Bangladesh Forest Department

Climate Resilient Participatory Afforestation and Reforestation Project

Updating Forestry Master Plan for Bangladesh

Technical study for review of Forestry Master Plan

Task 1: Sectoral Studies

19 October 2016

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This report was prepared by Agriconsulting Europe S.A., Brussels, Belgium, and Sodev Consult International Ltd., Dhaka, Bangladesh, in partial fulfilment of the contract for the Services of “Updating Forestry Master Plan for Bangladesh; Technical study for review of Forestry Master Plan and different sectoral studies for Forestry Master Plan updating; Technical study for developing strategy, update Forestry Master Plan and prepare time specific plans”, being Package BFD/S-9 of the “Climate Resilient Participatory Afforestation and Reforestation Project”.

19 October 2016

Agriconsulting Europe S.A.

Brussels, Belgium

Sodev Consult International Ltd.

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bangladesh Forest Department

Climate Resilient Participatory Afforestation and Reforestation Project

Updating Forestry Master Plan for Bangladesh

Technical study for review of Forestry Master Plan

Task 1: Sectoral Studies for Forestry Master Plan updating

Dhaka, 19 October 2016

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –i

Executive summary

Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), through the Climate Resilient Participatory

Afforestation and Reforestation Project (CRPARP), has assigned a consultancy entitled as,

“Updating Forestry Master Plan for Bangladesh (Consulting Firm) ‘Technical Study for Review

of Forestry Master Plan and different Sectoral Studies for Forestry Master Plan Updating and

Technical Study for Developing Strategy, update Forestry Master Plan and Prepare time

specific Plans’” to a consortium of Agriconsulting Europe S.A. (Brussels, Belgium) and Sodev

Consult International (Dhaka). The terms of reference (ToRs) of the contract for updating the

Forestry Master Plan (FMP) of Bangladesh has divided the total scope of work into seven

distinct but interrelated tasks, as follows:

Task 1: Prepare Sectoral Reports on: Problems of existing BFD institutions and

possible remedies, land management and ownership, forest and other related sectors

assessment, monitoring and assessment including remote sensing, socio-economic survey

and MIS/GIS database management, reporting and mapping related issues and roadmap to

overcome this, wildlife management, review of the existing FMP, forest policies, acts

regulation, programs, institutions, environmental and socio-economic challenges, and

international commitments, economic / financial valuation of forests & ecosystem services,

alignment with Five Year Plans.

Task 2: Strategies, programs and resources for implementation of new FMP.

(Task 3 was deleted)

Task 4: Climate change impacts, enhancing resilience of forest ecosystems and forest

dependent communities to enable adaptation to climate impacts.

Task 5: Development of package of sustainable forest management and silvicultural

(and nursery) practices – Sustained Ecosystem Management Services.

Task 6: Financial & other resources needed for implementation of FMP, policies,

institutional reforms and technical capacity required for implementing FMP.

Task 7: Research, Education, Monitoring of socio-economic and ecosystem services

impact indicators and meeting international Convention and Agreement requirements.

Task 8: FMP Report synthesis, Detailed Action plan and separate Executive Summary.

This report pertains to Task 1 of the contract. The report consists of nine sectoral studies which

will form the foundation on which the new FMP shall be constructed. A brief description of the

findings of each report is given below.

State of forests, LULUCF, Land use, biodiversity wildlife, and ecosystem services

There are several ways of describing the country’s forests, namely, on the basis of forest type,

location, ownership, legal status, extent of tree cover etc. Going by various descriptions, the

country has approximately an area of 2.5 million hectares (16.88% of the geographical area of

the country) under forest and tree cover, both government and private, with 10% or more

canopy density. An area of 18, 79,503 ha is government forest, notified under various laws,

but most of this area does not have even 10% canopy density to define it as “forest” in

accordance with the standard definition. Natural forest is now available only over 502,245 ha,

ii– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

(excluding the area of Sundarbans under water) which does not bode well for the country’s

biodiversity. It seems that tree cover in notified forest areas is still decreasing while tree cover

outside forests is increasing. Nearly all the ecosystems of the country are highly stressed.

There are clear indications that the forest cover in the country is going down. Principal drivers

of deforestation and forest degradation in Bangladesh are:

• High dependence of a large rural population on natural forests for fuelwood,

construction timber, fodder and various non-timber forest products;

• Encroachment of forest land for agriculture or habitation by poor people living in

and around forests, as well as by migrants;

• 'Land grabbing' by influential people for various commercial purposes;

• Conversion of forest land into non-forest uses by the government for infrastructure

or industrial development; and,

• Commercial timber felling and the smuggling of valuable timber trees by criminals.

The country has switched from long rotation plantations of commercially important species like

teak and gamar, started during the British periods, primarily in CHT areas to short rotation

exotic species under social forestry. Mangrove and non-mangrove plantations are being taken

up in coastal areas as shelterbelt against sea storms.

Loss of forests is accompanied by the loss of biodiversity. 31 species of vertebrates are already

reported to be extinct while 181 species are endangered and 56 are critically endangered in

Bangladesh.

Due to anthropogenic factors, all the ecosystems are stressed and ecosystem services are

declining, although these ecosystems are still critical for the well-being of the local

communities. Although Sundarbans is still able to provide livelihoods and protection against

the seaborne calamities, to a very large population, its condition is deteriorating under the

pressure from local communities and infrastructure development. Sea level rise, as a result of

impending climate change is going to submerge large parts of this critical ecosystem. Sal

forests are suffering from very high pressure of encroachments while the hill forests are

degrading under pressure from shifting cultivation and illegal felling.

Forest production and economic value

There is a clear linkage between social forestry and decline in rural poverty in targeted

locations, case studies in the report show. Fuelwood, timber, NTFP are the main goods

provided by the forests, while protective and life support services provided by the forest

ecosystem are unmeasurable. There is no consistent data on the level current production

levels, but by interpreting all available data, the current production of timber and fuelwood in

the country is conservatively estimated to be 7 million and 19.9 million m3. Timber and fuelwood

are the most important tangible forest products worth nearly USD 2.5 billion per annum. 85%

of fuelwood is consumed in the rural areas. Value of total measurable ecosystem services

provided by forests in Bangladesh is roughly estimated to be nearly USD 5.8 to 10.33 billion

annually, using examples from outside the country. Fish, golpata, Murta, medicinal plants and

honey are the most important non-timber forest products of Bangladesh. Lands under forests

and agriculture have been decreasing in the country due to the pressure from habitation,

infrastructure and industrial sectors. Forest lands are under pressure from both official

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –iii

conversion to other uses as well as illegal pressures from encroachers and land grabbers. The

decline in forest extent and quality, despite a moratorium on the exploitation of natural forests,

indicates that much more needs to be done to safeguard the natural heritage of the country.

Forest economics, industry, estimates of current and future socio-economic demands on the forest sector

Production and consumption of roundwood, which includes timber and fuelwood, had been

increasing rather steadily until the mid-1990s, but have since been declining. Fuelwood

comprises nearly 99% of the total wood produced and consumed in the country, but its per

capita consumption has been decreasing, apparently due to the unsustainable production of

woodfuel as well as perhaps to a lesser extent the availability of alternative agricultural

materials and fuels and changes in demographic patterns, although the decline is rather

modest (4.5% in 14 years). Proportion of the population using wood as a cooking fuel has

dropped from 44.37% in 1991 to just 34.8% in 2011. While the consumption of industrial

roundwood, wood charcoal, and paper and board are expected to rise significantly, the

consumption of total roundwood is likely to fall due to the fall in demand for fuelwood, if the

current trend stays the course. Comprehensive field investigations are required to further

refine consumption forecasts accurately as the current trends may be misconstrued to some

extent because of the lack of consideration of consumers' 'unexpressed' consumption and a

resulting wood fuel 'gap.' In view of the likelihood of reduced production of roundwood, the

country shall have to depend more heavily on imports to fulfil its requirements for specialised

wood products such as industrial wood, charcoal, paper and board. Bamboo consumption is

expected to rise in the near term, although no reliable data on current trends are available.

Review of the existing forestry master plan

FMP 1995 proposed three categories of programmes: people oriented, production directed

and Institutional strengthening. It had proposed two investment scenarios for the forestry

sector during the 20 year period: a minimum investment of Tk 60.24 billion within the existing

institutional constraints and Tk 145 billion if all constraints are removed. But the country could

provide only Tk 23.7 billion (38.3%) to the sector during the plan period. Investments in the

sector have been fluctuating depending upon donor interest in the sector. Despite this

shortcoming, tree cover in the country has touched nearly 17%, primarily on the back extensive

plantations by the people in their homesteads and cultivated lands.

The plan had a strong focus on development of forest based industries without adequately

addressing the issue raw materials.

Although many of the institutional reforms proposed in the FMP could not be carried out, but,

the amendment of the Forest Act 1927 to institutionalise social forestry was a major

achievement. A new Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act, was also promulgated in 2012.

New Forest Policy was approved in 1994. The creation of a forestry board, separation of the

enforcement function of the BFD from its business function did not gain acceptance. Similarly

creation of a separate department for wildlife and nature conservation could not be created,

although many new protected areas were created.

The master plan attracted significant donor interest to the forestry sector from the ADB, World

Bank, USAID and many other donors in the beginning. However, as the current environmental

concerns such as the climate change and biodiversity conservation had not acquired a clear

shape at the time when the FMP was written, these concerns could not be adequately

iv– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

addressed. With the advent of new multilateral sources of funding, aimed at mitigating climate

change, such as the Global Climate Fund (GCF), BCCRF, CDM, REDD+, NAPA etc. new

opportunities to draw finances to the forestry sector have now emerged. The new FMP should

target these sources to renew efforts to achieve 20% forest and tree cover. Sustainable forest

management, biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services, climate change mitigation

through carbon sequestration and building adaptation and resilience among ecosystems and

communities shall have to be the cornerstone of the new FMP.

Monitoring and assessment, including remote sensing, socio-economic survey and on MIS/GIS database management, reporting and mapping by RIMS

This report reviews the current monitoring and mapping capabilities, and activities, of BFD.

According to this assessment, there is no systematic forest resource monitoring activity or

capability in BFD. RIMS is the key office in generating and managing digital spatial data but

has neither the staff, nor the facilities to do so. It has been taking up sporadic mapping

activities, primarily with the help of outside expertise, but applications developed by outside

agencies fail to remain functional after the initial contract is over. An example of such an

adventure is the development of MIST wildlife patrolling and monitoring system. The national

assessment of forest resources has been done just once, in 2007, a recent assessment (2013)

covers only the government forests, that too incompletely. The monitoring and evaluation office

of BFD has no infrastructure to run even a minimal monitoring programme and the reports on

the condition of plantations are compiled manually. The DFOs have bare minimum IT facilities,

while offices below the division level have absolutely no IT infrastructure.

Environmental challenges and multilateral environmental agreements

The environmental challenges faced by the country are of enormous proportions. While the

Bay of Bengal is four to six times more prone to sea storms and surges than the Arabian Sea,

the coastal areas are in danger of being seriously affected by sea level rise and increased

storm frequency, due to climate change. Changes in salinity due to sea level rise on the one

side and increased flow of fresh water due to excessive snowmelt in Himalayan river systems

on the other, can cause dramatic changes in vegetation patterns in coastal areas. Fish

populations and distribution may be affected due to changes in temperature, affecting

livelihoods of coastal population as a consequence. Mangroves can be affected both by sea

level rise and increased salinity and sedimentation. Monsoon patterns are likely to be altered,

affecting vegetation and communities. Long term adaptation and mitigation of climate change

impacts shall require a massive afforestation and reforestation effort, particularly in coastal

areas. Enhanced carbon sequestration capacity, through forestry, can be used to generate

more resources through CDM, REDD+ forums.

The decline in biodiversity has gone hand in hand with the loss of forest cover in the country.

Lack of knowledge, lack of resources, and poor protection of wildlife are the main challenges

to the conservation of biodiversity in the country.

Although the goods provided by ecosystems are well appreciated, many ecosystem services

are intangible and unquantifiable. Assessment of the value of ecosystem goods and services

(EGS) is critical for their appreciation for policy making. Due to the deterioration in the condition

of forest ecosystems in the country, the EGS are badly affected and a cohesive effort is

required to revive the potential of forest ecosystems to generate EGS in adequate measure.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –v

Reforestation of depleted forests and afforestation of selected critical locations, such as

coastal belt and hill watersheds, can restore the supply of EGS to a significant extent.

Mangroves, i.e. the Sundarbans, are critical to the health of Bangladesh as they protect the

country against the dangers from the seas and provide livelihoods to an enormous number of

people. Sundarbans have suffered from the frequent sea storms, illegal felling of trees and

infrastructure development.

The report also looks at opportunities for generation of finance for mitigation and adaptation in

the face of intensifying climate change and reviews the scope of financial avenues such as

GCF, CDM, REDD+, NAPA, INDC, and various other multilateral and bilateral financial

institutions, for financing climate change related forestry actions. If BFD and other forestry

sector institutions have adequate capacity to tap into these mechanisms, considerable amount

of resources can be generated. Lastly, the report reviews the various international conventions

to which Bangladesh is a signatory and their reporting requirements. There is a lot of

commonality between the reporting requirements of most multilateral environmental

agreements (MEA) and common data and information pools can help in meeting the national

obligations of many of them. The MEAs relevant to the forestry sector include United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), United Nations Convention on

Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Convention of Desertification (CCD), Convention

on Wetlands of international Importance or the Ramsar Convention, Forest Resources

Assessment program of the FAO, United Nations Forum on Forests and the Convention on

International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). The report

reviews the frequency and contents of the reports to be submitted to the

headquarters/secretariats of these MEAs and examines the common sources of information

that can feed into all these reports.

Review and assessment of forest policies, land tenure, programs and institutions

The evolution of the forest policy of Bangladesh was initiated in 1894. While reserving valuable

forests for soil conservation and revenue, that first forest policy encouraged the diversion of

forest land for agriculture and free access of local people to neighbouring forests to meet their

needs for small timber.

The 1955 policy advocated working plans for all forests, a massive plantation program on

marginal lands and wastelands, precedence of the protective role of forests over their

commercial aspects, protection of wildlife and constitution of a professional and trained forest

service.

The 1962 policy continued the emphasis on afforestation, emphasised the need for research

in farm forestry and pilot projects for afforestation of saline and waterlogged lands.

The 1979 policy emphasised the need to afforest the coastal belt and charlands, establish new

forest-based industries, the recreational use of forests and a mass motivation programme for

planting trees. The policy also provided that forest land shall not be diverted for non-forest use.

The 1994 policy, prepared as a part of the FMP 1995, provided, among other goals, a target

of 20% area as forest the conservation of natural habitats of birds and animals, and an

emphasis on the participation of local people to control illegal felling, hunting and illegal

occupation of forest lands.

vi– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Under the mandate of successive forest policies, the country has made significant progress in

social forestry and coastal plantations. Earlier emphasis on long rotation plantations of teak

and gamar in CHT areas was abandoned, both due to environmental concerns as well as the

land tenure issues in CHT areas. Despite the tremendous shortage of resources, the country

has covered 16.88% of its land under tree cover, which, in effect, is more than 20% of the dry

area if the land under water is taken into account. Although the country has established over

50 protected areas for wildlife, many of them are very small in size. For example, 12 are less

than 1000 ha in size, with an average area of only 335 ha.

The National Land Use Policy 2001 gave priority to protecting agricultural land, while

recognising the importance of preserving forest land. The policy promotes rational land use,

but the laws to effectively implement the policy are not in place. Despite the existence of the

land use policy, forest lands continue to be encroached due to the prevailing 75% landlessness

in rural areas.

There are several other policy instruments on agriculture, food, fisheries, livestock, water,

sustainable development, etc., which interface with the forest policy in that they relate to the

use and management of natural resources. Forestry sector institutions need to take

cognizance of these policies in order to draw upon their strengths in support of forest

conservation.

Institutional Limitations

Apart from BFD, the Bangladesh forestry sector consists of the Bangladesh Forest Research

Institute, Bangladesh Forest Industries Development Corporation (BFIDC) and Bangladesh

National Herbarium.

Each of these institutions is suffering from an acute shortage of manpower and resources. BFD

has 22% vacancies in its ranks and the vacancies at the senior level are close to 50%. BFD

also suffers from an acute shortage of operational funds for running the internal systems of the

organisation, such as for meeting the costs of travel bills, building and maintaining minimal IT

infrastructure, forest protection, maintenance of buildings, vehicles and machinery, and so on.

The organisational structure of BFRI has not been significantly altered since its inception

despite tremendous changes in the scope of forest science. BFRI is unable to retain quality

staff due to the lack of effective career development programs. There is no modern research

equipment, not even adequate internet support.

BFIDC primarily manages government rubber plantations and manufactures furniture, doors

and windows for government buildings. Despite being the forest industries development

corporation, it has no activities to develop forest industries other than its own units. BFIDC has

no professional foresters or industry experts on its senior staff and has never tried to expand

the scope of its operations. Its profits, especially from rubber cultivation, have plummeted in

the past few years during the cyclical downturn in the market.

Bangladesh National Herbarium also has 26% vacancies in its staff. Even the director’s post

is vacant. The institute has never had any development budget except in 2015-16 when it got

an allocation of one crore taka. Although the herbarium has modern facilities for the

preservation of plant specimens but further collections are virtually at a standstill due to the

paucity of resources.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –vii

Resource mobilization

Despite the growing importance of the forestry sector as a poverty alleviation mechanism, and

as an environment protection instrument, more so as a climate change mitigation and defence

bulwark, resource flow to the sector has not grown significantly. The FMP 1995 had estimated

a minimum investment Tk 60.24 billion in the sector during the 20 year plan period, but BFD,

which is the major organ of the sector received only Tk 23.17 billion, making it only 38.3% of

the minimum requirement. In real terms the 2014-15 investment is even smaller than the

investment in 2004-05 (Tk 157 crore against 177 crore) when compared at common prices.

Although the importance of the sector cannot be measured only in financial terms, the sector

has been getting back far below its recognised contribution to the gross domestic product

(GDP) of the country (0.27% against 1.27%). The annual development programme (APD) of

the BFD has been mainly dependent on donor contributions and has been fluctuating

according to the donor interest in the country. Whereas shortage of ADP funds to the sector is

well known, less talked about are the financial gaps in the revenue budget of the sector. BFD

has been reported to be perennially short of funds to pay for its basic requirements, such as

forest protection, reimbursement of travel bills, fuel for vehicles and boats, maintenance of

minimal computing capacity, maintenance of buildings and vehicles and so on. These

requirements are well funded only in areas where there is some donor funded project but these

projects are generally focused on coastal areas. Thus the units located inland are much poorer

in resources than the coastal areas.

The ADB, World Bank, USAID, EU, GEF are the major development partners of Bangladesh

although ADB has been absent from the sector for almost a decade.

Large scale staff vacancies, shortage of core funding, lack of training, poor condition of

information technology and communications infrastructure, lack of incentives for skill

development and overly bureaucratic ways of working are the main constraints to the

mobilisation and utilisation of resources in the sector.

Challenges, goals and vision for FMP

The FMP shall focus on the sectoral vision stated in the National Forestry Policy 2016, which

is as follows:

• Restore and maintain the country’s environmental integrity;

• Increase and stabilize its forest cover to at least 20% of the country's geographical

area;

• Address in the most effective manner the emerging challenges associated with

climate change and the maintenance of sustainable flows of ecosystem goods and

services;

• Increase the contributions of the country's forests to national welfare and the

enhancement of local employment and income opportunities; and

• Support efforts to secure food security and alleviate poverty by enhancing

biodiversity conservation through the sustainable management of forests, wildlife

and other ecosystems, including those of protected areas, social and community

forests, coastal forests of mangroves and charland plantations, wetlands,

homesteads, and other tree cover.

viii– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Within this overarching mandate, the sector shall work on achieving clear goals in the following

areas:

a. Meeting growing biomass demands and socioeconomic needs by achieving

20% forest and tree cover at 50% canopy density, through a massive

reforestation programme on government forests, afforestation of new

charlands, coastal belt and marginal lands, agroforestry, REDD+

implementation and promotion of climate neutral substitutes for wood and wood

products.

b. Addressing environmental challenges through adapting forestry practices to the

needs of addressing climate change, biodiversity conservation and provision of

ecosystem goods and services. These initiatives shall build on the initiatives in

the previous para by providing additional focus on climate resilient species,

creation of coastal shelterbelts, creation of protected areas for wildlife,

monitoring the condition of the ecosystems and ecosystem services and

publishing the results; and, promotion of ecotourism in suitable areas.

c. Adopting sustainable and participatory forest management systems through

involvement of all sections of the society, particularly women, youth and weaker

sections, in an invigorated social forestry initiative, expansion of community

based wildlife management though ecotourism and co-management,

consultation with other agencies and beneficiaries in developing species

suitable for agroforestry and involving urban population and civic authorities in

enhancing urban tree cover.

d. Policies, institutions and resources to meet the environmental and

socioeconomic challenges shall focus on sustainable forest management,

protected area management, biodiversity conservation, climate resilient

forestry, research and training, strong restrictions on transfer of forest land to

other uses and so on. Structure and organisation of BFD and BFRI shall be

reviewed, and their capacities shall be enhanced to provide clear focus on

implementing the new policies and mandate. Recruitment, posting and training

policies of the government shall be reviewed to enhance staff capacity and

motivation.

e. Strategies to address international conventions shall be devised to ensure that

common databases and data collection programmes feed into the monitoring

and reporting requirements of all the multilateral environmental agreements and

treaties.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –ix

Table of contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY I

ABBREVIATIONS XVI

INTRODUCTION 1

1 STATE OF FORESTS, LAND USE, BIODIVERSITY, WILDLIFE, AND

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES 4 1.1 Trends in area under forest: past, current and future 4

1.1.1 Forest types of Bangladesh 4 1.1.2 Forest Land in Bangladesh 6 1.1.3 Forest and tree cover 6 1.1.4 Trend in forest area 7 1.1.5 Forest Cover in Major Forested Regions of Bangladesh 8

1.2 Trends in deforestation in different regions, forest degradation, and drivers 16 1.2.1 Trends in deforestation and forest degradation 16 1.2.2 Drivers of deforestation and forest degradation 22

1.3 Trends in afforestation and reforestation programmes in different regions including coastal regions 26

1.4 State of biodiversity and ecosystem services 31 1.4.1 State of biodiversity 31 1.4.2 IUCN Red List 34 1.4.3 Biodiversity and Wildlife Conservation 37

1.5 Current forest data generation and dissemination policies and institutional arrangements 44

1.5.1 Forest inventory, RIMS and monitoring arrangements 44 1.5.2 Carbon stocks and inventory 45

2 FOREST PRODUCTION AND ECONOMIC VALUE 47 2.1 Assessment of the linkage between the forestry sector and poverty

alleviation 47 2.2 Production of biomass: timber, fuelwood, and NTFP 52

2.2.1 Roundwood 52 2.2.2 Forest product industries 56 2.2.3 Secondary Wood Products 58 2.2.4 Non-timber forest products 59

2.3 Economic value of products, biodiversity, and ecosystem services 68 2.3.1 Value of roundwood timber 68 2.3.2 Value of fuelwood 69 2.3.3 Value of non-timber forest products 69 2.3.4 Value of ecosystem services 71

2.4 Summary of land use status and policy 74 2.5 Summary of current land-use pattern 74 2.6 Evaluation of demands on land 76 2.7 Review of current land use policies in the context of forestry 78

x– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

3 FOREST ECONOMICS, INDUSTRY, ESTIMATES OF CURRENT AND

FUTURE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEMANDS ON THE FOREST SECTOR 82 3.1 Timber, fuelwood, industrial wood and non-timber forest products, current

consumption 82 3.1.1 Industrial Roundwood 82 3.1.2 Wood fuel 83 3.1.3 Pulpwood 83 3.1.4 Wood charcoal 83 3.1.5 Paper and paperboard 84 3.1.6 Bamboo 85 3.1.7 Non-timber forest products 86

3.2 Biomass demand 86 3.2.1 Timber and Fuelwood 86 3.2.2 Paper and Paperboard 88 3.2.3 Bamboo and Non-Timber Forest Products 89

4 REVIEW OF THE EXISTING FORESTRY MASTER PLAN 90 4.1 Introduction 90 4.2 Relevance of the Forestry Master Plan 1995 in the current context 90 4.3 Review of FMP-1995 92

4.3.1 Scope of Forestry Master Plan 1995 92 4.3.2 Evaluation of FMP-1995 94

4.4 Review of the Forestry Master Plan Implementation 96 4.5 Key lessons learnt from the implementation of the Forestry Master Plan

1995 100

5 MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT, INCLUDING REMOTE SENSING, SOCIO-ECONOMIC SURVEY AND MIS/GIS DATABASE

MANAGEMENT, REPORTING AND MAPPING BY RIMS 104 5.1 Introduction 104 5.2 The Resource Information Management Unit 105

5.2.1 Staff 105 5.2.2 Facilities 106

5.3 RIMS activities 107 5.3.1 Remote Sensing capability and products 107 5.3.2 Socio-economic surveys 107 5.3.3 MIS/GIS database management 107 5.3.4 Mapping and reporting 111 5.3.5 Additional tasks 112

6 ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES AND MULTILATERAL

ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS 113 6.1 Introduction 113 6.2 Environmental challenges facing the forestry sector 114

6.2.1 Enhancing the resilience of forests to climate change 115 6.2.2 Enhancing carbon stock for mitigation of climate change 120 6.2.3 Biodiversity conservation 124 6.2.4 Sustained delivery of ecosystem services 126 6.2.5 Mangrove conservation 129

6.3 Climate financing for forestry 131 6.3.1 Climate finance options for forestry under the UNFCCC 131

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –xi

6.3.2 Climate finance options for forestry through IFIs 136 6.3.3 Bilateral climate finance options for forestry 136 6.3.4 Voluntary carbon market 137

6.4 Reporting requirements to international conventions 137

7 REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT OF FOREST POLICIES, LAND TENURE, PROGRAMMES AND INSTITUTIONS 151

7.1 Review and assessment of forest policies 151 7.1.1 The evolution of forest policy 151 7.1.2 Review and assessment of the 1994 National Forestry Policy 154 7.1.3 Summary of limitations of forest policies 159

7.2 Review of Forest Department programmes 159 7.3 Review and assessment of land use, agricultural, and other relevant

sectoral policies 161 7.4 Review and assessment of institutional limitations 165

7.4.1 Bangladesh Forest Department 165 7.4.2 Inadequacy of Field Infrastructure and Logistics 172

7.5 Bangladesh Forest Research Institute 173 7.5.1 Bangladesh Forest Academy 176 7.5.2 Forestry Science & Technology Institute, Chittagong 179 7.5.3 Bangladesh National Herbarium 182

7.6 Bangladesh Forest Industries Development Corporation 183 7.7 Gender aspects of forest planning, implementation and management 187

8 RESOURCE MOBILISATION 190 8.1 Review of the resources available and mobilized from national and

international sources for the forestry sector 190 8.1.1 Financial gaps 194 8.1.2 Development partners 195

8.2 Major constraints in financial and technical resource mobilization 197 8.3 Other Organisations 200

9 CHALLENGES, VISION AND GOALS FOR THE FMP 202 9.1 FMP Vision and Objectives 202 9.2 Meeting growing biomass demands and socio-economic needs 203 9.3 Addressing environmental challenges; climate change, biodiversity and

ecosystem services 204 9.4 Adopting sustainable and participatory forest management systems 206 9.5 Policies, institutions and resources to meet the environmental and socio-

economic challenges 207 9.6 Strategies to address International Conventions 210

10 OTHER CRITICAL ISSUES 211 10.1 Land Management 211 10.2 Forest Management 213

10.2.1 Current status of the forest estate 213 10.2.2 Protection against illicit felling, encroachments and wildlife poaching 214 10.2.3 Moratorium on felling of trees in natural forests 215 10.2.4 Reforestation of degraded forest through social forestry 217 10.2.5 Agroforestry on encroached forest lands-social forestry 217 10.2.6 Strip plantations on the sides of roads, canals, railway lines, embankments

xii– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

etc.-social forestry 217 10.2.7 Harvesting of social forestry plantations 217 10.2.8 Coastal Plantations (mangrove, non-mangrove, nypa etc.) 218 10.2.9 Core zone plantations, ANR, enrichment plantations for biodiversity

conservation 218 10.2.10 Regulated extraction of NTFP 218 10.2.11 Capacity for management at the field level 219

10.3 Forest Dependent Communities 220 10.4 State of reporting and information management 222 10.5 Management of Wildlife and Protected Areas 223

10.5.1 Protected areas 223 10.5.2 Wildlife divisions 223 10.5.3 State of Wildlife Crime and Criminal Justice System 224 10.5.4 Human Wildlife Conflict 225 10.5.5 Wildlife Master Plan 226

BIBLIOGRAPHY 228

ANNEX I ORGANIZATIONAL CHART AND STAFFING OF BFD 233

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –xiii

List of tables

Table 1-1: Forest Types of Bangladesh ............................................................................................... 5 Table 1-2: Notified Forests of Bangladesh. (2014-15) ......................................................................... 6 Table 1-3: Forest and tree cover in 2005 (000 ha) .............................................................................. 6 Table 1-4: Trend in Forest Area of Bangladesh (000 ha) .................................................................... 7 Table 1-5: Forest cover in the littoral areas (ha) ................................................................................ 11 Table 1-6: Forest cover in the plains sal areas (ha) ........................................................................... 12 Table 1-7: Forest cover in hill areas (ha) ........................................................................................... 12 Table 1-8: Village Homestead Area by Tree Cover Classes (000 ha). .............................................. 13 Table 1-9: Household Based Forestry Activity 2011-12 (BBS 2014) ................................................. 14 Table 1-10: Forest and tree cover of Bangladesh ................................................................................ 15 Table 1-11: Forest area (000 ha) (FRA 2015). ..................................................................................... 16 Table 1-12: Changes in vegetation cover between 2005 and 2015 (000 ha). ..................................... 16 Table 1-13: Forest types by tree cover classes (000 ha) (2005) ......................................................... 17 Table 1-14: Forest area by percentage of canopy cover (GFW). ........................................................ 19 Table 1-15: Tree cover loss, in >10%, >30%, >50%, >75% canopy cover classes, in different

divisions of Bangladesh (ha) (GFW). ................................................................................ 19 Table 1-16: Tree cover gain over the period 2001 - 2012 in areas with a canopy cover over

50% (GFW). ...................................................................................................................... 21 Table 1-17: Extent of encroachments and forest land conversions ..................................................... 24 Table 1-18: Extent of plantations in Bangladesh (FRA 2015). ............................................................. 29 Table 1-19: Plantation areas (ha) by planning period (NBSAP 2016). ................................................ 30 Table 1-20: Recorded and Estimated Number of Wild Plant Species of Different Plant Groups........ 32 Table 1-21: Number of Animal Species Belonging to the Major Taxonomic Groups........................... 32 Table 1-22: Extinct Wildlife Species of Bangladesh ............................................................................. 35 Table 1-23: Summary of the Red List of Bangladesh 2015 ................................................................. 36 Table 1-24: Protected Areas, Ecologically Critical Areas and several important conservation

sites in Bangladesh. .......................................................................................................... 37 Table 1-25: Ecosystem services in Bangladesh (Chowdhury 2008). .................................................. 41 Table 2-1: Employment in forestry from 1990 – 2010 (FRA 2015). ................................................... 49 Table 2-2: Forestry Based Employment (Source: BBS, Statistical Year Book Bangladesh

2014) ................................................................................................................................. 50 Table 2-3: Employment by type and gender in forestry sub-sector in 2010-11 ................................. 51 Table 2-4: Production of wood products, 2009 – 2013 (FRA 2015). ................................................. 58 Table 2-5: Production of pulp and paper (tonnes) (FRA 2015). ......................................................... 59 Table 2-6: Raw Material Supplied by BFD to Karnafuli Paper Mills ................................................... 59 Table 2-7: Production of major NTFP in Bangladesh (Tonnes) ......................................................... 62 Table 2-8: Murta Production in Sylhet Forest Division ....................................................................... 62 Table 2-9: Estimated market size for some key medicinal plants in 2003 ......................................... 63 Table 2-10: Primary reasons for degradation of selected NTFPs (Khar, 2010). .................................. 66 Table 2-11: Timber price development (Hossain 2015). ...................................................................... 68 Table 2-12: Wholesale price of fuelwood (BBS 2006, 2010). .............................................................. 69 Table 2-13: Commercial value of collected NTFPs in 2010 (FRA 2015). ............................................ 70 Table 2-14: NTFP and forest income against total household income by income group (Khar

2010). ................................................................................................................................ 71 Table 2-15: Categories and proportions of forest land ownership (FRA 2015). .................................. 76 Table 2-16: Availability of agricultural land (BBS, 2011). ..................................................................... 77 Table 3-1: Production and consumption of wood charcoal (tons). ..................................................... 83 Table 3-2: Current trends in the production and consumption of paper and paperboard in

Bangladesh (tonnes). ........................................................................................................ 84 Table 3-3: Consumption and Demand for bamboo (million culms). ................................................... 85 Table 3-4: Production of Major NTFPs in Khulna Circle .................................................................... 86 Table 3-5: Projections of demand for timber ...................................................................................... 87 Table 3-6: Projections of fuelwood demand ....................................................................................... 87 Table 3-9: Estimated consumption of paper and paperboard in Bangladesh in 2020, 2030, and

2050. ................................................................................................................................. 89 Table 4-1: Main Development Projects Implemented by Forestry Organizations .............................. 98 Table 6-1: Environmental and socio-economic challenges facing the forestry sector in

Bangladesh. .................................................................................................................... 114

xiv– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Table 6-2: Categories of goods and services and their relationship to forests. ............................... 126 Table 6-3: Climate finance options for forestry in Bangladesh ........................................................ 131 Table 6-4: Common parameters used in reporting of forestry activities. ......................................... 138 Table 6-5: Reporting requirements to international Conventions and other bodies......................... 140 Table 7-1: BFD staff position ............................................................................................................ 166 Table 7-2: Staff position in BFRI ...................................................................................................... 174 Table 7-3: Courses and programmes offered by the Forest Academy. ........................................... 177 Table 7-4: FSTI courses and graduation numbers. ......................................................................... 180 Table 7-5: Staff strength of BNH ...................................................................................................... 183 Table 7-6: BFIDC staff position ........................................................................................................ 185 Table 8-1: Annual Development Programme (ADP) and Expenditure (in crore Taka; Office of

the ACCF, Development Planning Unit, BFD) ................................................................ 191 Table 8-2: Budget Allocations of BFD (crore Taka). ........................................................................ 192 Table 8-3: Revenue budget (crore Taka). ........................................................................................ 193 Table 8-4: Financial Resources for National ADP vs. Forestry Sector ADP. ................................... 193 Table 8-5: Donor Financed Projects (Completed, Ongoing and Committed). ................................. 195 Table 8-6: Vacancies at important levels in BFD. ............................................................................ 199 Table 10-1: No. of trees and growing stock per ha (trees over 15 cm dbh) in Sundarbans since

1959. ............................................................................................................................... 216 Table 10-2: Wildlife crime cases recorded by WCCU (June 2012 to April 2016) .............................. 224

List of figures

Figure 1-1: Trends in natural forest area in various forest types (FRA 2015) ....................................... 8 Figure 1-2: Expected change in tree cover by national land use classes. .......................................... 17 Figure 1-3: Expected change in tree cover by forest type ................................................................... 18 Figure 1-4: Changes in forest cover between 1981 and 2001. ........................................................... 22 Figure 1-5: Trend in afforestation and reforestation ............................................................................ 30 Figure 1-6: Endangered animal species of Bangladesh ..................................................................... 36 Figure 2-1: Trend in the production of industrial roundwood (logs and poles) by Forest

Department. ...................................................................................................................... 54 Figure 2-2: Trend in the production of logs through jote permits. ....................................................... 55 Figure 2-3: Major areas producing medicinal plants (Dixie et al. 2003) .............................................. 65 Figure 2-4: Main collectors of NTFPs in Chittagong Hill Tracts. ......................................................... 66 Figure 2-5: Land types from which NTFPs are collected in the Chittagong Hill Tract......................... 66 Figure 2-6: Land use proportions in 2011 (FAOstat 2015). ................................................................. 74 Figure 3-1: Production and consumption of paper and paperboard in Bangladesh from 1979 to

2015. ................................................................................................................................. 85 Figure 3-2: Projection of fuelwood demand ......................................................................................... 88 Figure 6-1: Phases in REDD+ implementation ................................................................................. 122 Figure 6-2: General applicability of REDD+ activities as a function of forest condition. ................... 123 Figure 6-3: Assessing ecosystem goods and services. .................................................................... 128 Figure 7-1: Organizational structure of BFRI..................................................................................... 174 Figure 8-1: Trends in expenditure on afforestation and reforestation ............................................... 194

List of maps

Map 1-1: Distribution of Forests in Bangladesh ................................................................................. 5 Map 1-2: Bio-ecological zones of Bangladesh (IUCN, 2002)........................................................... 31 Map 1-3: Wildlife distribution in Bangladesh (Library of the Prime Minister’s Office). ..................... 33 Map 1-4: Protected Areas in Bangladesh. ....................................................................................... 40 Map 2-1: Cropland area of Bangladesh in 1976, 2000 and 2010 (Hasan et al. 2013). ................... 75 Map 5-1: Typical map of a Forest Division produced by RIMS. ..................................................... 110 Map 5-2: Mouza map from 1914-1915. .......................................................................................... 111 Map 5-3: Detail of mouza map, with annotation of land use in parcels. ........................................ 112 Map 10-1: Kassalong reserve forest. ............................................................................................... 214

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –xv

List of boxes

Box 1-1: Deforestation in Chittagong Hills, an extract from the Project Concept Note Bangladesh REDD+ ARR Protected Areas Project (BRAPAP) ........................................ 25

Box 1-2: Principal drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in the Sundarbans. .................. 26 Box 2-1: Economic contribution of participatory agroforestry programme to poverty

alleviation: a case from Sal forests (Islam 2011). ............................................................. 51 Box 2-2: Role of non-timber forest products in sustaining forest-based livelihoods and rural

households’ resilience capacity in and around protected area (Mukul et al. 2015). ......... 67 Box 2-3: Honey Hunting in Sundarbans Reserved Forests of Bangladesh (Gani 2015) ................ 67 Box 2-4: Bangladesh: Queen of natural beauty. ............................................................................. 68 Box 2-5: Value of Sundarbans ecosystem goods and services. ..................................................... 74 Box 5-1: MIS development in the SEALS project. ......................................................................... 108 Box 6-1: Concepts related to resilience. ........................................................................................ 118 Box 6-2: Economic valuation of ecosystem services in the Sundarbans. ..................................... 129 Box 6-3: CDM project development for the Chunoti Wildlife Sanctuary. ....................................... 135 Box 6-4: UN-REDD Bangladesh Programme overview. ............................................................... 135

xvi– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Abbreviations ADB Asian Development Bank

ACCF Assistant Chief Conservator of Forests

ACF Assistant Conservator of Forests

ADP Annual Development Programme

AF Arannayk Foundation

AFOLU Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (reporting category of the IPCC)

ANR Assisted natural regeneration

ARR Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation

BBS Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics

BCCRF Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund

BCCSAP Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan

BCCTF Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund

BFD Bangladesh Forest Department

BFIDC Bangladesh Forest Industries Development Corporation

BFRI Bangladesh Forest Research Institute

BNH Bangladesh National Herbarium

BRAPAP Bangladesh REDD+ ARR Protected Areas Project

BUR Biennial Update Report

CBD United Nations Conventions on Biological Diversity

CBO Community-based organization

CCD United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

CCF Chief Conservator of Forests

CDM Clean Development Mechanism

CEGIS Centre for Environmental and Geographic Systems (of MoWR)

CER Certified Emission Reduction

CHT Chittagong Hill Tracts

CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

cm centimetre

CMC Co-management councils and committees

CO2 Carbon di-oxide

CREL Climate Resilient Ecosystems and Livelihood project

CRISP Collaborative Redd+IFM Sundarbans Project

CRPARP Climate Resilient Participatory Afforestation and Reforestation Project

DCF Deputy Conservator of Forests

DFO Divisional Forest Office

DoE Department of Environment

ECA Ecologically Critical Area

EGS Ecosystem goods and services

EU European Union

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

FAP Flood Action Programme

FCPF Forest Carbon Partnership Facility

FENTC Forestry Extension, Nursery and Training Centres

FIGNS Forest Information Generation and Networking System

FIP Forest Investment Program

FMP Forestry Master Plan

FRA Forest Resources Assessment (of FAO)

FRMIS Forest Resources Management Information System

FRMP Forest Resource Monitoring Program

FSP Forestry Sector Project

FSTI Forestry Science and Technology Institute

FYP Five-year Plan

GCF Green Climate Fund

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GEF Global Environmental Facility

GHG Greenhouse gas

GFW Global Forest Watch

GIS Geographic Information System

GIZ German Development Cooperation organization

GoB Government of Bangladesh

GPS Global Positioning System

ha hectare (also Mha – millions of …)

HWP Harvested wood products

ICT Information and communication technology

IFESCU Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Chittagong University

IFI International Finance Institution

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –xvii

IFM Improved Forest Management

INDC Intended Nationally Determined Contributions

IPAC Integrated Protected Area Co-Management project

IPCC Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change

IT Information technology

ITTO International Tropical Timber Organization

IUCN-B International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Bangladesh

km2 square kilometre

LAN Local area network

LULUCF Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (reporting category of the IPCC)

M&E Monitoring & evaluation

m, m2, m3 metre, square metre, cubic metre

M million (prefix for unit: ha, tCO2e)

MIS Management Information System

MoEF Ministry of Environment and Forests

MoU Memorandum of Understanding

MoWR Ministry of Water Resources

MRV Measurement, reporting and verification

NAMA Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions

NAPA National Adaptation Plan of Action

NBSAP National Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan

NC National Communication

NFA National Forest Assessment

NFI National Forest Inventory

NGO Non-governmental organization

NP National Park

NTFP Non-timber forest product

OCA Opportunity cost analysis

ODA Overseas Development Assistance

PA Protected Area

PoA Programme of Activities (of the CDM)

PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

RAID Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks

RAM Random Access Memory

REDD+ Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries

REL Reference emission level

RF Reserve Forest

RIMS Resource Information and Monitoring System

RL Reference level

RS Remote sensing

RSC National REDD+ Steering Committee

SEALS Sundarbans Environmental and Livelihoods Security project

SFM Sustainable Forest Management

SFPC Social Forestry Plantation Centres

SPARSSO Space Research and Remote Sensing Organization

SRF Sundarbans Reserve Forest

TB terabyte

tCO2e ton of CO2-equivalent emissions of greenhouse gases (also MtCO2e – millions of …)

TEEB The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity

TFA2020 Tropical Forest Alliance 2020

TFF Tree Farming Fund

Tk Taka

ToR Terms of Reference

UNCED United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UNFCCC United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change

UNFF United Nations Forum on Forests

UN-REDD United Nations REDD+ Programme

USAID United States Agency for International Development

USD United States Dollar

USF Unclassed forest

VCS Voluntary Carbon Standards

VH Village homestead forest

WB World Bank

WFP World Food Programme

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –1

Introduction

Bangladesh, covering an area of 147,570 square km (BBS 2016), is situated under the north-

eastern wing of the Indian sub-continent. The country’s main landmass is a low-lying delta,

traversed by numerous branches and tributaries of the Padma, Jamuna and Meghna rivers.

These rivers bring enormous amounts of sediments and nutrients that contribute to the

biological richness of the forests, wetlands, wildlife and aquatic biodiversity. Bangladesh is

considered to be one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world. As a lower riparian

country with an extensive coastline, floods, storms and cyclones are frequent and intense.

The country’s food and economic security is linked closely with its ecological security for which

forest and wetland conservation, in gainful partnerships with local communities, is vital. The

country’s forest ecosystems, including encompassing wetlands, provide socioeconomic and

ecological services in terms of life supporting, provisioning and regulating functions, and have

tremendous impact on water-induced disaster risk reduction, and climate change adaptation

of local communities and land resources. Sustainable forest management in densely populated

Bangladesh has high socioeconomic and environmental benefits for local communities, who

are mainly made up of subsistence farmers and labourers. But with climate change becoming

the principal concern of the world, particularly of the most vulnerable states like Bangladesh,

the importance of sustainable and climate-resilient forestry is now better appreciated than ever

before.

Bangladesh was one of the first countries in the world to have a long-term forestry master plan

(FMP) which was in operation from 1995 to 2015. This master plan was grounded in the

realities of those times and provided a strong focus for investments in the forestry sector in the

country. Although it recommended wide ranging programmes, its main focus was improving

the production of forest products, revival of the forest based industries, institutionalisation of

people’s participation in forestry and institutional reforms in the forestry sector. Although

biodiversity conservation did get some attention but the plan did not propose any programmes

to deal with the impacts of climate change. Although the potential impacts of climate change

on human society and ecosystems were recognised but global action to deal with these

impacts had not yet started. Although the forestry sector received less than 40% of the

investments recommended by the FMP, but it was able to catalyse some very important

institutional changes in the form of giving the country a new forest policy and amending the

Forest Act to put social forestry on a firm footing.

As the FMP 1995 had run its course, and new environmental concerns had emerged which

needed immediate attention, it was naturally the time for the country to consider revising its

existing forestry master plan. Coincidentally, the inception of a new forestry project funded by

the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF) provided an opportunity to rewrite

the master plan at the right time.

Climate Resilient Participatory Afforestation and Reforestation Project (CRPARP)

The Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), jointly

with the Arannayk Foundation (AF), have received financial support from BCCRF to implement

the Climate Resilient Participatory Afforestation and Reforestation Project (CRPARP)

with technical support from the World Bank. The project was launched in 2013 and will end in

June 2016. The project consists of four main components, namely:

2– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Component 1: Afforestation and Reforestation Program

Component 2: Alternative Livelihoods to Support Forest Communities

Component 3: Capacity Development for Forest Resource Planning and Management

Component 4: Project Management

Component 3 of the project aims to strengthen the capacity of BFD, and the communities

confronted with climate change risks, to better manage forest resources and supports the

development of a strategy for capacity development, including the revision of the existing FMP.

The revised forestry sector master plan is required to increase the sector focus on emerging

challenges of climate change and environmental conservation.

The Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) has engaged a consortium consisting of

Agriconsulting Europe S.A. (AESA) of Brussels (Belgium) and Sodev Consult International of

Dhaka (Bangladesh) to provide consultancy support for the updating/review of the Bangladesh

Forestry Master Plan (1995-2015). The contract was signed on 29 December 2015 and the

project became effective on 1 January, 2016. The consortium has deployed a team of 9

international and five national experts to perform this task.

Addressing the socio-economic and environmental challenges facing the forestry sector, and

the country, requires long-term planning, increased technical capacity, additional financial

resources, enabling policies, participation of the local communities, monitoring and reformed

institutional structures. The new FMP will assist in addressing these challenges both from the

short- and long-term perspectives.

Objectives of the Consultancy

According to the Terms or Reference (ToRs), the objective of the consultancy is two-fold:

1. The aim of the first part is to review and update the Forestry Master Plan to address

the environmental and socio-economic challenges facing the Bangladesh forest sector

and other related sectors by adopting a consultative and inclusive process. The firm

needs to carry out a series of sectoral studies as background technical assessment of

forest sector master planning. Short reports are required which will form the basis of

the Forestry Master Plan.

2. The aim of the second part is to prepare a time specific action plan based on the

updated Forest Master Plan. The assignment includes the detailing of all activities to

be proposed for the first 5 years so that the action plan for this period can be converted

into a project/program document.

Tasks for the Firm/Consultancy

According to the ToR, the “Preparation of the Forestry Master Plan would involve conducting

several technical studies, consultation meetings, preparation of the sectoral reports, synthesis

of the report, review, and finalization. The project could involve the following 6 major studies

(sub-contracts) and a synthesis report.

Task 1 – Prepare Sectoral Reports on; Problems of existing FD institutions and possible

remedies, land management and ownership, forest and other related sectors

assessment, monitoring and assessment including remote sensing, socio-economic

survey and MIS/GIS database management, reporting and mapping related issues

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –3

and roadmap to overcome this, wildlife management, review of the existing FMP,

forest policies, acts regulation, programs, institutions, environmental and socio-

economic challenges, and international commitments, economic / financial valuation

of forests & Ecosystem services, alignment with Five Year Plans.

Task 2 – Strategies, programs and resources for implementation of new FMP.

Task 3 – deleted.

Task 4 – Climate change impacts; enhancing resilience of forest ecosystems and forest

dependent communities to enable adaptation to climate impacts.

Task 5 – Development of package of sustainable forest management and silvi-cultural (and

nursery) practices – Sustained Ecosystem Management Services.

Task 6 – Financial & other resources needed for implementation of FMP, policies, institutional

reforms and technical capacity required for implementing FMP.

Task 7 – Research, Education, Monitoring of socio-economic and ecosystem services impact

Indicators and meeting international Convention and Agreement requirements.

Task 8 – FMP Report synthesis, Detailed Action plan and separate Executive Summary”.

This report pertains to Task 1 of the ToR. As mentioned above, Task 1 refers to a set of studies

aimed at documenting the current status of various aspects of forests and forestry in the

country. These studies will form the basis of the FMP and are as follows:

1. Sectoral Report: State of forests, LULUCF, Land use, biodiversity wildlife, and

ecosystem services

2. Sectoral Report: Forest production and economic value

3. Sectoral Report: Forest economics, industry, estimates of current and future socio-

economic demands on the forest sector

4. Review the existing forestry master plan

5. Sectoral Report: Monitoring and assessment, including remote sensing, socio-

economic survey and on MIS/GIS database management, reporting and mapping by

RIMS

6. Environmental challenges and multilateral environmental agreements

7. Sectoral Report: Review and assessment of forest policies, land tenure, programs and

institutions

8. Sectoral Report: Resource mobilization

9. Challenges, goals and vision for FMP.

These nine studies form the nine chapters of this report. As can be seen, these reports cover

virtually every aspect of forestry, including climate change, in the country. The contents

(sections) of each report are provided in the ToR and therefore, the experts explored

essentially the direction given in the ToR. Most of these studies were carried out by teams of

experts that best matched the requirements of the studies.

4– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

1 State of forests, land use, biodiversity, wildlife, and ecosystem services

1.1 Trends in area under forest: past, current and future

1.1.1 Forest types of Bangladesh

Primary forests of Bangladesh are of three types, namely, hill forests, sal forests and mangrove

forests. A brief description of these forests is given below:

Hill forests

Tropical wet evergreen and semi-evergreen forests are commonly known as hill forests and

are found in Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong, the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Khagrachari, Rangamati and

Bandarban) districts, and Sylhet Forest Division.

