Does Community-based Forestry Management Approach Improve the Livelihoods of Local People? A case of Sal-forest area in Bangladesh (original) (raw)
Related papers
Community forest management addressing social vulnerability of forest communities in Bangladesh
International Forestry Review, 2013
Focusing on people oriented forest policy initiatives, this paper intends to understand whether and to what extent these initiatives can address the social vulnerability of forest communities in Bangladesh. This paper found that despite the potential of community forest management, the community based policy initiatives in Bangladesh fail to address the dynamic relationships among the formal and informal institutions that largely shape the rights and access of forest communities to forest resources. These policies ignored the social construction process that generated inequality and marginalisation in gaining access to forest resources. This paper argues that various forms of institutional arrangements and their relationships are of central importance in determining which social actors gain access to and control over their local natural resources. This, in turn, contributes to the forest communities' limited ability to ensure their livelihoods, their basic needs and their capacity to cope with adverse events such as climate induced hazards.
Small-scale Forestry, 2013
Even though many forest villagers have been living on forest department land and serving the department in the northeastern hill forests region of Bangladesh since the early 1950s, their livelihood has not yet been fully explored. This paper examines the livelihoods of forest villagers (Khasia ethnic people) and their contribution to forest conservation, using data from the Sylhet forest division. The forest villagers are well-endowed with all the elements of a sustainable livelihoods framework, though human capital in terms of education is not satisfactory. Strong social capital, stable natural capital and a productive market-oriented agroforestry system facilitate the generation of financial and physical capital that make the livelihoods of Khasia people sustainable. At the same time, their reciprocal contributions in terms of forest protection and plantation development support forest conservation. However, some institutional issues such as insecure land tenure with regular agreement renewal problems need to be resolved for the sake of their livelihoods and forest conservation. Lessons learned from the study can be utilized in formulating future participatory forest management schemes in the country.
2020
Forests provide direct and indirect economic benefits to forest dependent communities in the world, especially in the developing countries contributing to the national economy. Present study was conducted to explore the socioeconomic status and factors favoring forest conservation and influencing people’s dependency on forest resources in the Rangamati hill district of Bangladesh. The study was based on Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and socioeconomic survey through semi-structured questionnaire. Using generalized logistic regressions (GLR), this study has investigated the socioeconomic factors that favour forest conservation and influence people’s dependency on forest resources. The study revealed that peoples’ income from forest and forest-related occupations were positively aligned with their forest dependency. However, their education level significantly reduced their dependency on forest resources. Thus, educating the forest-dependent people, empowering the local and co-managemen...
Ecosystem Services , 2019
This study examines the relative benefits (provisioning) and importance (regulating and cultural) of forest ecosystem services to households in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region of Bangladesh. Our results from 300 household interviews in three rural locations stratified by wealth shows that wealth levels of the respondents play a key role in explaining variations in the perceptions and use of forest ecosystem services. Considering the direct benefits, the importance of provisioning ecosystem services (i.e. fuel wood, food, timber, bamboo, thatch grass and fodder) varies according to their relative use (i.e. subsistence and cash income) among households of different wealth groups. No significant difference was found in perceptions of indirect benefits of forest ecosystem services of water purification, regulating air quality, crop pollination, soil fertility, aesthetic and spiritual services. But the higher wealth groups perceived soil protection, soil fertility, pest and disease control as important for crop production as they have large landholdings for agricultural uses and tree cover. This study suggests local wealth conditions of the rural households characterise the demand of the use and perceived importance of forest ecosystem services. Differences in levels of wealth and ecosystem service provision imply careful consideration of social and economic factors in decision-making and making appropriate interventions for forest and tree management. The ecosystem services approach appears to be useful in capturing the broader diversity of benefits of forests and trees (i.e. material and non-material) as well as in supporting their integrated management at the landscape scale.
2019
Forest and trees provide a range of benefits (i.e. ecosystem services) which are particularly important in supporting livelihoods of rural communities in tropical developing countries. However sustaining forest benefits and their future provision remains challenging due to various factors including forest loss driven by agriculture conversion, ineffective national policies for forest management and competing land uses. There is a need to understand forest cover changes and land use impacts on livelihoods and identify ways their benefits can be sustained. This thesis investigates the relationships between forests and livelihoods by examining the forest benefits used and perceived by rural communities, and how changing forest and land uses impact the benefits in different landscape contexts (i.e. remote, intermediate and on-road zones) of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region (CHT) region in Bangladesh. The research addressed 4 key objectives: (1) to examine the relative importance of for...
