Despite the importance of PAs in conserving the vanishing biodiversity and unique habitats, many of them are in critical condition due to poor governance thus functioning below the expected level. Moreover, in many developing countries, the PA coverage is below the global standard. Recognizing their contemporary role in conservation, governments have recently agreed to expand the global PA coverage to 17% by the year 2020 (Aichi target 11). This book with eight chapters from different regions of the world provides an overview of the PAs governance, institutional mechanisms, conservation benefits, limitations and challenges associated with their respective policy discourse, integrated management, and functional attributes. Protected areas expect to play an important role in the long run in conservation and protection of biodiversity and ecosystems particularly in countries where population pressure and habitat loss are high. Regular intervention, political commitment, and effective governance are essential for the sustainability of PAs across the world. Here, we also attempted to shed some light on future development clues for the sustainable management and monitoring of PAs worldwide

Forest protected area systems and biodiversity conservation in Bangladesh

Despite of being an exceptionally biodiversity rich country, the forest coverage of Bangladesh is declining at an alarming rate. Declaration and management of protected areas in this regard is one of the efforts from government side to tackle the loss of biodiversity. The limited numbers of forest-protected areas (FPA), established to conserve the dwindling forest biodiversity of the country with high pressure on them for timber, nontimber forest products, and fuelwood - makes their management challenging. Moreover, most of the FPAs of the country declared only in the recent decades with very limited infrastructure, manpower and policy support for monitoring and governance. Some people-centred approaches for the management of FPAs and alternative livelihood and income generation subsidies although made available through a few project interventions, their number are still inadequate and performance remains less than satisfactory. This chapter provides a critical review of the FPAs of Bangladesh looking at their role in biodiversity conservation, management challenges, and key lessons from previous management interventions with recommendations for the future. It has been revealed that the FPA system of Bangladesh still poorly represents the diverse forest ecosystems with relatively small forest size and lack of corridors for the movement of wildlife. There are ample opportunities to render comanagement of FPAs an effective strategy to minimize the conflicts in FPAs management in the country. It is, however, important to ensure the access of local forest-dependent people to different alternative income generating options that may adequately support their livelihoods

Selected dynamics of collaborative protected area management in the global North and South : experiences from Australia and Nepal

Collaborative protected area management has of late gained growing recognition and attention in both developing and developed nations as an avenue of sustainable development that ensures biodiversity conservation as well as community development. This article sheds lights on selected dynamics of the collaborative approach to PA management in Australia and Nepal, representing North and South nations respectively with a view to eliciting experiences and lessons that may have wider relevance for developing and planning sustainable co-management systems for effective PA management. The focus of the review has been on the history and operational features, existing legal and policy framework, and the status of the community participation in the governance of PAs of these two countries. Both these countries are amongst the pioneer nations that made systematic attempts to involve local communities in forest and protected area management. Although the scope and experiences of collaborative protected area management in these countries vary significantly due to their distinct socio-economic and political contexts, they both exhibit many common features that may provide valuable clues while devising management prescriptions of PAs in other parts of the world. Some such factors that may facilitate constructing a shared vision of governing protected areas through collaborative efforts include the following: proactive community engagement, promoting private-public partnership governance approaches; valuing local and social culture, and devising a meaningful dialogue and communication channel between amongst the key stakeholders

The role of spiritual beliefs in conserving wildlife species in religious shrines of Bangladesh

The conservation of biodiversity is developing into one of the biggest challenges of the century. Rapidly declining forests and the degradation of wild habitats are a direct result of a lack of public awareness and participation in the process of conservation. However, in small land areas in undeveloped countries characterised by high population density and poor public awareness, local religious and/or spiritual beliefs favour conservation of biodiversity at both species and habitat levels. This paper attempts to explore this practice based on case studies from Bangladesh where for generations some local beliefs have been protecting important wildlife species such as the Black Soft-shell Turtle, Mugger Crocodile, Rock Pigeon and Rhesus Macaque. The paper also offers a SWOT analysis of the potential role and challenges of these religious shrines as a refuge for biodiversity