Trees in the top canopy of these forests attain a height of 25-57 m in the semi-evergreen

forests and 46-61 m in the tropical wet evergreen forests. The main species are Arjun

(Terminalia arjuna), Bailam (Anisopera scaphula), Bandarhola (Duabanga grandiflora),

Champa (Michelia champaca), Chapalish (Artocarpus chaplasha), Chickrassi (Chickrassia

velutina), Civit (Swintonia floribunda), Dhakijam (Syzygium grande), Gamar (Gmelina

arborea), Garjan (Dipterocarús spp.), Jarul (Lagerstroemia speciosa), Kadam (Anthocephalus

chinensis), Kainjal (Bischofia javanica), Kamdeb (Calophyllum polyanthum), Khair (Acacia

catechu), Koroi (Albizia spp.), Lohakat (Xylia dolabriformis), Mahogony (Swietenia spp.), Minjiri

(Cassia siamea), Pitali (Trewia nudiflora), Shimul (Bombax ceiba), Sissoo (Dalbergia sissoo),

Tali (Dichopsis polyantha), Telsur (Hopea odorata), Toon (Toona ciliata), and Uriam

(Mangifera sylvatica).

Some parts of these forests are dominated by bamboos. Bamboo species, found in these

forests include Bariala (Bambusa valgaris), Basali (Teinostavhayum griffithi), Daloo

(Neohuzeaua dullooa), Kali (Oxytenanthera nigrociliata), Kaiera (Oxytenanthera auriculata),

Mitenga (Bambusa tulda), Muli (Melocana baccifera) and Orah (Dendrocalamus longispathus)

(Chowdhury 2014).

Plain land Sal forests

Tropical moist deciduous forest, which is commonly referred to as Sal Forests, occurs over the

central part and in some areas of the northern part of the country. This forest type is

characterized by the gregarious presence of Shorea robusta (sal) up to 30 m in height.

Bamboos are very rare and restricted to wet sites. The associated species include: Banyan

(Ficus bengalensis), Ashwath (Ficus religiosa), Koroi (Albizia spp.), Ajuli (Dillenia pentagyna),

Sonalu (Cassia fistula), Bohera (Terminalia balarica), Haritaki (Terminalia chebula), Kanchan

(Bauhinia acuminata), Jarul (Lagerstroemia speciosa), Kurchi (Holarrhena antidysenterica),

and Jam (Syzygium spp.), among others (Chowdhury 2014). Many parts of these forests have

been converted into plantations of fast-growing exotic species under the social forestry

programme.

Tropical littoral and mangrove forests

Bangladesh has natural and planted mangrove forests. The natural mangrove forests are

situated in the southwest of the country and called the Sundarban, because of the presence

of a tree species called sundari (Heriteria fomes). Another small patch of natural forests earlier

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –5

found in the southeastern parts, the Chakaria Sundarbans, has now virtually disappeared. This

forest type occupies about 4.1% of the land area of Bangladesh. The major part of the forest

(62%) is composed of Sundri (Heritiera fomes), followed by Gewa (Excoecaria agallocha), and

Goran (Ceriops decandra) mixed with 25 other tree species such as Baen (Avicennia

officinalis), Passur (Xylocarpus mekongensis) and Keora (Sonneratia apetala) (Chowdhury

2014). Being a mangrove, nearly one third of the Sundarban reserve forest (SRF) is mostly

under water.

According to available records, the area of these forests is as given below:

Table 1-1: Forest Types of Bangladesh

Forest Type Area (Ha)

Sal Forest 125767

Hill Forest 722716

Mangrove Forest (Sundarban)

600385

Distribution of these forests in the country is shown in map 1-1.

Map 1-1: Distribution of Forests in Bangladesh

6– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

1.1.2 Forest Land in Bangladesh

Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) is the custodian of all the state forest lands.

Traditionally, forests were classified as reserve forests or protected forests under the Forest

Act 1927. But later on areas acquired by the government or vested in the government under

other laws, aimed at consolidation of the forest estate, also came under the control of the BFD.

However, not all this area bears tree cover; this is the area which is formally known as forest,

irrespective of the fact whether it bears any forest or not. Major notified and other forest areas

under the control of the forest department are as given in Table 1-2

Table 1-2: Notified Forests of Bangladesh. (2014-15) 1

Type Area

(000 ha)

Reserved forests 1,258.14

Notified under section 4 of Forest

Act 1927 (Proposed Reserve) 555.44

Protected forests 37.0

Vested/Acquired forests 11.57

Unclassed state forests under the

control & management of BFD 17.35

Total 1,879.50

In addition to these areas, BFD also controls the strip plantations and coastal plantations

carried out by them outside the notified forest areas. The unclassed state forest (USF) under

the control of the civil administration is believed to be approximately 694,983 ha in the

Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) area. There is not much information about this category and it is

believed to be heavily encroached, mainly in the form of shifting cultivation and used for non-

forestry purposes. Only a small portion is with BFD, under plantations, as shown above. Out

of the above notified forest land, an area of 125626 ha has been transferred to various other

agencies while 104154 ha area is under various kinds of encroachments. Thus the net area

under the control of the forest department is approx. 1652720 ha only. Moreover, some of the

areas were notified in anticipation of new accretion which has actually not happened.

Therefore, the real area under the control of BFD much lower than actually notified.

1.1.3 Forest and tree cover

As mentioned before, all the forest lands of the country do not bear tree cover and many parts

are under various levels of degradation. However, the country has significant tree cover outside

the state forests. According to the last assessment of tree cover in the country, (NFA 2007),

the forest and tree resources were estimated as given in Table 1-3:

Table 1-3: Forest and tree cover in 2005 (000 ha)

Origin Type Area

Natural Forest

Hills 551

Sal 34

Mangrove 436

1 Source: ACCF (Management Planning), BFD.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –7

Origin Type Area

Bamboo or bamboo mixed /broad-leaved forest 184

Plantation

Long Rotation 131

Short/Medium Rotation 54

Mangrove 45

Rubber 8

Cultivated Land

Wooded land with shifting cultivation** 327

Shrubs 266

Villages* Rural settlement with trees 0.1 - 0.5 ha 1,090

Rural settlement with trees >0.5 ha 1,677

Total 4,803

* Commonly known as homestead forests

** In the Chittagong Hill Tracts area

As can be seen, more than half of the tree covered area of the country is in the homesteads

due to the cultural affinity of the local people with trees. However, a very large portion (12%)

of the natural vegetation in the hill forests is affected by shifting cultivation or is otherwise

classified as just shrubs in cultivated land, while, in effect, it is a degraded forest in the hill

regions.

No comprehensive assessment of the forest and tree resources has been attempted since

2007 although serious changes in the forest landscape of the country have taken place. In a

recent assessment (BFD 2013) limited to state forests only, it has been found that the natural

sal forests have further declined to just 17,495 ha while the natural mangrove cover (land area)

has also shrunk to approx. 390,550 ha. Although a much more drastic decline in the condition

of the hill forest has been noticed in the above study but a complete picture is not yet available

as some areas of hill forests could not be mapped in that exercise. Approximately 122,089 ha

block plantations, 23,512 km strip plantations and nearly 23400 ha of coastal plantations have

been established since the last full assessment (2005) in the country2.

1.1.4 Trend in forest area

According to FRA 2015, the forest area of Bangladesh has decreased while degraded forest

(other wooded land) has been increasing since 1990 as shown in Table 1-4 below:

Table 1-4: Trend in Forest Area of Bangladesh (000 ha)

Category 1990 2000 2005 2010 2015

Forest 1,494 1,468 1,455 1,442 1,429

Other Wooded Land 269 279 284 289 294

Other Land with Trees 270 934 1,408 1,882 2,356

The other wooded land is nothing but degraded forest and scrubland while “other land with

trees” includes homesteads, agricultural land and other lands which have some tree cover.

While tree covered area outside notified forests has increased at a tremendous rate, as shown

above, since 1990, the forests under the control of BFD have been degrading at an equally

alarming rate. This indicates tremendous socioeconomic pressures on these forests.

2 Source: BFD records

8– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Trends in the forest area under natural forests of various types is shown in Fig. 1-1.

Figure 1-1: Trends in natural forest area in various forest types (000ha) (FRA 2015)

In the above chart, the status of the forests in the years 1990, 2000 and 2005 is based on FRA

2015 while the status in 2015 is based on the FIGNSP 2013 project of the BFD. The drastic

decline in the area of bamboo forest may be because of classification of some mixed bamboo

and tree forests as pure tree forests. However, this minor discrepancy does not change the

overall situation showing fast decline of natural forests in the hill region. As can be seen, there

has been only a small decline in the tree cover in the Sundarbans between 1990 and 2015

(actually 2013) while other forests have suffered very serious losses.

1.1.5 Forest Cover in Major Forested Regions of Bangladesh

As the forests of Bangladesh are under severe pressure, they are continuously degrading and

the nature of the forest crop keeps changing. As mentioned before, BFD carried out the

mapping of the forest areas of the country in 2013 under a project called Forest Information

Generation and Networking System Project (FIGNSP) with the help of the Centre for

Environmental Geographic Information Services (CEGIS). All forests of the country except a

small portion of the hill forests were covered under this exercise. The project was able to

classify the crop standing on forest lands into several cover types. A total of 23 different land

cover classes have been defined from IKONOS and RapidEye satellite images for all the forest

divisions in Bangladesh except the Sundarban Reserved Forest. The classes relevant to this

report are described below.

Natural Forest (Hill)

The natural forest of Sylhet forest division, Chittagong forest divisions, Cox’s Bazar forest

divisions and areas under Chittagong Hill Tracts are considered in the class. Forest of native

species regenerating through natural regeneration or assisted regeneration is considered as

natural forest. Open forests of 70 or 60% to 20 or 10% canopy coverage of natural forest is

mostly covered by this class. The forest is semi evergreen type mostly and broadleaved, often

mixed with deciduous and ever green forest patches. Height of the trees in this forest is >30m

to 3 m. Dominant species are Garjan (Dipterocarpus spp.), Chapalish (Artocarpus chaplasha),

Telsur (Hopea odorata), Uriam (Mangifera sylvatica), Jarul (Legarstroemia speciosa), Civit

(Swintonia floribunda), Toon (Cedrela toona), Bandorhola (Duabanga grandiflora), Gamar

(Gmelina arborea), etc.

40

1.5

3

23

.65

12

8.6

3

89

.79

39

7.4

21

.99 1

02

.86

86

.29

39

5.3

3

21

.99 92

.91

83

.01

39

0.5

5

17

.49 79

.16

15

.04

Mangrove forests Sal Forests Hill forests Bamboo Forests

1990 2000 2005 2015

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –9

Scattered Forest (Natural and Plantation)

This class is found in the three reserved forests (Kassalong, Rankhiang and Sangu-

Matamuhuri) and other areas of this project under Chittagong Hill Tracts. Scattered natural

trees with herbs/shrubs and mixture of scattered plantations, natural scattered trees & other

types of vegetation are the main composition of this class. They could not be separated from

each other on RapidEye satellite images and were thus included in this class. This may include

teak plantation (natural and plantation) since teak is a deciduous tree and the images are of

dry seasons. During dry season, teak loses its leaves and thus looks bear with herbs or grass.

However, a pattern was identified and based on that some areas were identified but did not

work for all areas. This class present in degraded forest areas, generally left fallow, covers

huge areas. Height range varies up to 1.5 meter.

Natural Forest (Sal)

This class has been found in Dhaka, Tangail & Mymensingh forest divisions and Dinajpur,

Rangpur & Rajshahi social forest divisions. The class includes the full grown Sal, coppices of

Sal and where Sal is more than 50% in case of mixture with other plantation species. If sal was

found less than 50% in case of mixture with other plantation and could not be separated from

each other, then it was included in Plantation. This forest type is naturally developed in the

Pleistocene terraces, spread over the central and northern region of the country. Undulating

terrace land, hillocks and raised areas are covered with this type of forest. Sal (Shorea robusta)

is the main species, which is broadleaved, height greater than 30 m to 3 m, covering 90% of

the area and is deciduous in winter for a short period. Sal naturally regenerates by coppice.

Natural Forest (Swamp)

Natural forest growing in some fresh water swampy areas is included in the class. This type is

found in the northern haor areas of Sylhet Forest Division, limited to heavier rainfall tracts i.e.

in permanently moist soil and almost always subject to flooding during rainy season. The most

dominant species are Hijol (Barringtonia acutangula) and Koroch (Pongamia pinnata).

Moreover, Syzygium species, Bauhinia javanica, Albizia procera, Ficus glomerata, etc. are

also available species. Trees are broadleaved evergreen and average tree height is 10-20

meter. Species of reed land type (mostly Murta) are also found as under growth in some

places. If the canopy coverage of the swampy species was found more than 30%, with the

Murta undergrowth, then that was included in this class. Otherwise, the swamp was considered

in the Reed Land class.

Natural Forest (Mangrove)

The mangroves, which grow naturally near saline water in the active delta along the coast of

Bay of Bengal, are included in the class. This type is found only in the Sundarban Reserved

Forest (SRF).Elevation is not more than 2m above mean sea level. Forest floor inundates with

saline water twice daily and is intersected by numerous rivers and creeks. Sundri (Heritiera

fomes), Gewa (Excoecaria agallocha) and Goran (Ceriops decandra) are the dominant

species. Some minor species are Keora (Sonneratia apetala), Passur (Xylocarpus granatum),

Kankra (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza), Baen (Avicennia officinalis), etc. Trees are broadleaved

evergreen and average height is 10-12 meter. All the dominant and minor species are present

as different composition percentages throughout the Sundarbans. Sundri grows and

dominates in less saline areas in the eastern part, Gewa in medium saline in the middle part

and Goran in the higher saline areas in the western part of Sundarban.

10– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Plantations

Plantation class includes all types of species under short rotation and long rotation. The

plantation areas are identified by the similarities of species for a large area, similar tree heights,

and smooth texture in satellite images, mostly high density of trees and by direct field

observation. In case of failed plantation, if the tree canopy coverage is more than 10% then

included in this class. The new plantation of three/four year’s age from satellite image dates

may not be included in this class since they could not be separated from herbs and grass.

However, during field reference data collection if any such new plantation was observed, it was

marked and included in the class. Furthermore, there was a problem in classifying teak

plantation as teak is leafless during the dry season when the satellite images were taken. Thus

all teak plantations may not have been included in this class. The teak is a deciduous tree and

the images are of dry seasons. However, a pattern was identified and based on that some

areas were identified but the method did not work for all areas.

Long rotation forest plantations (40-60 years) include Teak (Tectona grandis), Dipterocarps,

Mahagoni (Swietenia macrophylla), Jarul (Lagerstroemia speciosa), Neem (Azadirachta

indica), Gamar (Gmelina arborea), etc. and short/medium rotation forest plantations (7-20

years) are fuel wood, Acacia, Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globus), Gamar (Gmelina arborea), etc.

Plantations (Mangrove)

Artificially created plantation of mangrove forests along the coast and off-shore islands are

included in this class. It is dominated by Keora (Sonneretia apetala) spp. and Gewa

(Excoecaria agallocha) is also found. In case of presence of scattered mangrove trees, if the

tree can copy coverage is more than 10% then it was included in this class. The new

plantations aged three/four years on the day of taking the satellite imagery may not be included

in this class since they could not be separated from bare mudflat and uri grass (Porteresia

coarctata).

Other Vegetation

In a few places, vegetation of homestead type, mixed with plantations, could not be separated

from each other and were classified as this class. Areas of different homestead vegetation

without house structures, fruit trees of different heights, inhomogeneous on satellite images

are interpreted as this class. In most cases, this class is very near or attached to the class

named as “Settlement with Homestead Vegetation”. (This class is mostly seen in the sal area.

As large parts of sal forests are under encroachments and have been covered under

agroforestry, this class is generally seen within the forest blocks.)

Reed Land

This class is found in the haor areas only in north Sylhet region and includes low height non

timber plants which grow in marshes or low lying areas. Only one plant type, locally known as

Murta, was included in the class. However, the class may include some scattered Hijol and

Koroch, which are present inside the reed land class.

Bamboo

Bamboo class includes both natural and planted bamboos. This class is mostly available in the

hilly areas. In case of mixture of bamboo with other vegetation, if the presence of bamboo is

more than 60 to 70 percent, the class was considered as bamboo. Bamboos are woody

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –11

grasses that are up to 15 meters tall and occur in the eastern and southern part of Bangladesh.

Bamboo naturally occurs in pure stands or mixed with trees. Major species of bamboo are Muli

(Melocanna baccifera), Mitenga (Bambusa tulda), Dalu (Neo houzeau adullooa), Orah

(Dendrocalamus longispathus), Kalichari (Oxytenanthera nigrociliata), etc.

Shrubs and Grass

Shrubs occur in the heavily degraded forest areas, generally left fallow, and covers huge areas.

It refers to those vegetation types where the dominant woody elements are shrubs i.e. woody

perennial plants, generally more than 0.5 m and less than 5 m in height on maturity and without

a definite crown. The Shrubs and Grass type includes low to high dense non-timber low height

plants, bushes, grasses, some bare areas, etc. However, very scattered trees may be present

and thus might be included in the class. It was very difficult to separate this class from very

young type of plantations, since both of the types give similar spectral response and signature

of the satellite images. Therefore, some areas may have been wrongly interpreted.

Rubber

Rubber plantation managed for latex production, occurs in well-drained soil or land with 3% to

32% slope of the central, north and south eastern part of Bangladesh. Rubber (Hevea

brasiliensis) and is broadleaved, deciduous in the drier months for a very short period. Due to

the deciduous nature, it looks like bare land with grass in the images in dry season (mostly

January and February). Therefore, some areas may be wrongly interpreted due to the leafless

situation.

Distribution of various forest cover classes in the forest lands of Bangladesh is given below:

Table 1-5: Forest cover in the littoral areas (ha)

Division Natural Forest (Mangroves)

Plantations Plantations Mangroves

Shrubs and Grass

Total

Patuakhali CAD 152 6 17133 0 17291

Bhola CAD 0 0 13585 0 13585

Noakholi CAD 0 0 15199 0 15199

Chittagong CAD 0 5 15436 24 15465

Sundarbans 390550 362 0 0 390912

Cox's Bazar North 0 0 156 0 156

Cox's Bazar South 0 0 65 0 65

Total 390702 373 61574 24 452673

12– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Table 1-6: Forest cover in the plains sal areas (ha)

Location Natural Forest (Sal)

Other Vegetation

(Homestead type &

Plantation)

Plantation Bamboo Shrubs and

Grass

Total

Dhaka FD 8005 13350 5978 0 0 27333

Tangail FD 6239 18868 8217 0 0 33324

Mymensingh FD 1873 5614 5806 0 1179 14472

Rajshahi SFD 172 211 777 0 0 1160

Rangpur SFD 97 113 96 1 0 307

Dinajpur SFD 1109 313 559 4 11 1996

Total 17495 38469 21433 5 1190 78592

Table 1-7: Forest cover in hill areas (ha)

Division/Reserve Forest

Natu

ral

Fo

rest

Scatt

ere

d

Fo

rest

(Nat.

& P

lan

tati

on

)

Oth

er

Veg

eta

tio

n

(Ho

meste

ad

typ

e &

Pla

nta

tio

n)

Bam

bo

o

Pla

nta

tio

ns

Sw

am

p

Fo

rest

Ru

bb

er

Sh

rub

s a

nd

Gra

ss

Reed

La

nd

To

tal

Chittagong North 0 0 3969 0 9192 0 1950 37452 0 52563

Chittagong South 3765 0 1486 0 9375 0 0 38846 0 53472

Cox’s Bazar North 1197 0 298 0 3719 0 780 15557 0 21551

Cox’s Bazar South 72 0 681 0 3796 0 14 30429 0 34992

Kassalong RF 48711 79572 0 6316 0 0 0 37670 0 172269

Rankhiang RF 7178 22451 0 438 0 0 0 60173 0 90240

Sangu-Matamuhuri RF 16262 10252 0 1389 0 0 0 50860 0 78763

Kaptai NP 1935 4696 0 0 0 0 0 4202 0 10833

Sylhet FD 41 0 0 6891 27984 102 3469 7527 1201 47215

Total 79161 116971 6434 15034 54066 102 6213 282716 1201 561898

It is to be noted that these tables do not correspond to the total notified forest lands of the

country. As the boundaries of the surveyed forest lands were not marked on the ground or

available on digital maps, some land uses such as agriculture, homesteads etc. (as a result of

encroachments) could not be distinguished from the adjoining private lands. Moreover, very

young plantations, as well as defoliated forests (e.g. teak plantations) were also not

distinguishable in the satellite imageries. Therefore, the above forest cover can be treated as

the minimum forest cover rather than the actual.

This assessment shows a very high degree of degradation/deforestation of the sal and hill

forests. Although the decline follows the trend indicated in the various FRA reports on the basis

of regression analysis, this assessment shows very major change since the NFA 2007

assessment, in which the areas of natural forests were shown considerably above the values

indicated in the FRA country reports. Although some areas have not been included in the

FIGNSP mapping but the left out areas not large enough to make a significant difference to

the results.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –13

Unclassed State Forests

Unclassed State Forests (USF) refer to the forest area under district administration. The land

under this classification comprises an area of about 712,418 ha out of which nearly 17,347 ha

is under the control of the BFD As mentioned before, there is no information on the exact extent

of forest coverage within this area, but it is recognized that most of the lands under this

category are unproductive use with a lack of forest cover. Local forest officers feel that 50-60%

of this area should still be available for the development of forests as the rest is under various

kinds of encumbrances.

Homestead and other private forests

Homestead forests are essentially tree gardens around rural habitations. Although a large

portion of the trees in the homesteads are fruit trees such as mango, jackfruit, coconut, etc.,

but these treelands are popularly believed to meet nearly 80% (FMP 1995) of the local demand

for wood products. The NFA 2005-07 estimated their extent to be far more than all other natural

and planted forests put together (2,767,000 ha, all plots over 0.1 ha in size). Tree cover in the

homestead vegetation is fairly dense, as shown below:

Table 1-8: Village Homestead Area by Tree Cover Classes (000 ha)3.

Tree Cover Classes

No Tree Cover <5% 5-10% 10-30% 30-70% >70%

40 752 873 675 491 31

Table 1-8 shows that nearly 40% of the villages have tree cover which is comparable with any

forest area of the country. Previous studies showed that per capita availability of bamboo and

trees from the homesteads had increased between 1981 and 1991. It is presumed that the

same trend has continued in the recent past and the area and number of trees in the

homestead must be more than recorded here. NFA 2005-07 shows that the village homestead

stands and cultivated lands contain more than double the commercial volume (105 million m3)

of commercial volume of roundwood compared to the nation’s forest areas (43 million m3). This

underlines the importance of these resources for the local economy.

“According to Hammermaster (1981) 12.61 Mha of rural (villages and homesteads) areas

(excluding Chittagong Hill Tracts) had a growing stock of 54.8 million m3. The same area was

found to have 120.38 million m3 in 2006 ---. Thus it grew at 2.62 million m3 per year. In 1993

the homestead growing stock was 86.24 million m3. ADB (1993) reported that the village forests

supply 5 million m3 wood every year, which is 5.8% of the total growing stock. Thus it can be

assumed that the village groves (homesteads) yield about 5.8% of the growing stock that they

carry at any given time”4.

Homestead forests consist of mixed fruits, fuel wood, shade, and other multipurpose trees, as

well as bamboos. In the upper stratum, it is common to find trees such as Albizia procera, A.

lebbeck, Aphanamixis polystachya, Artocarpus heterophyllus, A. lacucha, Polyalthia longifolia,

Alstonia scholaris, Azadirachta indica, Dillenia indica, Mangifera indica, Cordial dichotoma,

Elaeocarpus floribudus, Bombax ceiba, Syzygium cumini, Samania saman, Swietenia

macrophylla, Tamarindus indica, Toona cialiata, Acacia nilotica, Lagerstroemia speciosa,

3 BFD: NFA 2005-07 4 Chowdhury J.K and Hossain A.A. 2011: Bangladesh Forestry Outlook Study, FAO Bangkok.

14– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Ficus bengalensis, F. religiosa, F. racemosa, Anthocephalus chinensis, Eucalyptus

camaldulensis, Areca catechu, Borassus flobellifer, Cocos nucifera, and Gmelina arborea,

among others. In the middle stratum, the major part is composed of small trees and bamboos

(Alam 2014).

Apart from the formally recorded or recognized categories of forests, people of the Chittagong

Hill Tracts (CHT), Chittagong Hills and Dhaka circle own significant chunks of private forest

areas. There is no accurate survey of the extent of these forests, although the estimated area

of private forests in North Rangamati division is approximately 273,791 ha, which is mostly

composed of teak and gamar plantations (pers. Com. DFO). While most of these forests have

already been converted into teak forests, the newfound interest of the local indigenous people

in horticulture suggests that the extent of these forests may be declining.

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) carried out a “Household Based Forestry Survey 2011-

12” in 2014 to estimate the level of forestry activity in the homesteads and other private lands.

A summary of the results is given in the table below:

Table 1-9: Household Based Forestry Activity 2011-12 (BBS 2014)

Item Estimate Remarks

No. of Households reporting 13270322 91.9% reported owning trees

Total No. of trees 1447.31 million

Total value of trees 1346100 million Tk.

Total wood production 35785000 Cft.

Value of wood produced 11582 million Tk.

Total bamboo production 6027000

Value of bamboo produced 1067 million Tk.

Firewood production 5191835 million tons

Value of firewood 46505 million Tk.

Gross output of HH based forestry activity

133712 million Tk.

This study divided the overall private tree planting activity into two categories: Homestead trees

and planned forest away from homesteads. It estimated the area of planned forests as only

606600 acres (245587 ha) and no estimate of the area under homestead plantations is given.

Apparently, the results of this study are not comparable with the earlier assessments and most

values seem to be underestimates.

Strip Plantations

Bangladesh has been undertaking the planting of fast growing exotic species, primarily Acacia

auriculiformis and A. mangium, on the strips of land along roads, railway lines, and canals

under the social forestry programme. While there are conflicting records of the total extent of

these plantations, it is reasonable to believe that the area under plantations is growing as the

result of the recurring annual establishment of plantations, as well as the security provided by

the communities participating in the social forestry programme. According to the records of the

BFD, approximately 62,329 km of strip plantations were established between 1980-81 and

2014-15, although FRA 2015 indicates their extent to be 73,000 km before 2005, equivalent to

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –15

about 7,3000 ha. Since then 23,512 km additional strip plantations have been established until

2014-15 making the total length close to one hundred thousand km.

Based on the information presented above, it is clear that the tree cover has been on the

decline inside the state forests while there have been major gains outside the forests. Putting

together data from different sources, although from disparate periods, the composite picture

of the country’s tree cover that emerges is as given in the table below:

Table 1-10: Forest and tree cover of Bangladesh

Category of Forest or Tree

Cover

Area (Ha) Source Remarks

Hill Forest 79161 FIGNSP

2013

>10% Canopy Cover; all

RF blocks not mapped

Sal Forest 17495 FIGNSP

2013 >50% sal trees

Mangrove Forest, Natural 390550 FIGNSP

2013

Bamboo 15039 FIGNSP

2013 > 60% Bamboo

Plantations (Long Term and

Short Term) 75872

FIGNSP

2013

Scattered Forest in CHT Mixed

with Teak Plantations 116971

FIGNSP

2013

Plantations in USF (FD

controlled) 17347 BFD

Plantations, Mangrove 61574 FIGNSP

2013

Plantations, Rubber 9217 FIGNSP

2013

Plantations, Strip 62329 BFD

Cultivated land with >10% tree

density 449000 NFA 2007

Rural settlements with >10%

tree cover 11,97,000 NFA 2007 Village/Homestead

Total Area under Tree Cover 24,91,555

Total Area of Bangladesh 1,47,57,500

% Area With Tree Cover 16.88% 21% of dry

land

16– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

The above table indicates that the current tree cover in the country is close to 17% of the

geographical area of the country which is almost equivalent to 21% of the dry land. However,

as the tree cover also includes areas with very low canopy density, these is plenty of scope for

improvement despite the country having reached the 20% goal mentioned in the 1994 National

Forest Policy. However, it is important to update this picture through a thorough country wide

survey of tree cover, so that correct data for planning is available.

1.2 Trends in deforestation in different regions, forest degradation, and drivers

1.2.1 Trends in deforestation and forest degradation

Discussion in the previous section brings out the fact that the natural forests of the country are

on a sharply declining path, although the losses are partially compensated, at least in extent,

through afforestation and reforestation. There are no recent studies on deforestation and

degradation of forests in Bangladesh. It is, therefore, difficult to compile definitive information

on the subject. Reasonable inferences on deforestation and forest degradation may be

established, however, by collating relevant data from diverse sources. Table 1-4 and Table 1-

11 provide an indication of the increasing deforestation trend in natural forests.

Table 1-11: Forest area (000 ha) (FRA 2015).

Category 1990 2000 2005 2010 2015

Primary forest 436 436 436 436 411

Other naturally

regenerated forest 819 761 741 769 744

Planted forest 239 271 278 237 274

Total 1,494 1,468 1,455 1,442 1,429

Primary forest is an area which is very little affected by human activities and is limited only to

Sundarbans. The natural forest area of the country has declined between 1990 and 2015,

although the area under plantations, notwithstanding the decline between 2005 and 2010, has

increased.

The clearest picture of the state of affairs emerges from a comparison of NFA 2005-2007 and

FRA 2015 as shown below.

Table 1-12: Changes in vegetation cover between 2005 and 2015 (000 ha).

Type Area 2005 Area 2015

Hill 551* 79.16

Sal 34 17.50

Mangrove 436 390.55

Bamboo 184** 15.04

*Although the NFA 2005- 2007 gives this figure, FRA 2015 indicates an area of 92,910 ha

which fits well with the trend observed in FIGNS-2013 study.

**This figure is based on NFA 2005-2007. FRA 2015 predicts a figure of 83,100 ha which is

more in conformity with the findings of the FIGNSP-2013 study.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –17

Table 1-12 shows that natural hill forests, including bamboo forests and sal forests are very

close to complete obliteration although Sundarbans are still holding on. If this trend in

deforestation continues, no natural forests, outside Sundarbans, are likely to survive in future,

unless effective measures are taken to stem the decline.

NFA 2005-2007 had classified the forests on the basis of their canopy cover as shown in Table

1-13.

Table 1-13: Forest types by tree cover classes (000 ha) (2005)

Forest types Tree Cover

<5% 5-10% 10-30% 30-70% >70%

Hill Forest 0 3 247 297 4

Mangrove Forest 0 0 0 0 436

Bamboo Forest 5 3 39 131 6

Long Rotation Plantations 39 16 18 31 27

Short Rotation Plantations 0 3 48 3 0

Mangrove Plantations 45 0 0 0 0

The above table shows that very dense forests over 70% canopy density are available only in

the Sundarbans. The FIGNSP 2013 study has not classified the forests on the basis of their

canopy density and has lumped all forests between 10 to 70% canopy together. This shows

that there are virtually no forests with over 70% density outside Sundarbans.

NFA 2005-2007 had also predicted future tree cover losses in all categories of land use in the

country, as shown in the figures below. Figure 1-2 shows the expected decline in tree cover in

most of the forest areas and rise in the cultivated lands, villages and other land uses.

Figure 1-2: Expected change in tree cover by national land use classes.

18– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Figure 1-3 shows that out of all the forest types, the hill forests are likely to suffer the maximum

loss of tree cover in future. This forecast seems to have come true as only about 11% of the

natural tree cover in the hill forest is left as present, as indicated by the FIGNSP project.

The Global Forest Watch (GFW) has maintained records of the loss of tree cover in the country

as a component of their global database since 2000. Table 1-14 shows the extent of tree cover,

but not forest cover, in the country in various canopy classes in 2000 using data extracted from

the GFW database.

Figure 1-3: Expected change in tree cover by forest type

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –19

Table 1-14: Forest area by percentage of canopy cover (GFW).

Division Forest area by canopy cover (ha)

>10% >15% >20% >25% >30% >50% >75%

Barisal 150,695 6% 131,948 6% 127,251 6% 116,631 6% 102,279 5% 57,498 4% 0,347 0%

Chittagong 1,512,357 56% 1,411,510 61% 1,381,114 62% 1,344,601 64% 1,282,846 65% 1,124,171 73% 676,910 97%

Dhaka 250,288 9% 167,378 7% 148,033 7% 119,341 6% 93,144 5% 31,917 2% 3,195 NA%

Khulna 469,946 18% 383,725 17% 365,563 16% 346,210 17% 331,547 17% 239,220 16% 2,127 NA%

Rajshahi 95,517 4% 41,704 2% 35,407 2% 24,352 1% 17,370 1% 2,176 0% 0,379 NA%

Sylhet 204,723 8% 168,621 7% 159,403 7% 146,521 7% 132,623 7% 86,736 6% 13,744 2%

Total 2,683,526 100% 2,304,885 100% 2,216,771 100% 2,097,657 100% 1,959,809 100% 1,541,719 100% 696,702 100%

Table 1-14 indicates that an area of nearly 2.7 Mha had 10% or more tree canopy cover in 2000, of which nearly 2 Mha (73%) had a canopy

cover of more than 30%. Even more significantly, the table shows the incidence of dense forests in the Chittagong division in the year 2000

while all those forests have been severely degraded by now.

Table 1-15 depicts the gradual loss of tree cover throughout the country in those areas having more than 10%, 30%, 50%, and 75% canopy

cover between 2001 and 2014.

Table 1-15: Tree cover loss, in >10%, >30%, >50%, >75% canopy cover classes, in different divisions of Bangladesh (ha) (GFW).

Division 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2001-

2014 %

Tree cover loss (>10% canopy cover)

Barisal 0 0 1 2 1 5 5 5 2 3 4 3 1 0 32 0%

Chittagong 3,843 3,209 1,985 2,858 2,845 5,961 2,931 3,868 4,772 3,706 3,419 5,032 6,701 9,710 60,841 85%

Dhaka 282 405 61 330 275 494 342 324 212 486 336 242 88 217 4,094 6%

Khulna 9 8 2 18 11 6 31 17 6 20 49 7 0 0 185 0%

Rajshahi 125 108 14 60 58 66 97 78 37 60 51 46 11 32 841 1%

Sylhet 378 308 128 1,085 146 480 697 313 724 592 499 324 94 145 5,912 8%

Total 4,637 4,038 2,190 4,352 3,336 7,013 4,104 4,606 5,753 4,867 4,357 5,654 6,896 10,103 71,906 100%

20– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Division 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2001-

2014 %

Tree cover loss (>30% canopy cover)

Barisal 0 0 1 2 1 4 5 5 2 2 3 3 1 0 30 0%

Chittagong 3,834 3,196 1,975 2,842 2,835 5,913 2,901 3,833 4,730 3,676 3,375 4,840 5,957 8,634 58,542 85%

Dhaka 279 401 59 321 268 484 334 313 206 466 326 226 68 165 3,914 6%

Khulna 8 8 2 15 10 6 30 15 5 19 42 6 0 0 165 0%

Rajshahi 118 101 12 51 53 60 85 69 32 52 46 35 3 10 728 1%

Sylhet 375 301 124 1.073 143 463 684 304 705 577 484 313 78 121 5.743 8%

Total 4,614 4,006 2,172 4,303 3,310 6,930 4,038 4,539 5,679 4,793 4,277 5,423 6.107 8,930 69,122 100%

Tree cover loss (>50% canopy cover)

Barisal 0 0 1 2 1 3 3 3 1 2 2 3 1 0 21 0%

Chittagong 3,806 3,143 1,930 2,781 2,794 5,733 2,800 3,710 4,589 3,575 3,292 4,668 5,466 7,979 56,265 86%

Dhaka 263 372 51 287 245 447 299 265 173 410 288 187 35 80 3,402 5%

Khulna 5 5 1 7 8 5 27 10 4 12 26 4 0 0 114 0%

Rajshahi 103 80 8 30 37 39 59 47 19 34 33 20 1 4 513 1%

Sylhet 357 276 109 991 128 396 614 265 621 507 428 281 59 89 5,121 8%

Total 4,533 3,877 2,100 4,097 3,213 6,623 3,801 4,299 5,407 4,540 4,069 5,162 5,562 8,152 65,436 100%

Tree cover loss (>75% canopy cover)

Barisal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0%

Chittagong 3,510 2,745 1,606 2,283 2,435 4,551 2,227 2,897 3,597 2,750 2,682 3,690 3,258 4,748 42,981 90%

Dhaka 151 191 21 105 126 246 131 100 66 173 152 86 7 7 1,561 3%

Khulna 1 0 0 0 2 2 6 2 0 4 3 1 0 0 22 0%

Rajshahi 40 28 2 8 14 13 16 13 5 7 15 5 0 1 168 0%

Sylhet 233 168 65 619 80 211 364 152 326 246 252 165 8 7 2,896 6%

Total 3,935 3,132 1,695 3,016 2,656 5,024 2,744 3,165 3,995 3,181 3,105 3,949 3,273 4,762 47,632 100%

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –21

The GFW data provided in Table 1-15 demonstrates that the country lost tree cover over an

area of 71,906 ha (2.7%) that had more than 10% tree cover in 2000. Of that loss, 47,632 ha

(66% of the total loss) was dense forest with a canopy density of more than 75%. While that

data reflects both legal, as well as illegal, tree felling, the loss of tree cover in dense forests is

a cause of concern. Although there has been a ban on the felling of trees in natural forests,

25,435 ha of woodlot plantations and approximately 11,926 km of strip plantations were felled

by the BFD between 1980-81 and 2014-15. It is important to recognize that the figures provided

in Table 1-9 do not necessarily represent the net loss of forests or tree cover as some of these

areas may have been regenerated or replanted and more trees may have been planted in

afforested areas. Tree cover loss and gain are not adjusted by GFW and are maintained as

separate entities. The data corroborates that most of the loss of tree cover has occurred in the

Chittagong division (58,542 ha, or 85%), which includes the hill forests of the CHT. It may be

either due to the Jote felling on private lands, shifting cultivation, illegal felling in government

forests, or the official diversion of forest land for other purposes by the government. As per

available statistics, an area of 104154 ha is under encroachments out of which 52535 ha is in

the hill forests and 45518 ha is in the sal forests. Similarly out of 125626 ha land transferred

to other agencies, 28234 ha was in the hills and 8571 ha in the sal forests. Since most of the

areas with high tree density (676,910 ha, or 97%) also occurred in the Chittagong division in

year 2000, this loss may result in a serious decline in the biodiversity of the region. Again,

while loss of tree cover is not exactly equivalent to deforestation or forest degradation, it is

indicative of the process of deforestation.

In the larger context of Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) in Bangladesh,

substantial transfers of forest to other land uses have taken place over the past two decades.

Scarcity of land for agricultural production, urban and industrial developments and

infrastructure projects are drivers of deforestation, with increasing population and economic

development as proximate causes.

Bangladesh gained 7,023 ha of tree cover with more than 50% canopy cover from 2001 to

2012, which was insufficient to offset the loss of 65,436 ha of tree cover with more than 50%

canopy cover. Table 1-16 confirms that most of the reforestation and afforestation efforts have

been implemented in the most vulnerable areas of the country.

Table 1-16: Tree cover gain over the period 2001 - 2012 in areas with a canopy cover over 50% (GFW).

Division ha %

Barisal 6 0

Chittagong 5,473 78

Dhaka 571 8

Khulna 3 0

Rajshahi 264 4

Sylhet 706 10

Total 7,023 100

The most obvious inference from Table 1-16 is that despite large scale plantation programmes,

especially under social forestry, the gain in tree cover at a significant canopy density level

(50%) is minimal in comparison to the loss of tree cover during the same period (65,436 ha)

and at the same density level.

22– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Tree cover loss and gain data are indicative of trends in tree cover, but do not accurately reflect

the dynamics of deforestation because the changes in tree cover may occur outside forest

areas also. Even in forest areas, moreover, forestry operations lead to local changes in tree

cover. FAO (FRA 2014) describes the changes in forest cover of Bangladesh between 1981

and 2001 as follows: “During the period of ten years ending 1996, the forest cover in

Bangladesh has declined. More than half of the close (medium to good density) forests have

either degraded to poor density forests (other forests) or deforested and encroached. Some of

the "other forests" have also been deforested and encroached. Area under plantations in

Coastal Afforestation divisions has declined by more than 25%. The protected area in two of

the three wildlife sanctuaries in Sunderbans has also gone down by 10 to 30 percent while the

total area under PAs has increased. Forest cover losses in Bangladesh remain unsurveyed or

unmapped and their exact sizes and locations are not conclusively determined, except for

periodic visual observations (FMP, 1992).” The trend in forest cover described by FAO is

illustrated below:

Figure 1-4: Changes in forest cover between 1981 and 2001.

It is obvious from the above account that the trends in the decline of forest cover seen in the

last assessment (2013) had in fact started long ago and nothing much could be done in the

face of the mounting socioeconomic pressures on forests. The BFD has very actively pursued

and promoted programmes of social forestry and homestead plantations which demonstrate a

substantial trend of increase in forested land in LULUCF statistics. These programmes were

first formalized in the FMP 1995, but the earliest activities date back to 1980s.

1.2.2 Drivers of deforestation and forest degradation

Deforestation and forest degradation in the context of the country's expanding economic

growth have accelerated as the result of rapid population growth and poverty; expanding

cultivation, urbanization and industrialization; and inadequate forestry investment, and

consequently, insufficient biodiversity protection measures. Inadequate institutional capacity

has provided disincentives for sustainable forest management. Moreover, since Bangladesh

is a delta with good rainfall and fertile soils in plain lands, most of the forest areas in the country

are suitable for agriculture as an alternative land use in a land scarce, agrarian economy.

Historically, the country’s land ownership has evolved in a less egalitarian manner in which

land, as an important means of production, has always determined the socioeconomic status

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –23

of individuals. Rapid loss of resilience in forest ecosystems has not only adversely affected

natural resource dependent communities, but has also negatively impacted soil fertility, water

quality and quantity, air quality, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, including wildlife, and

wetlands and fisheries - leading to declining natural resource capital with emerging

environmental concerns, such as, climate change, forest land conversion, and biodiversity

loss.

The principal drivers of deforestation and forest degradation include combinations of the

following factors:

• The practice of shifting cultivation in the CHT areas is perhaps the most powerful driver

of deforestation;

• High dependence of a large rural population on limited natural forests for fuelwood,

construction timber, fodder and various non-timber forest products;

• Encroachment of forest land for agriculture or habitation by poor people living in and

around forests, as well as by migrants;

• 'Land grabbing' by influential people for various commercial purposes;

• Conversion of forest land into non-forest uses by the government for infrastructure or

industrial development; and,

• Commercial timber felling and the smuggling of valuable timber trees by criminals.

• Lack of demarcation and mapping of forest blocks makes encroachment easy and often

imperceptible.

• Weak law enforcement and delays in court decisions.

These factors are aggravated by an extremely high population density, rampant poverty and

lack of good governance. The absence of the clear demarcation of forest blocks on the ground

makes encroachment by neighbours both easy and defensible in courts. The intensity and

combination of factors driving deforestation varies from area to area. The Sal forests are more

prone to agricultural encroachments because of the suitability of the plains land for agriculture.

Land grab by influential people for commercial gain is a matter of serious concern in the plains.

The hill forests of the CHT have to bear the impact of traditional shifting cultivation (jhum) by

the local indigenous people. Progressively decreasing jhum cycles have destroyed the vitality

of the hill forests. The dependence of local people on neighbouring forests for fuelwood, fodder

and small timber is prevalent throughout the country. The Sundarbans are heavily affected by

repeated house construction activity in the adjacent areas triggered by recurring storms and

hurricanes. Table 1-17 shows the extent of forest encroachments and land transfers in various

forest circles:

24– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Table 1-17: Extent of encroachments and forest land conversions5

Forest Circle Area transferred

to other

agencies (Ha)

Area under

encroachments

(Ha)

Dhaka 10,919.45 66,104.31

Barisal 88,811.68 6,101.19

Khulna 9.39 0.00

Rangamati 1,098.81 4,558.69

Bogra S.F. 44.66 5,532.23

Chittagong 24,033.38 20,519.23

Dhaka S.F. 17.12 245.27

Wildlife and Nature Conservation 691.62 1,093.50

Total 1,25,626.12 1,04,154.43

These transfers and encroachments have been recorded in the last 50 years, as mentioned in

the BFD records. While the extent of land conversions shown here may be correct, extent of

encroachments seems to be an underestimate. Keeping a correct record of forest

encroachments, without a GPS or traditional survey, is virtually impossible. Most

encroachments are occularly assessed and are often deliberate underestimates. As the

encroached lands planted with trees under social forestry are treated as recovered lands,

these are deleted from the encroachment database, despite the fact that these lands remain

in the possession of the encroachers.

As the country has excellent tree cover outside state forests, producing adequate woody

biomass for the needs of the local people, the deforestation seen in the last few decades

cannot be entirely attributed to the extraction pressure for timber and fuelwood. Most of the

area of the sal forest has been either encroached or transferred to other agencies. Most of the

forests of the hills are under jhum cultivation. Therefore, it is clear that the deforestation is

more the result of prevailing land hunger in the country rather than the shortage of forest

products. Although forest encroachments always have an important socioeconomic dimension,

but even well to do people try to take advantage of the free for all situation if encroachments

are tolerated liberally. This is what seems to have happened in Bangladesh.

Most of the deforestation and degradation is happening as a result of weak law enforcement.

While detecting and apprehending a forest offender itself is a very difficult proposition, the

courts also take inordinately long time to decide cases, despite the fact that the government

has made a provision for forest case conducting officers (FCCOs) and special magistrates to

try forest offences. According to available records, 60% of the forest offences recorded are

UODR category in which the criminal is unknown and 78% of the cases that go to the courts

take more than eight years to reach conclusion. If the case is not decided within the first four

years, it may never reach conclusion. In fact a large number of cases are not prosecuted as

there is no money for prosecution and for taking care of the arrestees6.

5 Source: ACCF (Management Planning), BFD. 6 Source: National Wildlife Crime Control Strategy 2015 (draft) BFD.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –25

The effects of these factors on deforestation and forest degradation are vividly illustrated by

the following passages taken from REDD+ publications.

Box 1-1: Deforestation in Chittagong Hills, an extract from the Project Concept Note Bangladesh REDD+ ARR Protected Areas Project (BRAPAP)

Most villagers are dependent on forest resources not only for their employment and livelihoods, but

also for vegetables and fruits integral to their diets, household materials, and fuel wood for domestic

use. The responsibility for their fuel wood collection usually falls mainly on women, children, and

occasionally elderly members; it tends to be collected during the day, and saplings and seedlings

are the most common source. Illegal harvesting, motivated by lack of alternative sources of fuel, have

disturbed the natural regeneration of the forests, contributed to their considerable degradation, and

negatively affected wildlife habitats. Some individuals also engage in the sale of fuel wood, and

substantial quantities are transported daily from some of the protected areas to fuel wood traders or

local markets, as in the cases of DDWS and MKNP. In terms of the movement of fuel wood, the first

entry point is usually a small market, although the final destination may be a much larger market.

Illegal tree felling has contributed to a reduction in forest cover and resources, and is carried out both

by local people as well as outsiders, often under the influence of local elites, sometimes supported

by outsiders. Most tree felling takes place at night, and is either used by villagers for building material

or furniture, or is sold in markets nearby or in other big districts such as Chittagong and Dhaka.

Over the past several decades, different types of biotic and natural disaster pressures have led to

the degradation of most of the forest areas. Factors that have contributed to the deforestation and

degradation of these lands include cyclone devastation, such as in 1991, 1994, and 1996 in INP, as

well as population growth and migration, such as that of the Rohinga refugees from Myanmar into

the areas surrounding INP and TWS. In some cases, migration has been fuelled by movement away

from areas hit by natural disasters, as in DDWS, which experienced an influx of migrants pursuant

to the cyclone of 1964. These increases in population have resulted in or contributed to fuelwood

collection for personal use as well as for sale; illicit felling and logging; destructive tree bark collection

from species such as Dillenia pentagyna; betel leaf cultivation; and clearing undergrowth, sometimes

through the use of fires, to convert forest lands into agricultural lands and settlements.

Encroachment of forest land after deforesting is also a critical issue in all the six protected areas.

There are two forms of forest land encroachment: 1) by local communities, including cyclone and

flood victims in the vicinity, wealthy influential individuals, and refugees from Myanmar, expanding

into frontier forest areas, and 2) by forest villagers moving beyond the areas allocated to them by the

FD. Forest villages were set up at different times in some of the reserve forests by the FD (e.g. in

1920s in Teknaf), under which a certain number of households were each leased 2 acres of land

within the reserve forests. In return, the villagers were expected to help the FD with plantations and

patrolling. However, there is evidence of encroachment beyond their allotments, and of migration of

forest villagers’ family members into these areas. For example, in TWS, the total number of registered

and enlisted forest villagers is about 350, but local estimates suggest the number of people claiming

to be forest villagers is closer to 5,000 households. These anthropogenic pressures have contributed

to the significant deforestation and degradation of the forests, and poverty and limited livelihoods

options are important factors in local community members’ willingness to participate in these illegal

activities. These stressors are further exacerbated by the weak law-enforcement capacity of the FD,

as well as high demand for the forest products by sawmill owners and illegal timber traders.

26– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

The second passage is from the Project Concept Note Collaborative REDD+IFM Sundarbans

Project (CRISP) and describes the principal drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in

the Sundarbans.

Box 1-2: Principal drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in the Sundarbans.

A number of activities contributing to forest degradation continue to adversely affect forest land and

forest cover. Main factors that have contributed to the deforestation and degradation of these lands

include population growth and migration. These increases in population have resulted in or

contributed to fuelwood collection for personal use as well as for sale and illicit felling for constructions

and fish harvesting. The need for timber for boat making and fishing by local community and floating

populations is substantial and most of it is met through unauthorized removals by using maritime

access routes, sometimes in connivance with local FD field staff. Poor facilities and salaries of the

FD field staff exacerbate the illegal harvesting due to high temptation for gratification. Peripheral

deforestation is threat due mainly to highly commercial shrimp industry that has developed of late as

the third largest foreign earning sector (after garment sector and remittances).

1.3 Trends in afforestation and reforestation programmes in different regions including coastal regions

Background of programmes and projects

Subsequent to the establishment of the Forest Department in 1865 and the enactment of the

first Forest Act in that same year, which was subsequently revised in 1874 and 1927, the British

India Government started to reserve the forests in the Bengal Presidency primarily on the basis

of ecological considerations and watershed management. The Sundarbans Reserved Forests

were accordingly declared in 1879 on ecological considerations of its coastal mangrove

forests. The area of SRF was reduced to its present size in 1915. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts,

Sangu, Matamuhari, Kassalong and Rankhiang forests were declared as head water reserved

forests and catchments of important rivers, including the Sangu, Matamuhari, Kassalong and

Rainkhiang. The tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forests in the Sylhet-Chittagong-Cox’s

Bazar hill belt, containing high biodiversity because of the very good rainfall and soil conditions,

were also declared as Reserved Forests. The Sal forests in the undulating and plain land,

central and north Bengal, acquired from Zamindars and Rajas, were declared as proposed

Reserved Forests under section 4 of the Forest Act, 1927. Many of these forests have still not

been declared as Reserved Forests, however, and have come under encroachment. Out of

the nearly 120000 ha of sal forest, nearly 71212 ha area falls in this category. Some sal areas

have, however, been notified as reserved forests in 2016 despite these being heavily

encroached.