Asian journal of forestry, 2022
Co-management of forest protected areas (PA) has started its journey in Bangladesh, intending to conserve forest resources by creating alternative incomegenerating activities for forest-dependent people. This study was designed to assess the effectiveness of co-management initiatives in improving socioeconomic status and reducing peoples' forest dependency at Dudpukuria-Dhopachari Wildlife Sanctuary (DDWS), Bangladesh. A total of 142 respondents consisting of 71 co-management project-supported people (treatment) and 71 local people (control) with similar socioeconomic conditions without any project support, were surveyed randomly through a semi-structured questionnaire. The Difference in Differences (DiD) method was applied to assess the effectiveness of this program. Results revealed that there was an insignificant difference between co-management participants and non-participants in the case of total income. Both parties also observed a similar trend for total forest resource extraction. However, the monthly income of co-management participants from secondary occupations increased by USD 16.46. In contrast, the monthly fuel wood extraction of the co-management participants was reduced, equivalent to USD 2.21. The studied socioeconomic parameters were more or less similar for both parties. We conclude that the co-management interventions in DDWS resulted from insignificant differences in terms of socioeconomic conditions and forest dependency of local forest-dependent communities.
Journal of Environmental Management, 2008
Forests represent more than just a livelihood to many people in developing countries. In Bangladesh, for example, overwhelming poverty and socio-economic pressures have resulted in an unstable situation where intensive pressure on forest resources is having increasingly negative consequences for the population. Some studies have evaluated the benefits of people-oriented forestry activities from an investment, as well as a participant, point of view. In the study area located in the Tangail Forest Division, a total of 11,854 ha of woodlot, 2704 ha of agroforestry and 945 km of strip plantations have been raised in a benefit-sharing program that is inclusive of land encroachers and other economically disadvantaged people. Since 2000-2001, a total of 3716 ha of woodlot, 890 ha of agroforestry and 163 km of strip plantations have been harvested to the benefit of 6326 individuals. Investment analysis indicates that woodlot plantation is not financially viable but agroforestry is the most profitable. These results were somewhat unexpected since initial analysis suggested that the woodlot plantation profit would be greater than, or at least equal to, that of the agroforestry plantation if the number of planted seedlings per unit area was taken into account. The per unit area net present value (NPV) was highest in the agroforestry plantation ($1662) and negative in the woodlot plantation (-$397). The benefit cost ratio (BCR) was also highest in the agroforestry plantation (1.64) and lowest in the woodlot plantation (0.86). This study also showed that some individuals who were formally classified as encroachers have now become vital stakeholders. On average, participants received 800,800, 800,1866 and 1327overthecourseof13yearsfromstrip,agroforestryandwoodlotplantations,respectively.Averageannualreturnperparticipantwas1327 over the course of 13 years from strip, agroforestry and woodlot plantations, respectively. Average annual return per participant was 1327overthecourseof13yearsfromstrip,agroforestryandwoodlotplantations,respectively.Averageannualreturnperparticipantwas62, 144and144 and 144and102, respectively, which was in addition to each individual's yearly income. This added income is a significant contribution to monetary resources and improves socio-economic conditions at a grass roots level. Overall then this program can be considered a financial success as a plantation raising strategy. However, despite this financial progress, the program cannot be considered a true form of participatory people-oriented forestry because it shows serious deviations from the original concept or model for participatory people-oriented forestry that is outlined in the project document. These discrepancies are especially notable with regard to (i) beneficiary selection, (ii) gender equity, (iii) professional attitude and corruption, (iv) funding and (v) program approach. However, other countries faced with similar challenges of forest overuse and degradation may adopt this practice for achieving self-reliance and environmental stability.
Bangladesh has succeeded in reducing distrust and conflict between forestry officials and local farmers, encroachment on government lands, and the deforestation rate. But, program implementation has faced roadblocks that stem from a top-down bureaucratic approach and poor governance system. A number of NGO's are also working to promote community forestry with notable success, despite shortcomings that include strong profit motive, poor coordination with government bodies, lack of transparency, and non-uniform benefit sharing mechanisms.
Asian Journal of Research in Agriculture and Forestry, 2019
Forest is one of the main sources of different resources where indigenous communities are mostly dependent on the forest for their sustainable management of life. Following the dependency of indigenous communities on natural resources and their conservation practices and development of Village Common Forest (VCF) in Chittagong hill tracts. Present study was conducted at Haduk Para and Hridoy Member Para VCF’s in Khagrachari, Bangladesh to understand the dependency and practices of villagers on the VCF for their livelihood and other resources. Among different types of products extracted from Haduk Para and Hridoy Member Para, the monetary value was highest (14700 BDT and 22400 BDT, respectively) for timber but fuelwood is the most extracted product (1930 Kg HH-1Yr-1 and 2470 Kg HH-1Yr-1, respectively) they have collected from VCF. Besides, to fulfill daily personal needs different plant edible products, fauna, and medicinal plants have been collected by the community people from both...