Communities in conservation: Protected area management and enhanced conservation in Bangladesh

In the last few decades, the natural resource base of most developing countries has decreased alarmingly because of enormous population pressure and extreme poverty. Bangladesh is no exception, having lost most of its forest in the last 30 years. The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) has adopted various approaches to conserve the country’s remaining biodiversity, including protected areas (PAs). However, the creation of PAs alone has not produced positive conservation results as expected, due to a purely ecological focus that excluded the needs of local forestdependent people. The introduction of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) for nature conservation in PAs is relatively new for Bangladesh compared to other South Asian countries, but it seems to have effected significant changes. The GoB recently adopted CBNRM in five of its PAs as part of a pilot programme in collaborative management. This paper is a case study of the changing trends in PA management, people’s livelihoods and attitudes in and around one of these pilot sites. We observed that some changes have already taken place in forest resource collection patterns and in the attitudes of people in the locality. People’s income sources and dependency on protected forests have also noticeably shifted away from forest areas in the Communities in conservation: protected area management and enhanced conservation in Bangladesh last year. Although gradual, people’s participation seems to be changing the direction of future forest conservation in Bangladesh. We conclude that bringing a larger number of people under various income-generating schemes, clearly defining the rights and responsibilities of the local people in PAs and ensuring more effective governance should be the next steps for the future of participatory management in the country

Limited role of shifting cultivation in soil carbon and nutrients recovery in regenerating tropical secondary forests

Shifting cultivation is a dominant land-use in the tropical forest-agriculture frontier in Southeast Asia and is blamed for much of the environmental degradation in the region. We examined the distribution and availability of four soil macronutrients—i.e., soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), in secondary forests regenerating after shifting cultivation abandonment. Soil samples were collected along an upland fallow gradient on Leyte Island in the Philippines. The effect of site environmental attributes on the availability of SOC and nutrients was investigated using linear mixed-effect models. We found relatively higher concentrations of SOC and P in the oldest fallows and higher N concentration in the youngest fallow secondary forest. There was no significant difference in SOC and other macronutrients within sites of different fallow categories and soil depths, except in the case of soil K, which was highest in our control old-growth forest. Patch size together with slope of the site and fallow age were the most influential factors in explaining the variability in SOC and nutrients availability in secondary forests recovering after shifting cultivation abandonment. Our study suggests that shifting cultivation may not be detrimental to soil quality, at least on the soil parameters and soil type we studied in the Philippines upland

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

Social-ecological and institutional factors affecting forest and landscape restoration in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh

Bangladesh government has recently pledged to restore 0.75 million ha of degraded forestland as part of its commitment to the Bonn Challenge, however little is known about the potential challenges and opportunities involved in achieving that goal. Using secondary literature complemented by expert consultation and a field survey, we examined the outcomes and limitations of previous restoration programmes and identified key social, ecological and institutional aspects crucial for a successful forest restoration programme in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh. The CHT region accounts for over a third of state-owned forests, and it supports a large part of the country's forest-dwelling ethnic populations, although most of the forestland is severely degraded. Our analysis revealed that past programmes had utilised participatory tree planting, horticulture and rubber-based agroforestry to restore degraded forestland and improve community livelihood in the CHT. However, past restoration programmes merely emphasised improving tree cover without considering the ecological functionality, biodiversity and carbon co-benefits of restored forests. The duration of these pro-grammes was also relatively short, and there was no clear plan for engaging local communities in the restoration activities beyond the programme period. Among other things, the local ethnic community's land rights issue remained unresolved and the participant's land ownership influenced their willingness to participate effectively in any restoration programme. Households with secured land rights had a more positive attitude towards participating in forestland restoration than those with unsecured land rights. Suitable acts and policies that would allow people to legally continue to use tree-based land in the regions (i.e. forest and land tenure rights) are also lacking. Future forest and landscape restoration (FLR) programmes may thus need to focus on improving the biodiversity and ecological functionality of those restored forests, resolving local people's forest and land tenure rights and involving them in site-specific restoration interventions. The engagement of local and regional-level multi-stakeholders in such an FLR programme is also essential for realising the restoration's multiple social and ecological benefits