The first attempt at raising a forest plantation was made in 1871 with teak, in the Chittagong

Hill Tracts using seeds brought from Burma. The policy of converting mixed forests of high

biodiversity to plantations continued after independence until 1979 when the country’s first

forest policy was adopted and, increasingly, natural forests were brought under regulations

controlling commercial felling to conserve biodiverse forests. With the subsequent surge in

social forestry and employment generation through labour-intensive forestry, donor-funded

forestry projects were established, culminating, more recently, in participatory climate resilient

afforestation and biodiversity conservation projects centred in coastal areas and protected

areas, respectively.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –27

Donor-supported community and social forestry projects have been continuing since 1982 and

participatory forestry initiatives by the BFD have included the Community Forestry Project,

Upazila Afforestation and Nursery Development Project, Coastal Greenbelt Project, and the

Forestry Sector Project. Each of these programmes has been successful in generating benefits

for local communities organized into forest user groups. These benefits have been associated

with employment opportunities in plantations established on unused public lands and forest

lands, as well as with significant usufructuary benefits that have included sharing revenues

from final harvests of the plantations that have been established with the participation of local

people under the Social Forestry Rules of 2004 that were later amended in 2010 and 2011. A

special feature of these participatory plantations has been the implementation of the Tree

Farming Fund (TFF) in which 10% of total harvest proceeds are retained in the TFF for

establishing future plantations by involving forest user groups as beneficiaries to ensure

programme sustainability in establishing succeeding generations of plantations.

The BFD has been concerned with determining the optimal levels of forest resource use and

accelerating programmes of short-cycle plantations for timber and fuelwood to meet the

demands of the wood products’ industries. These programmes have been primarily located in

the coastal areas of the Bay of Bengal, the unclassed state forests, hill forests, and inland Sal

forests.

Important institutional and legal reforms were instituted under the Forestry Sector Project,

which was designed and developed in accordance with the recommendations of the 1993

Forestry Master Plan. It was particularly noteworthy that under the project social forestry was

institutionalized by promulgating the Forest (Amendment) Act 2000 and enacting the Social

Forestry Rules (2004, 2010 and 2011). These rules provided for the sharing of usufructuary

benefits between the BFD and local communities mobilized into groups of participants. The

participatory benefit sharing agreements signed between the BFD and the local community,

detailed how harvest proceeds would be shared. Social forestry was implemented for the first

time in the Reserved Forests and Protected Forests by establishing participatory woodlots and

agroforestry systems. The Sal coppice management component of the project was

implemented in degraded Sal forests with provisions for encouraging natural regeneration and

providing benefits to local communities associated as participants in the protection and

rehabilitation of the degraded forests.

During the Sixth Five Year Plan period 2011-2015, there were a number of forestry initiatives

to expand forest resources with peoples' participation by implementing forestry projects with

financial assistance from development partners and GoB resources. There were nearly 80,000

hectares of participatory plantations established in marginal lands and buffer zones by

involving surrounding forest-dependent communities, as well as 35,000 hectares of coastal

plantations established on newly-accreted charlands of coastal areas. There were also about

14,000 km of strip plantations established and 53 million seedlings distributed for planting in

homesteads. The Social Forestry programme experienced considerable momentum through

these programmes with 500,000 beneficiaries, of which 120,000 participants received more

than Tk. 250 crore in benefits. There were also more than 40,468 ha of degraded forests that

were restored with the active participation of local communities. In addition, Forest Transit

Rules were amended for communities participating in timber trading and other related forestry

activities.

28– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

In the Sixth Five Year Plan, the establishment of 302,000 ha of plantations was targeted, but

only about 25% of that target was achieved, primarily as the result of budget constraints.

Several other components of the 1995-2015 Forestry Sector Master Plan activities also were

not implemented because of the unavailability of projected budget funds - only about 20% of

the proposed Tk. 8,000 crores was available during the Plan period - and non-implementation

of proposed institutional reforms.

Afforestation and Reforestation Trends

It is apparent from the previous assessment that many policies and projects have emphasized

the importance of afforestation and reforestation. The objectives and content of these

programmes have evolved in accordance with the emerging requirements associated with

responding, especially, to climate change and the importance of improving community

livelihoods. Since there has been a ban on logging in natural forests since 1989 (although

logging in Sal forests was banned way back in 1974), there has been no compelling reason

for the reforestation of these forests, except those that were illegally denuded or encroached.

Prior to the initiation of the ban, forests were felled for conversion into commercially valuable

species, principally teak. This activity was primarily confined to the hill forests of CHT,

Chittagong, Sylhet and Cox’s Bazar... Subsequent to the imposition of the ban, the emphasis

in these programmes has been on social forestry-centric plantations and coastal afforestation.

The social forestry plantations, consisting for the most part of short rotation exotic Acacia

species, both within as well as outside of notified forests, have been undertaken with the

purpose of generating benefits for local communities, as well as to meet the socioeconomic

requirements of those communities for fuelwood and timber. In the coastal areas, afforestation

and reforestation have been undertaken to protect coastal communities and natural resources

against the vagaries of the seas in the form of tidal and storm damage. There is no production

motive for coastal plantations. More recently, however, the focus of afforestation programmes

has been further altered to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change, and the search

for climate resilient species and techniques for afforestation has gathered considerable

momentum.

The natural regeneration of forests affected by biotic pressures from nearby communities is

becoming more and more difficult because of the difficulties of curbing those pressures. While

assisted natural regeneration (ANR) of degraded forests where natural seeding and coppicing

of native species is still possible, continues to be practiced, in some areas, the primary means

of reforesting denuded and degraded forests is through artificial regeneration. Since one of the

primary purposes of reforestation is to address the socioeconomic requirements of local

communities by using fast growing species, there is very limited attention directed to the

planting of long duration native species, as of now. Even in instances where natural vegetation

emerges within plantations of exotic tree species, local people are known to remove such

plants to minimize competition with the growth of the primary exotic species.

Apart from the creation of social forestry woodlots in denuded forests, the BFD has been

establishing large-scale plantations on the strips of lands lying along the margins of linear

infrastructure, including roads, railway lines, and canals. In such situations, returns are also

shared with the land owning agencies, as well as with the local people, according to the

provisions of the social forestry regulations.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –29

While precise up-to-date information on the extent of plantations of different species is not

readily available, the FRA 2015 has made a broader assessment of various forest plantations

using interpolation and extrapolation approaches (Table 1-18). The results of the assessment

showed generally increasing trends in plantations in most categories from 1990 to 2005, but a

serious decline is visible in the latest assessment. This difference may be partly due to the

data problem because the 2013 FIGNSP assessment could not identify the hill plantations

clearly. Repetition of previous figures in several places indicates assumed figures not real. But

the decline in the plains and coastal plantations, as assessed with the help of satellite imagery

shows that the plantations are under severe pressure and are on a decline.

Table 1-18: Extent of plantations in Bangladesh (FRA 2015).

Category of

plantations

Area (000 ha)

1990 2000 2005

Hills 141.8 146.0 145.9

Plains 15.3 17.1 17.1

Littoral 61.9 76.8 79.7

Rubber 19.8 35.4 35.4

FRA 2015 does not provide up to date region wise extent of plantations in the country. FIGNSP

2013 also does not account for all the plantations as many plantations are often difficult to

distinguish from surrounding vegetation. Many plantations are subject to various changes like

felling, erosion, disease etc. and the actual area planted and the extent of plantations shown

in assessments may be quite different from each other. It is to be noted that, since the last

assessment in 2005-07, an area of 122,089 ha of block plantations and 23,512 km of strip

plantations have been established, raising the above percentage significantly.

“Till 2015, a total of more than 0.2 million (2 lac) ha, (1,97,739 ha mangrove, 8,860 ha non-

mangrove, 3,190 ha Nypa) mangrove, non-mangrove and golpata plantations have been

raised in the coastal areas. Among the mangrove plantations, about 80% area of the early

plantations consisted of S. apetala, about 15% consisted of A. officinalis and the remaining

percentage is consist of E. agallocha, Bruguiera sexangula (kankra), Ceriops dacandra

(goran), H. forms and X. mekongensis” (Hassan 2013). Several projects have funded the

coastal afforestation activities since the 1961-62.

So far, most of the coastal plantations have been developed primarily with the objective of

stabilising the newly accreted lands. The land is given to the forest department for a period of

20 years to establish plantations and it has to be returned to the revenue department. An area

of 45351 ha has been returned to the civil authorities in this process, in various coastal

afforestation divisions.

Fig. 1-5 shows the trend in rates of annual plantation targets in the country. As most of the

plantation activity in the country is dependent on the availability of external aid, annual targets

keep varying from year to year. Between 1995 and 2005, the achievements have varied

between almost 1100 ha and 21000 ha per annum.

30– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Figure 1-5: Trends in afforestation and reforestation

The NBSAP (2016, draft) has stated that plantations have been established by the BFD since

independence, but coverage has been subject to fluctuations and has not increased

consistently. Although this information could not be verified from BFD records, Table 1-19

shows the trends in afforestation and reforestation over a fairly long period.

Table 1-19: Plantation areas (ha) by planning period (NBSAP 2016).

Planning Period Area planted Yearly average

1st FYP + Two Year Plan (1973-74 to 1979-80) 67,912 9,702

2nd FYP (1980-81 to 1984-85) 100,112 20,023

3rd FYP (1985-86 to 1989-90) 69,236 13,847

4th FYP (1990-91 to 1994-95) 73,999 14,800

Two Year plan (1995-96 to 1996-97) 17,026 8,513

5th FYP (1997-98 to 2001-02) 57,296 11,459

From 2002 to 2003 13,291 13,291

Sixth FYP (2009-2015)* 75,500 25,100

Total 474,372

Thus, it can be seen that, while the emphasis of the country on coastal plantations, both

mangrove and non-mangrove, has continued, it has now switched over almost entirely to short

rotation exotic species for plantations in the mainland, nearly all under the social forestry

banner. There are some interventions involving long rotation indigenous species in the core

zone plantations but the total extent is insignificant. Teak plantations which used to be the

rage some time ago, are not even talked about. Annual area coverage has been varying from

year to year, depending upon the availability of project assistance and there have been virtually

no plantations in some years due to the shortage of funds. In view of the importance of tree

cover for Bangladesh, in view of the frequency of climate change induced disasters, GoB has

to start investing its own resources in afforestation and reforestation programmes to enhance

the country’s resilience.

8578.858450.778964.6711079.3

1103.29

16247.47

7327.66

13290.603

20823.88

14440.91

18637.85

5016.56998.266744.47

8497.14

13572.5

17249.16

10855.99347

10721

1665.91

3953.09

1719156322554042.53898.214223.934801.724145.444397

216.1863.1164.6762.1

5623.14796.32

777 6981069.07

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

Hectares kilometers Linear (Hectares) Linear (kilometers)

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –31

1.4 State of biodiversity and ecosystem services

1.4.1 State of biodiversity

Given its small size, Bangladesh has an impressive variety of ecosystems, which support and

equally varied flora and fauna. The characteristics of landscapes determine the dispersion of

the country's wildlife. The principal factor is water availability, although temperature, rainfall,

physiography and hydrological conditions are also involved in that process. Ecosystems may

be categorized as either land-based or aquatic. The land-based ecosystems include forest,

hill, and homestead ecosystems, while aquatic ecosystems include seasonal and perennial

wetlands, rivers, lakes, coastal mangroves, coastal mudflats and charlands, and marine

ecosystems. The country is divided into 12 bio-ecological zones and 25 sub-zones. Map 1-2

depicts the classification and locations of these zones.

The position of Bangladesh in the Indo-Burma region ensures that it is one of the world’s top

ten biodiversity hotspots of the world, with about 7,000 endemic plants species, including 5,700

Map 1-2: Bio-ecological zones of Bangladesh (IUCN, 2002).

Source: IUCN Bangladesh. 2015. Red List of Bangladesh: A Brief on Assessment Result 2015. IUCN, Bangladesh

32– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

species of angiosperms, 28 species of woody legumes, 130 species of fibre yielding plants,

500 species of medicinal plants, 29 species of orchids, 3 species of gymnosperms and 1,700

pteridophytes. The country has a rich density of fauna, as well, as the result of its extensive

plant biodiversity. There are 113 species of mammals, more than 628 species of birds, 126

species of reptiles, 22 species of amphibians, 708 species of marine and freshwater fish, 2,493

species of insects, 19 species of mites, 164 species of algae, and 4 species of echinoderms

that have been recorded throughout the country (Mukul 2007).

However, according to NBSAP 2006, the species of plants and animals found in Bangladesh

are as given below:

Table 1-20: Recorded and Estimated Number of Wild Plant Species of Different Plant Groups

Table 1-21: Number of Animal Species Belonging to the Major Taxonomic Groups

Categories Recorded Estimated

Algae 3,600 6,000

Bryophytes 290 400

Pteridophytes 200 250

Gymnosperms 5 5

Angiosperms 3,000 5,000

Major Taxonomic Group Number of species mentioned in this

document

Monera (Eubacteria, etc.) 166

Protista (Protozoan, Viruses, et

c.)

341 Animalia: Invertebrates Poriferans 7

Cnidarians 68

Platyhelmiths 23

Nematodes 105

Annelids 62

Arthropods 1547

Molluscs 347

Echinoderms 6

Animalia: Vertebrates Fishes 735

Amphibians 23

Reptiles 136

Birds 778

Mammals 125

Total Species 4,469

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –33

Map 1-3 depicts the distribution of major wildlife species in the country. In the Hill Forests,

located in the districts of Chittagong, the CHT (Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachari),

Sylhet, Habiganj and Moulvibazar regions, fauna is found that includes the Asian elephant

(Elephas maximus), Spotted deer (Axis axis), Barking deer, Bear, Monkey, Langur, and

numerous snakes, and birds. In the Plain land Sal forest, located in the districts of Gazipur,

Mymensingh, Tangail, Comilla, Rajshahi, Rangpur, and Dinajpur, wildlife is found that includes

the Rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta), Barking deer (Muntiacus muntjac), Spotted deer (Axis

axis), Langur, Fishing cat, Marbled cat, Jackal (Canis aureus), as well as numerous snakes

and birds; in the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, wildlife is found that includes the Royal

Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris), Spotted deer (Axis axis), Wild boar (Sus scrofa), Rhesus

macaque (Macaca mulatta), Estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), and numerous snakes,

birds (300 species) and fish; and in the Wetland ecosystem, the fauna is characterized by

various species of birds (208 species) and fish (144 species). The fresh water fauna has some

exotic introduced species, as well, including 98 migratory species, 34 mammals, such as

otters, the Gangetic dolphin, 11 amphibians, 34 reptiles, and 12 butterfly species.

Map 1-3: Wildlife distribution in Bangladesh (Library of the Prime Minister’s Office).

34– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Sundarban is the most biodiverse habitat in Bangladesh now. According to UNESCO7 “The

property is the only remaining habitat in the lower Bengal Basin for a wide variety of faunal

species. Its exceptional biodiversity is expressed in a wide range of flora; 334 plant species

belonging to 245 genera and 75 families, 165 algae and 13 orchid species. It is also rich in

fauna with 693 species of wildlife which includes; 49 mammals, 59 reptiles, 8 amphibians, 210

white fishes, 24 shrimps, 14 crabs and 43 mollusks species. The varied and colourful bird-life

found along the waterways of the property is one of its greatest attractions, including 315

species of waterfowl, raptors and forest birds including nine species of kingfisher and the

magnificent white-bellied sea eagle.” Some 13 globally threatened and near-threatened bird

species live in the Sundarbans. For the masked finfoot, brown winged kingfisher and the

mangrove pitta, Sundarban is considered to be the largest and the safest home in the world

Royal Bengal Tiger, lesser adjutant stork, Indian skimmer, Gangetic dolphin and Erawathy

dolphin, saltwater crocodile are some of the most threatened species of wildlife found in

Bangladesh.

1.4.2 IUCN Red List

IUCN (2015) has recently carried out an assessment of the conservation status of various

groups of wildlife found in the county. According to IUCN (2015):

“Among 1619 assessed species, 50% of species are found as Least Concern (LC), 2% as

Regionally Extinct (RE), 3% as Critically Endangered (CR), 11% as Endangered (EN), 9% as

Vulnerable (VU), and 6% as Near Threatened (NT). Thirty one species are categorised as

extinct from the country, while 390 species (29% of the total species assessed) are under the

threatened categories (CR, EN and VU). Besides, 17% species are as Data Deficient (DD) due

to a lack of appropriate data and information required to justify the criteria used for categorizing.

No such endemic species is available in Bangladesh to be assessed at the global scale.

Extinct Species of Bangladesh

A significant outcome of the current assessment is the updating of extinct species list of the

country. Thirteen species were marked as extinct from the country in the Red List of 2000

which were reassessed along with all other species under this project. Among 1619 species

of Bangladesh of seven faunal groups, 31 species are assessed as extinct from the country

which is termed as regionally extinct (RE). Among these 31 species, 11 are mammals, 19 are

birds, and 1 is reptile. No species are found as regionally extinct from other four groups

(Amphibian, Freshwater Fish Crustacean and Butterfly). Ten species of mammals were

evaluated as Extinct in the previous Red List. Among these extinct species Gaur and Hog Deer

have been rediscovered during the last decade. However, the recent edition of Red List

enlisted one species of mammal, Sloth Bear as Extinct from the country. On the other hand,

two birds were assessed as extinct in Red List 2000 which are also included in the present

assessment. According to the present assessment, 17 bird species are newly declared as

regionally extinct. Marsh Crocodile (Reptile) was listed in the Red List 2000 extinct list, which

is also assessed as extinct from Bangladesh in Red List 2015”. The updated list of extinct

species of the country is as given below:

7 http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/798

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –35

Table 1-22: Extinct Wildlife Species of Bangladesh

Mammals Birds Birds/Reptiles

Striped Hyena Bar-tailed Tree Creeper Pink-headed Duck Black Buck Spot-breaseted Parrotbill Rusty-fronted Barwing Sumataran Rhinoceros Green Peafowl White-bellied Heron. Swamp Deer Swamp Francolin White-winged Duck Banteng Bengal Florican Black-breasted Parrotbill Indian Rhinoceros Greater Rufous-headed

Parrotbill Indian Peafowl

Blue Bull Greater Adjutant Grey Francolin Wild Buffalo Lesser Florican Spot-billed Pelican Grey Wolf Rufous-throated Partridge Marsh Crocodile (Mugger

Crocodile) Javan Rhinoceros Sarus Crane Sloth Bear Red-headed Vulture

The conservation status of important groups of wildlife in Bangladesh is as follows:

Mammals

Among 1619 species of seven wildlife groups, 138 mammalian species were considered; of

which, 11 are Regionally Extinct, 17 Critically Endangered, 12 Endangered, and 9 Vulnerable.

Apart from those, there are 39 Data Deficient, 34 Least Concern, 9 Near Threatened, and 7

Not Evaluated species.

Birds

Bird as a group has the highest number of species that were evaluated, 566 species. Among

them 19 have been evaluated as Regionally Extinct and 39 species as under Threatened

Category, of which 10 Critically Endangered, 12 Endangered and 17 Vulnerable. Close to this,

there are 39 species under the Near Threatened Category; the highest number, 424 had been

evaluated as Least Concern.

Reptiles

Reptiles have 167 species and one has become Regionally Extinct, the Mugger or Marsh

Crocodile that used to live in the freshwater river ecosystem of the country and possibly it

disappeared by the 1960s. Of the 38 threatened species17 are Critically Endangered, 10

Endangered and 11 Vulnerable. The remaining species have been evaluated as: 18 Near

Threatened, 63 Least Concern, 27 Data Deficient, and 20 Not Evaluated.

Amphibians

A total of 49 Amphibians were evaluated. There are 2 species Critically Endangered, 3

Endangered, and 5 Vulnerable. Apart from the threatened categories, 6 species are Near

Threatened, 27 species are Least Concern, and 6 species are Data Deficient.

Freshwater Fishes

Two hundred fifty three Freshwater Fishes were assessed. Threatened Categories are

concerned nearly one fourth (64 species) of the species are under threat, among them 9

Critically Endangered, 30 Endangered, and 25 Vulnerable. This has been followed by 26

species as Near Threatened. Outside the purview of the Threatened and Near Threatened

Categories, there are 123 species that were assessed as Least Concern and rest of the 40 as

Data Deficient.

36– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Crustaceans

As one of the new animal groups for the first time included in the national Red List of

Bangladesh, so far, 141 species of Crustaceans were evaluated. This group has no species

that are registered as Regionally Extinct or Critically Endangered. Eleven species are fallen

under the threatened categories of which Endangered includes only 1 and Vulnerable 10. Out

of the rest, 48 species were evaluated as Least Concern and 79 as Data Deficient.

Butterflies

Butterfly is another new group included in the current process of evaluation that included 305

species. As newly assessed group, 62% species (188 species) are under

Threatened Categories of which only one Critically Endangered, 112 Endangered, and 75

Vulnerable. The rest 85 are Least Concern and 32 Data Deficient.”

Figure 1-6: Endangered animal species of Bangladesh

A summary of the threat status of various groups is given below:

Table 1-23: Summary of the Red List of Bangladesh 2015

Categories

Mam

mals

Bir

ds

Rep

tile

s

Am

ph

ibia

ns

Fre

sh

-wate

r

Fis

hes

Cru

sta

cean

s

Butterflies

To

tal

Regionally Extinct (RE) 11 19 1 0 0 0 0 31

Critically Endangered (CR) 17 10 17 2 9 0 1 56

Endangered (EN) 12 12 10 3 30 2 112 181

Vulnerable (VU) 9 17 11 5 25 11 75 153

Near Threatened (NT) 9 29 18 6 27 1 0 90

Least Concern (LC) 34 424 63 27 122 47 85 802

Data Deficient (DD) 39 55 27 6 40 79 32 278

Not Evaluated (NE) 7 0 20 0 0 1 0 28

Total 138 566 167 49 253 141 305 1,619

31 56181

153

90

802

27828

Regionally Extinct (RE) Critically Endangered (CR)

Endangered (EN) Vulnerable (VU)

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –37

As can be seen, a large number of species of mammals, birds and reptile groups are

threatened while 31 are already extinct locally. In view of the growing population and prosperity

of the people, the pressure on natural resources is going to mount further in future. Therefore,

if special efforts are not made to preserve the threatened species, the losses in future may be

even more severe.

1.4.3 Biodiversity and Wildlife Conservation

The conservation of biodiversity in Bangladesh is informed by the National Biodiversity

Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) 2004, which is currently under revision. The

NBSAP has identified the conservation of “megaflora and megafauna” as one of the priorities

in the country. While sustainable forest management is itself founded on the principle of

conserving biodiversity, the Wildlife (Protection and Security) Act 2012 is the principal legal

instrument that regulates the conservation of biodiversity in the wild. That legislation empowers

the state to designate protected areas in which representative biota and their habitats are

protected against overexploitation and destruction. The current protected area system of

Bangladesh includes 18 National Parks, 20 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 1 Marine Protected Area, 2

safari parks, 10 eco-parks, and 10 Ecologically Critical Areas (Bangladesh Wildlife Master Plan

2015) that collectively cover 285841 ha, accounting for nearly 15.2% of all legally constituted

forests in the country (Table 1-24; Map 1-4).

Table 1-24: Protected Areas, Ecologically Critical Areas and several important conservation sites in Bangladesh.8

Sr. No.

Since Name Class Location Area (ha)

1 1980 Himchari National Park NP Cox's Bazar 1729

2 1982 Modhupur National Park NP Tangail/ Mymensingh 8436

3 1982 Bhawal National Park NP Gazipur 5022

4 1996 Lawachara National Park NP Moulavibazar 1250

5 1999 Kaptai National Park NP Chittagong Hill Tracts 5464

6 2001 Nijhum Dweep National Park NP Noakhali 16352

7 2001 Ramsagar National Park NP Dinajpur 28

8 2005 Satchari National Park NP Habigonj 243

9 2006 Khadim Nagar National Park NP Sylhet 679

10 2008 Medha Kachhapia National Park NP Cox's Bazar 396

11 2010 Baraiyadhala National Park NP Chittagong 2934

12 2010 Shingra National Park NP Dinajpur 306

13 2010 Kadigarh National Park NP Mymensingh 344

14 2010 Nababgonj National Park NP Dinajpur 518

15 2010 Kuakata National Park NP Patuakhali 1613

16 2011 Birgonj National Park NP Dinajpur 169

17 2011 Altadighi National Park NP Naogaon 264

18

Inani proposed NP NP Cox's Bazar 7248

19 1981 Char Kukri-Mukri Wildlife Sanctuary

WS Bhola

40

20 1982 Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary

WS Hobigonj

1796

21 1982 Sangu Wildlife Sanctuary WS Bandarban 2332

22 1983 Pablakhali Wildlife Sanctuary WS Chittagong Hill Tracts 42087

23 1986 Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary WS Chittagong 7764

24 1996 Sundarban (East) Wildlife Sanctuary

WS Bagerhat

31227

8 BFD 2015: Bangladesh Wildlife Master Plan (draft)

38– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Sr. No.

Since Name Class Location Area (ha)

25 1996 Sundarban (South) Wildlife Sanctuary

WS Khulna

36970

26 1996 Sundarban (West) Wildlife Sanctuary

WS Satkhira

71502

27 2007 Fashiakhali Wildlife Sanctuary WS Cox's Bazar 1302

28 2010 Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary WS Cox's Bazar 11615

29 2010 Hazarikhil Wildlife Sanctuary WS Chittagong 1178

30 2010 Dudh Pukuria-Dhopachari Wildlife Sanctuary

WS Chittagong

4717

31 2010 Tengragiri Wildlife Sanctuary WS Barguna 4049

32 2011 Sonarchar Wildlife Sanctuary WS Patuakhali 2026

33 2012 Dudhmukhi Wildlife Sanctuary WS Bagerhat 170

34 2012 Dhangmari Wildlife Sanctuary WS Bagerhat 340

35 2012 Chadpai Wildlife Sanctuary WS Bagerhat 560

36 1999 Madhutila Ecopark Ecopark Sherpur 100

37 2003 Bashkhali Ecopark Ecopark Chittagong 1200

38 2005 Kuakata Ecopark Ecopark Patuakhali 5661

39 2006 Tilegar Ecopark Ecopark Sylhet 45.34

40 2006 Barshijhora Ecopark Ecopark Moulavibazar 326.07

41 ? Rajeshpur Ecopark Ecopark Kumilla 185.9

42 2001 Madhabkunda Eco-Park Ecopark Moulavibazar 266

43 2015 Ratargul Special Biodiversity Conservation Area

Ecopark Sylhet

204.25

44 1909 Baldha Garden other Dhaka 1

45 1961 National Botanical Garden other Dhaka 84

46 1998 Sitakunda Botanical Garden and Eco-park

other Chittagong

808

47 1999 Dulahazara Safari Park other Cox's Bazar 600

48 2013 Bangabandhu Safari park other Gazipur 3690

49 2013 Najirgari Dolphin Sanctuary WS Pabna 146

50 2013 Shilanda Nugdomra Dolphin Sanctaury

WS Pabna

24.17

51 2013 Nagorbari Mohanganj Dolphin Sanctuary

WS Pabna

408.11

52

Hail Haor other Moulvibazar 12300

53 1999 Marjat baor ECA Cox's Bazar 200

54 1999 Strip of 10 km. outside the Sundarbans Reserved Forest

ECA Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira

762034

55 1999 Sea Front of Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf

ECA Cox’s Bazar

10465

56 1999 St Martin’s Island ECA Cox’s Bazar 590

57 1999 Sonadia Island ECA Cox’s Bazar 4916

58 2001 Hakaluki Haor ECA Moulvibazar 18383

59

Tanguar Haor ECA Sunamganj 9727

60 1999 Marjat Baor ECA Jhenaidaha 200

61 2001 Gulshan Lake ECA Dhaka city 20

62 2009 Buriganga, Turag, Sitakakhaya, Balu rivers

ECA Dhaka city

7607

63 2014 Swatch of No Ground Marine Protected Area

MPA Bay of Bengal

173800

Total

1284679.84

Note: NP=National Park, WS=Wildlife Sanctuary, ECA=Ecologically Critical Area, MPA=Marine Protected Area. ECAs are under the control of the Department of Environment, not BFD.

Bangladesh does not allow hunting or trapping of wild animals for consumption or trade.

However, wildlife is declining rapidly due to the loss of habitat and illegal exploitation. Royal

Bengal Tiger, found in only Sundarbans now, is the most important wild animal of the country,

both from the threat as well as popularity points of view. The species is under severe threat

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –39

from poachers feeding the Chinese and Southeast Asian markets. Its current population is

estimated to be only about 106 animals. Although Bangladesh is not an important source

country for international wildlife trade, it is an important route for smuggling South Asian wildlife

and products to the eastern markets. Most animals are killed for food, large volumes of birds

and reptiles are also captured for the pet trade.

Forest Act, 1927 and the Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act 2012 are the two main legal

instruments for protecting wildlife and its habitat. Apart from the creation of protected areas

and reserve forests, the country has set up a Wildlife Crime Control Unit which needs to be

further strengthened. A wildlife forensic lab for aiding prosecution is under development. There

are seven wildlife divisions whose main job is to control wildlife crime. Despite the proactive

approach adopted by BFD for controlling wildlife crime in the country, several institutional

issues militate against success in this area. Both the laws have some serious flaws which need

to be urgently rectified. For example, the Wildlife Act has no provision for empowering forest

officers to arrest wildlife criminals while the Forest Act is not applicable outside the forests

where most of the wildlife offences are registered. The wildlife Act is not yet fully operational

because several important rules and notifications are not yet in place. Field officers are

handicapped in providing effective protection to wildlife due to the lack of funds for patrolling,

travelling and prosecution. As a result, only a small proportion of the wildlife offences are

detected. Nearly 60% of the registered cases, criminals are not identified (UDOR cases) and

78% of the prosecuted cases take more than 8 years for decision in the courts9. Thus, the

wildlife laws have very limited deterrence against offences.

9 Source: Bangladesh Forest Department, 2015: NATIONAL WILDLIFE CRIME CONTROL STRATEGY (DRAFT)

40– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Note: Further discussion on issues related to wildlife management can be found in Chapter 10.

State of ecosystem services

Ecosystem services or ecosystem goods and services (EGS) encompass all provisions of

nature. The EGS can be divided into the following categories for the sake of simplification:

• Provisioning Services: Food, raw materials, fresh water, medicines.

Map 1-4: Protected Areas in Bangladesh.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –41

• Regulating Services: Moderation of climate and extreme events. Erosion control,

pollination, carbon sequestration, waste water. Treatment, biological control, soil

fertility.

• Habitat or Supporting Services: biodiversity, wildlife, genetic diversity.

• Cultural Services: Recreation, tourism, spiritual value.

As can be seen, most of the ecosystem services provided by nature are intangible, hence

immeasurable, but are critical for the survival of life on the planet. However, continuous

progress is being made to quantify the bounties of nature in order to understand their

importance to human existence and progress. (Please see section 2.3.4 for more details)

In Bangladesh, there are five primary ecosystems that provide the various provisioning and

regulating services listed in Table 1-25.

Table 1-25: Ecosystem services in Bangladesh (Chowdhury 2008).

Component Services

Man

gro

ves

Riv

ers

Wetla

nd

s

Ag

ro-e

co

sy

ste

ms

Fo

rests

Sustaining

Services

Oxygen production

Nutrient cycling ✓ ✓ ✓

Primary production habitat

provision ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Water cycling ✓ ✓

Carbon sequestration

Pollination

Goods

Food and drink ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Fibre/construction ✓ ✓ ✓

Medicinal/cosmetic resources ✓ ✓ ✓

Ornamental products ✓

Renewable energy products ✓ ✓

Genetic resources ✓

Regulating

Services

Filtration of air pollution

Detoxification of water and

sediment ✓ ✓ ✓

Local climate regulation ✓

Erosion control ✓

Flood risk mitigation ✓

Storm protection ✓

Maintenance of surface water

stores ✓ ✓

Groundwater replenishment ✓ ✓

Crop pest regulation ✓

Human disease regulation

Shore stabilization ✓

42– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Component Services

Man

gro

ves

Riv

ers

Wetla

nd

s

Ag

ro-e

co

sy

ste

ms

Fo

rests

Cultural

Services

Sediment trap ✓

Paleo-environmental records

Recreation and Ecotourism

Physical health - well being

Spiritual and religious values

Note: The check marks indicate linkages discussed in the situational analysis of the source

in relation to poverty alleviation. The cells that are shaded in gray indicate a possible linkage

although no evidence based on publications was found.

Mangroves

Like all ecosystems, Sundarbans mangroves provide both tangible as well as intangible

services. Among the tangible or provisioning services, the mangroves provide food such as

honey, fish, shrimp, and crabs, wood, cane, herbs, and ornamental plants, as well as other

ecosystem services, including nutrient production, water purification, sediment trapping, and

surface water storage. Non-timber forest products are also used for medicinal, cosmetic, and

cultural purposes as well as fibres, resins, gum, plant, and animal products. Sundarbans is one

of the most important ecotourism destinations in the country. Major contributions of the

Sundarbans to ecosystem services include breeding and nursery ground for a large number

of aquatic organism including fish and crustaceans. Nypa, honey and wax are the other critical

goods provided produced by the mangroves. But the more critical role of the Sundarbans is

the protection it provides to the coast and coastal communities against the sea storms, tidal

surges and other sea borne vagaries of nature, the habitat it provides to hundreds of species

like tigers, crocodiles, fishes etc. and the maintenance of the oxygen and carbon cycles in the

region. Sundarbans holds the largest stock of sequestered carbon in the country. This

ecosystem has experienced some deterioration, however, because of the overexploitation of

resources. The construction of Farraka Barrage, in particular, has decreased the amount of

freshwater that reaches the Sundarbans, which has increased the salinity in coastal

mangroves affecting trees in the southeast part of the country. Apart from that, water

withdrawal, diversion etc. upstream also make major contribution to the reduction of inflow.

Water management by authorities in the area adjacent to the Sundarban causes water

retention inside the embankments and this largely contributes to water logging and increased

salinity in agricultural areas. The resulting reduction in tree density has made these areas more

vulnerable to cyclones. Some local people have, nevertheless, responded to the changes in

the ecosystem to intensively farm shrimp in the Chakaria Sundarbans. Others have been

affected by the increased salinity, especially poor communities who are unable to afford tube

wells to collect drinking water and in some areas it is not possible to grow vegetables and

livestock because of the saline water. This situation has affected the health, nutrition, workload,

and livelihood strategies of surrounding communities.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –43

Upland and Lowland Forests

The upland forests is located in the Sylhet, Chittagong hills and Chittagong Hill Tracts. Timber,

fuelwood, non-timber forest products, and bamboo are the principal resources provided in this

ecosystem. These forests also support aquaculture farms, provide irrigation water and

generate electricity, such as in Kaptai Lake, which is one of the largest man-made lakes in the

world. Due to being the single largest area under forests in the country, the hill forests are

home to a large number of animal and plant species, particularly the Asiatic elephant. The

watershed services provided by the hill forests feeds the perennial rivers and recharge the

aquifers and provide protection against flash floods.

However, due to the degradation and deforestation in these areas, the services provided by

them are dwindling. Due to the moratorium on the exploitation of natural forests, the production

of timber has stopped but the degradation of the forests has not stopped. Due to the

deforestation, most of the NTFP production has also declined or stopped. The establishment

of monoculture tree plantations has affected this ecosystem by increasing erosion risks and

degrading forest soils. Some people interviewed have asserted that the expansion of

plantations has also marginalized ethnic minorities, such as the Khyang, that depend on

forests, but have had their access to these forests limited and have little opportunity to access

credit to establish agroforestry plantations.

Lowland forests of sal, including the plantations that have replaced the natural forests, provide

many goods and services, as well, such as timber, fuelwood, non-timber forest products, root

foods, wild fruits, berries, medicinal plants etc. The Sal forests have been disappearing,

however, because of high deforestation rates to establish illegal plantations of pineapple,

rubber, and other exotic species like Agar (Aquilaria agallocha).

Thus, it is obvious that the ecosystem service in general are on a declining trend due to the

socioeconomic stresses on the ecosystems. The only reasonably intact natural ecosystem is

the mangroves while the sal forest has almost disappeared and the hill forests are in a much

degraded condition. As a result, the production of ecosystem goods and services has come

down drastically. The provisioning services such as the production of wood and non-wood

products have suffered tremendously while the other services such as flood control, water

recharge etc. are equally badly affected. While the ecosystem goods can either be produced

elsewhere or imported, but there is no alternative to ensuring the uninterrupted supply of

services as life will be difficult without them, if not impossible. Although the agro-ecosystem is

still reasonably healthy and production is still growing, but the increase in chemical inputs as

well as overexploitation of ground water has started telling on its health. If the pesticides affect

the populations of pollinator insects and birds, the impact on agricultural production may be

disastrous in the absence of adequate forest cover to replenish those populations.

Inland waters and floodplains

One of the most important ecosystems for human wellbeing is inland waters and floodplains,

or rivers, which cover 35% of the surface area of the country. This ecosystem is the primary

source of freshwater used for irrigation and drinking water. These rivers and wetlands also

supply fish and other aquatic resources.

The quality of water in some parts of the country has deteriorated as the result of, especially,

the discharge of industrial pollutants into canals and rivers and the lack of appropriate water

44– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

treatment systems. The most affected rivers are the Buriganga, Sitalakhya, Turag and

Karnaphully. These developments not only degrade water quality, but the resulting alterations

in ecosystems also affect the quality of health, agriculture, and fisheries. Since a large part of

the population is poor, their access to health care services is limited and their capacity to

recover from water-borne diseases is low and they are unable to afford potable water, which

leaves them with no other alternative than to drink contaminated water.

This ecosystem is also affected by sedimentation, especially as a result of deforestation in the

Himalayas, which reduces its capacity to transport excess water and results in flooding, which

can impact up to 60% of the households in the country.

River erosion, which affects about 2,000 – 3,000 km of river banks every year, is considered

to be another serious problem because it erodes living spaces. The largest part of this erosion

is natural, but the extraction of sand from riverbanks contributes to that erosion.

The WB, UNDP, and USAID, in collaboration with the GoB, have established a FAP to

minimize the impacts of flooding and riverbank erosion by stabilizing embankments to provide

shelter during the flooding season.

Agro-ecosystems

Agro-ecosystems contribute up to 10.64% of the country’s GDP (BBS 2016) and account for

about 54% of the total land area of Bangladesh. The increasing population of the country and

the resultant increased demand for food has promoted the use of high yielding variety crops,

especially cereals, in these ecosystems that have allowed production to reach self-sufficiency

in food production. The need for continuously increasing yields, however, has led to the

excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers that pollute the environment and with the decreased

effectiveness of these inputs over time has further increased their use. The unregulated use

of ground water for irrigation, moreover, has also adversely affected water tables underlying

these ecosystems.

1.5 Current forest data generation and dissemination policies and institutional arrangements

1.5.1 Forest inventory, RIMS and monitoring arrangements

While forest inventory has been an integral part of different donor-supported projects at sub-

national levels, there is currently no regular forest inventory mechanism at the national level.

Forest inventories have been undertaken in the hill forests in 1984-85 and 1996-97; in the

plains land Sal forests in 1984-85 and 1999-2001; in the state reserved forests in 1958-60,

1984-85 and 1996-97; and in the coastal plantations in 1996-97. The principal objectives of

those inventories were the preparation of management plans and assessment of growing

stock. FAO, under the aegis of the global Forest and Tree Assessment initiative, conducted a

national forest inventory, as well, that included private tree growing areas and state forests.

It is now important for the BFD to develop an appropriate methodology for objectively

assessing the enhancement of forest carbon stocks resulting from the conservation and

sustainable management of natural forests. That development should encompass suitable

modalities and procedures for transparent and verifiable assessment and inventory and will

require developing suitable common strategies, approaches and modalities for assessing

forest changes over time. There is a national forest inventory process to support these efforts

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –45

that has been initiated in 2015-16 under the USAID-supported National Forest Inventory

project with technical support from FAO.

The Resource Information Management System (RIMS) does not have adequate capacity to

implement the technical components of these various endeavours, however, so in virtually

every activity associated with forest inventory and monitoring, use has to be made of external

resources, usually on a project basis and dependent on external financing because of

inadequate financial resources available under regular BFD budgets. Forest resource

information is made available through these project reports, as well as in the general reports

of the BFD, but there is no “on-demand” system for presenting information, such as a web site

with interactive mapping, to the general public or even to other BFD wings or field offices.

Lack of timely planning, adequate and skill manpower, capacity and funds the forest inventory

has become irregular and losing its importance. Apart from data required for preparation of

forest management plan, adaption of appropriate forest policy, amount of carbon stored in

forests and quantification of release of carbon from forests needs to be assessed which is

required for international reporting such as for UNFCCC. Due to lack of Forest Inventory Unit

the task of forest inventory has been severely impeded. Currently it is not possible to carry out

forest inventory without external support. It becomes an urgency to remove all sorts of limitation

and institutionalize the National Forest Inventory (NFI) Process in BFD to achieve sustainable

development goals.

1.5.2 Carbon stocks and inventory

Forest carbon inventories are becoming increasingly important because of the expanded

global emphasis on developing afforestation/reforestation, Clean Development Mechanism

(CDM) and REDD+ activities. The development of national forest inventory institutions and

processes for objectively assessing baseline scenarios and reference emission levels is

essential for developing proposals to receive carbon payments available under these

programmes.

A seminal effort in Bangladesh was initiated in the Chunoti Wildlife Sanctuary in 2007 when

the BFD conducted a carbon inventory for developing a CDM reforestation proposal under the

Nishorgo Support Project. Field inventory design, formats and methods were established in

accordance with the guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and

the GOFC (Good Practices for AFOLU - Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use). The nature

of carbon pools, including above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass, on-ground

necromass, and soil carbon, was assessed by following the carbon inventory manual

developed by the BFD. Carbon stock changes over a project activity area of 5,000 ha were

estimated to be 2.78 MtCO2e over a maturity period of 40 years.

The carbon inventory programme conducted in the Chunoti Wildlife Sanctuary provided the

means for planning and conducting a mangrove carbon assessment in the state reserve forest

for developing a REDD+ proposal under the USAID-supported Integrated Protected Area Co-

Management project (IPAC). The Collaborative REDD+IFM Sundarbans Project (CRISP) is an

AFOLU activity with an emphasis on REDD+ and Improved Forest Management (IFM) in the

project area through avoiding unplanned frontier deforestation and degradation and improved

forest management through conversion of logged forests to protected forests, including the

protection of currently logged or degraded forests from further logging. A manual on carbon

inventory methods was developed for the mangrove forests based on the experiences of the

46– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Chunoti project. The project forest area of 412,000 ha was estimated to generate an average

of 213,115 tCO2e annually over a 30-year project period for total project enhanced removals

of 6.4 MtCO2e (an average of 15.52 tCO2e/ha, excluding soil carbon).

This effort was succeeded by another REDD+ proposal developed by the BFD, the USAID-

supported "REDD+ARR (Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation) Protected Area

Project” (BRAPAP), for which a forest carbon inventory was conducted in six Protected Areas.

The proposed project is calculated to generate annual net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions

reductions from reducing deforestation and carbon stock enhancement of 103.7 MtCO2e for

40 years over a mere 33,344 ha, or an annual average of 3,110 tCO2e/ha. This estimate is

very obviously impossible and is indeed due to methodological errors10; this proposal is

therefore not further considered. In 2014, under the USAID-supported Climate Resilient

Ecosystems and Livelihoods project (CREL), a forest carbon inventory was also completed by

the BFD in 17 Protected Areas, including the 6 Protected Areas covered under the BRAPAP.

Carbon stocks varied from 146 to 381 MtCO2e/ha. Unlike the CRISP and BRAPAP projects,

however, there was no REDD+ proposal developed under this initiative.

Various current activities are striving to produce a national coverage of forest resource

information and carbon densities and dynamics. The NFI project is preparing a national land

cover classification and will sample all land cover classes in such a way that carbon densities

will be established and the National REDD+ Programme will establish a national forest

monitoring system that should envelop all the sources of forest resource information in a unified

format.

Apart from the generation of forest information through internationally-funded programmes, the

BFD has no in-house system or policy of data collection, storage, retrieval and analysis. The

data related to forestry activities such as afforestation, reforestation, and extraction are not

systematically collected and information is generally collected from field offices on an ad hoc

basis. Even though standard formats for submitting periodic performance reports from field

offices exist, the information is prepared and transmitted manually and it is virtually impossible

to compile or access this information at the central level. The BFD will have to review not only

its resource inventory systems, but the establishment of an effective, operational database on

forest management activities, as well. The BFD is in the process of creating a web-based

database on wildlife crime management and similar information management systems are

urgently required for managing data on forest crimes, as well as forest resources management.

10 The main methodological issues are two-fold. First, reduced emissions from reducing deforestation and forest degradation is calculated over the entire area of the PAs for each of the 40 years. This clearly violates the principle of permanence: deforestation and forest degradation is avoided only once and thereafter the forest is considered to be protected from further threats. Effectively, the emission reductions are over-estimated by a factor of 40, in addition of which the project implementation period has to be considered (not all forest is protected right from the beginning). Second, the ANR uses a rather high MAI of 4.95 m3/ha/yr over the 40-year span of the project. Such a high MAI can be attained in a plantation where trees are optimally spaced, but in a natural forest crowding reduces the MAI, while the natural growth rate of forests over a 40-year period gradually declines to 0.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –47

2 Forest production and economic value

2.1 Assessment of the linkage between the forestry sector and poverty alleviation

Forests have a very important role to play in alleviating poverty, worldwide, in two respects.

Firstly; they serve a vital safety net function, helping rural people to avoid poverty, or helping

those who are poor to mitigate their plight. Secondly; forests have untapped potentials to

actually elevate some rural people out of poverty. These characteristics are unknown in many

cases to policy makers and planners because the safety net functions of forests are, in some

respects, poorly understood and recognized. The reason is that the scientific community has

not explained the implication of forest resource management for sustainable development well.

Other reason for this is that the contribution of forests to poor households is largely unrecorded

in national statistics; most of it being for subsistence or for trade in local markets. In addition,

the lion’s share of wealth from timber goes to better-off segments of society while some

aspects of timber resources actually inhibit their potential to assist marginalized people.

Despite these obstacles, forests play significant role in alleviating poverty of marginalized

people.

Poverty reduction is the primary development goal of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB). It

was designated as such in October 2005 in the “Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper” (PRSP)

developed by the General Economic Division of the Planning Commission, the National

Poverty Focal Point (IMF 2012). Choudhury and Hossain (2011) have mentioned that

Bangladesh has experienced a modest reduction in the poverty rate of about 1.5% annually

since the 1990s with a lower rate for people living in areas in and around forests.11 There has

been a significant decline in seasonal deprivation and the number of people going without

sufficient food has substantially declined, the access to adequate clothing has increased, and

the homeless population has dramatically decreased. GoB intends to bring down the current

poverty level to 13.5% by 2021 and eliminate extreme poverty by 2018 through various social

safety net programmes, which have been very effective in this regard12.

In response to the growth in the demand for forest products that has paralleled these declines,

the GoB embarked on a participatory programme for reforestation and afforestation on

government land, which encompassed degraded sal forests, roadsides, canals, and railways,

and the conservation and management of remaining natural state forest. The Forestry Sector

Project supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in collaboration with the BFD, with

a budget of USD 35.89 million was intended to not only reinforce the government response to

this increasing demand, but also to demonstrate connections between the forestry sector and

poverty alleviation. Under the project, Tk. 104 crore was distributed to 68,372 beneficiaries. In

providing those distributions, the opportunity was used to streamline the community

participation process through well-designed technical packages and refined participation

arrangements, along with organizing community-based organisations (CBO) and

institutionalizing the role of non-governmental organizations (NGO). (Choudhury and Hossain

2011, ADB 2008, ADB 1999). Coupled with the establishment of tree farming funds at the CBO

12 http://cri.org.bd/2014/07/02/poverty-reduction-in-bangladesh-recent-drifts/ 12 http://cri.org.bd/2014/07/02/poverty-reduction-in-bangladesh-recent-drifts/

48– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

level, these approaches were expected to pave the way for eventual self-financing of

participatory forestry activities that would lead to long-term sustainability and enhanced

community livelihoods. In the process, the BFD was to acquire significant experience in

implementing participatory afforestation and natural forest management interventions, which

were supported by policies that were responsive to the Forestry Sector Master Plan. (ADB

2008, ADB 1999) 13

Proceeds generated through the sale of timber and fuelwood of about Tk. 30.8 crore were

distributed to 23,561 participants. Social Forestry Rules were revised to provide the legal basis

for facilitating community participation and an equitable benefit sharing system. Tree farming

funds were established by setting aside 10% of sale proceeds to create new opportunities on

the same pieces of land involving the same participants, to ensure sustainability. Participants

received payments from the BFD for their labour inputs into plantation activities, as well as

periodic income from the agricultural crops grown between the trees that were planted, both

on forest land and on marginal land, and as the result of thinning and pruning operations, which

contributed to improvements in their livelihoods (Hossain et. al. 2008).

Even though the BFD’s institutional capacity for people-oriented approaches to forestry had

been strengthened through previous projects and assistance provided by development

organizations, the Forestry Sector Project was the first major intervention following approval

of the Forestry Sector Master Plan in 1995 and it was expected to catalyse further

strengthening of the BFD and accelerate institutional reform in the process of improving local

livelihoods (ADB 2008, ADB 1999). The project was designed to be consistent with the

government’s policies and priorities for the forestry sector, especially with respect to the

optimization of the sector’s contributions to environmental stability and economic and social

development. It was expected to assist the government in bringing 20% of the country’s land

under tree cover by 2015, increasing overall wood production and managing forest resources

sustainably through local community participation, institutional capacity building, and policy

reform (ADB 2008). The project resulted in the following achievements (ADB 2008):

• 8,000 ha of degraded natural Sal forest were brought into production under a long-term

timber management program, as was wasteland alongside roads, canals, and

embankments by planting trees along more than 25,000 km with local participation.

• Over 7,800 ha, including 750 km of .creeks and canals, of Khas land and char land were

planted to increase industrial tree production and establish agroforestry plantations

where economically and technically appropriate.

• On-farm planting was promoted through the improvement of extension activities and the

provision of an adequate supply of seedlings from the government and institutional and

private nurseries.

• The settlement of 500 families, previously shifting cultivators, was achieved in

accordance with the participatory national forest management plan and encouragement

was offered to utilize 1,000 ha of estate land for tree planting in areas not suited for

agricultural crops, with an emphasis on the distribution of benefits for the labour provided

in establishing estate plantations.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –49

The population of Bangladesh is primarily rural, with large families of 5-7 members per

household. The design of the project recognized that widespread poverty and landlessness

provided a substantial base of potential beneficiaries in afforestation programmes. The project

was preceded by a social analysis of the requirements of local residents, along with an

assessment of the constraints that preclude development (ADB 2008, ADB 1999).

The criteria for selecting project interventions included interest and willingness of community

participation; presence of poor, landless, and vulnerable groups; potential for investments in

woodlots, agroforestry, linear plantations, and homesteads; existence of forest land, other

government land, natural forests, and the potential for participatory development and

management; possibilities for small scale wood-based enterprises; and lack of overlap with

other development interventions (ADB 208, ADB 1999).

