Extent and Consequences of Tropical Forest Degradation: Successive Policy Options for Bangladesh

This paper is conceived at a time when new paradigms are sought for the development of a framework to deal with the problem of forest resources degradation. Deforestation in Bangladesh, has reached an alarming rate in recent years. The forest coverage of Bangladesh is one of the lowest and the deforestation rate is the highest of any country in the world. Coupled with the process of deforestation, flawed afforestration programmes have seriously exposed Bangladesh to environmental vulnerability. Considering this situation various strategies should be taken at different levels. The main objective of this paper is to suggest the possible steps that Bangladesh could halt and reverse the trend of deforestation. An extensive literature review and structured interviews of key informants have been used to collect relevant information to understand the reasons and consequences of forest degradation in the country. Based on the information gathered, this paper suggests some positive steps where the Government could be the main mitigating actor by implementing integrated programmes, which will also ensure mass awareness and wider impact

Depleting Tropical Forest at a Landscape Scale: Finding Solutions for Bangladesh

Drastic deforestation is a major problem of Bangladesh which is contributing to negative downstream impacts on the environment. To address this problem various measures should be taken at different scales. The main objective of this paper is to suggest the possible steps that Bangladesh could take and reverse the trend of deforestation. An extensive literature review and interviews with government officials, professionals and NGO workers have been used to collect relevant information on the agents of deforestation in the country. Based on the information gathered, this paper presents the reasons for the extent of deforestation, and suggests some positive steps where the Government could be the main mitigating actor by implementing integrated programmes, which will also ensure mass awareness and wider impact. Local NGOs and international bodies must also formulate adequate plans to protect valuable areas of remaining forest

Initiatives of Tropical Agroforestry to Sustainable Agriculture: A Case Study of Capasia Village, Northern Bangladesh

A relatively large percentage of the population in Bangladesh lives under the poverty line and is affected by the country's degrading natural resources. Agroforestry has been seen as one of the few options to lift people out of poverty. Research into the costs and benefits of agroforestry was undertaken in Capasia Village in Northern Bangladesh. Initial results indicate that agroforestry may not only be an optimal livelihood solution for poor farmers, biodiversity conservation and environmental sustainability but agroforestry systems also provide good economic rates of return. Thus the farmers who engage in agroforestry are benefited in different ways

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1,2,3,4,5,6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world’s most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees

The rights way forward: reconciling the right to food with biodiversity conservation

The current paradigm of biodiversity conservation, with its continued focus on the notion of pristine nature, has resulted in the separation of humans and nature at the expense of both biological and cultural–linguistic diversity. The continued annexation of land for the cause of conservation has resulted in the curtailment of both rights and access to local and diverse food sources for many rural communities. Indigenous Peoples and local communities are fundamental to conserving biodiversity through sustainable use of nature despite repeated attempts to dispossess them from their lands, cultures and knowledge. It has been this traditional and land-based knowledge that has contributed to the conservation of biodiversity whilst also supporting healthy, diverse and nutritious diets. If we are to achieve a more just and sustainable future, we need to continue to centre conservation initiatives around rights, access and equity whilst respecting a plurality of perspectives, worldviews and knowledge systems. Here we review alternative approaches that help reconcile the right to food with biodiversity conservation, such as biocultural rights, rights-based approaches and integrated land management schemes, with the aim of identifying optimal ways forward for conservation that break away from the dichotomous view that pits people against nature and instead embrace the importance of this symbiotic relationship