The use of medicinal plants in health care practices by Rohingya refugees in a degraded forest and conservation area of Bangladesh

People in developing countries traditionally rely on plants for their primary healthcare. This dependence is relatively higher in forests in remote areas due to the lack of access to modern health facilities and easy availability of the plant products.We carried out an ethno-medicinal survey in Teknaf Game Reserve (TGR), a heavily degraded forest and conservation area in southern Bangladesh, to explore the diversity of plants used by Rohingya refugees for treating various ailments. The study also documented the traditional utilization, collection and perceptions of medicinal plants by the Rohingyas residing on the edges of this conservation area. We collected primary information through direct observation and by interviewing older respondents using a semi-structured questionnaire. A total of 34 plant species in 28 families were frequently used by the Rohingyas to treat 45 ailments, ranging from simple headaches to highly complex eye and heart diseases. For medicinal preparations and treating various ailments, aboveground plant parts were used more than belowground parts. The collection of medicinal plants was mostly from the TGR. © 2009 Taylor & Francis

Integrating livelihoods and conservation in protected areas: Understanding the role and stakeholder views on prospects for non-timber forest products, a Bangladesh case study

Protected areas (PAs) represent a key global strategy in biodiversity conservation. In tropical developing countries, the management of PAs is a great challenge as many contain resources on which local communities rely. Collection and trading of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) is a well-established forest-based livelihood strategy, which has been promoted as a potential means for enhanced conservation and improved rural livelihoods in recent years, even though the sustainability or ecological implications have rarely been tested. We conducted an exploratory survey to understand the role and stakeholder views on conservation prospects and perceived ecological feasibility of NTFPs and harvesting schemes in a northeastern PA of Bangladesh, namely the Satchari National Park. Households (n = 101) were interviewed from three different forest dependency categories, adopting a stratified random sampling approach and using a semi-structured questionnaire. The study identified 13 locally important NTFPs, with five being critically important to supporting local livelihoods. Our study suggests that collection, processing and trading in NTFPs constitutes the primary occupation for about 18% of local inhabitants and account for an estimated 19% of their cash annual income. The household consensus on issues relating to NTFPs and their prospective role in conservation was surprisingly high, with 48% of respondents believing that promotion of NTFPs in the PA could have positive conservation value. The majority (71%) of households also had some understanding of the ecological implications of NTFP harvesting, sustainability (53%) and possible management and monitoring regimes (100%). With little known about their real application in the field, our study suggests further investigations are required to understand the ecological compatibility of traditional NTFP harvesting patterns and management. © 2010 Taylor & Francis

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

Native diversity buffers against severity of non-native tree invasions

Determining the drivers of non-native plant invasions is critical for managing native ecosystems and limiting the spread of invasive species$^{1,2}$. Tree invasions in particular have been relatively overlooked, even though they have the potential to transform ecosystems and economies$^{3,4}$. Here, leveraging global tree databases$^{5,6,7}$, we explore how the phylogenetic and functional diversity of native tree communities, human pressure and the environment influence the establishment of non-native tree species and the subsequent invasion severity. We find that anthropogenic factors are key to predicting whether a location is invaded, but that invasion severity is underpinned by native diversity, with higher diversity predicting lower invasion severity. Temperature and precipitation emerge as strong predictors of invasion strategy, with non-native species invading successfully when they are similar to the native community in cold or dry extremes. Yet, despite the influence of these ecological forces in determining invasion strategy, we find evidence that these patterns can be obscured by human activity, with lower ecological signal in areas with higher proximity to shipping ports. Our global perspective of non-native tree invasion highlights that human drivers influence non-native tree presence, and that native phylogenetic and functional diversity have a critical role in the establishment and spread of subsequent invasions