The project benefited over 177,000 people and each participant will continue to receive a share

of remuneration at the end of each rotation, apart from 100% intermediate returns from

thinning. Outputs were generated that were worth USD 166.4 million, 50% of which were

distributed directly to the poor. With the establishment of the Tree Farming Fund, those

distributions will remain sustainable and in every rotation there will be increasing income for

participants. Thus, over 177,000 people will no longer have to remain poor (Choudhury and

Hossain 2011).

Although the role of trees, forests and forestry-based professions in alleviating poverty and

generating employment opportunities is generally recognised, concrete and consistent data on

the subject is hard to find. However, the following statements/assessments bring home the

importance of forestry in employment generation adequately:

The significance of the linkage between forestry and poverty alleviation is reflected in the

recognition that the most important activity of the poor, rural population in Bangladesh is

agriculture and in forestry areas, almost 25% of the people practice forestry as their main

activity.14 Forestry employment in the country is highlighted in Table 2-1.

Table 2-1: Employment in forestry from 1990 – 2010 (FRA 2015).

Category Employment (000 full-time equivalents)

1990 2000 2005 2010

Total employment in forestry 1,650 1,520 1,480 1,500

…of which female 150 300 580 600

9% 20% 39% 40%

Despite the decline of 9% in full-time employment in forestry between 1990 and 2010, it is of

some significance that women's participation in forestry-related activities increased by more

than 30% during that same period.

The Statistical Year Book Bangladesh 2014 (BBS 2014) lists the “Employed Persons Aged 15

Years and Over by Detail Industry/Occupation, Sex and Residence”, 2005-06/2010, but

various occupations/industries related to wood/forestry are scattered all over the book. The

following picture emerges if we put them all together:

15 Source: BFD records

50– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Table 2-2: Forestry Based Employment (Source: BBS, Statistical Year Book Bangladesh 2014)

Sr. No. Profession/Industry Total Male Female Year

1 Felling of trees and shaping of timber 384554 4017 344437 2005-06

2 Wooden furniture and fixtures 355590 351646 3943 2005-06

3 Growing Nursery Products (2005-06) 191806 16196 175610 2005-06

4 Fisheries Workers, Hunters and Trappers

159674 147939 11735 2010

5 Bamboo and cane products (products of wood, corek, straw and plaiting materials)

146810 56144 90666 2005-06

6 Timber and lumber 121528 117310 4217 2005-06

7 Wood, cane and bamboo handicrafts 119965 117713 2253 2005-06

8 Forest Planting, Replanting and Conservation

111259 8418 102841 2005-06

9 Manu. Of builders carpentry & joinery 98395 98395 0 2005-06

10 Sawmilling and planing of wood 88536 82203 6333 2005-06

11 Structural products made of bamboo 83164 39525 43639 2005-06

12 Handicraft workers in wood, textile, leather and related materials

69770 41093 28677 2010

13 Wood Treaters, Cabinet Makers and related trade workers

44280 33891 10389 2010

14 Corrugated paper, paper board containers

28551 9113 19438 2005-06

15 Wood products machine operators 25404 24359 1044 2010

16 Fuelwood and charcoal 22366 21182 0 2005-06

17 Manu. Of pulp, paper and paper board 21405 20906 499 2005-06

18 Manu. Of chicks (bamboo curtains) 11543 6039 5504 2005-06

19 Unani Ayurvedic Physicians 11498 11122 376 2005-06

20 Wood processing, paper making plant operators

7834 7438 396 2010

21 Gathering uncultivated products 7772 3655 4117 2005-06

22 Furniture and fixtures in household 6256 6256 0 2005-06

23 Manu. Of matches 6207 4697 1511 2005-06

24 Manu. Of cane and bamboo furniture 3227 2867 360 2005-06

25 Forestry rel. services, activities n.e.c. 2584 2584 0 2005-06

26 Manu. Of furniture and fixtures n.e.c. 2200 2200 0 2005-06

27 Transportation of logs within forests 2197 2197 0 2005-06

28 Carpentry repair 1400 1400 0 2005-06

29 Manu. Of ayurvedic medicines 1087 1087 0 2005-06

30 Manu. Of unani medicines 716 716 0 2005-06

31 Traditional Medicine and Faith Healers 675 675 0 2010

32 Other articles of paper and paper board 411 411 0 2005-06

33 Manu. Of wooden containers 291 291 0 2005-06

Total 2138955 1243685 857985

As can be seen from the above table, there are 33 types of occupations or industries that

employ 2.14 million persons out of which 40% are women.

Although the employment figures given in the statistical year book are impressive enough, the

“Household Based Forestry Survey 2011-12” (BBS 2014) of private and homestead forests of

Bangladesh shows much higher employment intensity in this sub-sector of forestry as shown

below:

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –51

Table 2-3: Employment by type and gender in forestry sub-sector in 2010-11

This table shows that 5.8 million persons find full time or part time employment only in private

forestry sub-sector while the year book says that only 2.4 million people are employed in the

entire forestry sector and forestry-based occupations and industries.

According to “Technical Report: Furniture Sector Includes Value Chain Analysis and Proposed

Action Plans January 2013” sponsored by European Union, the furniture industry alone

provides employment to approximately 1.8 million persons.

These figures may be inconsistent with each other, but they indicate the huge value of the

forestry sector as a means of creating jobs and alleviation of poverty.

Employment in collection and processing of non-timber forest products (NTFP) is very high,

especially in comparison with that of the wood sector although it represents only about 6% to

8% of the total revenue of the BFD. Nearly 60% of the employment generated by the BFD

which centres on NTFPs is associated with less affluent groups. NTFPs, as a result, assume

a rather important role in supporting the economic activities of at least 600,000 people only in

Sundarbans (Choudhury and Hossain, 2011).

Box 2-1: Economic contribution of participatory agroforestry programme to poverty alleviation: a case from Sal forests (Islam 2011).

In the Forest Department of Bangladesh, a Participatory Agroforestry Program (PAP) was

initiated at a denuded Sal forest area to protect the forest resources and to alleviate poverty

amongst the local poor population. We explored whether the PAP reduced poverty and what

factors might be responsible for poverty alleviation. We used three poverty measurement

methods: the Head Count Index, the Poverty Gap Index and the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke

index to determine the extent of poverty reduction. We used a linear regression model to

determine the possible differences among factors in poverty reduction. Data were collected

through semi-structured questionnaires and face to face interviews within the study area.

PAP proved effective at poverty alleviation, considerably improving the local situation. The

linear regression model showed that PAP output explained the income differences in poverty

reduction. Participants identified bureaucracy and illegal money demands by forest

department officials, an uncontrolled market system, and underdeveloped road

infrastructure as the main obstacles to reduction of poverty. Overall, PAP is quite successful

in alleviating poverty. So this programme might be of interest at other degraded forest areas

as a tool to alleviate poverty.

Male Female Male Female Male Female All

Working Owner/Self

employed 1386686 174008 1130605 389969 2517291 563977 3081267

Employee 2253 630 559123 31884 561376 32514 593890

Unpaid family worker 419894 429857 992665 247771 1412559 677628 2090187

Guard 29295 0 25347 0 54642 0 54642

Others 15800 0 31 5 15831 5 15835

Total 1853928 604494 2707770 669629 4561698 1274123 5835821

Full Time Part Time TotalType of employee

52– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

As mentioned before, forests act as economic safety nets for the rural poor as a large number

of free, or virtually free, goods are available to the neighbouring communities from the forests.

If nothing else, forests make poverty a little more bearable by providing residual support to the

poor in times of extreme desperation, in the form of food, fodder, fuelwood and medicines. It

is extremely difficult to correctly estimate the value of forest products to the local people due

to the varied access, use and disposal approaches applied by the beneficiaries. Although the

overall contribution of the forestry sector to employment in Bangladesh is not fully estimated

yet (0.1% in 2011 FAO 2014), its significance is much higher than the apparent estimates as

these benefits reach that category of the population which is often deprived of most other

poverty alleviation solutions. Moreover, all the goods produced by forests and trees are primary

goods which generate wealth and employment as they circulate through the economic fabric

of the country. For example, the contribution of “Forests and related services” which includes

only timber, fuelwood, bamboo and “minor products”, to the GDP of Bangladesh in 2013-14, is

recorded as Tk. 184014 million (1.43% in 2014), but the contribution of the wood-based

manufacturing businesses worth Tk 101041 million (this figure will go up significantly when

estimates are finalised) has not been included in the forestry sector contribution. These

contributions are shown in the manufacturing sector. Even if a part of this contribution is

credited to the forestry sector, the recognition of the sector as a source of GDP and jobs will

at least double. Thus, unless a thorough analysis of the contribution of the forestry sector to

the nation’s economy and poverty alleviation efforts is done, it is difficult to unravel it

completely.

2.2 Production of biomass: timber, fuelwood, and NTFP

There are more than 25.5 million households living in about 88,000 villages across the country

that collectively control, through their homesteads, a significant quantity of tree growth. These

are the principal suppliers of wood for the country (NFA 2007). Production estimates of

biomass in the country are discussed below:

2.2.1 Roundwood

No reliable estimates of production of roundwood (all wood, including fuelwood) are available

for the country. Available data is inconsistent and none of the available estimates fits into the

ground realities satisfactorily. However a rough assessment of the situation can be attempted

by synthesising the core elements of various studies/assessments into a logical collage, as

shown below:

• Total growing stock (gross volume) in the country, within forests and outside, was

estimated by NFA 2007 as 212 million m3. Any roundwood, (timber and firewood) can

be produced by this mother stock only.

• In order to ensure a sustainable harvest of wood products from this growing stock, an

approximate rotation (felling cycle) of 20 years looks reasonable, At this rate, existing

trees can produce about 10.6 million m3 per annum. FMP 1995 indicates 5.8% cut every

year from homesteads, meaning thereby a theoretical felling cycle of 17.2 years.

• As against this, FAOSTAT says that the annual production of roundwood (which

includes fuelwood) in the country is approx. 26.9 million m3 in 2014.This rate of

extraction seems impossible on the basis of the estimates of gross growing stock in the

country. FAOSTAT data is often based on regression equations and may not represent

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –53

the real situation.

• However, a survey of private forests by BBS (2014) estimated the total production of

timber from private forests, in 2011-12, as only 1.02 million m3 and production of

firewood as 5.2 million tons (approx.. 10.4 million m3). Thus, total roundwood produced

from private forests (homesteads and planned forests) is approximately 11.42 million

m3. As private forests are virtually the only source of wood in the country at present, in

view of the bad condition of state forests, and the prevailing moratorium on felling, only

1.02 million m3 of timber cannot meet the requirement of the country even remotely.

• There are at least 15880 sawmills in the country (including unregistered units), as

reported by DFOs. Average consumption of roundwood by sawmills was assessed as

438 m3/annum in a survey of Chittagong sawmills (Islam et al. 2007). Using this rate of

consumption of timber, the total wood consumption by the saw mills comes to be 6.96

million m3/annum. Actual production of timber in the country must be more than this,

as all timber does not necessarily reach sawmills. Some is used in the form of poles.

However, this number can be treated as the minimum level of consumption (or

production) of timber in the country.

• Although every piece of wood, howsoever small, can be used as firewood, we are more

concerned with the volume of a tree trunk or large branches (traditionally recognized

as over 10 cm girth) which is used as fuelwood. This volume is the difference between

the gross volume and commercial volume of a tree. According to NFA 2007,

approximately 28.5% (or say 30%) of the gross volume of a tree is fuelwood (4 out of

14 m3). This means total production of roundwood in the country, on the basis of the

result of the sawmill survey, should be approximately 9.05 or 9 m3. This volume is

produced by felling of trees. Yield from standing trees, in the form of lops and tops and

natural fall of twigs, on a continuous basis, is in addition to this and makes up the figure

of 26.9 million m3 projected by FAO.

• This volume (9 million m3) is well within 10.6 million m3 considered sustainable on the

basis of estimated growing stock in the country. This outturn amounts to an extraction

rate of approx. 0.61 m3 per ha per annum. Average gross volume per ha in Bangladesh

is only 14 m3, as per NFA 2007. This means an annual removal of 4.35% of the mean

gross growing stock, i.e. a mean rotation or felling cycle of 23 years. This obviously

seems quite sustainable.

• The actual production/ha may be slightly different from this, due to the prevailing

moratorium on felling in natural forests. However, the difference is likely to be only

marginal as the moratorium is perhaps effective only in about 500000 ha of surviving

forest (including Sundarbans) while other government forests may be still subject to

illicit removals which have brought these areas to their current degraded condition.

• On the other hand, the gross growing stock in the country seems to have increased

considerably since the last assessment of 212 million m3 in 2005, due to the expansion

of tree cover outside forests. The growing stock in the homesteads had gone up from

54 million m3 in 1991 (FMP 1995) to 139 million m3 in 2005 (NFA 2007).Therefore, loss

of production from natural forests, due to the moratorium, and

degradation/deforestation, may not make any significant difference to the above

estimates.

• This scenario seems to explain the production and consumption scenario of timber

54– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

reasonably well but firewood supply, based on this scenario, seems to be grossly

inadequate. Most studies indicate that over 80% of wood is consumed as firewood,

while only 30% of the growing stock is treated as firewood by FAO in the last NFA.

However, keeping in mind that firewood has many substitutes, even smaller pieces of

wood (we have taken into account only those pieces which are more than 10 cm in

girth at the thin end), which are consumed in parallel, getting an exact estimate of

fuelwood consumption and production is difficult. Most studies on fuelwood show a

huge variance in their results. Significant proportion of timber waste, after conversion

to sawnwood, is also consumed as fuelwood. Small twigs, used as fuelwood, are

produced continuously, as against the production of larger pieces only once in the life

of a tree. This constitutes a considerable supply of additional fuelwood which is difficult

to assess. Therefore, a reasonable timber production and consumption scenario should

be adequate to explain the fuelwood scenario reasonably well.

As mentioned above, most of the wood production happens outside the state forests.

Production of timber and poles (industrial roundwood) by the forest department in recent years

is given below:

Figure 2-1: Trend in the production of industrial roundwood (logs and poles) by Forest Department (m3).

The volumes shown above also include quantities seized by BFD for being illegally removed

from government forests. As can be seen above, production of timber (logs and poles) by the

forest department is very limited compared to the total production and consumption in the

country and is declining sharply. The level of production varies from year to year on the basis

of the areas of social forestry plantations available for harvesting. Large volumes of timber are

produced by farmers from their private land holders, mostly in the hill districts, under jote

permits from the authorities. However, there is a common belief that a large proportion of this

timber comes from reserved and USF forests illicitly. Timber transported to various markets

under the jote permits in recent years is given below:

148482.8571168997.1429

110057.1429

22186

4582028329.2571424386.22857

67980.5714370088.3142963424.6285766144.05714

87924.45714

0.000

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

180000

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –55

Figure 2-2: Trend in the production of logs through jote permits (m3).

As can be seen, the total volume extracted under these permits has almost doubled since

2009-10. The number of jote permits issued each year runs into thousands in the Rangamati

circle. In addition to large timber, some quantities of poles are also extracted under these

permits. On an average, 226,000 pieces of bamboo are also extracted under these permits,

each year, in the Sylhet forest division, although the numbers are declining slowly. As against

this extraction from private forests, government operations produce only about 30,700 m3

timber from social forestry plantations each year. According to BBS (2014), the total volume of

timber produced from homestead and private forests was approx. 1.02 million m3 in 2011-12.

A steep rise, though fluctuating, in the import of timber in the country is an indication of the

falling production and increasing demand for industrial roundwood. The Import of timber

crossed 157,000 m3 in 2015. The largest forest produce trade in Bangladesh, including

imports, is handled by the timber traders of Chittagong. The remainder of the big timber traders

are located in Dhaka.

Thus, going by the available statistics the total availability of industrial roundwood in the

country, from all sources, measures up to only 1267410 m3 (87924+157000+1022486). This

figure is nowhere near the estimated consumption of approx. 6.9 million m3 of timber by the

15880 sawmills existing in the country. Thus, the inadequacy of data underscores the need for

a detailed study of production and consumption of timber in the country.

Fuelwood

It is difficult to estimate the production or consumption of fuelwood without a detailed study.

No study of fuelwood production in the country has been attempted in the recent past. FAO’s

FAOSTAT database shows a declining trend in fuelwood production in the country and

estimates the current production in the country around 26.6 million m3 in 2014, out of total

roundwood production of 26.9 million m3, on the basis of past trends. However, BBS (2014)

estimated the total production of fuelwood from homesteads and other private forests to be

approximately 5191835 metric tons (10383670 m3). Fuelwood produced by BFD, primarily from

its social forestry operations, is almost insignificant, although large volumes may be extracted

by the local people from neighbouring forests informally. As fuelwood is mostly produced from

standing trees, it has no direct relationship with timber (industrial roundwood) production,

which is produced by felling trees. Therefore, a more reasonable estimate for the annual

production of fuelwood in the country would be approximately 19.9 million m3 (total roundwood

26.9 minus industrial roundwood 7 million m3) instead of 26.6 million m3 as estimated by FAO.

28

41

0.3

3

32

94

9.2

6

35

29

5.0

6

43

11

1.3

8

48

73

8.1

9

53

26

6.7

7

56

43

2.3

9

71

24

6.8

8

77

87

0.9

3

10

71

31

.26

13

91

71

.6

11

55

45

.74

13

98

98

.01

13

87

36

.91

48

34

.87

56

01

.14

43

32

.03

37

22

.92

32

61

.57

23

40

.62

20

89

.6

10

44

92

.08

11

64

21

.33

14

67

58

.35

18

60

05

.89

16

75

45

.5

19

55

05

.39

19

72

58

.9

2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Chittagong Rangamati Dhaka Total Linear (Total)

56– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Despite the increasing availability of alternate sources of energy, firewood continues to be the

principal cooking fuel in the country although its popularity is decreasing. However, according

to the 2011 national census estimates (BBS 2012), the proportion of people using wood fuels

for cooking decreased from 44.27% in 1991 to 34.8% in 2011. This conforms to the FAO’s

indication of a declining trend in the production of fuelwood. Of the total fuelwood, nearly 85%

is used in rural areas and 15% in urban areas (FMP 1995). The reason for the decline in

production and consumption may be the easier availability of alternative fuels as well as

changing demography of the country.

2.2.2 Forest product industries

The forest product industries in Bangladesh include: sawmills; manufactured wood products,

including furniture, hardboard, particleboard, and chipboard; manufacture of pulp, paper,

newsprint, and other paper and paper packaging products; match factories; and the production

of miscellaneous products from wood and bamboo, such as handicrafts, through cottage

industries. However, apart from the construction industry, sawmilling, furniture and paper and

pulp industry are the largest consumers of wood products.

Sawmilling Industry

Sawmilling is essentially an unorganised industry, spread in all corners of the country. There

is no credible information on the number of sawmills or their capacity in the country. According

to Chowdhury and Hussain (2011), there were 11,262 sawmills in the country with a capacity

of approximately 14.71 million m3. However, the updated tally of sawmills, based on reports

from all DFOs, comes to 15880 units. This is perhaps the minimum number of sawmills in the

country as many unregistered mills may not be known to the reporting offices. A survey of 65

saw mills by Islam et al. in Chittagong found the average annual consumption of roundwood

by saw mills to be 438 m3 in 2007. Using this norm for estimating the total volume of sawlogs

consumed by sawmills of the country, gives an estimate of 6955440 m3 consumption per

annum. This is a conservative estimate as the survey attempted by the consulting team gives

much higher estimate which does not look plausible. Nearly all of the mills contacted for the

survey reported to be using supplies from homestead and private forests for their operations.

However the total annual production of timber (industrial roundwood) from homesteads and

other private forests is estimated to be only about 1022429 m3 (BBS 2014). Perhaps another

survey of production and consumption systems is urgently required to understand why the

production of wood seems to be far less than what is actually being consumed by the saw

mills. As all wood produced does not reach the saw mills, the actual production must be much

higher than indicated by these production or consumption figures.

FMP (1995), “Wood Processing” report mentions that there were 4,838 sawmills in the country

in 1992, indicating a sharp increase in the number of sawmills since then. Based on the these

studies, estimated consumption (sale) of roundwood by saw mills falls anywhere between 5

and 28 million m3 per annum. Almost all sawmills reported getting their supplies from

homesteads and jotes although a few mentioned using imported timber also. Although the

species used by sawmills varies from area to area, the most common species are mahagani,

akashmoni, rain tree, garjan, and mango. A sawmill cannot be established within 10 km of the

boundary of any forest, as per the Sawmill (Licensing) Rules, 2012. Although all sawmills are

required to be registered with the BFD, it is commonly believed that a large number of

unregistered sawmills exist in the country. In fact, it is virtually impossible to patrol so many

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –57

sawmills and the country has to think why such rules are required now that most of the natural

forests, which could have been at the risk of plundering by unscrupulous sawmills, are already

gone. Most saw mills are reported to be using obsolete machinery and are poorly managed

and inefficiently run. Islam et al. reported 67% recovery rate of sawn timber, although the by-

products such as saw dust, off-cuts, scantlings etc. are also saleable.

Furniture Industry

The furniture industry in Bangladesh consists of approximately 71034 (Anon. 2013) small and

medium enterprises and is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. The furniture

industry has been declared as one of the thrust areas by the government and it has been

growing at an annual growth rate of approximately 19% for the last few years. The total size of

the industry was estimated to be Tk. 67 billion and employs nearly 1.8 million persons, as per

the EU study cited above. The sector has seen an export growth rate of 104% between 2009-

10 and 2014-15 and the value of exports is estimated to be USD 34.98 million in 2014-15

(Bangladesh Export Promotion Board). The furniture industry is highly diversified and uses a

range of raw materials such as solid wood, processed wood products (mainly boards) and

wrought iron. Most of the raw materials, including wood, are imported and the share of local

timber is estimated to be only about 20%. The growth of the industry is primarily limited by the

availability of skilled and trained labour, lack of modern machinery, shortage of local supplies

of suitable timber as well as the high rates of import duty on processed wood, 92.3% as against

10.72% on solid wood. Timber from Acacia auriculiformis, which is now being extensively

produced under social forestry programme, is considered good for furniture making, primarily

in view of its grain similarity to teak. However, for the high-end urban market, mahogany, jack

fruit, teak and mango are also popular with the manufacturers. Some big manufacturers use

only imported wood and exporters to the west use FSC certified timbers only.

Paper and Pulp Industry

According to Qader (2011), the paper industry in Bangladesh consists of more than 80

enterprises with an annual capacity of nearly 5,00,000 to 6,00,000 tonnes. Out of these, the

state owned Karnafuli Paper Mills Ltd. (KPML) is the only integrated unit which makes its own

virgin pulp. All other units use imported pulp and recycled fibre (paper and cloth). KPML, set

up in 1953, was earlier a major player in the industry but now produces only 5% of the total

paper production in the country. According to this study, paper industry globally uses 90%

wood based raw materials (wood and bamboo) while in Asia, including Bangladesh, 80% of

the raw material used is non-wood (recycled material). The industry is suffering from an acute

shortage of raw materials. Despite the fact that only one paper mill in the country uses

wood/bamboo based raw material, even that mill is not getting adequate raw material. The mill

is usually running below its installed capacity of 100 tonnes per day. Total production of

newsprint in the country is estimated to be 7771 ADT in 2012-13 (BBS 2016), the latest year

for which data is available. Forest department supplies a very small proportion of their need

(8000 m3 of timber and 22,00,000 pieces of bamboo to KPML in 2015-16). As the demand for

paper and other pulp products is likely to grow exponentially, in view of the growth in

population, prosperity and education, the country has to find the means of sustainable supply

of wood based raw materials to the paper industry. On an average one tonne of paper

consumes wood from 17 trees and this rate varies between 12 and 24 trees depending on the

category and quality of paper produced. Thus the current capacity of the country needs

approximately one crore trees or 20,000 ha of a well-stocked plantation (500 mature trees per

58– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

ha) per annum. As the current plantation targets of the BFD rarely reach that level, the only

way this demand can be catered to is through agroforestry and homestead forestry which have

already developed strong roots in the country.

Other Industries

In addition to the above principal wood based industries, several other products are produced

using wood as a raw material. There are thousands of rural artisans who make small household

goods and wooden handicrafts. There are 18 match factories and at least two pencil factories

in the country (Chowdhury and Hussain 2011). As per FMP 1995, there were three large scale

plywood plants and 12 small-scale plants manufacturing tea chests. No up-to-date list of

industries in this sector is available with any agency. The country produces very few categories

of processed wood boards (particle boards, medium density fibre board, hard board, plywood)

in the country and most of the requirement is met through imports. Total production of particle

board in the country is reported to be 76,79,000 m2 in 2011-12 and 740,000 m2 of hardboard

was produced in the country in the year 2010-11 (BBS 2016). Country lacks adequate wood

treatment and seasoning facilities as there are very few service providers. As a result, most of

the local timber used in the manufacture of various industries and businesses is just sun dried,

although most of the major manufactures of furniture or other products have their own

seasoning and treatment plants. The durability and stability of untreated timbers is much lower

than treated woods and thus increases the timber demand.

Problem of raw materials for the industry is both from quantity as well as specifications angles.

The small quantity of timber coming out from short rotation government plantations is

essentially of small size which cannot support industries like plywood manufacturing. Most of

the medium to large size timber comes from private sources, mainly homesteads. Due to the

contribution made by the homesteads, total production of wood in the country seems to be

sufficient for most needs, except specialised ones, for which they have to depend on imports.

2.2.3 Secondary Wood Products

Table 2-4 summarizes production of wood charcoal and various other wood products, including

sawn wood, wood-based panels, veneer sheets, and fibreboard in Bangladesh during the

period 2009 – 2013. The most important products in terms of production are sawn wood and

wood charcoal. The current production of sawn wood averages about 388,000 m3/yr. However,

because of inadequate data, the estimates need to be refined to be useful.

Table 2-4: Production of wood products, 2009 – 2013 (FRA 2015).

Product Production (000 m3)

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Wood charcoal 321 324 327 329 331

Sawn wood 388 388 388 388 388

Wood-Based Panels 9 9 9 9 9

Veneer Sheets 1 1 1 1 1

Fibreboard 5 5 5 5 5

The production of pulp for paper and paper production during the last 20 years shows an

irregular trend, although decreasing. As per available information, only one paper mill, the

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –59

Karnafuli Paper mills, produces its pulp from wood products for paper making. All other units

are reported to be using the imported or recycled fibre.

Table 2-5: Production of pulp and paper (tonnes) (FRA 2015).

Year Pulp Paper Year Pulp Paper

1995 122,000 120,000 2005 65,000 58,000

1996 114,000 90,000 2006 65,000 58,000

1997 97,000 70,000 2007 65,000 58,000

1998 37,000 46,000 2008 65,000 58,000

1999 37,000 46,000 2009 65,000 58,000

2000 37,000 46,000 2010 65,000 58,000

2001 37,000 46,000 2011 65,000 58,000

2002 37,000 46,000 2012 65,000 58,000

2003 72,000 83,000 2013 65,000 58,000

2004 65,000 58,000 2014 65,000 58,000

BFD supplies raw material to the Karnaphuli Paper Mills but government supplies meet only a

small portion of their requirement as shown below:

Table 2-6: Raw Material Supplied by BFD to Karnafuli Paper Mills15

Division and Material Year

2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Rangamati North (Bamboo no.) 1,901,775 2,528,000 603,000 817,250 1,595,500

Rangamati south (Bamboo no.) 1,007,000 699,500 550,000 550,000 670,000

Pulpwood, Bandarban (m3) 4596.85 3988.57 0 0 0

Pulpwood, Kaptai (m3) 16,254.71 6,691.2 6,336 9,816 8,342.85

2.2.4 Non-timber forest products

Resources other than timber and fuelwood are considered to be non-timber forest products or

non-wood forest products (NTFP), also called non-wood forest products (NWFP). NTFPs play

an important role in the economic and socio-political arenas. While NTFPs were previously

branded as "minor forest products" (MFP), but they are certainly not "minor" products in the

context of the local economy. Ironically, NTFPs have again become MFP as their production

have declined with the general decline in the health and extent of forests in the country.

However, as many products are also found outside the forests or are cultivated (e.g. medicinal

plants), their overall significance to the economy of the country, particularly the rural economy,

has not declined over time. The principal NTFPs from different types of forests include the

following products:

• Bamboo is the fastest growing plant in the world and it grows well on a variety of sites.

Bamboos grow throughout Bangladesh with the exception of the Sundarbans. They are

divided into two groups, Forest (Hill Tracts) bamboos and village bamboos. Seven

different species are reported to occur in the forests out of which muli bamboo

(Melocanna baccifera) is the predominant species. Bamboo has multifarious uses both

15 Source: BFD records

60– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

in domestic and commercial sectors. It is used as a construction material, as a raw

material for paper and pulp industry as well as for producing handicrafts. Due to the

degradation of natural bamboo forests, most of the bamboo supplies now originate from

the villages. Natural bamboo is found in the hill forests of Bangladesh although some

underplanting has also been done in the sal forests. The extent of bamboo forests was

estimated to be 148,880 ha in 1993 (FMP 1995) but it has declined to approximately

15,000-16,000 ha in 2013 (FIGNSP 2013). The principal reasons for the decline of the

bamboo forests is overexploitation, lack of reestablishment after gregarious flowering

and damage due to shifting cultivation. No exact estimate of the production of bamboo

is available in the country. Most of the bamboo is now produced outside the forests as

indicated by BBS (2014) survey, which shows that 6027000 pieces of bamboos were

produced in the homesteads and other private forests while only 2265500 bamboos were

supplied by BFD to the Karnafuli paper mill.

• Cane or rattan is a climbing plant, primarily grown in homesteads and in the low-lying

areas of reserved forests. Many species of canes (Calamus and other genera) are found

in the country. Cane (Calamus viminalis, C. guruba) is used by rural people for domestic

purposes. It is also used for making sophisticated furniture and luxury souvenir articles.

It helps in developing cottage industries even in the rural areas. Their major use is in the

furniture and handicrafts industry. Due to the loss of non-mangrove natural forests, most

of the supplies now come from India through regular trade or smuggling. BFD has been

carrying out plantation of canes in the natural forests to strengthen their conservation.

Its economic significance can be gauged from the fact that in 1991-92, there were 46,386

units employing 138,556 persons and had been showing significant growth in the

previous years (FMP 1995). As shown in Table 2-2, 146810 persons are employed in

manufacturing bamboo and cane products while 119965 persons are employed in

making cane and bamboo handicrafts. Furniture industry, which employs nearly 2.00

million persons, uses significant quantities of cane in its operations. All this shows that

the cane and rattan, including bamboos, have significant position in the economy and

employment of the country.

• Sungrass (Imperata spp.) is the most common roofing and thatching material used for

temporary low-cost housing in villages. Sungrass grows naturally, especially in the

forests of low-lying areas, or around the denuded and barren hills unfit for growing high-

quality timber trees. But due to the easier availability of commercial roofing materials, its

use has been declining. According to FMP 1995, number of persons engaged in

sungrass extraction, across 12 forest divisions declined from 49,306 in 1987-88 to

37,096 in 1989-90. No recent data on this item is available.

• Hantal (Phoenix paludosa), another palm species growing in mangroves, is well-

distributed on relatively raised land of the Sundarbans. It grows on the raised dry banks

of khals as well as an undergrowth in the interiors. It is an important construction material

for the rural areas and its stems are used as rafters and purlins in house construction,

as posts in the betel leaf cultivation and has many other sundry uses. However, due to

the moratorium on harvesting in Sundarbans, it is no longer harvested although it used

to be an important product until the nineties. Approximately 6-8 metric tons of hantal

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –61

were extracted from Sundarbans in the eighties and nineties (FMP 1995). No data for

any later period is available.

• Hogla (Typha elephantiana) grows in marshy areas and newly accreted land, along the

khals and creaks in the coastal areas and Sundarbans. Large quantities of hogla leaves,

used for cheap mats, used for various purposes, are available on private lands, its value

as a NTFP is not very high. In Sundarbans, it appears to be declining in extent.

• Honey and Beewax are produced naturally in the beehives of the Sundarbans forest

where it is collected in large quantities every year. Some wild honey is also harvested in

the forest regions of Chittagong, Sylhet, Cox's Bazar, and Mymensingh. It is a major

produce in the Sundarbans where thousands of people depend on it for a living.

Tragically, many also become victims of tiger attacks. Forest department issues permits

for honey extraction. The quantities extracted in the eighties were close to 250 tonnes

per annum in the eighties while the current production is less than 200 tonnes per annum.

The reason for decline needs to be investigated. It may be because of unscientific

collection methods in which the queen bee is harmed or killed or may be because of the

decline in the availability of nectar bearing plants in the Sundarbans forest. Beewax is a

by-product of the honey harvesting activity which itself has significant economic

importance as it is used in many industries. In the eighties, the production of beewax

was nearly 50-60 tonnes while latest data on this product is not available. Looking at the

quantity of honey produced, it should be approximately 40 tonnes per annum.

• Fish, Prawns and Shells: Fish and associate aquatic products, such as shrimp post

larvae, mainly tiger prawn, shells, oysters etc. is one of the most important NTFPs of the

Sundarbans. Conch shells, oysters, and related materials are collected in large quantities

in the coastal forest. Furthermore, rivers flowing inside forest areas like Sundarbans,

Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet (as well as in the coastal belts and offshore islands)

are rich in fish resources of different types, in both freshwater and saline environments.

Although the revenue received by BFD from fishing permits varies with the rate of royalty

imposed from time to time, the quantities of fish and related products have declined

marginally in the last five years. However, fish production has improved tremendously in

the last 30 years as only 9.33 tonnes of fish were caught in 1981-82 (FMP 1995) while

current production is slightly over 7000 tonnes per annum (see table).

• Golpata (Nypa fruticans) is a very popular and essential thatching material for poor

people in Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira districts and fetches revenue for the BFD. It

grows in abundance in Sundarbans and some coastal areas. The leaves of the plant are

mainly used as thatching material but are also used for many other sundry purposes in

rural households. The sap of the plant can be used to make alcohol, sugar or vinegar.

Ripe fruits are also edible. Permits for golpata extraction are issued in Sundarban

divisions but the demand for this product is declining due the availability of better

commercial roofing materials such as GI sheets, FRP sheets etc. Production has

declined from 47340 tons in 2010-11 to a mere 16867 tons in 2014-15 (see table below).

62– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Table 2-7: Production of major NTFP in Bangladesh (Tonnes)16

Product 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15

Fish 7675.61 7883.17 7070.22 7300.57 7331.94

Honey 134.93 165.44 232.94 198.73 158.34

Golpata 47340.72 29995.97 31761.61 18304.82 16867.52

• Pati Pata, Murta (Clinogynae dichotoma) is an excellent material for making

handicrafts, particularly sleeping-mats (Pati), popularly called shitalpati, which is

extensively used by poor villagers and also as a luxury item for rich people. This is also

exported by the cottage industry as a finished product. The species grows naturally in

the marshy forests and rural areas in many districts of Bangladesh. It is one of the

important forest products of the Sylhet forest division. Although the industry is on a

decline due the shortage of raw materials and diversion of traditional workers to other

professions, BFD still issues harvesting contracts for the extraction of Murta from the

forest areas. Due to the degradation of the Murta forests, most mahals are not bought

by the contractors. Commercially viable Murta is found only in two ranges (Sari and

Sylhet) of the Sylhet division. Table 2-8 shows the latest commercial value of forest

Murta of Sylhet forest division.

Table 2-8: Murta Production in Sylhet Forest Division17

Years

No. of Murta

Mahals

Murta Mahals

Sold Revenue

2010-12 16 8 450000

2011-13 9 0 0

2012-14 16 5 724000

2013-15 12 4 411000

2014-16 14 1 70500

2015-17 27 1 171000

Above table shows that the demand for Murta has shown a constant decrease in the

last five years. Total extent of Murta distribution in the division was estimated to be

2460 ha in FMP 1995 but it has declined significantly due to encroachments and

overexploitation. Estimated production of Murta sticks from the forest areas was nearly

25 million sticks and nearly 12 million sticks were estimated in the villages.

• Medicinal Plants: Wild medicinal plants are one of the most important NTFPs in the

country although many of them are now cultivated. Wild plants are the very foundation

of many ancient medicinal systems such as Ayurveda, Unani, Homeopathy etc. and a

large proportion of the rural population depends on home remedies and traditional

healers who use various parts and extracts of wild plants for treating common illnesses.

The “Ethnobotany Lab, Department of Botany Chittagong University”

(http://www.mpbd.info/) has a database of 900 medicinal plants used in Bangladesh. There

16 Source: Conservator of Forests, Khulna Circle 17 Source: Divisional Forest Officer, Sylhet Forest Division

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –63

are about 297 Unani, 204 Ayurvedic and 77 Homeopathic drug manufacturing

industries where the medicinal plants are extensively used in both raw and semi–

processed forms of medicine in various pharmaceutical formulations. These plants also

serve as important raw materials for many modern medicinal preparations.

No recent data on the status of medicinal plants, wild or cultivated, is easily available.

In a landmark study commissioned by the South Asia Enterprise Development Facility

(SEDF) of the World Bank and Swiss Intercooperation (IC), Dixie et al. (2003)

summarised the status of medicinal plants in the country as follows:

“The total size of the medicinal plant market at wholesale prices was estimated at some

$14 million p.a. – corresponding to 17,000 tonnes of product. Local supply accounts

for about 70% by volume and 40% by value.

✓ Demand has been increasing and is set to accelerate.

✓ The industry is modernising, both by its own efforts & with the entry of

corporates.

✓ Raw material demand is likely to increase by Tk 300 m. over next 5 years.

✓ Most of this growth (+50%) is expected to occur with the major processing

companies.

✓ Imports are increasing, local wild harvest is unsustainable & quality poor.

✓ Companies are considering using imported herbal extracts & /or developing

their own production to improve their raw material supply.

✓ Beparis and pikers are reliant on traditional techniques & knowledge”.

The study estimated the size of the market opportunity for the supply of medicinal plants as

raw materials for the medicinal herb sector over the next five years, for selected plants, as

below:

Table 2-9: Estimated market size for some key medicinal plants in 2003

Medicinal Plants USD M

Amloki 1.35

Haritaki 1.00

Arshwagandha 0.74

Bahera 0.47

Pepul 0.34

Cheerota 2.00

Mutha 0.60

Agar 0.40

As per the trends indicated in this study, the market size of these plants is likely to be much

larger at present.

64– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

The study concluded that “Unless improvements are made in the supply chain, at best,

Bangladeshi producers will not be able to benefit from the continued growth in demand for raw

medicinal plants, and, at worst, it could further lose market share from its existing 40% by

value”.

The key changes suggested in the study were: improved quality; commercialisation of

production; market orientated production and closer linkages between producers and

processors.

Basing their conclusions on Dixie et al. (2003), Lammia (2004) conclude that “The Bangladeshi

herbal medicine market is valued at Tk. 3,300 million (approximately US $60 million) at trade

prices. The turnover figures for the Ayurvedic sector is around Tk. 1,000 million, Unani around

Tk.1,800 million, and homeopathy around Tk. 500 million.” (Lammia 2004) The value of the

industry must be much higher at present.

Khar (2010) quotes various authors on the volumes of various medicinal plants in trade as

follows: “Chowdhury at SAARC workshop (16-18 June, 2002): Ashwagondha (Withania

somnifera) - 56,000 kg, Anantamul (Hemidesmus indicus) - 50,000 kg, Kurchi (Holarrhena

antidysenterica)-1,00,000 kg, Gulancha (Tinospora cordifolia) - 127,000 kg. According to

Hamdard Laboratories (WAQF), in Bangladesh the annual demand for a few medicinal plants

are---- Satomuli (Asparagas racemosus)– 800 tons, Sarpagondha (Rauvolfia serpentina)–

1,000 tons, Ghritokumari (Aloe vera)– 24,000 tons, Kalomegh (Andrographis paniculata)–

1,000 tons (Hassan, 2003). Every year Bangladesh imports a large quantity of raw materials

belonging to medicinal plants mostly under the banner of spices and spends more than 64

crores Taka annually for this purpose. Ironically, 70% of this imported raw materials can be

met from the indigenous sources from Bangladesh”18.

As can be seen, this study has revised the estimates significantly upwards in comparison with

the 2003 study by Dixie et al. indicating that the interest in the production of medicinal plants

has been growing. As the interest in herbal medicines is growing globally, production and

processing of medicinal plants offers good scope as a rural economic activity.

Figure 2-3 gives the locations of major production centres of important medicinal plants in the

country.

18 http://www.assignmentpoint.com/science/zoology/medicinal-plants-bangladesh.html (copied on 19.08.2016)

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –65

Figure 2-3: Major areas producing medicinal plants (Dixie et al. 2003)

• Lac is one of the most versatile industrial ingredients and used to be an important NTFP

in the past. However, with the degradation and deforestation in the country, its

production from the forest areas is negligible. The only source of lac in the country at

present is its cultivation by farmers in the districts of Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Pabna,

Jamalpur and Jessore (FMP 1995). Current production is reported to be approximately

1000 tonnes against a demand for 20000-25000 tonnes per annum19. Although the

profitability of lac cultivation varies with wide fluctuations in market price, in general lac

is a very potent poverty alleviation intervention for rural areas.

There is no NTFP inventory or monitoring programme. Consequently, little information is

available regarding stocks, abundance, and marketing of NTFPs. As most NTFPs are collected

by the local people from the forests without any permits or regulation, no estimates of their

volumes are available. However, permits for the collection/extraction of fish, honey and golpata

in Sundarbans are mandatory, which helps in attempting an assessment of the extracted

volumes. Murta forests are auctioned for extraction in Sylhet forest division. Apart from these

two areas, no authentic information on NTFP collection is available

The principal collectors of NTFP are women, especially adults, who collect about two-thirds of

the NTFPs (Figure 2-4). Most of the NTFPs are collected from natural forests (65%), but they

are also collected from plantations (15%), residential areas (11%) and wetlands (9%). In

19 http://archive.barcapps.gov.bd/uploads/Documents_11___1453277777.pdf

66– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

practice people from different communities collect NTFPs irrespective of ownership of the

lands (Khar 2010).

Figure 2-4: Main collectors of NTFPs in Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Figure 2-5: Land types from which NTFPs are collected in the Chittagong Hill Tract

Production of bamboo in 2010 was approximately 63 million culms, down from a high of nearly

79 million culms in 2000 and with a projected production inching upwards to about 66 million

by 2020. The previous chapter pointed out this diminishing trend and degradation of natural

and bamboo forests. Virtually all the supply of bamboo is now from homesteads due to the ban

on felling in natural forests as well. Complementarily, the primary reasons for degradation of

NTFPs are overpopulation and unsustainable exploitation.

Table 2-10: Primary reasons for degradation of selected NTFPs (Khar, 2010).

NTFP Primary reasons for degradation

Bamboo Overpopulation and exploitation, increased bamboo shoot cutting and

harvesting, increased bamboo trade, and various other reasons.

Wild vegetables Overpopulation and exploitation, land clearing for jhum, or shifting cultivation,

and/or plantations, financial crisis of forest-adjacent households.

Medicinal plants Overpopulation and exploitation, increased medicinal plant trade, lack of

domestication initiatives.

Bamboo shoots Overpopulation and exploitation, financial crisis of forest-adjacent households,

land clearing for jhum and/or plantations.

Broom grass Overpopulation and exploitation, land clearing for jhum and/or plantations, and

financial crisis of forest-adjacent households.

Menda bark Land clearing for jhum and/or plantation, increased trade in menda bark, lack of

awareness.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –67

As stated earlier, NTFPs are an extremely important part rural livelihoods, as shown by the

following case studies. As most of the NTFPs are collected and disposed of informally, and

most do not need any permits for collection, it is extremely difficult to estimate their total

production or consumption in the country, although their value to the rural communities is well

recognised.

Box 2-2: Role of non-timber forest products in sustaining forest-based livelihoods and rural households’ resilience capacity in and around protected area (Mukul et al. 2015).

Our study has reiterated the critical role of NTFPs in providing subsistence and cash

incomes to local communities, especially to the poorer groups, and as a provisioning option

during unforeseen events that improves households’ resilience capacity. Recent renewed

emphasis on conservation in Protected Areas sometimes lead to restrictions on extraction

of NTFPs. Such restrictions need to be viewed and considered within the broader context

and reality of the high degree of dependence of poorer communities on NTFPs. A degree of

flexibility in existing PA management may be warranted, such as by setting an allowable

resource extraction limit for deserving community members in the light of both ecological

and economic sustainability. Some species are particularly vulnerable to over-exploitation,

and require special attention from PA managers. L. monopetala, in our study, for example,

has experienced serious depletion due to unsustainable bark collection and rampant illegal

removal. Policy makers and park managers should consider improving awareness of local

communities about sustainable harvesting of NTFPs. They could also allow them to cultivate

commercially important NTFPs in buffer zones to reduce pressure on core PAs. Another

important issue is the lack of organized and equitable market outlets and facilities for local

forest dependent communities to sell the NTFPs they collected. It makes them entirely

dependent on an exploitative network of intermediaries. PA managers could therefore also

facilitate direct and wider access of the poorer HHs to markets.

Box 2-3: Honey Hunting in Sundarbans Reserved Forests of Bangladesh (Gani 2015)

The Sundarbans Reserved Forest (SRF) is one of the largest contiguous mangrove forests

of the world. The Bangladesh Forest Department since 1884 has managed the SRF. A

number of forest products such as timber, fuelwood, leaves, grasses, fish, shells, honey and

beeswax are harvested from Sundarbans where honey is considered an important non wood

forest product. Here, giant honeybee is the principal honey producing species. Honey

hunting from giant honeybee colonies has been practised for centuries in the Sundarbans

mangrove forests. Around two thousand honey collectors work in the forest to collect honey

and beeswax from giant honeybee colonies. About 200 tons of honey and 50 tons of

beeswax are harvested annually under the supervision of Forest Department. The

Sundarbans produces about 50 percent of the honey produced in Bangladesh.

The honey collectors are known as ‘Mouwali’ and they collect honey and beeswax every

year mostly during the months of April, May and little in June. The major honey flow starts

with the flowering of plants in the Sundarbans mangrove forest in mid-March and continues

into June. There is an inward migration of giant bees from the countryside from January and

outward migration from June. The Mouwalis collect ripe and unripe honey in a traditional

way as they move in the dense swampy jungles. They harvest all colonies encountered as

68– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

their return to same place is a hard work and hazardous too. Mouwalis kill large numbers of

bees while collecting honey due to the lack of training and awareness. There is a need to

improve the security and safety of Mouwalis. An initiative is necessary to plant up honey and

nectar bearing plants in the Sundarbans to increase the yield of honey.

Box 2-4: Bangladesh: Queen of natural beauty.20

Golpata (Nypa fruticans) is by far the most important NWFP in the region. Every year, from

December to May, thousands of "bawalis" (traditional forest users) collect an average of

60,000 metric tons of fronds from throughout the SRF. This number, however, could be a

fraction of the actual amount harvested. The fronds are sold at several trade depots in the

adjoining districts and used as a traditional roofing material throughout the country. The fruits

are used to make a local wine. Other species are important as well. Hantal (Phoenix

paludosa) is a palm used in construction as rafters and framework. It is not as popular as

golpata and is harvested in much smaller quantities at an average of 3000 metric tons per

year. An average of 3000 metric tons of a variety of grasses are annually harvested from

the SRF as well. This includes malia (Cyperus javanicus), nal (Eriochlea procera) and ulu

(Imperata cylindrica). Malia is used for making mats, nal for making baskets and fences, and

ulu for thatch.

2.3 Economic value of products, biodiversity, and ecosystem services

2.3.1 Value of roundwood timber

The timber prices in Bangladesh are shown in Table 2-11, which show an increasing trend of

around 175% for the period 2003-04 to 2012-13. Discussions in Chittagong saw mills in May

2016 indicate that the average selling price of several different species of industrial timber in

the local market is approximately Tk. 35,000 per m3. Using a conservative rate of Tk. 20000

per m3 in all markets, the total value of nearly seven million m3 of timber (minimum estimate,

wood consumed only by sawmills) produced in the country comes to around Tk. 14000 cr.

(USD 1.75 billion) per annum. Timber prices have been growing at an annual rate of approx.

13% per annum as shown below, which indicates the prevailing gap between demand and

supply. As timber is a primary product which supports many industries and artisans, its real

economic value is much more than its estimated price.

Table 2-11: Timber price development (Hossain 2015).

Year Price

(Tk./m3)

Annual

change

2003-04 40,000 -

2004-05 50,000 25%

2005-06 60,000 20%

2006-07 70,000 17%

2007-08 80,000 14%

2008-09 90,000 13%

20 http://bangladeshqueenofnaturalbeauty.blogspot.com/p/sundarbanworld-largest-mangrove-forest.html

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –69

Year Price

(Tk./m3)

Annual

change

2009-10 90,000 0%

2010-11 100,000 11%

2011-12 110,000 10%

2012-13 110,000 0%

2.3.2 Value of fuelwood

The price of fuelwood shows an increasing trend in the period 2001-02 to 2012-13 (Table 2-

12). There seems to be no clear trend in the prices of fuelwood, although the prices have gone

up in line with general inflation.

Table 2-12: Wholesale price of fuelwood (BBS 2006, 2010).

Year Price

(Tk./tonne)

Annual change

2001-02 1,944 -

2002-03 2,017 4%

2003-04 2,046 1%

2004-05 2,083 2%

2005-06 2,034 -2%

2006-07 2,549 25%

2007-08 2,103 -17%

2008-09 3,670 75%

2009-10 3,619 -1%

2010-11 4,476 24%

2011-12 4,031 -10%

2012-13 4,482 11%

The price of fuelwood varies widely between rural and urban areas and between forested and

non-forested areas. Presuming one metric ton is equal to two cubic metres, the estimated

value of fuelwood produced in the country comes to nearly Tk. 6,006 crore (USD 751 million)

per annum in 2013. This shows the importance of fuelwood in the rural economy. Although the

prices have more than doubled over the period of nearly ten years shown above, the fluctuating

prices indicate a reasonably stable supply of firewood in the country. As the popularity of

fuelwood as a cooking fuel has been going down over the last two decades, indicating a

slowing demand growth, the price movement seems to concur with the consumption trend.

2.3.3 Value of non-timber forest products21

A complete assessment of the economic value of NTFP has not been attempted in the country

since 1991, although the value of various wild plants in the lives of the rural people is well

recognised. A broad idea of the economic importance of NTFP can be had from the following

statements:

21 See section 2.2.4 for more details.

70– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

In Bangladesh, the collection, processing, and selling of NTFPs provide important employment

opportunities for nearly 300,000 people in the poorest segments of the rural population with an

annual contribution of about Tk. 132 crore (USD 17 million) to the country’s economy. The

operation of small-scale enterprises and the manufacture of secondary products from NTFPs

such as bamboos and rattans is a low-cost, but effective strategy for employment generation

for semi-skilled labourers in urban-rural fringes in Bangladesh.

“27% households (HHs) of the area received at least some cash benefit from the collection,

processing and selling of NTFPs, and NTFPs contribute as HHs primary, supplementary and

emergency sources of income. NTFPs also constituted an estimated 19% of HHs net annual

income, and were the primary occupation for about 18% of the HHs” (Mukul et al. 2015).

Bamboo, fish, the leaves of trees and other materials have a collective commercial value

greater than Tk. 11.5 crore (USD 1.4 million) annually.

Table 2-13: Commercial value of collected NTFPs in 2010 (FRA 2015).

Class of NTFP Key species Commercial value

(Tk. lakh)

Bamboo Melocanna bambusoides, Bambusa tulda, B. spp. 720.0 62.4%

Fish Hilsa, Harpadon nehereus, Lates calcarifer,

Polynemous indicus, Trichiurus lepturus

174.6 15.1%

Leaves of trees Nypa fruticans 153.1 13.3%

Crab Scylla serrata 61.4 5.3%

Broom Stick Thysanolaena maxima 20.1 1.7%

Sungrass Imperata cylindrica 5.0 0.4%

Bark of trees Dechasia kurzii, Terminalia arjuna, Saraka indica 4.6 0.4%

Rattan Daemonorops jenkisianus, Calamus latifolius, C. spp. 3.7 0.3%

Honey Honey 8.8 0.8%

Wax Wax 2.6 0.2%

Total 1,153.9

Although based on official reports, this seems to be only a partial assessment of the value of

NTFPs. Further, these primary products are the basis for a range of cottage industries and

small and medium enterprises that support hundreds and thousands of families. Thus the real

value of these products to the economy of the country is hundreds of time more than the

revenue earned from them by the Government. For example, bamboo is a raw material for

paper and pulp industry that provides thousands of jobs in the country. As per FMP 1995, there

were nearly 46400 bamboo and cane products industries in the country in 1993. Although

current data on the subject is not available, but the number must be much more now as the

production of bamboo in the homesteads has gone up significantly, as per the observed trends.

560000 persons were employed in the collection and processing of NTFP. 400 companies

were involved in the herbal drug industry and there were 47824 units, employing 143102

persons in the handicraft and furniture industry based on bamboos and rattans in 1991-92.

According to BBS (2016) the number of persons involved in bamboo and cane related

occupations is as follows: bamboo and cane products 146810, handicrafts 119965, structural

products 83164, manufacturing of chicks 11543, and manufacturing of cane/bamboo furniture

3227, total 364709.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –71

FMP 1995 also projected the likely number of farmers involved in lac cultivation to be 15900

in 2013 while the number of persons involved in processing lali and catechu were estimated

to be 32000 in 1992. Medicinal plants industry alone is estimated to be worth more than Tk.

300 crore per annum. According to BBS (2016), there are 11498 Unani/Ayurvedic doctors,

1803 persons are involved the manufacture of Unani/Ayurvedic drugs and more than 400

companies involved in the manufacturing or trading of herbal drugs. The industry processes

nearly 17500 tons of herbal material each year out of which 70% comes from local sources.

Thousands of artisans and families are involved in earning a living out of Murta, hogla, golpata

based crafts.

As discussed before, Sundarbans is the most productive source of NTFPs in the country today.

Fish and other marine products, honey and wax, golpata, hogla, hantal etc. all provide

livelihoods to thousands of families around Sundarbans. Villagers in the CHT, who are

representative of the rural poor in Bangladesh, depend on NTFPs to a significant extent.

Villagers in the lower income groups realize a relatively higher proportion of their income from

NTFPs; in the higher income groups, dependence on NTFPs gradually declines with increasing

household income (Table 2-14).

Table 2-14: NTFP and forest income against total household income by income group (Khar 2010).

Income

quintile

Mean NTFP

income

Mean forest

income

Mean

household

income

NTFP share

of income

(%)

Forest share

of income

(%)

1 6,343 12,935 39,250 16 33

2 9,351 16,274 56,785 16 29

3 10,890 19,168 70,512 15 27

4 10,930 18,954 90,536 12 21

5 12,963 47,778 145,659 9 33

As can be seen in the above table, NTFPs are a very significant source of employment and

wealth creation in the country, especially in the rural areas. Bamboos, canes and medicinal

plants are the most important NTFP items from economic importance point of view. Promotion

of NTFPs, both in situ as well as ex situ can go a long way in dealing with rural poverty in the

country.

2.3.4 Value of ecosystem services

Valuation of all goods and services provided by nature is not possible as many of the services

such as protective, regulatory and cultural services are intangible and immeasurable. Although

methodologies for estimating the intangible services are still evolving, efforts to estimate the

value of all the tangible provisioning services have been successful as shown below.

Emerton and Aung (2013) reported the value of ecosystem goods and services provided by

the 3..77 million ha forests of Myanmar as USD 7.3 billion, giving an average figure of approx.

USD 2297/ha. They included the value of forest ecosystems in mangrove coastal protection,

terrestrial forest watershed protection, mangrove fisheries nursery and breeding habitat, forest

carbon sequestration, timber & wood products, non-timber forest products, forest elephants,

nature-based recreation and tourism and insect pollination in their valuation. The study

72– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

mentions that only 15% of this value comes from forest utilisation while 85% comes from

comes from “forest ecosystem services that maintain the productivity of other sectors, add

value to their output, and help them to avoid costs, losses and damages”. They also modelled

the future value of ecosystem services of the forests under scenarios of “degradation and

“conservation” and indicated that the country would incur a loss of USD 17 billion under the

degradation scenario but would earn USD 22 billion under the conservation scenario, by the

year 2031.

A WWF (2013) study on the countries of the Mekong Basin pegs the value of ecosystem goods

and services of the terrestrial forests at USD 1281 and that of mangrove forests at USD 2670

per hectare per annum. These values do not include the value of ecotourism and recreation.

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) is a global initiative focused on

“making nature’s values visible”. Its principal objective is to mainstream the values of

biodiversity and ecosystem services into decision-making at all levels. It aims to achieve this

goal by following a structured approach to valuation that helps decision-makers recognize the

wide range of benefits provided by ecosystems and biodiversity, demonstrate their values in

economic terms and, where appropriate, capture those values in decision-making. Some

examples of the findings of the TEEB work are given in Table 2-16.

In another study (MoEFCC & GIZ 2014) on the value of ecosystem services, in India, covering

forests, biodiversity, inland wetlands and marine and coastal ecosystems, TEEB estimated the

economic value of the forests of Western Ghats, which are broadly similar to the hill forests of

Bangladesh, as USD 4,151 per hectare per year, based on sustainable rates of extraction,

household survey and timber and fuelwood market analysis. The items covered in this

valuation include timber, fuelwood, non-timber forest produce, carbon and recreation. Similar

values can perhaps be applicable in the hill forests of Bangladesh, depending upon the health

of the forests.

Although it is not possible to apply the results of these studies to the Bangladesh situation, as

the results depend on many variables, crude estimates of the ecosystem services provided by

the forests of Bangladesh can still be arrived at by using these values. Using the Indian

valuation rate, the approximate value of the ecosystem services provided by the surviving

natural forests of Bangladesh (approx. 0.7 million hectares in hill and plains forests), is USD

290 million on the basis of sustainable rates of extraction. However, if the norm is applied to

the total area under tree cover at present (2.49 million hectares), both within and outside state

forests, the value shall be close to USD 10.33 billion. Although the trees on homesteads and

croplands, included in the total area, would not provide exactly the same ecosystem services

as the trees in an intact forest patch, perhaps the difference can be compensated, at least

partially, by the contribution made by vast areas of degraded forests (almost a million ha, both

reserve forests as well as unclassed state forests) situated in the hill regions of the country,

which have not been included in the tree covered area.

If the results of the Myanmar study are applied the estimated value of ecosystem services of

the forests and treelands of Bangladesh shall be nearly USD 5.7 billion, which, again, is no

mean sum.

As in most other countries, so far, total value of ecosystem services provided by forests in

Bangladesh is not considered in national income accounting, resulting in a low contribution of

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –73

the sector to national gross domestic products (GDP). During the year 2013-14, official

estimation of forestry sector contribution to national GDP stood at 1.43% (BBS, 2014). But if

the value of ecosystem services provided by the forests and tree lands of Bangladesh (USD

10.33 billion or Tk. 826 billion) is considered, the contribution becomes more than 6.6% of the

national GDP of the same year (2013-14). This clearly indicates that the real value of the total

forest resources is not being appreciated and recognised by the society, resulting in poor

attention to this vital sector of economy and ecology.

Sundarbans and coastal forests

The Sundarbans and coastal forests are of particular interest when assessing ecosystem

services (and goods, but to a much lesser extent). Mangroves and other coastal forests provide

invaluable services in the form of coastal protection, land accretion due to sedimentation of

fine particulate matter, protection against the forces of cyclones (wind moderation, absorption

of storm surges), biodiversity and gene pool, wildlife habitat and carbon sequestration.

Mangroves and coastal forests tend to be highly productive due to the sediments rich in

nutrients. Furthermore, the mangroves and coastal areas have a large potential for tourism.

IUCN-Bangladesh developed a Vision to the year 2050 and the assessment of all EGS yielded

an estimate of USD “456.32 to $1,191.84 per hectare per year or $273 to $714 million per year

for the entire Sundarban” (IUCN 2015).

The above estimate does not include carbon sequestration by the ecosystem. The CRISP

project estimated that over a forest area of 412,000 ha in the Sundarbans an annual average

sequestration of 213,115 tCO2e over a 30-year project period could be achieved. At current

prices for REDD+ projects, this would generate approximately USD 1.1 million per year. In

coastal plantations the sequestration rate would likely be much higher, but the proceeds would

be generated only over a single rotation, due to the requirement of permanence of the

sequestered carbon (after harvest it is assumed that the area will be replanted).

Coastal protection from wave erosion and storm damage are difficult to assess and valuate. In

a recent study in Myanmar (MOECAF 2013), the benefits provided by healthy mangroves was

estimated to amount to USD 940 per hectare per year for coastal erosion and USD 620 per

hectare per year for storm protection. Combined, this would amount to USD 936 million per

year, largely in the form of avoided loss of property and lives.

The Sundarbans, which is the world’s largest contiguous mangrove area, is a prime attraction

for tourism. The BFD has gradually acceded to the demands of tourism to allow the entry of

visitors under a payment of a small entry fee. In the recent past, however, private tour operating

companies have started to take tourists inside the Sundarbans on package tour programmes.

In 2002, the BFD established a small ‘visitor centre’ at Karamjal, where large numbers of daily

visitors, especially domestic tourists, participate in day trips into the Sundarban mangroves. In

2011-12, over 180000 people visited the Sundarbans for recreational purposes, generating

thousands of jobs in the hospitality sector (IUCN 2015). Similarly, several lac visitors patronise

Bhawal National Park and Lawachara National Park each year. Many other protected areas,

though not as popular as these more famous PAs, contribute significantly to the nature based

recreation offering in the country. Tourism produces more jobs per unit expenditure than any

other industry (Pabla 2015). As the result of large-scale urbanization and improving prosperity

in the country, forest-based recreation continues to gain momentum in the country, creating

jobs and wealth along the way.

74– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Box 2-5: Value of Sundarbans ecosystem goods and services.22

The Sundarbans Reserve Forest, the world's largest mangrove covering 6,000 km2 in

Bangladesh, provides a variety of ecosystem services. The real contribution of the

Sundarbans Reserve Forest to the national economy has not been evaluated so far. Official

records of revenue collected by the Forest Department were the sources of information used

in the economic valuation of the forest. The major provisioning services of the Sundarbans

are timber, fuel wood, fish, thatching materials, honey, and waxes. And, the main culture

service is tourism. The provisioning and cultural services provided by the Sundarbans

contributed to revenue of the Forest Department on an average USD 744,000 and

USD 42,000 per year respectively during financial year 2001 – 2002 to 2009 – 2010. The

revenue collection from the forest products and tourism showed increasing trend over the

study period, except for the timbers.

What may be clear from the examples provided, the estimates for the value of EGS vary widely

Furthermore, many of the EGS are intertwined and not easily assessed independently.

2.4 Summary of land use status and policy

(Please refer to section 2.5 for land use status and section 7.3 for a discussion on the land use

policy)

2.5 Summary of current land-use pattern

Figure 2.6, which provides a pictorial representation of the percentage distributions of six

categories of land use in 2011, indicates that arable land represents more than half (59%) of

the total area of the country, while other land, including infrastructure, urban land, building, and

others, represents 18.8%, and forest accounts for only 11.1%.

About 15% of land is administered by the BFD as forest land. The products from these lands

are varied and include timber, fuelwood, and poles, as well as bamboo, cane, thatch leaves,

fish, honey, and wax, among other products.

22 http://bangladeshqueenofnaturalbeauty.blogspot.com/p/sundarbanworld-largest-mangrove-forest.html

Figure 2-6: Land use proportions in 2011 (FAOstat 2015).

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –75

Bangladesh is one of the most populous countries in the world with an annual population

growth rate of 1.43% and a density of 1,131 persons per km2. Consequently, land for

agriculture, forest, infrastructure, and urban development compete against each other in

various respects.

Cropland, which includes land under cultivation, cultivable waste land, and current fallow, was

estimated to be 9.8 Mha in 1976, 9.4 Mha in 2000, and 8.8 Mha in 2010, corresponding to

67.4, 65.0 and 60.0%, respectively, of total land area (Map 2-1). Cropland decreased more

rapidly during the period 2000 – 2010 compared to the period 1976 – 2000. This accelerating

rate of decrease, unless compensated by comparable increases in productivity over the long

term, is of concern because food security is the primary economic and political preoccupation

in Bangladesh. Forest land includes the semi-evergreen / evergreen hill forests, deciduous Sal

forests, and coastal forests (including Sundarbans mangroves) of the country. The demand for

products from these forests has been steadily increasing, while supply has been decreasing.

Forested area was nearly 1.8 Mha in 1976, representing 12.1% of the country's land area, but

had decreased to 1.3 Mha in 2000, accounting for just 9% of the country's land area, although

it subsequently increased to 1.4 Mha in 2010, representing 9.8% of the country's land area,

during the period from 2000 – 2010, which denotes a decreasing trend. The annual average

decline in forested area was 18,492 ha (1.1%) during the period from 1976 – 2000, while

between 2000 – 2010, the annual average increase was 12,302 ha (0.9%). Forest cover

remained relatively stable during the period from 1990 – 2005 as the decreasing trend in

natural forested area was offset by increases in the establishment of plantations (Hasan et al.

2013).

The decline in the extent of cropland as well as forested area indicates the expansion of human

habitation and infrastructure into these areas. As the cities and villages expand, they do so

into the neighbouring agricultural land while agriculture keeps expanding into neighbouring

forests, as pressure on agricultural land increases due to the increasing rural population.

Moreover, pressure for releasing forest land for public sector infrastructure projects is quite

high as it does not cost the project proponents anything. The GoB has released approximately

125626 ha of land for various non-forest uses since 1950.

Map 2-1: Cropland area of Bangladesh in 1976, 2000 and 2010 (Hasan et al. 2013).

76– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

2.6 Evaluation of demands on land

The primary source of food (fruit and vegetables), timber, fuelwood for households, and

household income is homestead lands. These lands are critically important in the economic

dynamic interchanges of the country, but are under intense pressure because about 75% of

the timber and 85% of the fuelwood produced in the country is provided from homestead lands.

Although, it is generally believed that area under homestead vegetation has increased in the

past bub some studies cast a doubt on this belief. It is estimated that about 10% of homestead

forests are removed every year, which implies that the area of homestead forests is continuing

to decline, while the increasing demand of the country's growing population for the products

provided from these lands is unable to be completely satisfied. The sustainability of the

homestead forest ecosystem has, as a result, been adversely affected (Zaman 2010, Kamal

et al.).

Between 1990 and 2010, the largest components of forest area were under public ownership

of the state (Table 2-15). There was a smaller, but significant, portion under private ownership

of local and indigenous communities, as well. In the 20 year period since the release of the

Forestry Master Plan of 1993, there has been a decrease in forest area in terms of the area

under public ownership, private ownership and unknown ownership, which reflects the

pressure these lands are under. Most of the private ownership is under the control of local,

tribal, and indigenous communities, which underscores, as well, the importance of

communities as owners of forest where timber and non-timber forest products are harvested

and collected.

Table 2-15: Categories and proportions of forest land ownership (FRA 2015).

Categories Forest area (000 ha)

1990 % 2000 % 2005 % 2010 %

Public ownership 926 62 910 62 902 62 894 62

Private ownership 538 36 528 36 524 36 519 36

…of which owned by individuals 179 12 176 12 175 12 174 12

…of which owned by private business entities and institutions

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

…of which owned by local, tribal and indigenous communities

359 24 352 24 349 24 345 24

Unknown ownership 30 2 30 2 29 2 29 2

Total 1,494 1,468 1,455 1,442

Table 2-16 presents the availability of agricultural land during the period from 1976 – 1977 to

2010 – 2011. It is notable that cultivable land has decreased since the 1990s, which

corresponds to the reduction in forest lands and increases in other land uses, including

infrastructure, settlements, and industry.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –77

Table 2-16: Availability of agricultural land (BBS, 2011).

Year Land area Cultivable land

(000,000 ha) %

1976-77 14.28 9.39 65.8

1980-81 14.29 9.38 65.6

1985-86 14.48 9.44 65.2

1990-91 14.84 9.72 65.5

1995-96 14.84 8.72 58.8

2000-01 14.85 8.40 56.6

2005-06 14.84 8.42 56.7

2010-11 14.84 8.52 57.4

Note: Agricultural land includes cropped land, current fallow land and cultivable waste land.

Between 1985 and 2007, net cropped area decreased by 11%. Eroded land accounts for yearly

losses of about 80,000 ha, while another 1% of land is converted every year to non-agricultural

uses, including settlements and infrastructure. Some 220 ha of arable land is also lost every

day as the result of other uses, including road construction, industrialization, and housing and

at least 86,000 ha of land were lost by river erosion between 1973 – 2000. In Barisal and

Khulna divisions, almost 70% of land is now affected by different degrees of salinity that is

reducing agricultural productivity. In 2003, per capita agricultural land was 0.056 ha in these

divisions and this extent is expected to decrease to 0.025 ha by 2050 because of the change

in land use attributable to aquaculture, especially shrimp farming, which was initiated during

the 1980s. The declining trend in agricultural lands without comparable increases in

productivity will have an effect on the ability to sustainably reach and maintain self-sufficiency

in food and agro-based livelihoods. The changes in land uses from agricultural land to non-

agricultural uses pose important challenges with respect to food security and crop production.

The rate of transforming productive lands into unproductive ones, moreover, may accelerate

because of more rapid economic growth and infrastructural development (Alam 2014).

Bangladesh has experienced rapid land use changes during the past several decades.

Districts in the southwest have been affected by increased salinity intrusion and natural

disasters. The primary causes of land use changes in Khulna and Satkhira districts are natural,

including global warming, climate change, sea level rise, coastal flooding, salinity intrusion,

and water logging, as well as anthropogenic, including population growth, unplanned

cultivation, political unrest, illiteracy of local people with regard to the effects of land cover

changes, poverty, and higher expectations. Important innovations have been introduced into

the agricultural sector, which are intended to offset the loss of cultivable land. These include

new production structures, the use of high yielding seed varieties and more effective fertilizers,

pesticides, mechanized cultivation and irrigation. In the southwest, the primary land uses

include agriculture, shrimp and fish farming, forestry, urban development and other settlements

because of increasing demand and growing populations.

Similarly, the loss of forest land is being offset by planting trees outside forests, both in private

lands (homesteads) as well as on government lands (roadsides, canal sides, railway lines etc.).

As natural forests become more and more important for ecological functions, the production of

timber and fuelwood will depend more heavily on trees outside forests. As mentioned before,

forest lands are under pressure from society for many reasons. Farmers tend to push

boundaries of the neighbouring forests with the intention of increasing their croplands. Poor

78– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

people find degraded forest lands attractive for illegal occupation, both for habitation as well

as for cultivation. Bangladesh is also reported to be suffering from the menace of “land grab”

by the rich and mighty as they get away with these ingressions on the strength of tedious court

proceedings, if at all any action is taken against them. According to BFD records, 1,04,154.43

ha of forest land is under illegal occupation of various kinds as reported in 2016. Forests are

also under threat from the expansion of infrastructure in the form of roads, railways, canals

and industries. The Armed Forces are also expanding their border bases which often eat away

pristine forests. As per the records of the BFD, 1,25,626.12 ha forest land has been converted

to other uses in the last 50 years.

2.7 Review of current land use policies in the context of forestry

Forests and the use of forests in Bangladesh have been impacted by the emergence of various

national and international issues and developments. These include the establishment of

Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals, ongoing climate change

negotiations, the shift toward participatory and collaborative forest management, the increased

emphasis on forest ecosystem functions and services, the appearance of the green economy,

the increased recognition of private sector participation, the expansion of forest certification,

concerns with wildlife poaching and other forest-related crimes, and the expanded use of

information and communication technologies.23 The extent of the uses of the country's forest

lands is determined within the context of several cross-sectoral land use policies, as well,

particularly the National Forest Policy, the National Land Use Policy, the National Agriculture

Policy, the National Rural Development Policy, and the Coastal Zone Policy, as well as within

established tenurial arrangements.

Its relatively small area and the rapid increase of its population have resulted in Bangladesh

possessing the lowest per capita land ratio in the world, estimated to be 0.06 ha per capita.

That situation is expected to deteriorate further with the expanding demand for non-agricultural

land uses. Concerns with land conversion, deforestation and land degradation, as well as the

impacts of climate change, are increasing efforts to safeguard the sustainable use of the

country's scarce land resources. The establishment of a sustainable land administration and

management system has, as a result, emerged as an important consideration in the

development of the country's Seventh Five Year Plan, 2016 – 2020.

The current administrative structure of land management in Bangladesh is administered

through the Ministry of Land, which is responsible for most land-related activities - including

surveying, collecting land development taxes, and mediating arbitration procedures - and the

Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, which is responsible for recording land

changes and transfers. The existing methods for surveying, preparing and upgrading land

records, and maintaining relevant information for each parcel of land have, however, been

characterized as inadequate and inefficient. It is maintained that the alleged distortion of land

records at various stages not only hinders control of land development, but also affects

property tax collection.

The National Land Use Policy, 2001, recognizes the importance of conserving the country's

forests and forest cover, but observes that this is to be primarily achieved by protecting

agricultural land (Chowdhury and Hossain 2014). The primary thrusts of the National Land Use

23 Source: Draft National Forest Policy, 2016.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –79

Policy are to ensure the use of appropriate criteria in the determination of land uses and to

provide effective directives for the use of land for not only agriculture, including crop production,

fish cultivation and the raising of ducks and chickens, but also housing, afforestation,

commercial and industrial establishments, rails and highways, and tea and rubber gardens

(plantations). The principal objectives of the policy are to:

• Reform the land administration system by introducing Certificates of Land

Ownership to provide comprehensive records of the land holdings of each

household in a single document

• Update legislation related to proposed land administration reform

• Prevent the loss of agricultural land required to increase production to meet the

food demands of the population.

• Increase crop intensity through the optimal use of available agricultural land

• Prevent soil degradation

• Protect state-owned land to meet the requirements of development projects

• Zone land for commercial and other purposes

• Prevent wasteful use of acquired land

• Establish a data bank for khas land, fallow land, acquired land, char lands, and

other lands to ensure their proper use.

While these objectives appear to promote a sustainable and planned utilization of the country's

land, the policy apparently lacks an effective plan of action. There are a draft National Zoning

Act and a Village Improvement Act, which were prepared in 2010, that are compatible with the

National Land Use Policy, but these have yet to be officially adopted. Moreover, while the

preparation of a nation-wide Land Zoning Map implemented by the Ministry of Land is

proceeding under the National Land Zoning project that was initiated in 2012 to complement

the results of the preceding Coastal Land Zoning project to produce upazila-based land zoning

maps and detailed zoning reports, its progress has been reported to be slow.

In consideration of the country's extensive landlessness, historical record of inequities, and

widespread land grabbing, the National Land Use Policy provides inadequate direction

regarding the means to coordinate cross-sectoral interests and plans related to the use of land.

It is recommended to revise the policy to establish principles to direct appropriate and

sustainable uses of land, facilitate sectoral and cross-sectoral land uses, and to recognize

environmental concerns. The establishment of those directives would be informed by the

preparation of the land zoning maps, particularly with respect to concerns associated with the

multi-sectoral nature of land use, the inevitable frictions that develop between and among

different sectors as the result of competing uses of land, and the environmental impacts of

different land uses. There is compelling reason, as well, to rationalize the institutional practices

for recording or registering property rights to avoid mandates that are either overlapping or

difficult to coordinate to ensure the preparation of conclusive Certificates of Ownership.

Land is a particularly scarce resource in Bangladesh and its distribution, as well as the

country's prevailing tenurial arrangements, are important considerations in establishing

development strategies. Bangladesh has an extensive history of inequitable access to land

and, currently, about 52% of its rural population, which accounts for almost 75% of its total

population, is landless or holds less than 0.2 ha of land. It is especially notable that 89% of

landowners own less than 1.0 ha and 39% own less than 0.2 ha. This inequitable distribution

80– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

of land exists despite a series of land reforms in the 1950s and 1960s that included tenancy

reforms, imposed ceilings on landholdings and provided for the distribution of public land to

the landless (Nasrin 2011). One of the major causes of forest encroachment is the widespread

landlessness among the rural poor. Such people are attracted towards the relatively poorly

protected forest lands, with arable patches. Once they occupy forest land, they are able to

defend their possession on the basis of their contribution to the vote banks of various political

parties.

The state of these land tenure arrangements has direct and indirect effects on agricultural

productivity by restricting the efficient use of inputs and the adoption of modern technologies.

It is the rate of the changes in agricultural productivity that determines, at least in part,

prevailing pressures to convert forest land to agricultural land. In spite of the steady progress

that has been accomplished in industrialization, agriculture continues to remain the most

dominant sector in Bangladesh. Over the past decade or more, significant improvements have

occurred in the agricultural sector to increase productivity and reduce pressures on forest land.

Those innovations include, especially, the use of high yielding seed varieties supported by the

use of fertilizers, pesticides, mechanized cultivation, and irrigation. Notwithstanding that those

and other advances have contributed much to the increased production of food grains,

however, the land available for crop cultivation has been decreasing, as has the average size

of farms, with concomitant increases in fragmentation, the subdivision of land holdings and the

conversion of forest land to agricultural lands (ibid.).

The agricultural orientation of the National Land Use Policy is reinforced in the National

Agriculture Policy, 2013, which responds to the requirements of the expanded scope of modern

agriculture. While agriculture used to be more narrowly associated with the cultivation of land

for producing crops, applied activities incorporating the sustainable utilization of natural

resources that are related to the production, development, preservation, processing, marketing

and extension of not only crops, but also other agricultural commodities such as fish, meat,

eggs, and forest products, are now also considered to be integral components of agriculture.

The objectives of the National Agriculture Policy thus encompass several elements that are

associated with forest land and forest uses but include, especially: the preservation and

development of land productivity; reductions in the excessive dependence on single crops to

minimize production risks; maximum utilization of land through promotion of inter-cropping;

increases in production and supplies of more nutritious food crops to ensure food security while

improving the nutritional status of the population; the preservation of the biodiversity of different

crops; ensuring environmental protection, as well as ‘environment-friendly sustainable

agriculture; and the establishment of agriculture as a diversified and sustainable income

generating sector through the strengthening of ‘Farming System’ agricultural production and

agroforestry programmes.

The National Forestry Policy, understandably, exerts the most direct influence on forest land

and forest uses. The current draft of the policy addresses: recognized concerns with ensuring

sustainable forest management, mitigating and adapting to climate change, and enhancing

community wellbeing, integrated forest management and strengthened forest governance, the

establishment and maintenance of forest management practices based on field evidence and

applied research, increased political and civil society engagement in forest-related decision

making processes and effective enforcement to ensure forest conservation and wildlife

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –81

protection. The policy promotes climate-resilient reforestation and afforestation with

community participation in efforts to raise the country's forest cover to 20%.

The Coastal Zone Policy, 2005, is of particular relevance to the management of the mangrove

forests of the Sundarbans. It emphasizes equitable pro-poor growth with balanced

consideration of forest land and environmental concerns, especially with regard to meeting

essential requirements and providing livelihood opportunities among coastal communities,

ensuring sustainable natural resources management, and protecting and enhancing critical

wetland ecosystems.

The National Rural Development Policy, 2001, incorporates a range of mutually supportive

programmes that are also designed to increase the incomes of rural communities and alleviate

poverty. One of its most relevant aspects underscores the importance of increasing the

productivity of rural land by engaging reduced numbers of labourers, especially in the food

crop sector, through the introduction of modern technologies that would result in facilitating the

movement of surplus labour in the agricultural sector to non-agricultural sectors of the

economy, thus alleviating some of the pressure on forest land conversion. Thus the dynamics

of forest lands depends on several state policies, primarily related to land use. The survival of

forest lands against various pressures depends on the value attached to the forests and the

cost of acquisition of forest lands, as well as on the productivity of neighbouring croplands. As

the forest land comes free for government projects, there is a tendency of various development

agencies to locate their projects in the forests as far as possible. If they have to pay for the

land, they can easily consider alternative locations. Similarly, the profitability of agriculture can

reduce the pressure on forest lands. Thus the Land Use Policy and Agricultural policies can

play in important role in protection of forest land against conversion and diversion.

82– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

3 Forest economics, industry, estimates of current and future socio-economic demands on the forest sector

3.1 Timber, fuelwood, industrial wood and non-timber forest products, current consumption

The demands for timber, wood fuel, and industrial wood depend on various variables, including

the price of the timber, wood fuel or industrial wood which is under consideration, the price of

substitute products, and the values of demand shifters, such as the rate of growth of per capita

gross domestic product (GDP) and other related measures of end use, including the level of

construction activity. Demand is not a single measure, but rather a schedule that describes the

amounts of a product that consumers are willing and able to purchase at different market prices

in the same manner that supply is a schedule that describes the amounts of a product that

producers are willing and able to supply at different market prices. The classical economic

depiction of the intersection of a consumers' demand curve and producers' supply curve

determines the equilibrium quantity of a product that is exchanged, or consumed, as well as

the equilibrium price at which that product is bought and sold, in a market. If there is an increase

(decrease) in the market price of that product as the result of the shifting of either the supply

and/or demand curves, that shift will lead to a corresponding decrease (increase) in the

quantity of the product demanded.

The standard econometric processes for estimating a demand curve, or a supply curve,

requires the application of procedures that ensure access to sets of consistent time series data

that extend over a reasonable period of time for each of the variables included in the

specification of the demand curve or supply curve. That quantity of data is often not available,

however, and, in those instances, other secondary measures are used to estimate not

demand, but the equilibrium quantities expected to be demanded, or consumed, at different

periods of times. Those measures represent substitute indicators, or proxy measures, of

demand.

These are the prevailing conditions under which this assessment was undertaken, in which the

limitations on the availability of appropriate time series data were compounded because most

of the production and consumption of wood fuel, which is the most common forest product

produced and consumed in the country, occurs on homesteads where limitations on data

become even more pronounced. The most credible source of time series data describing the

production and consumption of forest products in Bangladesh is the Food and Agricultural

Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, which has maintained a worldwide countries'

database of forest products in its Annual Yearbook of Forest Products Statistics for what is

now approaching seventy years. That database was selected as the source of the production

and consumption figures that are used throughout this report in the assessments of the major

forest products in Bangladesh.

3.1.1 Industrial Roundwood

As discussed in section 2.2.1, the production of industrial roundwood (timber) in the country is

estimated to be at least seven million m3 per annum, based on the consumption reported by

15880 sawmills. The actual production may be, in fact, more than this because all timber does

not necessarily end up at sawmills. The records of the Divisional Forest Officer of Utilisation in

Chittagong indicate that annual imports averaged 157,000 m3 between 2005-2006 and 2014-

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –83

2015 and that imports had increased to more than 180,000 m3 in 2013-2014. Those increases

were associated primarily with the increased consumption of sawlogs and veneer logs, which

provide the raw material used in the country's processed wood products industries. No

significant export of timber from Bangladesh is reported. Thus, the total consumption of

industrial roundwood in the country is estimated to be more than 8.57 million m3.

3.1.2 Wood fuel

Based on FAO’s projections for the production of roundwood, and estimates of industrial

roundwood by the FMP planning team, as discussed in section 2.2.1, total production of

fuelwood in the country in the country is estimated to be around 19.9 million m3 per annum.

As there is no import or export of fuelwood, the annual consumption level is presumed to be

the same. According to the 2011 census report (BBS 2012) during a period that the proportion

of the population using wood as a cooking fuel declined from 44.27% in 1991, to 34.8% in

2011. This is in conformity with FAO’s projections about the production of roundwood in the

country. The fall in the consumption of fuelwood is an indicator of the changing cooking fuel

preferences in the country due to the expansion of cooking gas facilities as well as the

increasing urbanisation.

3.1.3 Pulpwood

Pulpwood is defined by the FAO as industrial roundwood "... that will be used for the production

of pulp, particleboard or fibreboard. It includes: roundwood (with or without bark) that will be

used for these purposes in its round form or as splitwood or wood chips made directly (i.e. in

the forest) from roundwood. It is reported in cubic metres under bark (i.e. excluding bark)."

There are no recent data available regarding variations in either the production or the

consumption of pulpwood. FAO's production estimate has remained constant at the nominal

level of 18,000 m3 since 2002. The quantities supplied by BFD to the Karnaphuli Papermills

are given in table 2-6.

3.1.4 Wood charcoal

The current trends in the production and the consumption of wood charcoal in Bangladesh are

depicted in Table 3-1.

Table 3-1: Production and consumption of wood charcoal (tons).

Year Production Imports Exports Consumption

2001 293,429 0 0 293,429

2002 296,916 0 0 296,916

2003 300,445 0 10 300,435

2004 304,016 0 10 304,006

2005 307,629 0 10 307,619

2006 310,896 8 10 310,894

2007 314,200 2 10 314,192

2008 317,536 2 21 317,517

2009 320,909 10 22 320,897

2010 324,317 48 63 324,302

2011 326,684 48 63 326,669

2012 329,068 81 227 328,922

2013 331,470 14 1,646 329,838

2014 333,888 34 2,767 331,155

84– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

The production and consumption of wood charcoal has been advancing steadily. Its annual

production currently consumes almost 2 million m3 of wood fuel using FAO's relationship of 6

m3 of wood required to produce 1 tonne of charcoal. There are other specialised forms of

charcoal, as well, that are made from jute sticks, coconut shells, and bamboo powder, as well

as lemon scented charcoal, which are manufactured for use in barbecues, smoking in hookahs,

and other related purposes.

3.1.5 Paper and paperboard

Paper and paperboard is defined by the FAO as "the sum of newsprint; printing and writing

paper; and other paper and paperboard. Products in this category are generally manufactured

in strips or rolls of a width exceeding 15 cm (36 cm for HS 48.13 and 48.19) or in rectangular

sheets with one side exceeding 36 cm and the other exceeding 15 cm in the unfolded state. It

excludes manufactured paper products such as boxes, cartons, books and magazines, etc. It

is reported in metric tons."

The pulp and paper sector in Bangladesh is primarily dependent on paper and paperboard

imports. The current trends in the production and the consumption of paper and paperboard in

Bangladesh are displayed in Table 3-2.

Table 3-2: Current trends in the production and consumption of paper and paperboard in Bangladesh (tonnes).

Year Production Imports Exports Consumption

2001 46,000 226,000 0 272,000

2002 46,000 190,000 0 236,000

2003 83,000 209,000 0 292,000

2004 58,000 239,000 0 297,000

2005 58,000 239,000 0 297,000

2006 58,000 245,000 0 303,000

2007 58,000 273,000 0 331,000

2008 58,000 176,000 0 234,000

2009 58,000 402,000 0 460,000

2010 58,000 380,000 0 438,000

2011 58,000 380,000 0 438,000

2012 58,000 424,000 1 481,000

2013 58,000 426,000 1 483,000

2014 58,000 476,000 2 532,000

The production of paper and paperboard according to these trends has been stagnant, as

reflected in the lack of data, since the late 1990s during the same period that consumption has

been increasing rapidly (Figure 3-1). The consumption of paper and paperboard has increased

by more than 96% and imports have increased by more than 106% in that period during which

the per capita consumption of paper and paperboard rose from 2.03 kg per capita in 2001 to

3.34 kg per capita in 2014. The significance of imports in the sector is reflected in the

development under which while there may be some 80 paper mills in the country, production

in each of those mills remains small and there is only one mill - the Karnafuli Paper Mill Limited

(KPML) - which accounts for less than 5% of the production of paper and paperboard in the

country - that is integrated and produces its own pulp from wood and bamboo. Each of the

country's other paper and paperboard mills is dependent on using imported pulp consisting of

recycled fibre (Quader 2011).

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –85

Figure 3-1: Production and consumption of paper and paperboard in Bangladesh from 1979 to 2015.

3.1.6 Bamboo

There were assessments of bamboo conducted in several countries between 1981 and 2000

that were reviewed by the FAO. That review indicated that over 700 million bamboo culms -

corresponding to almost 1 million tonnes - were removed annually in Bangladesh and that, of

those 700 million culms, some 200 million culms originated on state forest land and 500 million

culms were logged in village forests. The categories of reported uses included food, medicine,

ornamentals, crafts, utensils, construction, basketry, furniture, tools, fuel, and fodder.24

Consumption was projected to increase from over 700 million culms in 1993 to more than 900

million culms in 2013 (FMP 1995), but that projection cannot be confirmed because as the

FAO had concluded in its review, "... bamboo resources statistics are inconsistent, fragmented

and scattered" and that situation has remained much the same (Table 3-3).

Table 3-4: Consumption and Demand for bamboo (million culms).

Year Domestic* Urban housing Industrial** Total

1993 576.04 30.12 100.13 709.29

1998 621.65 34.34 105.14 761.12

2003 666.67 38.46 110.39 815.52

2008 712.27 42.69 113.15 868.11

2013 730.08 46.96 124.47 901.50

* Rural house construction, agricultural implements, community building. ** Pulp and paper, cottage industries? transport (boat, rickshaw hood,

bullock cart. Source: Kibria et al 2000 from Forestry Master Plan 1992, Forest Directorate.

24 ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a1243e/a1243e04.pdf

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

19

79

19

81

19

83

19

85

19

87

19

89

19

91

19

93

19

95

19

97

19

99

20

01

20

03

20

05

20

07

20

09

20

11

20

13

20

15

000 tonnes

Year

Production and Consumption of Paper and Paperboard

Production

Consumption

86– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

While the extent of bamboo remaining in the country's forests has declined as the result of

overexploitation, its extent in and around villages has increased with the community forestry

activities that have been promoted by the government, as well as non-governmental

organizations, over the past two decades. There is now a substantial area over which bamboo

grows on homesteads and agricultural land.

3.1.7 Non-timber forest products

The most recent, reliable country-wide data available on the output of some of the more

important non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in Bangladesh are presented in Table 3-5.

Indeed, the availability of country-wide data on the collection of NTFPs in Bangladesh remains

severely constrained, although there is more recent data available on the collection of some

of the more important of these NTFPs in the Sundarbans, which is the primary centre for the

collection of NTFPs in the country.

Table 3-5: Production of Major NTFPs in Khulna Circle

Product 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15

Fish 7675.61 7883.17 7070.22 7300.57 7331.94

Honey 134.93 165.44 232.94 198.73 158.34

Golpata 47340.72 29995.97 31761.61 18304.82 16867.52

The figures indicate that while the production of fish and honey in the Sundarbans is relatively

stable, the production of golpata has gone down significantly. The most probable reason for

that decline is considered to be the availability of better commercial thatching materials.

There were also more than 180,000 tourists who visited the Sundarbans in 2011-2012 (IUCN

2014).

3.2 Biomass demand

3.2.1 Timber and Fuelwood

In the absence of a time series data of past consumption levels, it is difficult to make projections

of future demand. However, a reasonable guess about future demands can be made on the

basis of various demographic features and the changing socioeconomic conditions of the

country. The factors that may affect the future demand for timber and fuel wood are as follows:

• Demand will go up in proportion with the rise in population but the changing

preferences for cooking fuel, which is the largest factor which will affect total demand

for roundwood, will affect the overall scenario.

• Demand will be affected by changing prices and income levels. With increase in GDP,

the demand for industrial roundwood may go up, but the demand for fuelwood will go

down as people are able to afford more convenient fuels like cooking gas.

• With the increase in agricultural production, more agricultural residues will be

available for use as cooking fuel. This is likely to depress the demand for fuelwood.

• FAO has indicated a gradually declining trend in the production of roundwood in the

country which is in agreement with the decline in the proportion of the population

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –87

using wood as a fuel from 44.27% in 1991, to 34.8% in 2011. The same trend is

expected to continue in future.

• Availability of substitutes for timber products such metal and plastic furniture, various

kinds of composite boards are likely to depress the demand for timber depending

upon comparative prices.

• Current consumption of timber and fuelwood in the country is 10.57 m3 and 19.76 m3

respectively. Per capita consumption of timber in future is expected to remain the

same as now, while the per capita consumption of wood fuels is expected to go down

in future, in proportion to the population switching over to alternative fuels.

Based on these factors and assumptions, the demands for industrial roundwood and fuelwood

in the future are estimated as follows:

Table 3-6: Projections of demand for timber

Year Estimated

Population (millions)

Estimated Demand

(million m3)

2016 163 10.57

2030 186 12.06

2050 202 13.09

Table 3-7: Projections of fuelwood demand

Year Population (millions)

Population % using wood fuel

Population using wood fuel (millions)

Estimated Demand for fuelwood

1991 110 44.27 48.4 18.392

2011 153 34.8 52 19.76

2030 186 25 46.5 17.67

2050 202 15 30.3 11.514

88– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Figure 3-2: Projection of fuelwood demand

Above tables and graphics show that while the demand for timber or industrial roundwood

would continue to grow with the rise in population, the demand in fuelwood is likely to fall from

the current consumption of 19.76 million m3 per annum to 17.67 million m3 in 2030 and 11.5

million m3 in 2050, despite the rise in population, due to the impending demographic and

socioeconomic changes. This trend augurs well for the country as it will go a long way in

helping to regenerate its forests.

3.2.2 Paper and Paperboard

The estimated consumption of paper and paperboard was determined using a standard

economic estimation approach that proceeded through a series of sequential steps that

included:

• determination of the historical series of per capita consumption of paper and

paperboard and the real GDP in Bangladesh between 1979 and 2014.

• regression of the historical series of per capita consumption of paper and paperboard

on the historical series of the real GDP.

• estimation of the real GDP in 2020, 2030, and 2050 by assuming annual increases of

6% between 2014 and 2020, 5% between 2020 and 2030, 4% between 2030 and 2040,

and 3% between 2040 and 2050, which are intended to replicate representative

patterns of development.

• determination of the estimates of the per capita consumption of paper and paperboard

in 2020, 2030, and 2050 using the regression relationship.

• converting the estimated per capita consumption of paper and paperboard in 2020,

2030, and 2050 into the total consumption of paper and paperboard using estimates of

population in 2020, 2030, and 2050 that were constructed by assuming annual

population increases of 1.2% between 2014 and 2020, 1.1% between 2020 and 2030,

and 1.0% between 2030 and 2050.

Those estimates are contrasted with the actual measures in 2014 in Table 3-8.

0

50

100

150

200

250

1991 2011 2030 2050

mil

lio

ns

Years

Total Population (millions)

Population using wood fuel (millions)

Estimated Demand for fuelwood (million m3)

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –89

Table 3-8: Estimated consumption of paper and paperboard in Bangladesh in 2020, 2030, and 2050.

Year Per Capita

Consumption

(kg)

Total Consumption

(000 tonnes)

2014 3.344 532

2020 4.557 779

2030 7.165 1,366

2050 13.849 2,221

These per capita consumption estimates are well within the range of comparable per capita

paper and paperboard consumption measures in the other countries of Asia, where current

per capita consumption of paper and paperboard, outside of more developed countries such

as Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, is 23 kg per capita.25 Since under

foreseeable conditions, it is rather unlikely that there will be much consideration of investment

in large-scale, integrated pulp and paper mills in Bangladesh because of the limited amounts

of pulpwood raw materials, most of the increased consumption of paper and paperboard, which

is estimated to increase more than four-fold by 2050, will continue to be provided by means of

imports.

3.2.3 Bamboo and Non-Timber Forest Products

The data that are available on bamboo were too little and too fragmented to support a

meaningful assessment of its production and consumption, although it seems to be apparent

that barring a decline in its production, the consumption of bamboo will continue to increase

with the growth in the population and in real GDP. The scarcity of reliable data also precludes

the development of sound consumption forecasts for non-timber forest products, but prima

facie, the consumption of some non-timber forest products such as honey is expected to grow,

especially as the purchasing power of the country expands. The consumption of other non-

timber forest products such as Golpata may decline, however, as commercial housing

materials become more available and affordable. (See sections 2.2.4 and 3.2.4 for information

on production and economic value respectively, of various NTFP items.)

25 http://www.forestindustries.se

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4 Review of the existing Forestry Master Plan

4.1 Introduction

Bangladesh inherited its forest management culture from the British India where 10-year

working plans, prepared after a strenuous exercise of inventorying and assessments, guided

the annual cycle of activities in a forest division. Although the primary objective of the working

plans, to begin with, was to ensure sustainable supply of timber, but over time, these

documents started catering to multiple objectives. However, with the increase of population in

South Asia and the consequent rise in biotic pressures on forests, the traditional working plans

gradually became irrelevant as their implementation became more and more difficult due to

ever deteriorating stand condition. Beginning in the seventies in the sal forests, the

Government of Bangladesh started imposing moratoriums on exploitation of natural forests, in

view of their importance for environmental purposes. At present, no felling is allowed in any

natural forest in the country. As a result, the need to have forest working plans, which used to

provide stand level treatment prescriptions, disappeared.

No forest division in Bangladesh has a traditional working plan at present although forest

planning in one form or the other has been going on. Many protected areas have management

plan and Sundarbans Reserved Forest has an Integrated Resource Management Plan (IRMP).

Bangladesh was one of the first few countries which started long term perspective planning in

forestry at the national level. The Forestry Master Plan (FMP) was prepared by the BFD in

1993 but it was approved by the government in 1995. Although not fully implemented, the FMP

has guided the course of forestry in the country since then, as several investment projects and

policy initiatives, have been launched in accordance with the recommendations made in the

FMP. As the FMP was meant to cover a period of 20 years, its tenure was over in 2015,

although the vast change in circumstances and the emergence of new environmental and

socioeconomic challenges, in the meanwhile, have also made a review of the FMP imperative.

This review looks at its relevance in the current context and examines its strengths and

weaknesses in order to derive lessons for the future. Although the recognition of the value of

the FMP is proved by the fact that the country is already in the middle of a fresh master planning

exercise, a detailed examination of the contents and performance of the FMP shall help in

making the new FMP more realistic and grounded in realities.

4.2 Relevance of the Forestry Master Plan 1995 in the current context

A plan, of whatever duration, is inherently grounded in the realities of its times and the best

possible projections of the inevitable changes in circumstances in times to come. As

circumstances rarely, if ever, unfold as they are foreseen, especially in the fast changing new

world, most plans look misfit, inadequate or irrelevant towards the end of their tenures. As the

FMP-1995 has already run its course, it is, naturally, no longer relevant to what Bangladesh

does on the ground today or now onward. However, the relevance of the plan has to be judged

not entirely in the current context, but in the context of the circumstances prevailing during its

currency.

Looking at the FMP-1995 in this perspective, it has been eminently successful in giving a sense

of direction to forestry in the country and the principles on which it was founded are as relevant

today as they were in the nineties. The environmental concerns, as we know them now, were

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –91

not fully developed at the time, although concerns about the accelerating loss of biodiversity

were better understood. The socio economic dimension of forestry was pretty well appreciated,

and as a result, a strong focus of the FMP was production of biomass for the masses as well

as for the industry, on the basis of a well-articulated demand and supply scenario. The value

of public participation in forestry was fully evident by then and the plan had a strong focus on

strengthening social forestry and homestead forests. As only an emphasis on production was

unlikely to be enough to deal with the shortage of timber and fuel wood, programmes for

conservation of energy and wood substitution were provided in the plan. The plan

recommended the expansion of the protected area (PA) network for providing special focus on

the conservation of biodiversity and wildlife. Although it did not elaborate adequately, the plan

did mention the impending climate change and global warming as one of the concerns of the

future. The plan also dealt with institutional issues and recommended far reaching changes,

some of which have already been implemented. It provided a strong emphasis on human

resource development and research. All this shows that the principles and practical

considerations on which the FMP was founded are still relevant and our future programmes

are likely to be founded primarily on those factors, although emphasis on specifics may vary.

Bangladesh is a developing country and there is a strong competition for resources. In order

to provide resources for forestry, the country has to reduce allocations in some other sector.

Similarly, even external resources, coming from donors and lending agencies, have to be

shared between different sectors as per the priorities of the government and the donor/lender.

The existence of a long term development plan for the forestry sector can strengthen its claim

on scarce resources much better than otherwise. The country has received several externally

aided projects (listed in report 8) specifically aimed at implementing the recommendations of

the FMP. Donors and lenders are always concerned about the risk of their contribution being

used for some ad hoc purposes and not having the desired long term effect on the well-being

of the target people. The existence of a long term sectoral development plan assures the

donors that they are contributing to the goals which the local society has already set for itself

and with which the donor agrees. Although several factors affect the availability of resources

for an enterprise, but the existence of a comprehensive plan goes a long way in this regard.

Forests of Bangladesh have suffered tremendously under the impact of biotic pressures

resulting from poverty and traditional rural lifestyles heavily dependent on forests, as well as

due to burgeoning construction and industrial demand. The FMP evaluated these pressures

very carefully and gave the country a clear picture of the demand and supply situation,

highlighting the unsustainable levels of exploitation of natural resources. The plan proposed

an increase in production and productivity of biomass in forests and outside, proposed

programmes for conservation of biomass through promotion of alternative energy sources. It

advocated the modernization of forest harvesting and forest industries to minimize wastage.

Thus, although we need to devise newer and bigger programmes, but the course set by the

FMP is still relevant.

Although the FMP did not discuss the impact of climate variability on forests and the role of

forestry in risk mitigation in detail, it did recognize the upcoming threats, as shown below:

Global climatic change poses a potential danger to the development efforts, ecosystems and

the productive capacity of Bangladesh. Major harmful global factors are fossil fuel emissions,

industrial activities and deforestation. For example, a one-metre net rise in sea level would

92– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

inundate 15% of the total area of Bangladesh, particularly low-lying floodplains and coastal

areas. Floods, cyclones, and tidal surges, as well as seasonal droughts in winter are recurrent

natural phenomena. Much damage is done to wildlife and vegetation cover in coastal areas as

well as homesteads and forest reserves. Planting disaster proof species on affected sites

becomes a matter of importance in lessening risk of damage. (FMP, p.30)

Despite clearly spelling out the dangers of climate change, and indicating some potential

mitigating measure, it did not go all the way to develop programmes to deal with the issue. As

it did not elaborate any programmes specifically aimed at dealing with climate variability, such

as coastal plantations, climate resilient species and silviculture, as we know it today, we can

say that FMP-1995 is not fully relevant in the current context. However, as stated before, the

FMP has played a strong role in consolidating forest conservation and development efforts in

the last two decades and the principles it espoused are going to be relevant in the future as

well.

4.3 Review of FMP-1995

Forests are receiving increasing attention globally due mainly to their role in addressing climate

change and conserving biodiversity. At the local level, forests are increasingly being valued for

promoting conservation-linked livelihoods for the poor. Bangladesh is one of the countries with

limited forest resources but with a huge population. This limited forest cover is facing

innumerable socio-economic and environmental pressures. Further, climate change is also

likely to adversely impact the forest resources and forest dependent communities in future.

Thus, a country like Bangladesh requires a comprehensive assessment of the forestry sector

and development of a FMP addressing the current and future challenges.

Bangladesh was one of the few countries to have had a FMP prepared by the BFD in 1993

(approved by the GoB in 1995) with the assistance of the ADB, UNDP and FAO. The FMP-

1995 provided an overview of the country’s forestry sector, identified sectoral strengths and

weaknesses, and presented an understanding of the steps required to enhance the sectoral

development. The FMP-1995 preparation process involved investigation into forestry

institutional aspects, environment and land use concerns, forest management requirements,

forest-based industry projects and the economic base of the sector.

The outputs included : i) Main plan, 1993-2013, Volume 1, ii) Five-Year Action plan, Volume

2, and iii) Executive summary, Volume 3. In addition, 19 specialist reports, 6 sub-team reports

and 6 administrative reports were also prepared. Thus, in all, there were 31 reports which

contributed to the 3 volumes of the FMP-1995 developed by the GoB considering two broad

scenarios, namely:

• Scenario 1: Reflects the range of development possible within existing system

constraints and technology

• Scenario 2: Development potential possible by removing existing constraints imposed

by current institutions and methods.

4.3.1 Scope of Forestry Master Plan 1995

The FMP-1995 identified main forestry sector goals as environment protection and stability;

participation of people in forestry plans and programmes; increased productivity; reduced

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –93

wastage; and institutional restructuring. The FMP-1995 main plan consisted of the following 4

sections:

1. Background assessment: Forestry sector status and sectoral outlook.

2. People-oriented forestry: Environmental management, participatory forestry, wood-

based energy conservation, non-wood forest products, and bamboo development.

3. Production-directed forestry: Forest production and management, and forest

industries

4. Institutional strengthening: National forestry policy, legal system, sectoral

organization, human resource development, forestry research and extension, and

programmes and costs.

The three broad programmes identified in the FMP for addressing various issues, and a

summary of the strategy outlined for addressing the same, are outlined in the following

sections.

People oriented programmes: Issues related to the environment such as declining floral and

faunal diversity, unsustainable exploitation of forest resources, low and declining forest

productivity, unresolved social equity, absence of environmental monitoring, energy from

wood, non-wood forest products, and bamboo development were identified as main issues to

be addressed. The FMP-1995 also outlined strategies to address other issues including:

• Environmental management

• Participatory forestry

• Energy conservation

• Non-wood products

• Bamboo development

Production oriented programmes: These were envisaged to address issues of forest

management and the manufacturing industry. Issues of forest management include increasing

deforestation and encroachment rates, low net productivity and utilization, lack of participation

and benefits to local population, serious gap between forest products supply and demand,

unsustainable management practices in natural forests, unreliable data and poor service

conditions for departmental staff. Strategies suggested for addressing the above-mentioned

issues included:

• Forest management

• Industry development

• Redirecting the public sector wood industry

Institutional strengthening programmes: The broad range of issues outlined in the FMP-

1995 included inadequacies of the National Forestry Policy of 1979; inadequacy of forestry

regulations to address forestry concerns; weaknesses, shortcomings and functional conflicts

in public forestry organizations and institutions; lack of attention paid to positive and

coordinated human resource development, poor impact of forestry research; and inadequate

forestry extension efforts. Proposed strategies for addressing these issues included:

94– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

• Formulation of a new national forestry policy

• Changes in the legal system

• Sectoral reorganization

• Strengthening research, education, training and extension

4.3.2 Evaluation of FMP-1995

The structure of FMP-1995 lacked a logical flow, and people-oriented forestry and production

forestry were treated separately, even though they are linked to one another. The FMP-1995

did not provide overall vision for the sector, and clear goals for the country were also missing.

The FMP-1995, however, presented a good review of the sector status and outlook. In the

environmental management section, the environmental issues were treated in a cursory

manner, without going into the details of factors contributing to biotic pressures on forests and

its degradation. In this section conservation, sustained management, productivity, equity and

management of the environment were dealt with, but each of the sections covered only a few

paragraphs. However, participatory forestry received adequate attention. But energy

conservation of non-wood products and bamboo development were treated separately from

industrial forestry development.

The action programmes for environment management in FMP-1995 had a focus on creating a

watershed management wing, increasing Environment Impact Assessment capacity,

upgrading technical equipment and conducting inventories in selected forest divisions. The

environmental management component was developed the least in FMP-1995, with

insignificant budget allocation. However, today's environmental challenges for the forest sector

are enormous and require significant additional investment and technical capacity.

Wood-based energy conservation component of FMP-1995 was a minor component of the

project, which aimed to increase fuel wood supplies and promoted fuel-efficient and alternative

devices such as improved cook stoves and biogas plants. There was, however, a need to

assess the adequacy of fuel wood conservation programmes alone in addressing the cooking

energy needs of growing rural population. The NTFP development component of FMP-1995

aimed at provision of coordinated institutional support, introduction of high quality technical

management, advanced processing technology and research. But the focus should have been

on addressing all the ecosystem services, where the provisioning of NTFPs would be one of

the components. It was also necessary to highlight the sustainable modes and rates of

extraction of NTFPs.

Forest protection and management was a major component of FMP-1995 under which

important issues such as deforestation, hill forests and mangrove forests were addressed. The

focus on raising commercial plantations to meet the needs of urban and industrial sectors was,

however, missing, though the component included large forest plantation programmes. In fact

the plan proposed only Tk. 9.38 billion investment in a total plan outlay of Tk. 60.24 billion for

forest production programmes while increase in production to meet the growing demand

should have been the main focus of the plan. This component did not address the biodiversity

issues and the delivery of multiple ecosystem services. The commercial forest plantations for

meeting the industrial and urban need should also have considered some of the concerns of

biodiversity conservation, delivery of ecosystem service, and improvement of livelihoods as

pure commercial forestry may not be sustainable in the long-term.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –95

Research, monitoring and evaluation were insignificant components of FMP-1995 with a

meagre allocation of resources. Private forestry, communications and outreach were not

emphasised adequately. Role of remote sensing and GIS in monitoring did not find place in

the FMP.

The institutional strengthening component of FMP-1995 was comprehensive and addressed

many of the limitations of technical, institutional, policy and legal aspects. It was based on good

analysis of the institutional structures that existed during that time. However, several new

challenges have of late emerged, particularly with respect to addressing climate change,

biodiversity conservation, halting deforestation, carbon-stock enhancement, building resilience

to climate change, sustained delivery of ecosystem services, ecotourism, and meeting the

obligations under the multi-lateral environmental agreements. Focus on critical ecosystems

including the Sundarbans, coastal plantations as shelterbelts, and Chittagong Hill Tracts was

missing. Addressing such environmental and socio-economic concerns would require

significant technical and institutional capacity and policy support.

As some of these disciplines had not adequately developed at that time, lack of focus on these

issues is not entirely unexpected. However, many challenges identified even in FMP-1995

remain to be addressed and new challenges are emerging both nationally and globally. Some

of the important current issues which were not or were inadequately addressed in FMP-1995

include the following:

Sustainable forest management practices: The term Sustainable Forest Management

(SFM) can be traced to the Forest Principles and Chapter 11 of Agenda 21, which were

prominent outputs from the UNCED held at Rio in 1992. The guiding objective of the Forest

Principles is to contribute to the management, conservation and sustainable development of

all types of forests and to provide for their multiple and complementary functions and uses.

The forests have to be managed according to forest principles, aimed at sustainability of

management. An updated FMP should consider the SFM criteria and indicators, as developed

by the FAO and the ITTO. Based on the global criteria and indicators, it is necessary to develop

Bangladesh-specific SFM criteria and indicators.

Conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services: Forests are a storehouse of

biodiversity and provide multiple ecosystem services. Most future scenarios project continuing

high levels of extinction and loss of habitats throughout this century, with associated decline

of some ecosystem services important to human well-being. The Biodiversity Convention aims

at "Conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and

equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, including by

appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies,

taking into account all rights over those resources and to technologies, and by appropriate

funding". Well-targeted forestry policies focusing on critical areas, species and ecosystem

services, are essential to prevent the most dangerous impacts on people and societies. Thus,

it is necessary to assess the status of current biodiversity and provision of ecosystem services

from the forestry sector and develop strategies to conserve and enhance them.

Climate change mitigation through forest carbon sink conservation and enhancement:

Addressing or mitigating climate change is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century.

Forestry sector, in particular deforestation, contributes to between 14 to 20% of global CO2

emissions. Thus the forest sector is very critical to mitigate climate change by reducing the

96– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

CO2 emissions and enhancing the carbon stocks in forests. There are new mechanisms such

as afforestation and reforestation through Clean Development Mechanism and REDD+. There

is a need to estimate carbon stocks and develop carbon baseline for Bangladesh, and assess

various CO2 emission reduction and carbon stock enhancement options in the forestry sector,

for incorporation into an updated FMP. There is a need to recognize that carbon stock

enhancement in forests has several co-benefits such as increased biomass production and

supply, reduced pressure on forests and biodiversity, improved watershed protection services,

biodiversity conservation, and improved employment and livelihood.

Climate change impacts, vulnerability and resilience: Climate change was just emerging

as a global environmental issue in the early 1990s. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change has produced five Assessment Reports and the science of climate change has

enormously advanced. Studies show that projected climate change will have significant

adverse impacts on tropical and coastal forests in the subcontinent. There is a need to consider

the impacts of projected climate change on the forests, and quantify the vulnerability of forest

ecosystems and forest dependent communities. The ultimate goal of climate change

projections, impacts and vulnerability assessment is to enable development of resilience

enhancement practices and strategies to enable the existing forests, the proposed areas for

afforestation and reforestation, and the forest dependent communities to cope with the

projected climate change. In the absence of such an approach, the forests could undergo

changes in biodiversity, species dominance, biomass production, delivery of ecosystem

services; and loss of carbon stocks, leading to irreversible loss of forests and ecosystem

services. Forestry research may be required to develop climate resilience strategies, in the

perspective of forest ecosystems and communities, and terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity.

Loss of wetlands and mangroves: Coastal and inland wetlands are critical ecosystems of

Bangladesh. Whereas they provide sustenance to millions of people by providing food and

other goods, they also protect the communities against the vagaries of nature. Any treatise

dealing with forestry in Bangladesh must focus adequately on the conservation of mangroves

but somehow the FMP missed out on it. Some of the local mangroves, especially Chakaria

Sundarbans have almost disappeared, the extent of tree cover in the Sundarbans itself has

come down from a notified forest area of nearly 575,000 ha to a tree cover of less than 400,000

ha. Haors are also reducing in size and depth. Country needs to take care of these critical

ecosystems in all future planning initiatives so that they continue to be healthy and intact.

International commitments to Multilateral Environmental Agreements, Conventions and

Treaties: Bangladesh is a signatory to many multilateral environmental agreements. Under

these agreements, Bangladesh will have to meet many of the targets agreed for the forestry

sector and also periodically submit different reports and documents to the UN bodies. Some

of the Multilateral Environmental Conventions include the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change, Convention on Biodiversity, Ramsar Convention, and

Convention to Combat Desertification. An updated FMP will address the needs of the various

Conventions and Treaties to enable Bangladesh Government to meet its obligations.

4.4 Review of the Forestry Master Plan Implementation

A number of forestry sector reforms and interventions were taken up in order to implement the

policy, legal, institutional and technical programme level recommendations of the FMP-1995.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –97

Revised national forestry policy was adopted by the GoB in 1994 based on the policy

framework suggested under the draft FMP completed in 1993. Main goal of the national

forestry policy of 1994, which was a revision of the first national forest policy adopted in 1979

after the country’s independence, was to achieve 20% of the total geographical area under

forests by 2015 by controlling deforestation and forest degradation, and through social

afforestation and reforestation on public and private unused lands. Although the investments

envisaged in the FMP did not materialise, the country was still able to achieve this target mainly

on the strength of the zeal shown by the people of Bangladesh for tree planting. As shown in

the table 1-10 (in chapter 1), the current forest and tree cover, with at least 10% canopy cover

(forest as defined by FAO), is 16.88% which is more than 20% of the dry surface area of the

country:

Unfortunately, the overall increase in tree cover is not reflected in the improvement in the

condition of natural forests which have continued to follow the declining trend. It can also not

be said that the increase in tree covered area outside state forests is entirely because of the

programmes unleashed by the FMP. This movement is entirely self-driven, supported by

thousands private nurseries, although many of the nursery owners owe their current

enthusiasm to the exposure and training they had received under various extension

programmes of BFD in the eighties and nineties. Strangely, BFD has had virtually no

programme, for a long time, to strengthen forestry extension activities to promote tree

cultivation.

A revised national forestry policy is now being formulated in consultation with key stakeholders,

keeping in view the national development planning goals and also in broader perspective of

the relevant international conventions, protocols and treaties to which Bangladesh has since

become a signatory. The new National Forest Policy is emphasising the densification of the

existing tree cover to 50% canopy density, rather than expansion of low density tree cover,

which most likely will continue to happen on its own steam.

The FMP-1995 recommended the strengthening of the legal framework to institutionalize social

forestry. This has been successfully implemented in Bangladesh. The revised Forest Act of

2000 under section 28A provides scope for the formulation of Social Forestry Rules, 2004

(revised in 2010 and 2011) for the implementation of people-oriented forestry. The new Wildlife

(Preservation & Security) Act, 2012 provided for participatory and co-management approach

for managing protected areas with key stakeholders. As a signatory to both the UN Framework

Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, ratified in 1994) and the Kyoto Protocol (2001), the

GOB has taken initial steps to prepare for the implementation of reduction of emissions through

deforestation and forests degradation (REDD+) activities.

A number of forestry development interventions were recommended in the FMP-1995 as

shown below:

• Integrated management and development of the Sundarbans mangrove forests

• Development of social/participatory forestry in Bangladesh

• Industrial plantations in the USF and in hill forests

• Reed Land Afforestation in Sylhet Forest Division

• Mangrove Afforestation in Coastal Areas

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• Wildlife and habitat development including captive breeding of endangered species.

• Rehabilitation of landless families and social forestry in Chittagong Hill Tracts

• Continuous Forest Inventory and Development of RIMS

• Development of National Parks and recreational facilities

• Strengthening BFD through institutional development, e.g. M&E Cell; Planning Cell;

Estate Cell; Policy, Rules and Regulations cell

• Development of Botanical Gardens in 6 Civil Division

• Inventory of Forest Resources

• Demonstration of Agroforestry, Woodlots and Energy Plantations

• Establishment of Wildlife Conservation Institution

• Ecological Conservation of Sundarbans Tigers

• Institutional Development for Biodiversity Conservation

To implement Forestry Master Plan’s recommendations, different development projects (Table

4-1) have been implemented successfully by the forestry sector organizations including the

MoEF, BFD, BFIDC, BFRI and DoE.

Table 4-1: Main Development Projects Implemented by Forestry Organizations

Project Implementation Donor

Development of Social/Participatory Forestry in Bangladesh

Forestry Sector Project 1997-98 to 2005-06 ADB

Coastal Greenbelt Project 1995-96 to 2001-02 ADB

Social Forestry at the guide dam of Jamuna

Multipurpose Bridge

Up to 2003-04

Food assisted Rural Development Project (WFP

supported social afforestation project)

Up to 2000-01 WFP

Integrated Management of Sundarbans Mangrove Forests

Biodiversity Conservation in the Sundarbans 1998-99 to 2004-05 ADB

Projects in the Hill Forests for Raising Plantations

Forest Resources Management Project 1991-92 to 2003-04 World Bank

Afforestation in the denuded hills of Ramgarh-Sitakund Up to 2004-05 GoB

Afforestation in Cox’s Bazar Sea beach area (Revised) Up to 2003-04 GoB

Afforestation and Jhumia Settlement in USF Up to 2000-01 GoB

Wildlife, Protected Area, Biodiversity Conservation and Recreational Facilities Development

Development of Madhupur National Park 1999 to 2004-05 GoB

Establishment of Eco-parks at Madhubkundo-

Muraichara Waterfall Areas

1999 to 2004-05 GoB

Development of Kaptai National Park 1999 to 2004-05 GoB

Development of Safari Park at Dulahazra (2nd phase) 2003-4 to 2005-06 GoB

Natural Environment/Biodiversity Conservation and

Development of Bashkhali Eco-park

2003-04 to 2005-06 GoB

Nishorgo Support Project for protected areas 2003 to 2008 USAID - GoB

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –99

Project Implementation Donor

Development of Bhawal National Park, Bhaldha

Garden and National Botanical Garden (2nd phase)

Up to 2001-02 GoB

Establishment of Botanical Garden and Eco-Park in

Shitakund, Chittagong.

Up to 2003-04 GoB

Establishment of Eco-Park at Madhutila and Gazni

Recreation Centre (3rd revised)

2003-04 to 2008-09 GoB

Restoration and Conservation of Biodiversity in the

Denuded Hill Forests and Barind Sal Forests of the

Country.

2011-14 USAID and

Arannayk

Foundation

Special Goal Oriented Projects

Pilot Project for Agar Plantation 1998-99 to 2004-05 GoB

Development of Bamboo, Cane and Murta Plantation

(Revised)

1998-99 to 2005-06 GoB

Reed Land Afforestation in Sylhet Up to 1998-99 GoB

Coastal Embankment Rehabilitation Project (Phase II) Up to 2003-04 GoB

Nagar Banayan Prokolpo Up to 1999-2000 GoB

Mujib Nagar Complex Up to 2003-04

Countrywide Seedling Raising Program for Massive

Afforestation to Mitigate Climate Change Adverse

Impact.

2009-2012 Climate

Change Trust

Fund

Study and Research Projects

A study on behavior and ecology of tigers in

Sundarbans Reserved Forests

2005-06 US Fish and

Wildlife

Service

Strengthening capacity to generate quality information

on forest resources

18 months FAO

Projects Implemented by other Agencies

Biodiversity Conservation in St. Martin Island and

Establishment of Marine Park and Eco-tourism

development (MoEF implemented project)

2000-2005 GoB

The Coastal and Wetland Biodiversity Management

Project (DoE implemented project)

2004-09 UNDP-GEF

Market Development of Bamboo and Raton Products

and Potentials (BFRI implemented project)

2003-06 INBAR-GoB

Transfer of Technology in Bamboo Shoot Production,

Processing and Marketing from China to Bangladesh

and Sri Lanka

2008-2010 ( Phase 1),

Jan-Jun 2012 (Phase

2)

INBAR -GoB

In addition, a number of other forestry projects were implemented by forestry sector

organizations including BFD, BFIDC and BFRI through GoB funding, albeit with comparatively

less budget.

Important institutional and legal reforms were carried out under the Forestry Sector Project

(FSP) which was designed and developed as per the recommendations of FMP-1995. Under

FSP, noteworthy is the institutionalization of social forestry by promulgating the Forest

(Amendment) Act 2000 and enacting of Social Forestry Rules (2004, 2010 and 2011) which

provided for usufructuary benefit sharing between the BFD and the local communities

mobilized in groups of participants with whom participatory benefit sharing agreements were

100– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

signed. In order to provide for sustainability of the raised plantations and benefits under FSP

and CGP a new concept of Tree Farming Fund (TFF) was implemented by retaining 10% of

the total proceeds from harvests for future plantations.

In order to conserve the country’s environmental security the MoEF in 2009 finalized

Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan – the Plan is built on six pillars including

mitigation and low carbon development. A National REDD+ Steering Committee was formed

in July 2011. Under the USAID funded Integrated Protected Area Co-management Project

(IPAC, 2008-13), one CDM and two REDD+ proposals were prepared for Chunoti Wildlife

Sanctuary, and the Sundarbans Reserved Forests and 6 PAs, respectively. As a result of such

initiatives, Bangladesh was included as an observer under the UN-REDD Programme under

which the REDD+ MRV Action Plan, REDD+ Readiness Roadmap and REDD+ Readiness

Preparation Proposal ware prepared during 2011-12, and endorsed by the National REDD+

Steering Committee in December 2012. Since then the required process for making

Bangladesh a full-fledged member of the UN-REDD Programme was completed successfully.

4.5 Key lessons learnt from the implementation of the Forestry Master Plan 1995

The implementation of the FMP-1995 has been done successfully, albeit partially, despite a

number of institutional, environment and socio-economic challenges that the country in general

and the forestry sector in particular faced over the period. Although with substantial increase

of the country’s population, the state forests and forest land have, over the period, degraded,

the quantity and quality of homestead forests have improved significantly: Almost 50% of the

area of Bangladesh has some kind of tree cover and nearly 20% of the total geographical area

had more than 10% tree cover in 2005 (NFA 2007). The GoB has developed extensive

mangrove plantations along 610 km coastal frontier through a unique nursery raising and

planting technology pioneered by BFD.

Over the period important issues and perspectives have emerged nationally and

internationally, including millennium development goals, sustainable development goals,

climate change, participatory and collaborative forestry, biodiversity conservation, forest

ecosystem functions and services, green economy with focus on low emission land use

systems, private sector participation, forest certification, wildlife poaching and crime, and use

of information and communication technology. A number of challenges have thus emerged

over the period, which require modifications of forestry sector goals and objectives. In order to

be able to cope with emerging challenges, a revised FMP will need updated and modified

goals, objectives, and strategies.

Sustainable management of forest ecosystems, contributing in the country’s environmental,

climate and food security for the peoples’ welfare was not highlighted in the FMP-1995.

Conserving biodiversity through sustainably managed forests for floral and faunal species, and

local communities has to be given priority. An updated Forestry Master Plan will aim at

biodiversity conservation by managing forests and other ecosystems sustainably.

Existing forests have been converted for non-forest use, whereas forest consolidation and

planning process, with proper forest surveys and maps, and management plans were

neglected. Biodiversity conservation could not be strengthened by mitigating identified threats

and drivers of biodiversity loss and forest degradation, and sustainably managing landscapes

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –101

adjoining protected areas and wildlife corridors. Although a number of national parks and

wildlife sanctuaries have been declared, their management remains to be strengthened.

Participatory public and private forestry has been a milestone achievement for enhanced forest

productivity with positive climate change and socio-economic externalities for the nation and

local community. But restoration and sustainable management of degraded and marginal

areas including coasts and wetlands with co-benefits of meeting local community subsistence

needs could have been emphasized. Although communication and outreach activities through

tree fairs and campaigns were taken up, a country-wide, sustained conservation awareness

building movement could not be taken up by involving women, youth and the masses to

promote climate resilient private tree growing, and forging innovative conservation

partnerships with the private sector, civil society and conservation NGOs for combating forest

land encroachment, deforestation and forest degradation, and wildlife poaching and trafficking.

Forest management systems evolved, meanwhile, through various modifications, including

agro-forestry, woodlot plantations, homestead plantations, strip plantations, participatory

forestry on encroached forest lands, mangrove afforestation on newly accreted coastal

charlands, and protected area management to preserve wildlife habitat and biodiversity

through co-management. Private nursery raising and tree growing are now taking shape of a

social movement in Bangladesh. As a result homestead forests have expanded both in terms

of area coverage and mixture of tree species. Area of homesteads has crossed a million ha in

extent from a mere 270,000 ha in the 1980s. However, the state forests have depleted in terms

of both forest land and vegetation cover due to several reasons, including conversion of forest

land for non-forest use, heavy biotic pressure brought by sharply increasing population with

huge forest produce demand, poverty, inadequate forest protection measures and investment.

The current and emerging conservation challenges including climate change and threatened

biodiversity are to be addressed through sustainably managed forest ecosystems to provide

goods and services for community wellbeing and national socio-economic development.

Other important issues not addressed adequately during the FMP-1995 designing and

implementation include integrated forest management with improved forest governance and

technology; innovative forest management based on applied research and field evidences;

gainful conservation partnerships with communities and private sector based on social equity

and gender equality; and strengthened political and civil society commitment, collaboration and

enforcement for forest and wildlife protection. It should be recognized that human well-being

in long-term is dependent on healthy and regenerating forests and protected areas, and that

durable socio-ecological and economic development gains are not possible unless forest

ecosystems, including wetlands, and PAs are effectively conserved and properly valued.

Effective implementation of the FMP-1995 was constrained by a number of factors and lack of

resources. Forest sector in Bangladesh faced multiple challenges-environmental and socio-

economic- and some of these challenges should have been foreseen to be at the heart of any

long-term Forestry Master Plan. Despite increasing realization on the need to conserve and

regenerate forests, biodiversity and ecosystem services, the forests were subjected to multiple

environmental and socio-economic stresses.

Financial outlays under both revenue and development budgets have been much less when

compared to the total budget required for implementing rather ambitious recommendations as

made in the FMP-1995. An outlay of Tk. 60.24 billion in scenario 1 and Tk. 145.11 billion in

102– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

scenario 2 were estimated under the FMP-1995 over a period of 20 years. It was projected

that of the total budget requirements a substantial part of more than 60% will come from

different donors. However, the desired level of forestry investment could not be made available

to various forestry sector public agencies. As per available information, only a sum of Tk. 23.7

billion (38.3%) was invested in the forestry sector between 1995-96 and 2014-15. (For details,

see chapter 8: Resource mobilisation)

Two tier system of forest service recruitment was adapted as a result of which recruitment of

forest staff was done only at the level of foresters and cadre officers. Yet no recruitment of

cadre officers was done for long 18 years. In the absence of adequate staff, capacity building

efforts could not be implemented at desired level. A number of sanctioned posts are still lying

vacant in all the public forestry sector organizations. Important institutional reforms as

recommended by the FMP-1995 could not be implemented due mainly to inadequate financial

outlays. For example, the FMP’s recommendations to set up a Social Forestry Directorate, a

Watershed Management Wing, a separate authority for managing Protected Areas, and a

National Forest Board have remained unimplemented. Although a Social Forestry Wing within

BFD was established, it has not functioned effectively due mainly to lack of financial autonomy.

Given its favourable and enabling environment, Bangladesh is a good case for forest

restoration and conservation in partnership with local communities, which depend on

neighbouring forest and wetland resources for meeting their subsistence needs including

conservation-linked livelihoods. Forests and wetlands, which act both as sink and source of

greenhouse gases, are indeed in need of restoration and sustainable management. The

protection and sustainable management of existing forests and PAs, and enhancement of

carbon stocks through afforestation and reforestation, will improve forest quality and their

ability to sequester and store carbon.

Protection of dispersed and mosaic forests is in a poor and populous Bangladesh is a critical

requirement but a very difficult task. Effective and gainful partnerships of local community will

help protect forests. Co-management initiatives have proved successful as evident from the

NSP, the IPAC, the CRPARP, and the Madhupur National Park project, proving that

conservation of forests in a poor but densely populated country is possible by involving local

communities. The forests under joint community protection can be sustainably co-managed

locally by sharing benefits accrued as a result of enhanced forest productivity under an

appropriate REDD+ strategy.

Addressing institutional, socio-economic and environmental challenges requires long-term

planning, increased technical capacity, additional financial resources, enabling policies,

participation of the local communities, monitoring and reformed institutional structures.

Revised FMP will assist in addressing the identified challenges both from the short- and long-

term perspective. Updated FMP will provide higher focus on the environmental issues,

compared to FMP-1995. In FMP-1995, environment management and protection programmes

accounted for only 3 – 4% of the plan investment, which may have to be significantly enhanced

in future planning.

In conclusion, the FMP-2015 has set the course for planning the future of forestry in

Bangladesh. Although it could not be fully implemented due to shortage of resources,

considerable investments on the lines espoused by it have been delivered to the sector since

then. Despite the expiry of the term of the FMP, the principles promoted by the FMP are still

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –103

valid and shall continue to be relevant in the future although many additional strategies shall

be required to deal with the emerging challenges.

104– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

5 Monitoring and assessment, including remote sensing, socio-economic survey and MIS/GIS database management, reporting and mapping by RIMS

5.1 Introduction

The Resource Information and Management System (RIMS) was established in the mid 1980’s

with the objective to establish a computer-based resource information system. Its design was

based on a similar system in use in Sri Lanka. The emphasis was on forest inventory and

mapping in order to give decision-making information to Management Plan divisions. Initially,

maps with forest formations and drainage patterns were prepared from aerial images using

digitizing boards.

Gradually, more advanced surveying and mapping techniques were introduced, largely

through externally funded projects.

Under the Forest Resource Management Project (FRMP) GIS and remote sensing software

were introduced to RIMS in the period 1997-1998. Natural forests by major forest types and

plantations were mapped down to the block level. Some of the maps have been updated in the

2000’s. Maps were made of the following Divisions:

• Chittagong

• Cox’s Bazar

• Sylhet

• Sundarbans – to compartment level; height class and density also mapped, as well as

range and sanctuary boundaries; updated in 2002 under the SBCP.

Under the FSP in 2006 the sal forests were surveyed and mapped (but not the entire sal forest).

A database system was set up in RIMS and the BFD’s web site set up and hosted, as well as

other office networking infrastructure including LAN connection and email for staff.

The Nishorgo Support Project undertook mapping of 5 Protected Areas – Lawachara, Satchari,

Rema-Kalenga, Teknaf and Sitakunda – on the basis of satellite imagery and a time-series

analysis was undertaken for Modhupur National Park.

In 2005-2007 the National Forest Assessment covered the entire country with 14 Landsat

images to arrive at a forest cover in Bangladesh of 9.8%. This project was supported by FAO

and implemented jointly with SPARSSO.

Under the IPAC project, 2008-2013, a large number of activities was undertaken:

• Preparation of SRF and other 7 carbon inventory maps ; Teknaf WS, Inani-

Bangabondhu NP, Fasiakhali WS, Medha-kachhapia NP, Sitakundu, Dudpukuria WS

& Rema-Kalenga WS.

• Capacity building on carbon inventory and GPS use.

• Conducting carbon inventories and analysis.

• Change analysis of above 7 PAs using Landsat satellite images of 1990, 2000 and

2010. Change analysis result shows little increase of forest in Dudpukuria and

Sitakundu. Other 5 area showed decline.

• Bhawal National Park land use map prepared using SPOT satellite image.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –105

Observed forest dynamics varies from gradual increase in biomass to “alarming” forest loss

Teknaf WS and Inani-Bangabondhu NP, both showing a 46% loss in forest cover over the

period 1989-2009.26

The “Forest Information Generation and Networking System” project (FIGNSP) had as key

objective to map forest coverage and related land cover of Sundarban Reserved Forest, Sal

Forests, Hill Forests and Coastal afforestation from 1m Ikonos and 5m RapidEye satellite

images in Bangladesh. The areas largely overlap with previous projects, but the resolution of

the imagery is much better. A serious issue that emerged is that not all forest administrative

boundaries are available in digital format. Even when available, “all the available spatial

datasets (forest boundaries) have irregular shifting problem and does not match with the

ground”.27 This is probably caused by discrepancies between the accuracy of boundary and

feature mapping (such as historical surveying and “mouza” map production), land/water

dynamics over longer time scales and the detailed satellite imagery.

Other activities undertaken by RIMS include:

• SRF ‘Sidr’ damage assessment using ASTER images

• Chakaria Sundarban monitoring using Landsat images

• Dhaka division forest monitoring using Landsat image

• Nijhum dip monitoring using Google Earth

• Banskhali eco-park mapping

5.2 The Resource Information Management Unit

RIMS is operated by the Resource Information Management Unit (the Unit is commonly

referred to as RIMS, which practice is also adopted here).

5.2.1 Staff

RIMS has the following approved staff resources:

• DCF (1)

• ACF (3)

• Research officer (1)

• Assistant Computer Programmer (1)

• Draftsman (2)

• Office Assistant (2)

• Data entry operator (1)

• Computer operator (1)

• Driver (1)

• MLSS (4)

Nine staff members have formal training in GIS, ranging from basic and intermediate trainings,

post-graduate training and in-house training; and they therefore have the necessary skills to

operate GIS software. Seven staff members have similar training in analysis of remotely

sensed imagery, with skills to operate RS software. The Assistant Computer Programmer and

26 Integrated Protected Area Co-Management (IPAC) Project, Final Report, August 2011. 27 Satellite Data Processing, GIS Analysis and Map Preparation, FIGNSP, March 2013, p.69.

106– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Computer Operator positions are currently vacant, however, and RIMS therefore lacks

capacity to undertake general IT tasks such as server and network management.

5.2.2 Facilities

Hardware

RIMS has several offices and operates a GIS/RS laboratory at BFD Headquarters. The main

GIS laboratory has 13 basic computers connected in a local network.28 There is one

professional workstation with dual large-screen monitors and which is being used for image

analysis. There are also large format plotters, printers and uninterrupted power supply. The

workstations can share GIS data sets, but there is no server computer to control data access

and version control. For field work there are two laptops and a collection of GPS devices.

Many of the projects that RIMS implements set up separate labs for GIS or RS work. Most

notable in this respect is the Silva Carbon project: two professional workstations have been

set up, each having dual quad-core Intel Xeon processors, 128 GB RAM, 10 TB of local RAID

storage and dual wide-screen monitors for satellite image analysis. These workstations,

however, are also “stand-alone” due to the lack of a proper intranet for RIMS.29

Software

RIMS has three licences for GIS analysis (ESRI ArcInfo, up-to-date versions) and three

licences for satellite image analysis (2x Erdas Imagine, 1x PCI Geomatica). In addition, there

are some licences for older versions of the same packages but these have limited usability due

to lack of functionality and compatibility with current operating systems.

Forest Resources Management Information System

RIMS currently lacks the infrastructure to support a Forest Resources Management

Information System (FRMIS). As a minimum, BFD should have an intranet in the main

buildings, connecting all Wings and offices to the web sites with dynamic content from

databases to be established in RIMS. Remote offices should also be equipped with computers

and internet access to enable their use of the FRMIS both for consulting the information in the

FRMIS and for uploading new data into the FRMIS.

Facilities management

RIMS has no adequate budget allocated for maintaining the facilities. While hardware prices

continue to fall, the requirements of new software is requiring ever more capable – and thus

expensive – hardware; the professional workstations from the Silva Carbon project being a

prime example. Software licences from commercial partners are prohibitively expensive,

making RIMS dependent on external support for maintaining the GIS and RS capability

operational.

28 The workstations are relatively recent commercial-grade PCs with a 19” screen, without any specific hardware additions to support GIS or RS analysis. The workstations were acquired in 2012 under the FIGNS project. 29 The workstations are networked and can access the internet, but there are no local services like a central database, user management or file storage.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –107

5.3 RIMS activities

5.3.1 Remote Sensing capability and products

RIMS currently has limited capacity to undertake large-scale satellite image analysis and

mapping. Such mapping is typically undertaken with external support, using one of two

modalities:

1. RIMS is operating in the capacity of project coordination, with RIMS staff partaking in

the activities and external support for specific tasks and procurement of imagery, etc.

2. The image analysis is outsourced to another organization in Bangladesh, such as

SPARSSO or CEGIS.

Examples of current and recently past projects and products based on satellite imagery where

RIMS has been involved:

• SPARSSO has classified Landsat TM data and analysed changes in mangrove

plantations between 2000 and 2010.

• RIMS is currently implementing the Silva Carbon project, in collaboration with the

University of Maryland’s Global Land Cover Facility, to produce a map of forest cover

in 2000 and 2014 and forest cover change over the same period. A draft report has

been produced.

• BFD is implementing a 4 year project with technical support from FAO, from August

2015 until early 2019, which is funded by USAID: “Strengthening National Forest

Inventory and Satellite Land Monitoring System in Support of REDD+ in Bangladesh”,

also known as the “Bangladesh Forest Inventory Project”. Emphasis is currently on

designing the new NFI, but a large remote sensing component to map all land cover in

Bangladesh using SPOT satellite imagery will be undertaken from 2017 onwards.

5.3.2 Socio-economic surveys

RIMS does not undertake socio-economic surveys as part of its core activities. Several of the

projects that RIMS has implemented with external support, however, have included

assessments of forest-dependent communities, livelihoods and rural economy.

5.3.3 MIS/GIS database management

RIMS currently does not have any databases for MIS or GIS data30. Neither is there any

appropriate infrastructure (server computers, networking, etc.) to support the operation of

databases for concurrent access.

Currently, GIS data is not available to offices in BFD outside of RIMS, due to the lack of basic

infrastructure (such as a modern office network capable of supporting intranet applications)

and applications for use by BFD staff.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Unit is collecting data from social forestry and compiling that

into reports. The data that is being collected is compiled into reports like the Plantation Survey

& Monitoring Report by Division, containing the following information:

• Range, beat names

• Location of plantation (GPS reading)

30 The available GIS data is managed in the form of individual shapefiles on regular computers, data is not integrated into a single platform for concurrent multi-user access.

108– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

• Year of planting

• Area (blocks) or length (linear strips along roads, canals) of planting

• “Types of monitoring & date”

• Survival and mortality, target assessment

• Species

• Health status

• Assessment of correctness of reporting, comments

Beyond the social forestry data – primarily areas of social forestry projects and harvesting of

timber from those areas – no other aspects of forest resources or forestry management are

being monitored. The Monitoring and Evaluation Unit does not operate a monitoring system as

such.

The Planning Unit of BFD collects forest resource and industry data that is sent on to FAO for

inclusion in National Reports for the Forest Resources Assessment.

Box 5-1: MIS development in the SEALS project.

The Sundarbans Environmental and Livelihoods Security project (SEALS) was financed by

the European Union and implemented by BFD with the technical support of consulting

companies over the period 2010-2015. One of the “major breakups” to achieve the

objectives of “maintenance and improvement of Ecosystem Productivity of Sundarban

Reserve Forest (SRF) and induce the Environmental and Social Integrity in the habitats

around Sundarban” was the “establishment of sustainable Management Information System

(MIST)”. By the third year of the project the “improved monitoring system is put to practice”,

where “FD staff follow standard protocols for patrolling and reporting”, “patrolling in the

whole of SRF is carried out regularly and effectively”, and having “improved linkage between

SRF management and MIST”. It was foreseen that a system in use in Thailand would be

adapted for the local conditions; the system was primarily based on reporting of data with

the use of GPS devices.

The MIST was designed for the following purposes :

“a. Development of standard data collection formats (paper-based forms)

b. Identification of user-friendly GPS to be used during patrolling

c. Development of the framework of MIST

d. Identification of suitable platform (e.g. web based or standalone)

e. Development of different modules/interfaces of the MIST

f. Development of MIST

g. Preparation of training manual

h. Implementation of MIST

i. Training to the FD officials and staff to use MIST

j. Deployment or hosting of MIST

k. Piloting of MIST in the Sundarbans

l. Operationalization of the MIST at the FD”.

The MIST was eventually implemented by CEGIS, with support from IUCN. During the

implementation of the project the MIST was made operational, using facilities of CEGIS,

and reports have been generated in Chandpai, Khulna, Satkhira and Sarankhola Ranges in

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –109

2012-2014, as evidenced by data extracted from the MIST server. The patrolling was done

with GIS receivers with a graphical map interface, for so-called SMART Patrolling. Apart

from the location as recorded by the GPS, the specific forms were paper-based and data

entered in the field was transcribed into the MIST in the Range offices. The MIST server

itself allowed for viewing of the data and downloading into a spreadsheet format; the server

was not designed for any other operational business procedure such as monitoring,

management, evaluation or planning.

When the SEALS project finished, the MIST was shut down as well, with CEGIS requiring

payment for use of its facilities (server computer, networking) where the MIST was located,

money which the BFD did not have. Additionally, CEGIS claimed that the design and source

code of the MIST is based on proprietary software and that it can thus not be supplied to

BFD for implementation in an alternative setup. Effectively, the MIST was therefore only

viable during the implementation of the project and the sustainability of the system has not

been adequately considered during definition, contracting and design.

Forest Resources Management Information System

Under the CRPARP project a package was defined to undertake a “Technical Study to

Strengthen Forest Resources Monitoring and Assessment System and Forest Resources

Management Information System in Bangladesh Forest Department”.31 Among other

objectives, the study analysed the previous monitoring systems and protocols for data

collection in the forestry sector, in order to define a new system for data collection and a

management information system in RIMS.

In the design report it is suggested to build the FRMIS around the OpenForis framework

developed by FAO.32 This implies that the FRMIS is built around open-source software, which

would alleviate the budgetary requirements for RIMS, although data preparation and analysis,

such as satellite image interpretation, is not adequately supported by OpenForis.

Unfortunately, the study does not elaborate any of the “business processes” to be included in

the FRMIS, such as how to collect, process, manage and report information on social forestry.

Nor is there any technical requirements analysis (e.g. how much storage is required in function

of the data sets to be analysed and databases to be developed? How to connect remote offices

(e.g. DFO) to the FRMIS? How to establish physical (hardware) and logical (data access)

security?). Effectively, the study does not reach beyond mentioning potentials and

opportunities, and it cannot be considered to be a design document for a FRMIS that will satisfy

the requirements of MOEF and BFD for monitoring of forest resources and management of

information in function of the objectives of the National Forest Policy or the new FMP.33

31 Package BFD/S-4. 32 http://www.openforis.org/ 33 At the time of writing of this document, only draft final document of Package 4 were available.

110– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Map 5-1: Typical map of a Forest Division produced by RIMS.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –111

5.3.4 Mapping and reporting

RIMS has produced the following mapping products over the years:

• The only national forest cover map produced by RIMS, using Landsat TM data, is based

on 2005-07 forest cover data. The 2005-07 NFI included trees outside the forest. All

these maps are based on Landsat TM with ground truthing. The mapping is based on

a grid of 300 plots, a lot of which had no forest. No sal nor coastal plantation are

included in the 300 plots.

• RIMS has maps of coastal plantations, hill forests, Sundarbans, part of CHT, Sylhet,

and Barind Tract (including sal forest). See Map 5-1 for a sample of a Forest Division

map.

• Historical data is available for the Sundarbans (1995 (hard copy only) and 2013), and

Chittagong, CHT, Sylhet, and Cox’s Bazar (1997 and 2012). A nation-wide inventory

was done in 1960 divided over three regions; maps are available in hard copy only.

• RIMS can prepare vulnerability maps down to Upazila level, but most realistic at district

level.

A problem with GIS mapping in Bangladesh is that the historical “mouza” maps are still being

used today, such as by DLRS for land surveying. These mouza maps show parcels of forest

land and agricultural fields. The maps are drawn on sheets of papers by surveyors, but they

lack a coordinate system or other geo-registration information. Nevertheless, these mouza

maps are the one cartographic product that is accepted by government agencies and the

population alike. BFD is also producing similar paper-based products, such as the map of the

Map 5-2: Mouza map from 1914-1915.

112– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Bhawal National Park available in the DFO office. The preference among map users in

Bangladesh to continue to use the mouza maps makes development of a geo-spatial database

more complicated because the products from the GIS system will not be easily accepted by

people in the rural areas.

An additional complication with GIS mapping is that offices at division, range and beat level

have no IT infrastructure that would allow for the use of mapping products that RIMS can

produce, such as printers and field computers, or even regular office computers and GPS

receivers. As a consequence, use of spatial data is restricted to the BFD Headquarters in

Dhaka and to distribution of printed maps to field offices.

5.3.5 Additional tasks

RIMS is undertaking many activities in BFD in addition to its primary task of resource

information and monitoring:

• The BFD web site is hosted and email system maintained.

• Maintaining CCF’s and Departmental info email accounts.

• Maintaining internet connection of the Department.

• Generic business databases (e.g. human resources) maintained.

• Equipment and infrastructure inventories

• General ICT activities and reporting, digital innovation fair; troubleshooting of

Computers, LAN and Internet

• Employment, higher scale examination of officials

• Preserve & Supply of forest related photos; “National Tree Fair” information and photos

since 2005.

Map 5-3: Detail of mouza map, with annotation of land use in parcels.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –113

6 Environmental challenges and multilateral environmental agreements

6.1 Introduction

Being a delta with good rainfall and fertile soils in plain lands means that most of the forest

areas in Bangladesh are suitable for agriculture as an alternative land use in a land-scarce

agrarian economy with increasing population. The main forestry sector challenges facing the

country relate to forest degradation, deforestation and forest land diversion in a growing

economy. The proximate drivers of deforestation and forest degradation are: high population

growth with severe poverty; expanding cultivation, urbanization, industrialization and other

land-based development activities; and inadequate forestry investment and consequent

inappropriate biodiversity and forest land protection measures. In particular, constraining forest

governance including local political economy with inadequate institutional capacity provides

disincentives for sustainable management of forest ecosystems.

Rapid loss of resilience in forest ecosystems not only adversely affects communities

dependent on natural resources but also adversely impacts soil fertility, water quality and

quantity, air quality, carbon sequestration, biodiversity including wildlife, and wetlands and

fisheries – all leading to declining natural resource capital with emerging environmental

concerns such as climate change, forest land conversion and biodiversity loss. Main forestry

sector challenges can be categorized under institutional, environmental and socio-economic

issues, which need to be considered and resolved in the country’s forestry sector planning and

strategic implementation.

Key environmental challenges for the forestry sector – the topic of this chapter – include:

• Climate change

• Biodiversity loss

• Deforestation and forest land encroachment, diversion of forest land for other land use

• Forest degradation

• Invasive species

• Wildlife poaching and trafficking

• Soil erosion

• Low forest productivity

Given her favourable and enabling environment, Bangladesh is a good case for forest

restoration and conservation in partnership with local communities who depend on nearby

forest and wetland resources for meeting their subsistence needs including resource-

dependent livelihoods. Forests and encompassing wetlands, which act both as sink and source

of greenhouse gases (GHG), are in need of restoration and sustainable co-management.

Bangladesh is a low-carbon emitting country (GHG emissions result mainly from the energy

sector, but with substantial emissions from the LULUCF sector too) due to its low level of

industrialization: total emissions for Bangladesh are estimated at 59.1 MtCO2e of which 18.2

114– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

MtCO2e (30.8%) is coming from the LULUCF sector.34 The protection and sustainable

management of existing forests and PAs and afforestation and reforestation will improve forest

quality and their ability to sequester and store carbon.

Providing effective protection to dispersed and fragmented forests is key to reducing further

deforestation and forest degradation. Effective and gainful partnerships with the local

community and coordination with other relevant mechanisms will help protect forests.

Participatory approaches have proved successful as is evident from the IPAC, CRPARP and

Madhupur National Park projects, proving that conservation of forests in a densely populated

country is possible only by involving local communities. The forests under joint community

protection can be sustainably co-managed by sharing benefits accrued as a result of enhanced

forest productivity under an appropriate forest management strategy.

6.2 Environmental challenges facing the forestry sector

Bangladesh is considered to be a hot spot for biodiversity due to its unique geo-physical

location at the intersection of the Indian sub-continent, the montane environments of the

Himalayas and the Yunnan plateau, and the humid environment of the Indo-china region.

Being the delta of some of the major rivers of Asia, the soils are fertile from continuous

depositions of sediments, with the coastal fringe experiencing continuous interaction with the

saline environment of the Bay of Bengal.

At the same time, the rich environmental resources of Bangladesh are under constant threat

from a variety of drivers, most of whom have the elevated population density and low

institutional and technical capacity of the GoB as proximate causes. Some of the potential

challenges in forests are listed in Table 6-1 below.

Table 6-1: Environmental and socio-economic challenges facing the forestry sector in Bangladesh.

Environmental challenges Socio-economic challenges

• Adverse impacts of climate change,

including sea level rise

• Increasing vulnerability of forest

ecosystems to global change pressures

• Declining biodiversity and wildlife

• Deforestation, forest degradation and

fragmentation

• CO2 emissions from deforestation and

forest degradation

• Incidence of pests and fire

• Decline in ecosystem services

• Non-sustainable management of forests

• Low productivity of the forests and

plantations

• Increasing demand for forest land for

agriculture and infrastructure

• Increasing biomass demand – fuelwood,

timber, grass and non-timber forest

products

• Increasing livestock grazing pressure

• Increasing demand for industrial raw

material

• Increasing vulnerability of forest-

dependent communities

• Inadequate community role in

management of forests

34 Second National Communication to the UNFCCC, Government of Bangladesh, 2012. Data are for the year 2005. It should also be noted that approximately 96.6% (!) of net emissions are estimated to be due to decomposition of soil carbon, with net emissions from Forest Land conversion (deforestation) and carbon sequestration in existing forests being a very minimal 0.6 MtCO2e/yr.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –115

Addressing these socio-economic and environmental challenges requires long-term planning,

increased technical capacity, additional financial resources, enabling policies, participation of

the local communities, monitoring and reformed institutional structures. The new FMP will

assist in addressing these challenges both from the short- and long-term perspective. It will

provide better focus on the environmental issues compared to the previous FMP. Local,

national and global environmental considerations to be addressed in the new FMP include the

following:

• Local environmental issues: Watershed protection, enhancing productivity, halting

deforestation and forest degradation, forest and mangrove restoration, sustainable

extraction of fuelwood and non-wood forest products, disaster preparedness.

• National environmental issues: Biodiversity conservation, increasing forest cover,

sustainable timber supply, protected area management, sustained flow of ecosystem

services, climate change adaptation, disaster mitigation.

• Global environmental issues: Climate change mitigation, conservation of genetic

resources.

6.2.1 Enhancing the resilience of forests to climate change

Characteristics of Bangladesh that make it extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change

In the BCCSAP Bangladesh indicated to be one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in

the world and it will become even more so as a result of climate change. As a lower riparian

country with an extensive coast line, water-induced disasters, including floods, storms and

cyclones with tidal surges, are frequent and intense. Climate change impacts are expected to

be substantial on the country’s predominantly agrarian economy, as a large majority of her

huge population (158 million in 2015, with population density of 1,203 persons per km2, making

it one of the world’s most densely populated countries) is reliant on land-based primary

production as a major source of income.

Bangladesh has a unique climate system dominated by the monsoon. The major physiographic

features that drive this monsoon are its location (in terms of latitude, longitude and altitude),

the Himalayas to the north, and the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean forming its southern

boundary. Climate change impacts on forests have been highlighted in a number of studies

including various reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Climate

change projections include sea level rise, temperature rise, and increased frequency of

drought, cyclones, storms and other water-induced extreme events. Bangladesh’s long

coastline is predicted to be impacted by climate change at medium-term and long-term scales.

Recently the country experienced Sidr (2007) and Aila (2009) cyclones, indicating that climate

change is already impacting the country and future climate change will aggravate this situation.

The regional variations in sea-level rise in Bangladesh with respect to global sea-level rise are

manifestations of tectonic changes and ocean density. For instance, a significant number of

cyclones have occurred in the Bay of Bengal as compared to the Arabian Sea (at the ratio of

4 to 1). Cyclonic disturbances are 5 to 6 times more frequent over the Bay of Bengal than over

the Arabian Sea, with one third of the Bay disturbances and half of the Arabian Sea

disturbances intensifying into tropical storms. This may be due to the fact that the surface sea

temperature over the Arabian Sea is cooler than over the Bay of Bengal. The shallow depth of

116– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

the Bay of Bengal and the low flat coastal terrain produce much larger storm surges than in

the Arabian Sea and take a very heavy toll of human and animal life. Moreover, Bangladesh’s

coasts have a gentle topography and as a result are more vulnerable to sea-rise and the

adverse impacts of cyclones and storm surges.

Possible impacts of climate change on the forest sector and forest-dependent communities

Natural land-based ecosystems, including forests and wetlands, are highly sensitive to

temperature rise. Possible changes may include shifts in the boundaries of forests and

wetlands, changes in species composition or types of forests and wetlands, changes in net

productivity of forests and wetlands, forest die back, and loss of forest and wetland biodiversity.

Climate change impacts are expected to be substantial in the country’s predominantly agrarian

economy, as a large majority of its population is reliant on land-based primary production as a

major source of livelihoods and income.

Climate change induced natural hazards such as cyclones, storms, flood, salinity, and drought

may affect the country’s forest ecosystems, and as a consequence forest dependent

communities, by inducing changes in forest types and distribution, net primary productivity,

and composition in terms of flora and fauna.

Sea-level rise will submerge coastal ecosystems such as the mangroves, wetlands and

charlands.35 Sea-level rise will also increase the salinity of coastal wetlands on which local

communities depend for meeting their subsistence consumption needs. This will favour

salinity-tolerant plants but may reduce vegetation and aquatic diversity. On the other hand,

increased snow melt in the Himalayan glaciers could bring a large quantity of fresh water via

transnational rivers to the coastal areas, with consequences for the composition of the

mangroves and coastal fisheries, favouring species that have lower tolerance to salinity.

Changes in local temperature and rainfall will also influence the wetlands’ salinity and aquatic

plant composition. Although climate change is global in its causes and consequences, its

adverse impacts are being borne inequitably by natural resource-dependent communities in

the country’s riparian regions.

While sea-level rise will submerge coastal forests and settlements, in winter high

evapotranspiration combined with low water flow will increase the salinity of forest soil and

coastal waters. This will adversely affect freshwater dependent floral and faunal species in

particular, and forest productivity and biodiversity in general. This will eventually shift forest

boundaries and change vegetation characteristics as the species offering dense canopy cover

are expected to be replaced by non-woody shrubs and bushes.

Conspicuous changes in annual trends in both minimum and maximum temperatures have

already been noticed both globally and nationally. Variability in monsoon rainfall has been

recorded in recent years. Most of the observed increase in global average temperature is due

to the observed increase in anthropogenic GHG emissions (Climate Change 2007). A study

by the Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment (Climate Change and India) concluded

that discernible human influences now extend to other aspects of climate including ocean

warming, continental average temperatures, temperature extremes and wind patterns. Global

35 Charlands are sandbars that emerge as islands within river channels or as land deposited along riverbanks as a result of accretion.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –117

mean sea level change results mainly from two processes, mostly related to recent climate

change, that alter the volume of water in the global ocean: i) thermal expansion, and ii) the

exchange of water between reservoirs (glaciers and ice caps, ice sheets, other land water

reservoirs) and oceans, including through anthropogenic changes in land hydrology and the

atmosphere. Regionally, oceanographic factors such as changes in ocean circulation or

atmospheric pressure cause changes in sea level. In addition, sedimentation and vertical land

movements influence local level sea variations.

Fisheries ecosystems including coastal wetlands and the Sundarbans play an important role

in the food supply, food security and livelihood security of the country’s millions of fishermen

and other stakeholders. Temperature is known to affect fish distribution and migration.

Increasing temperatures may have negative impacts on the physiology of fish because oxygen

transport to tissues will be limited at higher temperatures, and this constraint in physiology will

result in changes in fish distribution, recruitment and abundance. Fish have strong temperature

preferences to spawning as the process of spawning is known to be triggered by pivotal

temperatures.

Enhancing resilience of forests and forest-dependent communities to climate change

The forest ecosystem is generally able to tolerate some level of climate change and so will

continue to persist in the short-term as it has done in the past. However, whether its resilience

will be sufficient enough to tolerate anthropogenic climate change in the long-term is not

known.

By definition (Climate Change 2014):

Resilience is “the capacity of social, economic and environmental systems to cope with a

hazardous event or trend or disturbance, responding or reorganizing in ways that maintain

their essential function, identity and structure, while also maintaining the capacity for

adaptation, learning, and transformation.”

As stated in the BCCSAP, the vision of the GoB is to eradicate poverty and achieve economic

and social well-being for all people through a pro-poor climate change management strategy.

Adapting to climate change would not only involve reducing population exposure and

sensitivity, but also increasing the adaptive capacity of both land-based ecosystems (including

forests and wetlands) and local communities.

118– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Box 6-1: Concepts related to resilience.

Vulnerability to the impacts of climate change is a function of exposure to climate variables,

sensitivity to those variables and the adaptive capacity of the affected ecosystem and

community. Adapting to climate change involves reducing exposure and sensitivity and

increasing adaptive capacity.

Vulnerability is “the propensity or predisposition (of a system) to be adversely affected.

Vulnerability encompasses a variety of concepts and elements including sensitivity or

susceptibility to harm and lack of capacity to cope and adapt”. Vulnerability can be due to

biophysical hazards (e.g. cyclones, sea level rise), but also due to socio-economic, policy

and institutional factors. For example, poor governance can result in mangrove forest being

cut down, leaving coastal areas more prone to sea surge and winds during a cyclone.

Exposure is the nature, degree and extent to which a species or system is exposed to

significant climatic variations. Exposure is comprised of climatic variables which are derived

based on temperature and precipitation. Exposure can be due to the direct impacts of

climate change (ex. warmer temperature, change in precipitation) or indirect impacts of

climate change (ex. shifting habitat due to changes in vegetation). A wide variety of factors,

ex. wealth, social status and gender, determine vulnerability and exposure to climate-related

risk.

Sensitivity is defined as: “... the degree to which a system is affected, either adversely or

beneficially, by climate variability or change. It contains biophysical variables which indicate

the phenological and physiological characteristics of the forests, ex. evapotranspiration,

occurrence of forest fires and net primary productivity. The effect may be direct (e.g., a

change in crop yield in response to a change in the mean, range or variability of temperature)

or indirect (e.g., damages caused by an increase in the frequency of coastal flooding due to

sea level rise)” (ibid).

Adaptive capacity is the “ability (or potential) of a system to adjust successfully to climate

change (including climate variability and weather extremes,) to: (i) moderate the potential

damages; (ii) to take advantage of opportunities; and/or (iii) to cope with the

consequences”.36 Adaptive capacity comprises of variables related to plant species richness

and forest structure. The greater the capacity of a system to adapt to the impacts of climate

variability and change, the less vulnerable the system is.

Possible climate change adaptation options include:

• Reforestation of degraded/denuded forest lands

• Anticipatory planting of threatened species

• In-situ and ex-situ conservation of threatened species

• Increasing the efficiency of conversion of forest raw material

• Shifting the geographical areas of production to more closely match areas of optimal

potential

36 ibid., p.869.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –119

• Coastal afforestation programme

• Wetland afforestation programme

• Expand the social forestry and co-management programmes

• Provide / identify alternative livelihood strategies for forest-dependent households to

reduce their reliance on forest products

A reforestation and afforestation programme is one of the elements identified in Bangladesh’s

Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2009 under the “Mitigation and Low Carbon

Development theme” (T5/P7). The programme has five components of which the following two

are related to climate change adaptation:

A1. Provide support to existing and new coastal afforestation programmes taking into

account the future rise in salinity levels due to sea level rise.

A2. Develop an extensive wetland afforestation programme to protect settlements against

wave erosion.

The coastal forest plantation ecosystems of Bangladesh are vital as they provide goods and

services that are essential for healthy land-based ecosystems and the well-being of the

communities living within the landscape, as well as protecting the communities from climatic

hazards such as cyclones and storm surges. Designing and implementing coastal afforestation

and reforestation programmes under the CRPARP, will enhance coastal ecosystem resilience,

while also benefiting communities.

Community partnership with forest dependent communities is the key to adaptation to climate

change, for both forests and local people. Mainstreaming adaptation to climatic variability and

change into the design and implementation of participatory natural resources management will

enhance the health of forest ecosystems as well as benefit local communities. The land-based

natural resources in Bangladesh, such as forests and wetlands, have traditionally been

intimately interspersed with human habitations and are heavily relied upon by the neighbouring

agrarian communities to help meet their needs. But these ecosystems are being severely

degraded mainly due to heavy biotic pressure brought on by increasing population,

concentrated in a comparatively small geographic area.

The vulnerability of forest-dependent communities needs to be reduced by providing them with

coping mechanisms. The climate change adaptation role of an ecosystem, including forests

and wetlands, stems from the fact that local people depend on nearby ecosystems not only for

their protective functions (i.e. protection from cyclones and storm surges) but also for their

livelihoods. A large portion of the population living within /adjacent to important ecosystems

such as the Sundarbans is dependent on climate-dependent activities such as fisheries,

agriculture and forestry.

Climate change adaptation programmes need to consider ecosystem management and

develop appropriate value chains and conservation-linked livelihood options that will be

implemented in partnership with local communities. Additional benefits mobilized through off-

forest activities, including value chain development and alternative income generating

activities, generate both wages and self-employment. A number of livelihood opportunities can

be identified and conservation-linked interventions designed to provide alternative income to

local communities in order to reduce extractive harvesting from forests. Many of the community

120– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

activities helpful in reducing forest degradation are in fact labour-intensive, cost-effective,

efficient and equitable with large employment and income gains expected to accrue to local

communities. In the process local surplus labour resources can be utilized to restore degraded

forest landscapes. Value chain mapping can be done by identifying all possible actors and

factors. An increasing population with few alternative livelihood opportunities poses a serious

threat to forest ecosystems.

The livelihood dependence of local people on the country’s forest ecosystems is high and in

future this dependence is expected to increase as the population continues to increase. There

are a large number of people directly involved with extraction of resources from forest

ecosystems. The pressure from resources’ extraction has increased tremendously as the

number of collectors has increased many-fold over the last decades, resulting in a huge

reduction in per capita of resources collected. Alternative livelihood strategies, e.g. in-land

fisheries and private tree nurseries, may be promoted as climate change adaptation initiatives,

especially among forest-dependent households. Additionally, a number of adaptation policy

measures may be suggested for taking up appropriate interventions by different government

agencies including BFD. Such interventions may require a multi-sectoral approach wherein

resources would be ploughed in from different funding sources.

The vital life supporting and provisioning role of forest ecosystems needs to be properly

mainstreamed into national planning and decision-making. By conserving forests and

developing plantations, forest landscape degradation can be halted, biodiversity and water

conserved in-situ, and communities benefit through gainful partnerships. Sustainable forest

management can be promoted by upgrading the institutional capacity of BFD field staff and

local community organizations to conserve biodiversity and restore forests. Sustainable forest

management in densely populated Bangladesh would provide substantial socio-environmental

and economic benefits to local communities, whose population is mainly made up of

subsistence farmers and labourers.

In a populous and poor country such as Bangladesh, effective forest protection is not possible

without the partnership of local communities. Such a co-management initiative has proven

successful as evident from the Nishorgo programme and Madhupur Project of BFD. The

forests under community protection can be sustainably co-managed locally by sharing benefits

accrued as a result of enhanced forest productivity. Forests should no longer be treated strictly

as revenue generators, but also valued for the services and functions they provide as explained

above. Resilience-based management is needed to enhance the capacity of both forest

ecosystems and local communities to adapt together and be resilient to changes and

disturbances. Due to the failure in valuing the intangible socio-economic benefits of forests,

their significant contribution in social welfare has not yet been captured. This means more

research is needed in quantifying and monetizing the vital values and services of forests to

local communities and beyond.

6.2.2 Enhancing carbon stock for mitigation of climate change

Most of the forests in Bangladesh have experienced some form of degradation such that the

vegetation is below its climax state, up to outright deforestation, and there is therefore scope

to increase the carbon stock in forests as a climate change mitigation measure. In response,

the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2009 lists “Afforestation and

Reforestation programme” as one of the elements of the “Mitigation and Low Carbon

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –121

Development theme” (T5/P7). The programme has five components of which the following

three are related to climate change mitigation:

A3. Study the scope for carbon credits under REDD and invest, if appropriate, in

reforestation of degraded reserve forests.

A4. Provide support to existing and new homestead and social forestry programmes and

enhance carbon sequestration.

A5. Research the suitability of various tree species for their carbon-locking properties for

designing various forestry programmes keeping in mind other environmental and socio-

economic functions of forestry.

Bangladesh has made considerable progress in the establishment of a National REDD+

Programme. Bangladesh is a partner country of the UN-REDD Programme and it has been

awarded a grant by the Forest Investment Program (FIP) administered by the World Bank to

develop a Forest Investment Plan which is aimed at mitigation measures in the forestry sector.

As per decisions of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, all Forest Land in

Bangladesh has to be included in the National REDD+ Programme.37 It is up to Bangladesh,

though, to determine what constitutes Forest Land38; it should include all legally gazetted

Reserve Forest land – whether they currently support tree cover or not – but it may also include

forested areas outside of the RF, such as homesteads and private forests. In terms of

generating results-based finance under the REDD+ mechanism, a more inclusive approach

would be favoured, but care has to be taken with areas outside of RF areas because once

covered under a REDD+ activity their enhanced carbon stocks have to be preserved

(permanence). In plantations the scheduled harvests of timber may continue as planned, but

results-based finance can only be awarded once – up to the average carbon stock over the

rotation – and new rotations have to be implemented on the land to ensure permanence of the

carbon stock.

Following up on the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2009, the GoB has

made institutional preparations for the implementation of the National REDD+ Programme. In

July 2011 the National REDD+ Steering Committee (RSC) was established. A REDD+

Readiness Roadmap was adopted by the RSC in December 2012. Finally, in November 2013

Bangladesh was admitted into the UN-REDD Programme and awarded a grant of USD 2.3

million to prepare the country for participation in the REDD+ mechanism, with technical

assistance from FAO and UNDP. The UN-REDD Bangladesh Programme has four main

outcomes to support the National REDD+ Programme in achieving its goals of enhanced forest

carbon stocks:

1. Improved stakeholder awareness and effective stakeholder engagement

2. National REDD+ strategy preparation supported

37 UNFCCC Decision 1/CP.16, paragraph 71, and elsewhere. Reference (emission) levels should have national scope, as does the national forest monitoring system. The only exceptions to this would be those areas of Forest Land covered under some other GHG mitigation scheme but there are currently no such schemes in Bangladesh. 38 “Forest Land” is one of the main land use categories used in the IPCC Guidelines.

122– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

3. Preparation of national forest reference emission level (REL) and/or forest reference

level (RL) supported

4. Establishment of national forest monitoring system supported

The UN-REDD Bangladesh Programme is currently in operation and will finish by March 2018.

The REDD+ mechanism has five so-called eligible activities39:

1. Reducing emissions from deforestation

2. Reducing emissions from forest degradation

3. Conservation of forest carbon stocks

4. Sustainable management of forests

5. Enhancement of forest carbon stocks

The five eligible activities are mutually exclusive for any specific forest area at any specific

time; only one of the activities can be implemented at any time in a single forest area. The

activities can be seen as a logical sequence, with optional application of each of the activities;

see the Figure below.

Figure 6-1: Phases in REDD+ implementation

There are large numbers of possible pathways of development through these phases and

many are highly dependent on the initial condition of the forest and the interventions

undertaken. A few examples:

• Hill forest with low timber stock – Reduction of emissions from forest degradation,

followed by enhancement of forest carbon stock through enrichment planting with

native species of the CHT, followed by sustainable management of forest.

• Mangroves – Reduction of emissions from deforestation (e.g. conversion of mangrove

into shrimp farms), followed by enhancement of forest carbon stock (also on newly

accreted land), followed by conservation of carbon stocks.

• Bare land – Enhancement of forest carbon stock through climate-resilient afforestation

or reforestation, followed by sustainable management of forest.

Activities under the National REDD+ Programme need to be carefully designed such that local

community engagement is feasible over a period of decades; otherwise the efforts of the local

communities may result in benefits that accrue to other actors. The table below gives a rough

indication of how REDD+ activities might be applied on forests having a certain condition and

how suitable local community participation is relative to these combinations. When designing

a REDD+ scheme a “pathway” through this matrix should be defined, hopping from one darkly-

39 UNFCCC Decision 1/CP.16, paragraph 70.

Initial phase:

Reducing emissions from deforestation

Reducing emissions from forest degradation

Intermediate phase:

Enhancement of forest carbon stocks

Final phase:

Sustainable management of forest

Conservation of forest carbon stocks

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –123

shaded cell to the next, moving generally from the right to the left (although plantations and

pristine forest are special cases that are typically treated separately). Such a pathway may be

traversed over a very extended period of time – perhaps even as much as 40 or 60 years –

such that the forest may evolve from one condition to the next. It is important to recognize that

only one REDD+ activity may be developed on a single piece of forest within a single reporting

period (currently two years; the cycle of the REDD+ Technical Annex to the National

Communications to the UNFCCC applies, see section 6.4 for details). In subsequent reporting

periods the area of forest land may be assigned to a different REDD+ activity.

Some examples of combinations of REDD+ activity and forest condition are (numbers refer to

Figure 6-2):

Forest condition REDD+ activity

Pristin

e fo

rest

Matu

re fo

rest

Slightly d

egrad

ed

Seve

rely d

egrade

d

Bare

land

Plan

tation

Reducing emissions from deforestation 1

Reducing emissions from forest degradation 1

Conservation of forest carbon stocks 2

Sustainable management of forest 4 5

Enhancement of forest carbon stocks 3 3

Figure 6-2: General applicability of REDD+ activities as a function of forest condition. Shaded cells indicate suitability for certain REDD+ activities. Darker shades

indicate higher degrees of applicability of the activity to the condition. For

numbers in the cells, please refer to the main text.

1. Where forests are severely degraded there are likely processes such as (illegal)

logging, fuel wood extraction and grazing that can be halted or reduced. REDD+

activities might include the development of alternatives or better use of forest

resources, patrolling of the forest area, etc.

2. Pristine forests, such as in the Sundarbans or portions of the CHT, have undergone

no significant human impacts, but they may be at risk due to encroaching population

centres or agriculture. REDD+ activities might focus on eco-tourism and extraction

of non-timber forest products (fruits, medicinal plants, rattan, thatch, etc.).

3. Bare lands or severely degraded forests may be replanted with native species for

regeneration. The benefits from timber or other products cannot be expected for a

considerable period of time. In the meantime, local communities may monitor the

development of the forest and claim benefits for the enhancement of carbon stocks.

4. Mature stands of managed forest may be harvested in a sustainable way to produce

timber. While the timber is often reserved for the forest owner on private land or the

BFD, communities may participate in assessing the carbon stocks of the forest pre-

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and post-harvest. If harvested wood products (HWP) are reported by the country,

the communities may help assess this parameter as well (in particular losses during

harvest).

5. Forest areas may also be planted with a single species for commercial exploitation,

such as is the case in social forestry plantations. Communities may assess carbon

stocks for such plantations. From the perspective of REDD+, this is the least

challenging environment, but also one of the least promising in terms of the

potential to generate results-based finance: after harvest the carbon stocks are

back to 0 and the carbon sequestered in subsequent rotations cannot be claimed

again.

Due to the lack of detailed information on forest stocks it is impossible to make an assessment

of the potential for carbon sequestration in the forests throughout Bangladesh, although some

efforts have been made. It has been estimated that the Chunoti Wildlife Sanctuary has the

potential to sequester about 7.85 tCO2e/ha/yr. in above-ground and below-ground biomass.40

In other forest areas of Bangladesh this rate may be substantially different. Bangladesh is

currently lacking in skills and expertise to collect the basic information needed to estimate

biomass and carbon sequestration at a level of detail that would be required to make national

estimates of reduced emissions of GHG. Such skills and capacity are being established with

the assistance of development partners, for instance through the USAID-funded project on the

National Forest Inventory (basic data collection and estimation of emission factors), the UN-

REDD Bangladesh Programme (national forest monitoring system and REL/RL development)

and the CRPARP project (Forest Resources Monitoring and Assessment Protocol), but the

education and research programmes in forestry need to include the development of these skills

in a new generation of foresters as well.

The Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2009 is explicit about the

engagement of local communities in carbon sequestration efforts and this is also a central

design in the National REDD+ Programme. Considering that local communities are both one

of the drivers of forest degradation and deforestation on the one hand, and a direct beneficiary

of restored forest cover and co-benefits on the other hand, this makes a lot of sense. To

actually achieve this, however, requires a paradigm shift in the operations of the BFD –

including how benefits from forestry management are assessed, generated and shared with

local communities – and an awareness campaign on the many benefits of the forest – including

carbon sequestration but extending to a much larger array of ecosystem goods and services

– to effectively engage the local communities and partner with them to protect and regenerate

the forest resources of Bangladesh.

6.2.3 Biodiversity conservation

The decline in biodiversity in Bangladesh goes hand-in-hand with the loss of forest and forest

degradation and fragmentation mentioned previously. In addition to the general forestry

environmental and socio-economic challenges mentioned in section 6.2, the following

challenges relate specifically to the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity:

Forest management

40 Mitigation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Co-Management of Chunoti Wildlife Sanctuary, p.46.

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• Introduction of exotic/invasive species in place of indigenous species

• Greater importance given to planting commercial species over native species in forests

and plain land

• Improper protected area management for nature conservation

Wildlife management

• Destruction of natural forest habitat and wildlife environment

• Lack of wildlife conservation and natural habitat management

• Poor management of natural forests for shelter of wildlife

• Illegal hunting, poaching and destruction of animal habitat

• Scientific method of wildlife protection and ecosystem management lacking

Institutional, regulatory and scientific challenges

• Inadequate law enforcement for the protection and conservation of animals

• Inadequate attention to eco-tourism and lack of public awareness on the value of nature

• Lacking political commitment for the protection of natural forests and biodiversity

External factors

• Removal of natural vegetation and degradation of homestead forests

• Industrial and agro-chemical pollution affecting aquatic and semi-aquatic organisms

• Salinity intrusion due to reduced freshwater flow in the Ganges and its tributaries is

affecting the vegetation of the Sundarbans

• Destruction of the mangrove forest of Chakaria and Teknaf for conversion into shrimp

culture

The challenges related to the loss of biodiversity are exacerbated by the lack of adequate

knowledge of all of Bangladesh’s biological resources. There is an urgent need to extensively

study floral and faunal diversity of different forest types. During the past century, substantial

depletion and degradation of biodiversity occurred due to over-exploitation, improper

management, poor protection and lack of people’s awareness, very likely resulting in the loss

of species that were never properly identified. The population size of many plants and animals

has declined and to ensure viable populations this deterioration has to be arrested. Declining

trends in the densities of important plants and animals is a serious threat for the survival of the

species and needs to be addressed.

Bangladesh has 18 National Parks, 20 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 1 Marine Protected Area, 2 safari

parks, 10 eco-parks, and 10 Ecologically Critical Areas (ECA)41; see Map 1-4 on page 40.

These areas are critically important to conserve biodiversity, when properly managed.

Unfortunately, most of these Protected Areas (PA) are subject to the same processes of

degradation as are other forests. Furthermore, many of the PAs are isolated from other PAs

and the gene pools of the species in the PAs are therefore small and at risk of deterioration or

41 Wildlife Master Plan for Bangladesh 2015.

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extinction due to small population sizes. A system of biological corridors between the PAs

needs to be set up to enable the exchange of genetic material between the otherwise isolated

populations of animal and plant species in the PAs.

It is not possible to conserve wildlife and biodiversity only by promulgating some rules. Effective

implementation of rules for protecting animals and protected area management will not be

possible without the cooperation of the people. So, motivating the people and developing their

awareness are essential for the conservation of wildlife and biodiversity, and protected area

management.

6.2.4 Sustained delivery of ecosystem services

In recent years the concept of ecosystem goods and services (EGS) has gained much traction

in the areas of natural resources management and natural resource economics. Four

categories of EGS are generally distinguished42; they are listed in Table 6-2 together with

examples of goods and services generated by the forestry sector.

Table 6-2: Categories of goods and services and their relationship to forests.

Category Forestry goods and services

Supporting • Primary productivity

• Soil formation

• Gene pool, biodiversity

Provisioning • Production of timber, fuel wood

• Production of NTFPs, including bamboo, rattan, (medicinal) herbs, etc.

• Production of fodder, grazing

• Mineral products, sand, clay

• Wildlife, game (hunting), fish (wetlands, mangroves)

Regulating • Habitat for plant and animal species

• Climate regulation

• Carbon sequestration and storage

• Rain water retention, infiltration, flood control and other hydrological

services

• Soil protection, erosion control

• Sedimentation, water purification, in wetlands

• Coastal protection against erosion and storm surges, in mangroves

• Air purification, particularly in urban environments where trees trap

particulate matter and absorb nitrous oxide

Cultural services • Holy places, shrines

• Aesthetic value of forests and landscapes

42 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005, UNEP.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –127

Category Forestry goods and services

• Eco-tourism

• Recreation

The production functions of the provisioning category are well understood, quantified and

economically valued, for instance through the classical National Forest Inventory focused on

assessing harvestable timber volumes, collection of data on harvest and transportation of

timber, and timber revenue collection systems. While most other goods and services in the

remaining categories are recognized – at least among professional foresters, natural resource

economists and environmental researchers – their (qualitative, quantitative) assessment and

(economic, financial) valuation are often lacking, and Bangladesh is no exception to this. There

is however one exception: under the UNFCCC REDD+ mechanism, proper estimation and

reporting of carbon fluxes on forest land – emissions from deforestation and sequestration from

forest restoration – can receive results-based finance if Bangladesh can reduce emissions and

enhance removals of greenhouse gases.

Assessing ecosystem goods and services

Assessment of EGS is not an easy undertaking due to at least three circumstances:

1. Some services are not quantifiable but only have intangible properties (such as the

aesthetic value of a forest) or are perceived differently by different (groups of) people.

2. While goods are typically measurable (harvest of timber, catch of fish), many services

cannot be measured (gene pool) or are very difficult and expensive to be measured

(air purification, climate regulation).

3. Many goods and services are inter-related and these relationships are often not well

understood.

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In many cases the use of proxy indicators can be an adequate approach to assess the EGS.

These proxies can be physical (such as monitoring the ground water table to assess the

hydrological regulation service of a forest, counting indicator species for general biodiversity)

or survey-based using an approach like the Delphi method whereby in-depth interviews with

stakeholders reveal their dependency on and use of EGS43; see also Figure 6-3. Over time the

assessment methodologies could be improved, particularly for those goods and services that

are critical for a certain area or development.

Valuing ecosystem goods and services

After assessing the EGS they have to be assigned a value. In some cases this is a

straightforward undertaking, especially for goods like timber, NTFPs and fish. Other services

might be valued on a negative basis: how much damage from the cyclone is avoided due to

the presence of a mangrove forest? Yet others may require a proxy valuation such as value of

groundwater resources for domestic or agricultural water use, or the reduction in pulmonary

disease due to urban forestry.

Once EGS are assessed and valued, they need to be integrated in policy making to develop

rational policies and programmes that consider all EGS and to identify intervention areas to

safeguard, promote or enhance the delivery of EGS. See Figure 6-3 for an example of such

policy integration in India.

One useful tool to evaluate policy options with consideration of all EGS is opportunity-cost

analysis (OCA), as it allows quantifying foregone costs of EGS no longer delivered due to

some development (such as planning a road through a forest), to evaluate the merits of

alternatives (spending more money on road construction for a deviation and additional

transportation costs, offset against maintained value of EGS), and to include the additional

43 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphi_method

Figure 6-3: Assessing ecosystem goods and services.

Source: The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, India initiative, interim report.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –129

benefit of enhanced EGS as a function of some development (e.g. protect a wetland, roadside

plantations, urban forestry).

Current situation in Bangladesh

In terms of EGS in the forestry sector of Bangladesh, the primary attention is given to the

establishment of tree crops for harvesting, either through programmes for social forestry with

communities or in the context of coastal protection. Other potential benefits from the forest,

including goods and services, largely remain unmanaged and underutilized. Both terrestrial

and aquatic animals suffer from environmental pollution. Indiscriminate use of chemicals for

agriculture and drainage of sewerage from cities to water bodies causes heavy water pollution

resulting in the decline of many valuable organisms.

There is demand for outdoor recreation, by way of visiting the emblematic natural environments

of the country, both by local and foreign tourists. Bangladesh has some unique places for

attracting tourists if proper facilities are extended. Efforts need to be made to develop forest

based eco-tourism for the mutual benefits of human beings and the natural environment.

Box 6-2: Economic valuation of ecosystem services in the Sundarbans.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Bangladesh, and (IUCN-B)

developed the Bangladesh Sundarban Delta Vision 2050 in 2014, with the collaboration of

BFD and WWF. In the Vision a first-level economic valuation of the EGS of the Sundarbans

is undertaken.

Given the lack of adequate data on the availability and value of all EGS in the Sundarbans

a Delphi approach was adopted, with in-depth surveys with local communities participating

in 22 activities developed by IUCN-B in the Sundarbans to determine the perceptions of

those communities with regards to self-identified EGS and their abundance and intrinsic

value for these communities. A total of 24 EGS were identified by the local communities.

Experts were then consulted to attach an economic value to the identified goods and

services. The results, for different projects and different areas, varied from USD 105 – 840

per hectare and per year. When factoring in some services not identified by the local

communities, such as protection against cyclones, these values rise to USD 456 – 1,192 per

hectare and per year, or USD 273 – 714 million per year for the total Sundarbans.

Strategies have to be developed not only in the forestry sector, but also in agriculture and

urban and industrial waste management systems in order to maintain the carrying capacity of

the natural ecosystems of Bangladesh. A strategy for maximizing multiple benefits from forests

is required and an assessment of all ecosystem goods and (especially) services needs to be

integrated into government decision making at all levels. Adequate tree cover, especially at

some critical locations, such as the coastal belt and watershed areas, is essential for ensuring

the continuity of most of the EGS in Bangladesh.

6.2.5 Mangrove conservation

Bangladesh manages a substantial part of the largest mangrove forest in the world, the

Sundarbans. Further east and south, there are also some mangrove areas but of a much

smaller extent and importance. The mangroves play a very significant role in the coastal area

as a hot-spot of terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity – including providing habitat for some

130– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

globally important emblematic species such as the Bengal tiger – and provisioning of multiple

ecosystem services, not least of which is the protection against the destructive force of

cyclones and storm surges. Despite their importance in many ways, the mangroves are subject

to a large number of threats:

• Conversion to shrimp ponds

• Agricultural expansion

• Salt production

• Mining

• Urbanization

• Inadequate management

• Diversion of fresh water, leading to increased salinity

• Construction of infrastructure which impedes flow of water

• Pollution

• Socio-economic conditions of local population44

Predicted sea-level rise by the year 2100 is somewhere between 37 cm and 123 cm,

depending on the scenario used. At a sea-level rise of just 50 cm about 12% of the Sundarbans

will be flooded; at 100 cm this rises to 43%45. While the Sundarbans may trap more sediment

during periods of flooding, it is not expected that the rise of the sea level can be compensated

through additional sediment deposition.

In the mangroves of Bangladesh, and in particular in the Sundarbans, very many projects have

been implemented ranging from conservation of biodiversity and habitats, to infrastructure

development, socio-economic development of the local population, to coastal protection and

disaster preparedness. One of the larger recent projects in the Sundarbans was the

“Sundarbans Environmental and Livelihoods Security” project (SEALS), financed by the

European Union and implemented over the period 2011-2015. The objectives of the project

were to maintain and improve the ecosystem productivity of the Sundarban Reserve Forest

(SRF) and to induce environmental and social integrity in the habitats of the Sundarbans.

Activities focused on enhancing the capacity of the BFD to manage the SRF, to ensure

sustainable extraction of resources from the forest and develop alternative income generation

options, and to mitigate the effects of natural disasters such as cyclones.

IUCN-B developed the Bangladesh Sundarban Delta Vision 2050 in 2014, which gives a

detailed overview of the current situation in the Sundarbans, the challenges to be addressed

and six strategies for implementation:

1. Improve governance structures

2. Enhance appropriate mechanisms and information systems for sustainability of the

Sundarban ecosystem services

44 Mangrove forestry in Bangladesh, N. Siddiqui, IFESCU, 2001. 45 See the Task 4 report for further details.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –131

3. Increase fresh water availability in the Sundarban delta

4. Reduce pollution threats from all sources in the Sundarban delta

5. Put appropriate measures in place in order to reduce adverse impacts of climate change

6. Enhance alternative livelihood options

6.3 Climate financing for forestry

Since the establishment of the UNFCCC in 1992 several instruments for financial support to

non-Annex I countries46 have been established. Under the Kyoto Protocol, which came into

force in February 2005, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was launched with a

specific sectoral scope for forestry: “Afforestation and reforestation”. In the following years, the

REDD+ mechanism47 was proposed such that sustainable management of natural tropical

forests could be included in the new climate agreement then under negotiation, with financing

coming through the newly-established Green Climate Fund (GCF). Natural tropical forest

management can also be covered under the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA)

and more recently also under the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC)

mechanism, with financing in both cases coming through ad-hoc arrangements on a bilateral

basis between the host country and a donor country or some International Finance Institution

(IFI). Outside of the UNFCCC process there are other options as well.

The Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2009 estimates that all mitigation

and adaptation plans would cost approximately USD 5 billion for all sectors for projects started

in the first five years, without being specific on costs per individual activity. Development

partners should channel their financial contributions through the Bangladesh Climate Change

Resilience Fund. In the forestry sector, one project is foreseen under the strategy and action

plan: T5-P7 Afforestation and Reforestation Program, consisting of multiple sub-programmes

including afforestation, REDD+, homestead forestry and research into carbon pools.

6.3.1 Climate finance options for forestry under the UNFCCC

The various options that are available through the UNFCCC process are presented in more

detail in Table 6-3 below.

Table 6-3: Climate finance options for forestry in Bangladesh

Mechanism Characteristics

CDM – Clean Development Mechanism

Overview The CDM of the Kyoto protocol has as objective to reduce emissions of GHG

through provision of financial and technical assistance from Annex I countries to

non-Annex I countries in the establishment of projects. Under the CDM Scope 14

is for Afforestation and Reforestation.

46 Non-Annex I countries are those countries not included in Annex I of Parties to the UNFCCC; they may also be referred to as “developing country Parties”. Annex I countries are mostly industrialized countries, such as members of the OECD. Bangladesh is a non-Annex I country. 47 Formally, in the context of the UNFCCC, REDD+ stands for “Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries”. It is commonly referred to simply as “Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation”.

132– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Mechanism Characteristics

CDM has fairly elaborate administrative, reporting and validation requirements,

reasons why afforestation and reforestation projects have not been many

because the overhead costs erode the financial viability of the project. As a result,

small scale activities were allowed, with reduced administrative requirements and

hence lower overhead costs. More interestingly, a Programme of Activities (PoA)

can be defined which acts as an umbrella for multiple small projects in a country,

with its concomitant benefits of scale. For instance, a PoA for social forestry could

include all new plantations on degraded RF land throughout the country and then

be registered as a single CDM project.

Scope For afforestation projects only that land can be included which did not support

actual forest in the past 50 years.

For reforestation projects only that land can be included which did not support

actual forest since 1 January 1990.

The minimum area would be several tens of thousands of hectares48 for the

project to be financially viable.

Requirements Bangladesh needs to formally submit the CDM proposal to the UNFCCC. Local

stakeholders need to be consulted and detailed assessments need to be made

of additionality, persistence and leakage.

Financing CDM projects always need a donor country that provides technology and

financing of the project. Any issued Certified Emission Reduction (CER)

certificates will be assigned to the donor countries to offset their domestic GHG

emissions with the reductions achieved in Bangladesh.

Feasibility The Kyoto Protocol, of which the CDM is part, is currently in its second

commitment period and it is doubtful if the Kyoto Protocol will be extended

following the adoption of the new climate agreement at COP-21 in December

2015 and which will become operational from 2020 onwards.

Individual afforestation and reforestation projects are not likely to be financially

viable, but bundling them into a PoA is a more tenable option.

Nishorgo developed a CDM project for the Chunoti Wildlife Sanctuary in 2007,

but this has not been submitted to the UNFCCC.

REDD+ – Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation

Overview The REDD+ mechanism was proposed in 2005 to enable the incorporation of

GHG emission reductions from natural forests in non-Annex I countries into

mitigation programmes. The REDD+ mechanism is still under negotiation as of

June 2016, although most elements of the mechanism have been defined in a

series of decisions from the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC.

The REDD+ mechanism has five eligible activities:

1. Reducing emissions from deforestation

48 A regular CDM project should have a minimum projected annual emission reduction of 16 ktCO2e/yr (decision 9/CMP.3), for a small-scale CDM project the amount is less than that. Given the administrative overhead and low price of Certified Emission Reduction certificates, projects tend not to be financially viable unless much higher annual emission reductions are achieved.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –133

Mechanism Characteristics

2. Reducing emissions from forest degradation

3. Conservation of forest carbon stocks

4. Sustainable management of forests

5. Enhancement of forest carbon stocks

Scope If Bangladesh opts for the REDD+ mechanism then all Forest Land49 in

Bangladesh will have to be included in the National REDD+ Programme. The only

exceptions will be made for forests included in other climate finance agreements,

such as the CDM, FCPF, FIP, etc.

Requirements Decision 1/CP.16 defines the four required elements of a National REDD+

Programme:

1. A national strategy or action plan

2. A national forest reference emission level and/or forest reference level,

in accordance with national circumstances

3. A robust and transparent national forest monitoring system for the

monitoring and reporting of the eligible activities, in accordance with

national circumstances

4. A system for providing information on how the safeguards are being

addressed and respected throughout the implementation of the eligible

activities

In effect, the safeguards require Bangladesh to have full and effective

engagement of all local stakeholders, specifically also indigenous peoples and

local communities in all relevant aspects of any activities implemented under the

National REDD+ Programme.

Financing Bangladesh has to prepare a Technical Annex to the National Communication

(see next section on reporting requirements) with full details of the REDD+

Programme and activities. This Technical Annex will be assessed through the

International Consultation and Analysis process organized by the UNFCCC

Secretariat. If the Technical Annex is found to be compliant with UNFCCC

decisions, then Bangladesh can apply for “results-based finance” at the Green

Climate Fund.

The current (June 2016) price for REDD+ GHG emission reductions is

approximately USD 5 – 5.50 per tCO2e. Any amounts awarded would accrue

directly to Bangladesh and are expected to be applied towards the operation of

the National REDD+ Programme and otherwise be distributed to the stakeholders

of the REDD+ activities in a form deemed appropriate by the government.

Feasibility Once the system is properly set up it is rather straightforward and many current

programmes and activities could be brought under the National REDD+

Programme with limited additional work, such as the social forestry programme.

However, establishing the reference (emission) levels and the national forest

49 “Forest Land” is a land use category under the IPCC Guidelines. In principle it contains all land that is currently forested, but it should also include land that is designated as forest even though it is not currently forested, such as degraded RF land and land accretion in RF areas.

134– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Mechanism Characteristics

monitoring system are complex undertakings and a continuous system for forest

resources assessment has to be set up and maintained.

Bangladesh is actively participating in various REDD+ initiatives and a project is

currently being implemented with support from the UN-REDD Programme.

NAMA – Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions

Overview Under the NAMA mechanism non-Annex I countries like Bangladesh can develop

projects that reduce GHG emissions enhance removals of GHGs from the

atmosphere and register these with the UNFCCC Secretariat to solicit funding for

further development and/or implementation

Scope There are limited guidelines on the scope of projects that can be proposed,

implying that a wide range of projects and activities is eligible.

Requirements There are no specific requirements for NAMA proposals or projects. Reporting on

NAMAs is largely voluntary (see next section), but emissions reductions or

enhanced removals should be accounted for in national greenhouse gas

accounts.

Financing Donor countries or IFIs can browse the NAMA registry and decide to support a

proposal for further development and/or implementation. Otherwise there are no

standards, guidelines or requirements for financing.

Feasibility In the forestry sector Bangladesh has not developed any NAMA proposals. While

such proposals can be developed and submitted, there is no guarantee of

financing.

INDC – Intended Nationally-determined Contributions

Overview In decisions 1/CP.19 and 1/CP.20 the UNFCCC invited all Parties to

communicate to the Secretariat their Intended Nationally-determined

Contributions well in advance of COP-21 where the new climate agreement, of

which the INDCs are part, was to be adopted. The INDCs are an intention of the

Parties to reduce GHG emissions and enhance GHG removals.

Individual activities identified in the INDC of non-Annex I countries can attract

funding from Annex I countries or IFIs.

Scope The INDCs are completely open-ended.

Requirements There are no specific requirements for INDC activities.

Financing Donor countries or IFIs can browse the INDC Portal and decide to support a

proposal for further development and/or implementation. Otherwise there are no

standards, guidelines or requirements for financing.

Feasibility Bangladesh submitted its initial INDC in September 2015 with the following

mitigation activities for the forestry sector:

• Coastal mangrove plantation

• Reforestation and afforestation in the reserved forests

• Plantation in the island areas of Bangladesh

• Continuation of Social and Homestead forestry

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –135

Mechanism Characteristics

In adaptation the priority activity of “Biodiversity and ecosystem conservation” has

been identified.

Box 6-3: CDM project development for the Chunoti Wildlife Sanctuary.

In 2007, Nishorgo with BFD and BFRI developed a proposal for “Mitigation of Greenhouse

Gas Emissions Through Co-Management of Chunoti Wildlife Sanctuary”, to be submitted as

a CDM project under sectoral scope 14 “Reforestation and afforestation”. The objective of

the project was to restore the forest landscape of the Sanctuary by reforestation through

block and enrichment plantations of indigenous species by attracting revenue generated in

carbon offset trading. By conserving forests through reforestation, biodiversity and water

were to be conserved in situ, and rural poverty alleviated by utilizing surplus labour and land

resources locally. Mitigation opportunities in the Sanctuary were deemed to have significant

potential to transfer investment funds and technology to Bangladesh. The document was

developed for potential investments, to generate carbon credits through conservation of

biodiversity in a dense agrarian economy characterized by food deficit and low per capita

income.

Block plantations and enrichment planting were planned over 5,000 ha, yielding a total

sequestration of 2.78 MtCO2e over a period of 42 years. Total revenue of USD 7.58 million

was foreseen, with a cost of project implementation of USD 2 million, both over the same

period of 42 years. This works out to USD 36 /ha/yr.

The proposal has not been registered by the UNFCCC and it has therefore not been

implemented.

Box 6-4: UN-REDD Bangladesh Programme overview.

Bangladesh is a Partner Country of the UN-REDD Programme, a collaboration between

FAO, UNDP and UNEP50. Over the period June 2015 – March 2018 the national programme

will be implemented with a USD 2.3 million grant. By February 2016 the programme had not

yet started due to delays in the development and approval of the Technical Project Proposal.

The outcomes of the programme are:

1. Improved stakeholder awareness and effective stakeholder engagement

2. National REDD+ strategy preparation supported

3. Capacities to develop and test National Forest Reference Emission Level (REL) and/or

Forest Reference Level (RL) are in place

4. National Forest Information System can be used to develop a National Greenhouse

Gas Inventory for the Forest Sector

When the above outcomes have been realized, Bangladesh should have all the skills and

capacities in place to produce the materials necessary to comply with the requirements of

50 In Bangladesh the UNEP is not participating in the National REDD+ Programme.

136– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

the UNFCCC for participation in the REDD+ mechanism (see information on REDD+

mechanism above).

6.3.2 Climate finance options for forestry through IFIs

The International Finance Institutions are also providing climate-related financial instruments

for forestry projects, in particular in support of the REDD+ mechanism. Bangladesh is not

currently participating in any of these programmes, although the Forest Investment Program

administered by the World Bank awarded a grant of USD 250,000 to Bangladesh in July 2015

to develop a Forest Investment Plan which may lead to further financing.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) acts as the finance institution of the UNFCCC51 and has been

allocated funds to provide assistance to developing country Parties to undertake mitigation and

adaptation projects. For REDD+ programmes, this is the main conduit of results-based finance,

but other forestry activities might also be eligible for funding, especially in the area of

adaptation to climate change. By June 2016, the GCF had not yet published its modalities for

financing mitigation and adaptation projects.

6.3.3 Bilateral climate finance options for forestry

Various donors have established funding programmes to support developing countries to

undertake mitigation or adaptation projects in the forestry sector, mostly focusing on up-front

financing of REDD+ readiness activities prior to the availability of results-based finance. Some

examples of such bilateral opportunities are:

• Norway International Climate and Forest Initiative – NICFI has provided large

amounts of money to several countries, including the highly publicized USD 1 billion

pledges to Brazil and Indonesia, with smaller but still substantial amounts going to

Guyana and Tanzania. NICFI is also a major donor to the UN-REDD Programme and

IFI programmes.52

• Germany REDD Early Movers Program – The REM supports REDD+ pioneer

countries who are taking initiatives in forest conservation for climate change mitigation.

The programme rewards the climate change mitigation performance of those countries

by buying up verified emission reductions and promotes sustainable development for

the benefit of small-scale farmers as well as forest-dependent and indigenous

communities through fair benefit sharing. Technical support is provided by GIZ and

finance is managed by KfW.53

• United States USAID, Forest Service and Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 (TFA) –

The United States is providing substantial support to forestry operations through the

Tropical Forestry Alliance 2020. In addition, its regular forestry programmes through

USAID and the Forest Service are strongly focused on REDD+.

51 Decision 1/CP.16, paragraph 102. 52 https://www.regjeringen.no/en/topics/climate-and-environment/climate/climate-and-forest-initiative/ id2000712/ 53 https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/33356.html

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –137

6.3.4 Voluntary carbon market

In anticipation of the conclusion of the negotiations on REDD+ at the UNFCCC, the voluntary

carbon market has developed methodologies for REDD+ projects in any country in the world.54

Project proposals can apply these methodologies and apply for registration with certification

bodies such as Voluntary Carbon Standards (VCS).55 Projects have to be verified by

independent auditors and, if successful, carbon credits can then be registered on an

international market for purchase by others, usually companies or public entities in

industrialized countries who want to reduce their own net carbon emissions as part of their

corporate social responsibility.

The supply of carbon credits in the voluntary carbon market has been growing rapidly in recent

years, but there is an imbalance with demand, leading to uncertainties for project developers

and a reduced market price for carbon credits, which in 2014 reached a historical low of

USD 3.8 per tCO2e.56

6.4 Reporting requirements to international conventions

Bangladesh is signatory to a number of international agreements that require regular reporting

on issues related to forests, forestry and general land use. Such international agreements and

commitments include the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change

(UNFCCC; including REDD+), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention

to Combat Desertification (CCD), the Ramsar Convention, the United Nations Forum on

Forests (UNFF) and FAO’s Forest Resource Assessment (FRA). All of these reports have a

forestry component, with the REDD+ Technical Report and the Forest Resources Assessment

National Report being exclusively about forestry. Other agreements have a significant

component on forestry, ecosystem goods and services, and biodiversity situation and

commitments, etc. This reporting can become quite onerous when every report is produced on

an ad-hoc basis, as is currently the common situation. Even though much information is similar

between different reports, collecting the right data and presenting it in the right format can be

a major task requiring much effort. Furthermore, maintaining consistency in report series and

between reports to different entities is a real challenge.

The reports to international Conventions should not be seen in isolation, but instead in a

broader context of reporting and information dissemination to all relevant entities and

stakeholders, including the general population of Bangladesh. National reporting requirements

– for instance to the Bangladesh Statistical Yearbook published by the Bangladesh Bureau of

Statistics – should be organized in the same fashion and indeed the international reports

should follow the national reporting, for consistency and correspondence to reporting in other

sectors of the nation.

In this Forestry Master Plan policies are developed (Task 2, section 9) and institutional and

technical measures are included to facilitate the production of the reports (Task 6 and 7,

various sections), through the use of a unified information system that collects and maintains

54 Technically speaking, projects in the voluntary carbon market cannot be REDD+, because the decisions by the UNFCCC define REDD+ as a national programme with requirements that can not be met by project-based activities. 55 http://www.v-c-s.org 56 State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2015, Forest Trends. http://forest-trends.org/releases/ uploads/SOVCM2015_FullReport.pdf

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core data sets of the MOEF and the BFD (package BFD/S4) such that consistent reports can

be produced with relatively limited effort. However, attaining this goal requires that a good

understanding is developed of at least the following areas:

1. What are the reporting requirements to each of the Conventions? The assessment

should not only include international reporting requirements, but also those at the

national level.

2. What basic data is required for the various reports? Many reports will have partially

similar information requirements, such as extent of forest, while other data is specific

to a report (like biomass change data for REDD+ reporting, or biodiversity indicators

for the CBD).

3. Where does the data come from, how is it collected, by whom and when? Data

collection should be integrated into regular MOEF and BFD procedures as much as

possible in order not to overburden the staff. Specific data should have data collection

protocols developed such that data is collected in a systematic manner.

4. How can the data be analysed and the quality of the reported information be

ensured? Basic data from field operations and research needs to be analysed and

transformed into the format required by the reporting guidelines. How can MoEF and/or

BFD set up a system of quality control to ensure that reported information is

indisputable?

5. How can the institutional process be optimized to facilitate the production of

high-quality reports? Clear mandates and procedures have to be confirmed or

established to produce the reports, especially when moving from an ad-hoc process to

a continuous process that is integrated with the other tasks of MoEF and BFD.

6. How are the data and the report production managed? Data from the field and

research should be stored in a central database system capable of storing large

volumes of data for all perpetuity. Forest researchers and data analysts should have

access to this database to analyse and transform the data for use in the reports being

produced by forestry officers with expertise in the subject matter of reporting.

The first two issues are elaborated in detail in Table 6-5 at the end of this section. Issues 3

and 4 are addressed in Task 7, institutional aspects in Task 6 and the system for information

management and report production in package BFD/S4.

Virtually all reports identified in Table 6-5 make use of the following table of parameters. An

information system will be established that can produce these parameters in a consistent

manner and without much effort.

Table 6-4: Common parameters used in reporting of forestry activities.

Parameter Description Source

Administrative division Boundaries and areas of

Circles, Divisions, Ranges and

Beats.

RIMS database

Forest cover and type Areas of forest cover, by type of

forest and possibly by canopy

Remote sensing assessments,

field observations, project

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –139

Parameter Description Source

closure or other condition of the

forest. This should include

forests outside of BFD

jurisdiction such as homestead

forestry and private plantations.

reports. All to be integrated into

the RIMS database.

Forest status Description of the status of the

forest, such as Protected Area,

Wildlife Reserve, National Park,

etc.

RIMS database

Forest harvesting and timber

production

Volume of timber harvested and

locations, both within BFD

forest land and from private

land.

Timber measurement

notebook, transport logs,

records of harvesting on private

land

Most reports also have specific content, such as emissions or removals of GHGs for REDD+

reporting, biodiversity indicators for CBD reporting, etc. While such information is specific to a

certain purpose, it should equally be integrated into an information system like the common

data.

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Table 6-5: Reporting requirements to international Conventions and other bodies.

Report Timing / Frequency Contents Responsibility

UNFCCC – United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

National Communication

(NC)

Once every 4 years, as per decision

1/CP.16, paragraph 60(b).

Bangladesh submitted its first

National Communication in 2002

and its second National

Communication in 2012. Since

Bangladesh is a member of the

Least Developed Countries group in

the UNFCCC, it can submit its NCs

in accordance with its national

circumstances and capacities.

Overview of national circumstances; emissions of various

greenhouse gases in 5 sectors of the national economy,

including Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry

(LULUCF); projection of emissions over the next decade.

Data on forest land and forestry is very summary only, but

land use categorization requires detailed information on

forest (land) areas.

MOEF is assigned by the

GoB to act as Focal Point to

the UNFCCC. MOEF

therefore produces the

report. Information has to be

delivered by many other

government agencies.

Biennial Update Report

(BUR)

Once every 2 years, as per decision

2/CP.17, paragraph 41(f).

In a 4 year cycle, one BUR coincides

with submission of a NC, in which

case the BUR is “a summary of

parts” of the NC, the other being “a

stand-alone update report”.

By June 2016, Bangladesh had not

yet submitted any BUR.

Contents are defined in Annex III to decision 2/CP.17:

• National circumstances and institutional

arrangements

• National inventory of emissions and removal of

GHGs

• Mitigation actions

• Constraints and financial, technical and capacity

needs

• Level of support received to produce the BUR

• Information on domestic MRV

• Any other relevant information

As with the NC the content is for all sectors of the national

economy, but emissions and removals from forest land

and forestry activities have to be reported.

Same as for the NC.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –141

Report Timing / Frequency Contents Responsibility

Technical Annex The Technical Annex is part of the

BUR, as per decision 2/CP.17,

Annex III.

The Technical Annex can contain information on multiple

topics. For forestry, it contains information on REDD+

(decision 14/CP.19) and then specifically:

• Summary information on RLs/RELs:

o Amount of the RLs/RELs in tCO2e

o REDD+ activity related to the RLs/RELs

o Forest area covered

o Date of the RLs/RELs

o Period for which the RLs/RELs are valid

• Results or REDD+ activities in tCO2e/yr.

• Demonstration that the methodologies used to

produce the REDD+ results are consistent with

those used to establish the RLs/RELs

• Description of the NFMS and the institutional

roles and responsibilities for MRV

• Necessary information to reconstruct the results

• Description of how REDD+ requirements have

been taken into account

This report contains the substance of all REDD+

activities, with full details on individual programmes,

interventions and activities. If Bangladesh decides to

implement a national REDD+ programme – as seems to

be the case – then this report will be the principal conduit

to report on mitigation actions on forest land.

MOEF formally prepares the

Technical Annex, but most of

the data should come from

BFD databases.

142– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Report Timing / Frequency Contents Responsibility

Nationally Appropriate

Mitigation Actions

(NAMA)

Submission of proposals for

mitigation actions seeking

international financial and technical

support are optional. If a proposal is

submitted then Bangladesh is

invited to submit information on a

voluntary basis (decision 2/CP.17,

paragraph 46) through the NAMA

Registry maintained by the

UNFCCC Secretariat.

By June 2016, Bangladesh had not

yet submitted any NAMAs.

The NAMA Registry records the following information on

proposals seeking support:

• Description of the mitigation action and the

national implementing entity

• Time frame for implementation

• Cost of the preparation

• Cost of the implementation

• Amount and type of support (financial, technology

and capacity-building) to prepare and/or

implement

• Estimated emission reductions

• Other indicators of implementation

• Other relevant information, including the co-

benefits for local sustainable development

Projects receiving support should report on the following

topics:

• Support is for preparation and/or implementation

• Source of the support

• Amount and type of support, and whether it is

financial, technical and/or capacity-building

support

• Status of delivery

• Supported actions and the process for support

NAMAs can be submitted for

any sector of the national

economy. The GoB should

identify priorities if it decides

to submit NAMAs.

NAMAs in the land use and

forestry sector will have to be

submitted by the MOEF

and/or the Ministries of

Agriculture and/or Livestock.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –143

Report Timing / Frequency Contents Responsibility

Intended Nationally

Determined Contribution

(INDC)

Once every 5 years, as per decision

1/CP.19.

Bangladesh submitted its first INDC

in September 2015

The INDC contains a pledge of the GoB to undertake

mitigation and adaptation actions, partially on the

condition that support is made available.

For the forestry sector, the following mitigation activities

have been identified:

• Coastal mangrove plantation

• Reforestation and afforestation in the reserved

forests

• Plantation in the island areas of Bangladesh

• Continuation of Social and Homestead forestry

In adaptation the priority activity of “Biodiversity and

ecosystem conservation” has been identified.

MOEF

National Adaptation Plan

of Action

(NAPA)

Submission of a report is optional.

Bangladesh submitted its first NAPA

in 2005 and that was updated in

2009.

The NAPA programme is open to members of the Least

Developed Countries group in the UNFCCC, of which

Bangladesh is a member.

The NAPA process is specified in decision 28/CP.7.

There are no specific reporting requirements for NAPA

programmes or activities, but individual activities will have

reporting schedules to both the UNFCCC and the sponsor

of the activity.

Bangladesh submitted its latest NAPA in 2009, containing

the following “priority activity” in the forestry sector:

“Reduction of climate change hazards through coastal

afforestation with community participation”. Given its age,

a new NAPA may be produced if sufficient “priority

activities” can be identified.

National NAPA Team

established by MOEF

144– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Report Timing / Frequency Contents Responsibility

CBD – United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity

National Report Once every 5 years.

Bangladesh submitted its 5th

National Report in October 2015.

Article 26 of the Convention requires Parties to submit

National Reports. The contents are organized by

sections:

• Biodiversity status, trends, and threats and

implications for human well-being

• National biodiversity strategy and action plan

• Aichi Biodiversity Targets and Millennium

Development Goals

MOEF

National Biodiversity

Strategy and Action Plan

(NBSAP)

Once.

By June 2016, Bangladesh had not

yet submitted its NBSAP.

According to Article 6 of the Convention:

• National strategies, plans or programmes for the

conservation and sustainable use of biological

diversity or adaptation for this purpose of existing

strategies, plans or programmes

• Integrate the conservation and sustainable use of

biological diversity into relevant sectoral or cross-

sectoral plans, programmes and policies.

In particular, the NBSAP should address the Aichi

Biodiversity Targets57 and plans to address them. While

the targets mostly refer to biodiversity and genetic

resources in a general sense, targets 5 (rate of loss of all

natural habitats), 7 (areas are managed sustainably) and

15 (ecosystem resilience and the contribution of

biodiversity to carbon stocks has been enhanced) refer

specifically to forests.

MOEF

57 https://www.cbd.int/sp/targets/

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –145

Report Timing / Frequency Contents Responsibility

Programme of Work on

Protected Areas

(POWPA)

Once. This report may be updated

occasionally.

Bangladesh submitted its POWPA

on 29 May 2012.

The report contains the commitment of the Party towards

the following topics:

• Establishment of a system of protected areas or

areas where special measures need to be taken

to conserve biological diversity

• Development of guidelines for the selection,

establishment and management of protected

areas or areas where special measures need to

be taken to conserve biological diversity

• Regulation or management of biological

resources important for the conservation of

biological diversity whether within or outside

protected areas, with a view to ensuring their

conservation and sustainable use

• Promoting environmentally sound and

sustainable development in areas adjacent to

protected areas.

BFD / MOEF, with

Department of Environment

and Department of Fisheries

Ramsar Convention

National Report Bangladesh submitted its 6th

National Report for COP-12 in

January 2015.

The National Report is formatted like a questionnaire with

66 “implementation indicator questions”, mostly of a

qualitative nature on topics like wetland inventory, policies

and strategies, information management, wetland

restoration, wetland management, international

cooperation, transboundary issues and implementation

capacity.

Bangladesh has two Ramsar sites: the Sundarbans and

Tanguar Hoar.

MOEF / BFD

146– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Report Timing / Frequency Contents Responsibility

CCD – United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

National Report Bangladesh submitted its 6th

National Report in 2015.

The National Report contains updated information on:

• National circumstances of Bangladesh, including

geo-physical and socio-economic data

• Land degradation and desertification processes

• Strategies and priorities, including information on

afforestation and other forest sector projects

• Implementation arrangements and knowledge

management

• Financial resources

• Monitoring & evaluation and information

management

Department of Environment

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –147

Report Timing / Frequency Contents Responsibility

National Action

Programme

(NAP)

Once.

Bangladesh formulated its NAP in

2005.

The National Action Programme contains an overview of

the geo-physical conditions of the country and plans to

address droughts and desertification and its impacts:

• Land forms, land use patterns and socio-

economic conditions

• Drought monitoring and assessment and early

warning systems

• Processes and impacts of droughts and

desertification

• Mitigation measures

• Policies and strategies

• Planning, programmes and institutional

framework

• Monitoring of implementation

• Technologies for implementation

• Conclusions and recommendations

In the NAP, forestry issues are not a central issue but

forest cover is typically presented as a mitigating measure

against desertification.

Department of Environment

CITES – Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

National Report National Reports are supposed to

be produced on a biennial schedule.

To date, Bangladesh has not yet

submitted any National Reports.

The National Report is largely in the format of a

questionnaire, with brief elaboration of details.

Specifically, an overview should be given of licences to

trade in listed species, of which 344 are found in

Bangladesh (244 Chordata, remainder mostly coral reef

species and orchids; only tree species is agarwood).

BFD

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Report Timing / Frequency Contents Responsibility

FRA – Forest Resources Assessment

Country Report Once every 5 years.

Country Reports for 2005 – 2010 –

2015 have been prepared.

The FRA Country Report is a comprehensive overview of

all forestry data in Bangladesh. It covers the following

topics:

• Extent of forest and wooded land

• Ownership and management rights

• Designation and management

• Forest characteristics

• Establishment and regeneration

• Growing stock

• Biomass stock

• Carbon stock

• Forest fires

• Disturbances

• Wood removals and value of removals

• NTFP removals and value of removals

• Employment

• Policy and legal framework

• Institutional framework

• Education and research

• Public revenue collection and expenditure

BFD, with technical

assistance from FAO

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –149

Report Timing / Frequency Contents Responsibility

UNFF – United Nations Forum on Forests

National Report Reports are produced on a voluntary

basis.

Bangladesh submitted its most

recent National Report to UNFF-11

in October 2014.

The National Report is a highly structured report to report

progress on various topics since the adoption of the

Forest Instrument in 200758:

• Actions on policies for SFM

• Combating illegal activities

• Institutional strengthening and coordination

• Programs and activities on SFM

• Stakeholder engagement

• Private sector engagement

• Financing and Payment for Ecosystem Services

(PES)

• International cooperation

• Science and research

• Public awareness

• Criteria & indicators for SFM

• Contribution of SFM to the achievement of the

Millennium Development Goals59

MOEF / BFD

58 http://www.un.org/esa/forests/documents/un-forest-instrument/index.html 59 http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

150– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Report Timing / Frequency Contents Responsibility

SDG – Sustainable Development Goals

National Report on

Sustainable Development

Bangladesh has submitted one

National Report in the context

of the Rio+20 process, in May

2012 (so prior to the definition

of the SDGs).

The schedule for submitting

National Reports has not yet

been established.

The Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015 as

part of the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

Seventeen goals have been defined of which goal 15 is of

direct concern to the forestry sector: “Protect, restore and

promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably

manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse

land degradation and halt biodiversity loss”. Under this goal,

the following topics are most relevant:

• By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and

sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater

ecosystems and their services, in particular forests,

wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with

obligations under international agreements. (15.1)

• By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable

management of all types of forests, halt deforestation,

restore degraded forests and substantially increase

afforestation and reforestation globally. (15.2)

• Take urgent and significant action to reduce the

degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of

biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the

extinction of threatened species. (15.5)

• Take urgent action to end poaching and trafficking of

protected species of flora and fauna and address both

demand and supply of illegal wildlife products. (15.7)

• By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values

into national and local planning, development

processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts.

(15.9)

The focal point for the SDG

is the Permanent Mission of

Bangladesh to the United

Nations.

MoEF has produced the

National Report for the

Rio+20 process, with

involvement of the Ministry of

Finance, the Ministry of

Planning and the Ministry of

Foreign Affairs

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –151

7 Review and assessment of forest policies, land tenure, programmes and institutions

7.1 Review and assessment of forest policies

7.1.1 The evolution of forest policy

There is an extensive history of forest policy affecting the management of the forests of

Bangladesh that extends to past British rule. Subsequent to the establishment of the British

India Forest Department and the enactment of the first Forest Act in 1865, the government

started to reserve the forests in the Bengal Presidency primarily on consideration of either their

ecological condition or the importance of their watersheds. This policy resulted in the

declaration of several reserved forests in the Sundarbans; the Sangu, Matamuhari, Kassalong,

and Rankhiang headwater reserves and catchment areas of several rivers in the Chittagong

Division; and the tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forests containing significant levels

of biodiversity in the Sylhet-Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar region. It also resulted in proposed

reserved forests in the plainland and undulating Sal forests in the central region of the country

under section 4 of the Forest Act of 1927, some of which have been declared reserved as

recently as 2016, although many have since also been encroached.

Forest policy of 1894

British India’s first forest policy was enacted through Circular No. 22-F dated 19 October 1894.

Its sole management objective was to secure public benefit from public forests, primarily as a

source of state revenue, by restricting and regulating the rights and privileges of users.60

Several of the more pertinent directives of the policy were to:

• Maintain forests in hilly areas for the preservation of climatic and physical conditions,

and for the protection of cultivated land in the plains below from siltation, soil erosion,

and floods, as well as the general devastating effects of torrents;

• Convert forest areas into agricultural land wherever an effective demand for cultivable

land existed, thus establishing the preference for agriculture over forestry; and

• Allow people to satisfy their requirements from second class state forests capable of

producing only small timber, fuel wood and fodder with the recognition that the first

objective of management should be the perpetuation of the forest and the second

should be the continued supply of forest products for the greater advantage and

convenience of the people.

The 1894 policy was characterized by the progressive commercialization of forest use for

maximizing revenue, expansion of agricultural land at the expense of forests for commercial

farming, systematic alienation of local communities from forests, and the progressive

diminution of traditional user rights.

Forest policy of 1955

Since the forest policy of 1894 had been established under very different conditions in a more

resource rich and developed, pre-partition India, it was incumbent to reassess forest policy to

address more effectively the requirements of the contemporary forest situation in post-partition

Pakistan. The 1894 forest policy was, therefore, reformulated on 12 November 1955. The

60 Millat-e-Mustafa 2002; Banik 2002.

152– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

resultant forest policy contained several policy statements, the most significant of which were

the following:

• Forests should be classified on the basis of their utility and forestry should be accorded

a high priority in national development plans;

• Provisions should be made to manage all forests under working plans;

• Canal banks, roadsides, railway tracks and wastelands should be brought under the

new plantation program;

• The beneficial aspects of forestry should receive precedence over commercial motives;

• Timber harvesting techniques should be improved to reduce waste;

• Required powers should be granted to control land use under a coordinated program

of soil conservation and land utilization in areas subject to, or threatened with, soil

erosion;

• Habitat protection and improvement should be prioritized to protect and conserve

wildlife; and

• A properly constituted forest service of fully trained staff should be made responsible

for the implementation of forest policy.

The 1955 forest policy continued to emphasize revenue earning from the forest sector and

clear felling followed by artificial regeneration became common practice throughout the

country. There were, nevertheless, several forest management plans that were developed

using information provided from inventories of forest tracts that were conducted under the

purview of the 1955 forest policy.

Forest policy of 1962

The last piece of forest legislation issued while Bangladesh was still a part of Pakistan was

promulgated in letter number F.4-30/62-P4 from the Ministry of Agriculture and Works, Food

and Agriculture Division, dated 20 June 1962. The 1962 forest policy encompassed five

aspects associated with forest management, including forestry, watershed management, farm

forestry, range management, and soil conservation. The 1962 forest policy reaffirmed several

provisions that:

• Forests should be managed intensively as commercial concerns;

• Plantations should be developed in government-owned wastelands by transferring

those wastelands to the jurisdiction of the Forest Department;

• Soil should be conserved and prioritized in forests and on private lands;

• Research should be conducted on fast-growing commercial species for each ecological

zone to encourage farm forestry; and

• Pilot projects to cultivate trees on saline land and in water-logged areas should be

initiated.

Forest policy of 1979

The first national forest policy of Bangladesh after independence was defined in Gazette

Notification No. 1/For-1/77/345 of 8 July 1979. The development of the 1979 forest policy was

informed, in particular, by discussions that were conducted at the first Bangladesh National

Forestry Conference organized in 1977. Pivotal statements in the 1979 forestry policy asserted

that:

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –153

• Forests shall be carefully preserved and scientifically managed for qualitative

improvement;

• Every government forest shall be designated as a national forest and national forests

shall not be used for non- forestry purposes;

• Horizontal expansion of forests shall be accomplished on the new land formation along

the coastal belt and offshore areas, on the depleted hills of unclassified state forest

land, and on suitable khas lands;

• The tree wealth of the country shall be improved by large-scale plantations organized

with mass participation;

• Optimum extraction and utilization of forest products shall be conducted to meet the

requirements of the people and the country using modern technology;

• Measures to establish new forest-based industries and meet raw material requirements

shall be adopted;

• Forestry research, education and training shall be organized to meet scientific,

technological and administrative requirements;

• The forestry sector shall be organized to constitute a separate administrative unit of the

government and relevant laws shall be updated for implementing forest policy;

• Effective measures shall be taken to ensure conservation of the natural environment

and wildlife and for utilizing the recreational potential of forests;

• Mass motivation programmes shall be initiated and technical assistance extended to

those practicing with forestry.

The National Forestry Policy of 1979 was purported to be "... somewhat vague ...", however,

and not fully implemented.61

Forest policy of 1994

The forest policy of 1994 was constituted as an amendment of the forest policy of 1979. It was

enacted in 1994 and officially announced on 31 May 1995 in the Bangladesh Gazette, 6 July

1995. The policy was formulated in tandem with the initiation of the 20-year Forestry Master

Plan (FMP 1994) to preserve and develop the nation’s forest resources. The FMP provided a

structure from which to optimize the forestry sector’s contributions to the stabilization of

environmental conditions and support economic and social development. It designated three

imperatives - sustainability, efficiency, and people’s participation - and it was developed in

accordance with Agenda 21 forest principles that were adopted at the United Nations

Conference on Environment and Development organized in Brazil in 199262.

The principal objectives of the 1994 National Forest Policy were to:

• Afforest 20% of the area of the country by initiating various afforestation programmes

in forest lands, fallow lands, lands not useful for agriculture, hinterlands and other

61 Choudhury, Junaid Kabir. National Forest Policy Review. n.d. 62 Khan 2001.

154– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

possible areas to meet the basic requirements of the present and future generations

and to ensure greater contribution of the forestry sector to economic development;

• Enrich biodiversity in the existing degraded forests by conserving the remaining natural

habitats of birds and animals;

• Strengthen agriculture by extending assistance to those sectors related to forest

development, especially by conserving land and water resources;

• Fulfil national responsibilities and commitments by implementing various government

ratified agreements associated with global warming, desertification, and the control of

trade and commerce of wild birds and animals;

• Prevent illegal occupation of forest lands, illegal tree felling, and hunting of wild animals

through promotion of the participation of local people;

• Encourage effective use and utilization of forest products at various stages of

processing;

• Provide for and implement afforestation programmes on both public and private lands.

7.1.2 Review and assessment of the 1994 National Forestry Policy

The 1994 National Forestry Policy has 29 statements of policy that have been consolidated for

the purposes of this review and assessment into eight groupings of management priority

programmes. Those priority groupings include the following:

Reforestation, Afforestation and Plantation Establishment

There are eight statements of the 1994 National Forestry Policy directed to reforestation,

afforestation and plantation establishment. Those encompass policy statements 1 through 7

and 12 (Annex I). The purposes of those policies were to achieve a forest cover of 20% of the

country's land area by accelerating the pace of reforestation and afforestation programmes

undertaken in rural areas, as well as on newly-accreted char lands, in denuded Unclassed

State Forest areas of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, on the banks of ponds and homestead lands,

the courtyards of rural organizations, roadsides, railroad sidings, dams, and khas tanks, in

areas of denuded or encroached reserved forests, and in urban areas. Those efforts were to

be facilitated "... through the coordinated efforts of government and NGOs and active

participation of the people in order to achieve self-reliance in forest products and maintenance

of ecological balance" (National Forestry Policy 1994).

The lack of availability of reliable and consistent assessments of forest cover preclude accurate

comparison of forest cover changes over time. There is, nevertheless, a consensus that

affirms that the forest cover target of 20% was not achieved and that the increases in

reforestation and afforestation activities throughout the country, as arresting as they might

have been, especially in coastal areas, as well as along roadsides and other comparable lands,

were not sufficient to offset losses in forest cover that occurred as the result of encroachment,

urban expansion, industrial development, and the establishment of infrastructure, as well as

the effects of illegal logging. The inability to achieve the policy target and, more particularly, to

fall especially short of the mark in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, is sufficient reason to maintain

that while there were significant achievements associated with this policy grouping on

reforestation, afforestation and plantation establishment, the policies would still have to be

considered to be merely moderately successful.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –155

Protected Areas and Forests

The Protected Areas and Forests management priorities' grouping encompasses policy

statements 8 through 11. Their purposes were to increase the area of protected areas by 10%

of the reserved forestland by 2015, ensure the multiple-use, sustainable management of the

Sundarbans, set aside areas for conserving soil and water resources and preserving

biodiversity, and maintain inaccessible areas, including the slopes of hillsides, fragile

watersheds, and swamps, as protected forests.

The area of protected areas has increased by considerably more than the 10% of the reserved

forest land proposed through these policies even though there is no assurance that mere

designation ensures sustainable management. There have been 196,216 ha of national parks

and wildlife sanctuaries, exclusive of other conservation areas, and 173,800 ha of marine

protected areas established since the promulgation of the 1994 National Forestry Policy,

representing 16% and 30%, respectively, of the 1,222,691 ha of the country's reserved forests.

The areas of several of those national parks and wildlife sanctuaries are not very large, though,

and twelve of those national parks and wildlife sanctuaries have areas of less than 1000 ha

with an average area of only 335 ha.

The development of Integrated Resources Management Plans to support the multiple-use,

sustained management of the Sundarbans Reserved Forest have also provided a ten-year

strategic program with specified goals and objectives, targeted outcomes and outputs with

verifiable success criteria, framework activities, and appropriate guidelines for sustainably

managing the Sundarbans Reserved Forests and its interface landscape. The multiple-use,

sustained management objectives were to:

• Protect, restore, sustain and enhance the biodiversity of the Sundarbans Reserved

Forests and its interface landscape.

• Provide for resilience-based food security through provision of a variety of subsistence

uses, including fisheries, values, benefits, products and services, while ensuring the

sustainable supply of those resources for future generations.

• Provide for and enhance ecotourism and visitor recreation opportunities.

• Support and improve community-based co-management approaches for the activities

occurring in the Sundarbans Reserved Forest and its surrounding landscape.

• Provide for and implement appropriate climate change mitigation and adaptation

options and opportunities.

There have been increases in the areas set aside for conserving soil and water resources and

preserving biodiversity during the period since the development of the 1994 National Forestry

Policy Statements, as well. The area that has been set aside for conserving soil and water

resources increased from 315,000 to 420,000 ha between 1990 and 2015, while the area that

was set aside for biodiversity more than doubled from 110,000 to 271,000 ha during the same

period according to the FRA 2015 Country Report for Bangladesh. Ecologically critical areas

of more than 200,000 ha have also been designated in the Sundarbans.

The increases in protected areas and other areas set aside for conserving soil and resources

and preserving biodiversity and the development of the management plans and designation of

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ecologically critical areas in the Sundarbans support the assertion that this policy grouping on

protected areas and forests has by-and-large achieved its purposes.

Forest Products and Labour-Intensive Small- and Cottage-Scale Industries

Policy statements 10, 13 through 18, and 25 and 26 are contained in this management

priorities grouping on forest products and labour-intensive small- and cottage-scale industries.

The purposes of these policies were to promote profit-oriented business approaches in forest

management, reduce waste by increasing the efficiency and employing advanced technologies

at all stages of extraction and processing of forest products, promote state-owned forest-based

industries to operate as profit-oriented businesses, encourage the establishment of forest

resources-based, labour-intensive small- and cottage-scale industries, streamline and update

the rules and procedures regarding the transport of forest products, and retain the ban on log

exports.

There is an active private sector segment of the wood products industries in Bangladesh that

is composed of relatively small-scale, labour-intensive logging operations and homestead

owners that operates in a competitive environment that accounts for an estimated 75-80% of

the country's wood products industries' production. There are thousands of relatively inefficient

small mills that have not registered with the Forest Department and operate somewhat

independently of it with apparently small profit margins using old band saws that are, however,

reputed by their owners to minimize conversion losses because of the small kerfs of the blades.

There is also a much smaller public sector segment composed primarily of the Bangladesh

Forest Industries Development Corporation (BFICD) and the Chemical Industries Corporation

(CIC) that has been progressively diminished, more as the result of the imposition of the

logging ban on state lands that was initially imposed in 1989 rather than through the planned

efforts of the Forest Department. The log and bamboo supplies, respectively, of these two

quasi-government organizations had previously been subsidized to a much greater extent by

the Forest Department, but with the imposition of the logging ban, each of these organizations

has had to adapt to a more competitive operating environment, even though both the BFIDC

and the CIC are still considered to be semi-autonomous if for no other reason than the

industrial relationships that continue to be retained through captive Forest Department markets

for their outputs.

The rules and procedures regarding the transport of forest products, meanwhile, have

apparently not yet been comprehensively reviewed and updated and those actions will have

to continue to be retained in the National Forestry Policy 2016.

The implementation of this policy grouping on forest products and labour-intensive small- and

cottage-scale industries, even considering some of the advances that have been made with

regard to the operations of public and private wood products industry sectors under more

competitive conditions, would still have to be considered to be less than satisfactory because

of the recognition that most of those advances have occurred independently without the active

intervention of the Forest Department.

Forest Conversion

This management priorities grouping on forest conversion includes policy statements 19 and

20. Their purposes were to ensure that state-owned reserved forests cannot be used for non-

forest purposes without the permission of the head of the government and that indigenous

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –157

local communities would be imparted with ownership of some forest land of undetermined

ownership through the forest resettlement process.

There are no reliable sources of information or consistent time series data sets that accurately

depict the extent of the conversion of the country's state-owned reserved forests. There are

estimates of annual forest loss of 10-15,000 ha, but those represent composite net losses and

do not differentiate between the causes of those losses. It is, nevertheless, inarguable that

there have been substantial transfers of forest land to other land uses that have occurred

during the past two decades that are attributable to agricultural encroachment, the expansion

of urban areas, industrial development, and the establishment of infrastructure that have been

prompted by relatively rapid population growth and increasing rates of economic development,

which have been compounded by the relatively scarcity of agricultural land. As per official

records of the BFD, an area of 60,782.30 ha area has been converted to other land uses and

another 104,154.43 ha is under encroachment of various kinds. However, the situation on the

ground is very complex and it is difficult to get a correct estimate without a detailed survey.

The programme to impart ownership of some forest land of undetermined ownership to

indigenous local communities through the forest resettlement process has been unsuccessful,

primarily because of the distrust of the government that has been expressed by the indigenous

local communities living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Overall, the implementation of this policy grouping on forest conversion would have to be

considered to be unsuccessful as the result not only of the extent of the conversion of forest

land that has occurred, but also the inability to resolve the political misgivings that continue to

deter government rapprochement with the indigenous local communities living in the

Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Legislation and Regulations

There is only one policy statement (29) in this management priorities grouping on legislation

and regulations, Its purpose was to provide provisions for amending forestry laws, rules, and

regulations and, if necessitated, promulgating new laws in accordance with the goals and

objectives of the National Forestry Policy.

There have been several actions consistent with the intent of this policy in the period since the

declaration of the 1994 National Forestry Policy. The most recognizable of those actions have

been the use of provisions to amend the Forest Law through Forest (Amendment) Act 2000

and to establish Social Forestry Rules 2004 that have been amended in 2010 and 2011 to

promote social forestry. These actions are regarded as important watersheds that have

increased opportunities for local communities, including the poorer sectors of society, to

participate in forestry activities; altered attitudes toward the participation of local communities

in those activities; increased the transparency of government programs; and established within

the Forest Department a Social Forestry Wing and appropriate technical positions.

The Wildlife (Preservation) Order 1973 was also amended in 1973 and 1974 and through the

Wildlife (Preservation) (Amendment) Act 2008, which was enacted to provide protection,

conservation and management of protected areas and wildlife in Bangladesh. The Wildlife

(Security and Safety) Act 2012 has also been promulgated and is now in force.

The application of this policy on legislation and regulations, while perhaps somewhat equivocal

regarding the extent to which other amendments and laws might also have been advanced, as

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well, would, nevertheless, be regarded to be moderately successful as the result of the

importance of the amendments attached to both the Forest Law and Wildlife (Protection) Act,

and the establishment of the Social Forestry Rules.

Institutional Development

This management priorities grouping on institutional development encompasses policy

statements 27 and 28. Their purposes were to strengthen the Forest Department and establish

a new 'Department of Social Forestry' to achieve the goals and objectives of the National

Forestry Policy and strengthen educational, training, and research organizations to contribute

to forestry sector development.

While there was a Social Forestry Wing established in the Forest Department in compliance

with this management policy grouping to support the expansion of the social forestry program,

there was apparently little other institutionalized strengthening of the Forest Department or its

other affiliated educational, training, and research organizations since the release of the 1994

National Forestry Policy. Indeed, the current states of these institutions, which are discussed

in section 7.4 of this report on institutional limitations, indicate that the Forest Department,

Forest Research Institute, Forest Academy, and Forestry Science and Technology Institute

may still require various differentiated forms of organizational restructuring and more technical

specialists and sanctioned positions, and increased budget allocations, as well as other

sources of sustainable funding, and more effective human resources development

programmes to improve performance and motivate professional, as well as non-professional,

personnel. It is on the basis of that assessment that the application of this management policy

grouping on institutional development would have to be considered to be less than satisfactory.

Livelihoods Improvement

This management policy grouping on livelihoods improvement contains policy statement 23

with the purpose of recognizing and promoting ecotourism as a forestry-related activity.

Bangladesh is rich in natural scenic beauty, but the tourism industry in the country has

developed in a rather haphazard manner and it is only in recent years that the Forest

Department has started to recognize the potential contributions of ecotourism to the

enhancement of local livelihoods if it is well-managed according to the principles of long-term

sustainability. In scenic natural sites such as those in the Sundarbans, ecotourism is now

promoted as a forestry-related activity and although official statistics on ecotourism are rather

sparse, indirect evidence obtained from visits to ecotourism sites administered by the Forest

Department suggest that it is developing, albeit at a moderately slow pace. There is, thus,

sufficient reason for the Forest Department to develop a comprehensive ecotourism policy as

a prerequisite to further developing this niche market, attracting more eco-tourists, and

enhancing local livelihoods through their increased participation in both cultural and

recreational ecotourism activities.

This policy on livelihoods improvement would have to be considered moderately successful in

the sense that the Forest Department has recognized, and is promoting, ecotourism as a

forestry-related activity, but it must also be understood that there was more that might have

been accomplished to accelerate its development.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –159

General

The last general management policy grouping encompasses policy statements 21, 22, and 24.

Their purposes were to ensure the most effective allocation of donor funding through private

forestry organizations and tree farming, as well as for training; encourage women to participate

in homestead and farm forestry and participatory forestry programmes; and promote a massive

campaign through government and non-government media for raising consciousness about

afforestation, conservation, and the use of forest resources.

The most notable achievements associated with this general management policy grouping

have been the increased participation of women in homestead and farm forestry activities, as

well as the establishment and expansion of participatory reforestation and afforestation

programmes, especially as integrated components of social forestry initiatives; the raising of

public awareness of the contributions of conservation and the sustainable use of forest

resources; and the programmed allocation of donor development funds to reforestation and

afforestation programmes and targeted training activities.

It is on the basis of those achievements that the implementation of this general management

policy grouping is considered to be successful.

7.1.3 Summary of limitations of forest policies

The assessment of the foregoing policy statements indicate that the implementation of several

of its policies were considered to be either unsuccessful, less than successful, or merely

moderately successful. That evaluation suggests that those policies will have to be either

reconsidered or reconstructed, and/or the constraints that have been restricting their

implementation either removed or lessened, in the formulation of the draft National Forestry

Policy 2016 that will be presented in the Task 6 report on “Financial and other resources

needed for the implementation of the Forestry Master Plan, policies, institutional reforms and

technical capacity required for implementing the Forestry Master Plan.” Those policies that will

receive renewed consideration in that formulation include those that are concerned, especially,

with participatory social forestry reforestation and afforestation programmes in the Chittagong

Hill Tracts, the promotion of profit-oriented business approaches in forest management and

increased efficiency and use of advanced technologies in the wood processing industries, the

passage of enabling legislation to support the effective implementation of established policies,

and the enhancement of capacity, as well as the strengthening by different means of reforming

and/or restructuring, of the Forest Department and its allied institutions.

There are also several other policies that will have to be integrated into the draft National

Forestry Policy 2016 to respond to various emerging concerns that have not yet been

adequately accounted for in prevailing policies, particularly those associated with adapting to,

and mitigating, the projected impacts of climate change, the growing acceptance of the

principles, especially those involving the equitable sharing of benefits with local communities,

associated with the co-management of forests and forest resources, the increased recognition

of the importance of the societal contributions of forest ecosystem functions and services, and

the means of ensuring compliance with international agreements and protocols.

7.2 Review of Forest Department programmes

There have been several programmes that have supported the achievements of reforestation,

afforestation, and plantation establishment policies, of which the Forestry Sector Project was

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representative. It sustained and expanded the impetus that had been previously established

through the Community Forestry Project that had been implemented in 23 districts, as well as

that of the Upazila Afforestation and Nursery Development Project that had been implemented

in 61 districts. The Forestry Sector Project was engaged in reforestation and afforestation

practices in 29 of the country's 43 territorial and social forestry divisions with a budget of almost

Tk. 400 crore (~USD 70 million). One of the more prominent achievements of the project in its

efforts to ensure the sustainability of raised plantations, as well as to promote the equitable

sharing of benefits with local community participants, was to secure a series of Memorandums

of Understanding with land-owning public agencies, including the Roads and Highways

Department, the Railways Department, and the Local Government Engineering Department.

Those actions advanced social forestry practices, which were subsequently implemented by

establishing participatory woodlots and agroforestry systems in reserved forests and protected

forests.

There have also been parallel programs with similar people-oriented objectives and

mechanisms that have been embedded in coastal forest divisions through the Coastal

Greenbelt Project; the Mangrove Afforestation Projects; the Integrated Resource Development

of the Sundarbans Reserved Forest Project; the Sundarbans Biodiversity Conservation

Project; and the Climate Resilient Participatory Afforestation and Reforestation Project, which

have been directed to the establishment of plantations and the conservation of biodiversity. It

has been under these projects that large-scale plantations have been established on

government lands in coastal areas, especially in reserved forests.

There have also been several projects that have integrated social forestry into participatory

forestry programmes in collaboration with the Forest Department. These have included the

Sundarbans Environmental and Livelihoods Security Project, which used various co-

management structures established in the Sundarbans Reserved Forests under the Integrated

Protected Area Management Project to implement its biodiversity conservation and livelihood

programmes. Those actions represented initiatives in which the sustainability of co-

management structures and the integrated management of forests and wetlands were

incorporated into a landscape management approach.

The integration of social forestry into participatory forestry programmes has also been

achieved in the Community Forestry Project; the Upazila Afforestation and Nursery

Development Project; the Coastal Greenbelt Project; and the Forestry Sector Project. Those

projects have generated benefits for local communities organized into labour groups in the

establishment of plantations on unused public lands and forestlands. One of the most

recognizable characteristics of those participatory programmes has been the implementation

of the Tree Farming Fund, in which 10% of tree harvest proceeds are retained for establishing

replacement plantations, which has contributed in an important manner to program

sustainability by enabling the establishment of second and third, as well as succeeding,

generation plantations subsequent to the completion of initial harvests.

Project support for wildlife and biodiversity conservation in national parks and wildlife

sanctuaries to support protected areas and forest policies has been provided through several

projects, as well, including the Strengthening Regional Cooperation for Wildlife Protection

Project and the Nishorgo Support Project, the latter of which was implemented in 5 national

parks and wildlife sanctuaries, and its successor, the Integrated Protected Area Management

Project, which was implemented in 17 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, 4 ecologically

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –161

critical areas and 3 wetlands to conserve biodiversity using a co-management approach.

Those projects were successful in establishing administrative and institutional precedents for

the co-management of protected areas, which resulted in their expansion under the Climate

Resilient Ecosystems and Livelihood Project. Each of those projects employed a co-

management approach in protected areas to conserve biodiversity in partnerships with local

communities organized into co-councils and committees comprised of representatives of local

communities, local government authorities, Forest Department field officers, and various other

stakeholders from civil society and law enforcement agencies.

Forest inventories and the preparation of forest management plans have been undertaken in

select forest divisions and protected areas in the Forest Resources Management Project.

Under that project, integrated forest management plans were prepared for 8 forest divisions,

including the Sundarbans, and conservation management plans were developed for 3 wildlife

sanctuaries in the Sundarbans. Nature conservation and environmental management were

strengthened by the establishment of nature conservation and wildlife divisions and

environmental management divisions, which contributed to the institutionalization of

sustainable forest management processes.

Important institutional and legal reforms have also been introduced under the Forestry Sector

Project that was designed in consideration of the recommendations of the Forestry Master

Plan. Those reforms have included the institutionalization of social forestry by promulgating

the Forest (Amendment) Act 2000 and enacting Social Forestry Rules (2004, 2010 and 2011),

which have provided for usufructuary benefits sharing between the Forest Department and

local communities mobilized in groups of participants with whom participatory benefits sharing

agreements have been secured.

The lessons learned from these projects indicate that the effective implementation of planned

programs to accommodate the National Forestry Policy 2016 will have to be not only

predicated on recognition of prevailing policy, legislative, and institutional limitations, but also

be effectively coordinated among international donor community development partners.

7.3 Review and assessment of land use, agricultural, and other relevant sectoral policies

Its relatively small area and the rapid increase of its population have resulted in Bangladesh

possessing the lowest per capita land ratio in the world, which is currently estimated to be

0.06 ha per person (Hossain 2015). That situation is expected to deteriorate further with the

expanding demand for non-agricultural land uses. Concerns with land conversion,

deforestation and land degradation, as well as the impacts of climate change, are increasing

efforts to safeguard the sustainable use of the country's scarce land resources. The

establishment of a sustainable land administration and management system has, as a result,

emerged as an important consideration in the development of the country's Seventh Five Year

Plan, 2016 - 202063.

The current administrative structure of land management in Bangladesh is administered

through the Ministry of Land, which is responsible for most land-related activities - including

surveying, collecting land development taxes, and mediating arbitration procedures - and the

Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, which is responsible for recording land

63 ibid.

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changes and transfers. The current methods for surveying, preparing and upgrading land

records, and maintaining relevant information for each parcel of land have, however, been

characterized as inadequate and inefficient. It is maintained that the alleged distortion of land

records at various stages not only hinders control of land development, but also affects

property tax collection64.

The National Land Use Policy, 2001, has recognized the importance of conserving the

country's forests and forest cover, but has emphasized that this would be primarily achieved

by protecting agricultural land (Chowdhury and Hossain 2011). The primary thrusts of this

policy have, therefore, been to ensure the use of appropriate criteria in the determination of

land uses and to provide effective directives for the use of land for not only agriculture, but also

housing, afforestation, commercial and industrial establishments, rails and highways, and tea

and rubber gardens (plantations). The principal objectives of the National Land Use Policy

have been to:

• Reform the land administration system by introducing Certificates of Land Ownership,

which would provide comprehensive records of the land holdings of each household in

separate documents;

• Update legislation related to proposed land administration reforms;

• Prevent the loss of agricultural land required to increase production to meet the food

demands of the population;

• Increase crop intensity through the optimal use of available agricultural land;

• Prevent soil degradation;

• Protect state-owned land to meet the requirements of development projects;

• Zone land for commercial and other purposes;

• Prevent wasteful use of acquired land; and

• Establish a data bank for khas land, fallow land, acquired land, char lands, and other

lands to ensure their proper use.

These objectives appear to have promoted a sustainable and planned utilization of the

country's land, but the policy apparently has lacked an effective plan of action. There are a

draft National Zoning Act and a Village Improvement Act, which were prepared in 2010, that

are compatible with the National Land Use Policy, but these have yet to be officially approved

and adopted. Moreover, while the preparation of a nation-wide Land Zoning Map implemented

by the Ministry of Land is proceeding under the National Land Zoning project that was initiated

in 2012 to complement the results of the preceding Coastal Land Zoning project to produce

upazila-based land zoning maps and detailed zoning reports, in an assessment by Hossain,

progress was considered to be rather sluggish (Hossain 2015).

The same report also concluded that in consideration of the country's extensive landlessness,

historical record of inequities, and widespread land grabbing, the National Land Use Policy

provides inadequate direction regarding the means to coordinate cross-sectoral interests and

plans related to the use of land. Hossain has recommended revisions of the policy that would

64 ibid.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –163

establish principles to direct appropriate and sustainable uses of land, facilitate sectoral and

cross-sectoral land uses, and recognize environmental concerns. The establishment of those

directives would be informed by the preparation of the land zoning maps, particularly with

respect to concerns associated with the multi-sectoral nature of land use, the inevitable

frictions that develop between and among different sectors as the result of competing uses of

land, and the environmental impacts of different land uses. There is compelling reason, as

well, to rationalize the institutional practices for recording or registering property rights to avoid

mandates that are either overlapping or difficult to coordinate to ensure the preparation of

conclusive land Certificates of Ownership.

Land is a particularly scarce resource in Bangladesh and its distribution, as well as the

country's prevailing tenurial arrangements, are important considerations in establishing

effective development strategies. Bangladesh has an extensive history of inequitable access

to land and, currently, about 52% of its rural population, which accounts for almost 75% of its

total population, is landless or holds less than 0.2 ha (0.5 acre) of land. It is particularly notable

that 89% of the country's landowners own less than 1.0 ha (2.5 acres) and 39% own less than

0.2 ha. This apparent inequitable distribution of land exists despite a series of land reforms in

the 1950s and 1960s that included tenancy reforms, imposed ceilings on landholdings and

provided for the distribution of public land to the landless (Nasrin and Uddin 2011). This

widespread landlessness is one of the principal causes of forest encroachment among the

rural poor, who are inexorably attracted to the country's relatively unprotected forestlands.

Encroachers defend their expanded land 'possessions' by means of contributing to the voting

segments that support the country's various political parties.

The state of these tenurial arrangements exert direct and indirect influences on agricultural

productivity by restricting the efficient use of inputs and the adoption of modern technologies.

It is the rate of the changes in agricultural productivity that determines, at least in part,

prevailing pressures to convert forest lands to agricultural lands. In spite of the steady progress

that has been accomplished in industrialization, agriculture continues to remain the most

dominant sector of the economy. Indeed, over the past decade or more, there have been

significant improvements in the agricultural sector to increase productivity and reduce

pressures on forest lands. Those innovations include, especially, the use of high yielding seed

varieties supported by the use of fertilizers, pesticides, mechanized cultivation, and irrigation.

Notwithstanding that those and other advances have contributed much to the increased

production of food grains, however, and although there has been some recognizable progress

in the achievement of crop diversification - it has been slow and it has, at best, been achieved

in selected project areas (Miah H.) - the land available for crop cultivation has been

decreasing, as has the average size of farms, with concomitant increases in fragmentation,

the subdivision of land holdings and the conversion of forest lands to agricultural lands (Nasrin

2011).

The agricultural emphasis underpinning the National Land Use Policy has been reinforced in

the National Agriculture Policy 2013 and its subsidiary policies, including the New Agricultural

Extension Policy 1996, National Food Policy 2006, National Poultry Development Policy 2008,

National Livestock Policy 2007, National Fisheries Policy 1996, National Water Policy 1999,

National Integrated Pest Management Policy 2002, and the overarching National Sustainable

Development Strategy 2013. The principal objective of the National Agriculture Policy has been

to ensure that the nation achieves and maintains self-sufficiency in food by increasing the

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production of crops and establishing and maintaining a reliable food security system. Its

objectives encompass several elements, moreover, that affect, especially, the encroachment

and settlement of forest lands, as well as forest resource uses, and include the preservation

and development of land productivity; reductions in excessive dependence on single crops to

minimize production risks; maximum utilization of land through promotion of inter-cropping;

increases in production and supplies of more nutritious food crops to ensure food security while

improving the nutritional status of the population; preservation of the biodiversity of different

crops; ensuring environmental protection, as well as ‘environmentally-friendly' sustainable

agriculture; and the establishment of agriculture as a diversified and sustainable income

generating sector through the strengthening of ‘Farming System’ agricultural production and

agroforestry programmes.

The resulting challenges in the agricultural sector are to: raise productivity and profitability;

increase diversification of production consistent with consumption; expand diversification to

promote nutrition and minimize trade imbalances; reduce the instability of production; increase

the efficiency of resource use; reduce the loss of arable land; minimize the 'yield gap' between

potential and actual farm yields, which are generally recognized to be about 30% in

Bangladesh (Miah H.); maintain food safety and quality; expand irrigation and farm

mechanization; and develop resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Land is the most dominant farm level production input that impacts farm production in

Bangladesh and the expansion of crop area was the primary source of agricultural growth in

the country until the 1980s. The widespread adoption of the green revolution technologies,

including modern seed varieties, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, ground water irrigation

and farm mechanization, assisted in the transformation of the country from one of food-deficits

to one that was self-sufficient in rice production. Government policy supports, primarily in the

forms of input subsidies, price supports through procurements, import subsidies for machinery,

tax exemptions on income from agriculture, credit facilities for farmers and agro-based

industries, and export support in the form of cash incentives contributed to the growth of the

sector (Miah H.).

Cropland, which includes land under cultivation, cultivable waste land, and land which is

currently fallow has since declined - from 9.8 Mha in 1976 to 9.4 Mha in 2000 and to 8.8 Mha

in 2010 - representing a decline from 67.4% to 60.0% of the country's land area during that

period. Cropland had decreased more rapidly during the period from 2000-2010 than during

the period from 1976-2000, moreover, and that increasing rate of diminishment, unless

compensated by comparable increases in productivity, is of some concern because food

security is the primary economic and political preoccupation in Bangladesh65. It is of some

consequence that decreases in cultivable land have corresponded to reductions in forest land

and increases in other land uses, especially infrastructure, settlements, and industry.

There is only 4.1% of net cultivable land in the country that remains as current fallow, which

means that there is very limited scope for increasing cultivable land. The cropping intensity in

the country is currently around 185 percent. Land availability is shrinking, as well, and it has

been estimated that during the first decade of this century (2000 - 2010), the annual average

loss of agricultural land in Bangladesh was 0.42% compared to an annual average rate of

decline during the previous period from 1976-2000 of 0.18%.

65 Hasan et al. 2013

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –165

There are, thus, important repercussions of agricultural policy in the determination of forest

land uses, but there are also other representative cross-sectoral policies, especially the

National Rural Development Policy and the Coastal Zone Policy, that also impact the country's

forest lands.

The objectives of the Coastal Zone Policy, 2005, emphasize equitable pro-poor growth with

appropriate consideration of forestland and environmental concerns, especially with regard to

meeting basic requirements and providing livelihood opportunities among coastal

communities, the ensuring of sustainable natural resources management, and the preservation

and enhancement of critical ecosystems (Marziya 2011).

The National Rural Development Policy, 2001, introduces a wide range of mutually supportive

programmes to increase incomes and alleviate poverty. It emphasizes the importance of

increasing the productivity of land by engaging reduced numbers of labourers, especially in

the crop sector, through the introduction of modern technologies that would compel surplus

labour in the agricultural sector to be increasingly engaged in the non-agricultural sectors of

the economy (Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific, web site).

The dynamic, interconnected system that affects forest lands, thus, depends on several

national policies that are related to land use. It is, however, inarguable that the maintenance

of the country's forest lands against the pressures of various drivers of deforestation and forest

degradation will depend ultimately on several interrelated factors, not the least of which will be

the sustained pace of increases in the productivity of agricultural lands, especially those

bordering on forests.

7.4 Review and assessment of institutional limitations

The principal reasons for some of the unfulfilled policies associated with the 1994 National

Forestry Policy are at least partially attributable to various institutional constraints. These are

elaborated in the following discussion of the Forest Department and its allied institutions:

7.4.1 Bangladesh Forest Department

The Bangladesh Forest Department is the government organization that has been responsible

for more than 150 years through evolving political alignments for managing the country's

forests. Its management mandate originated in British India under the Imperial Forest Service

and extended through the Provincial Forest Service, and the Sub-ordinate Forest Service. Prior

to the partition of British India into Pakistan and India, the forests of Bangladesh were the

responsibility of the Bengal Forest Department and the Assam Forest Department.

Subsequent to partition, the East Pakistan Forest Service was established and comprised of

the East Pakistan Senior Forest Service and the East Pakistan Sub-ordinate Forest Service

and, on independence, the responsibility for forest management was passed to the

Bangladesh Forest Department. In 1980, the Bangladesh Senior Forest Service was renamed

the Bangladesh Civil Service (Forest) Cadre under Bangladesh Civil Service Cadre Rules and,

in 1989, the Ministry of Environment and Forest was established. Prior to its establishment,

the BFD had been administered under the Agriculture Ministry.

The administrative head of the BFD is the Chief Conservator of Forests (Annex II). The BFD

is divided into four wings - Forest Management, Planning, Education and Training, and Social

Forestry - and each of those wings is administered by a Deputy Chief Conservator of Forests.

There are 9 circles, including 5 management circles, 3 social forest circles, and 1 wildlife and

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nature conservation circle, each of which is headed by a Conservator of Forests, as well as 44

forest divisions made up of 24 forest management divisions, 13 social forest divisions, 4 wildlife

management and nature conservation divisions, and 3 management plan divisions, each of

which is headed by a Divisional Forest Officer.

The Vision of the BFD encompasses:

Conservation of forests, environment and biodiversity and socioeconomic development

through modern technology and innovation.

The organization's mission extends to forest expansion, biodiversity conservation, poverty

alleviation and wildlife conservation through active participation of people.

The goals and objectives of the BFD are to:

• Protect the balance of the environment and forest ecosystems.

• Follow and implement the rules and procedure of international conventions, treaties

and protocols related to forests, biodiversity and wildlife.

• Conserve and manage wildlife.

• Conserve biodiversity.

• Expand ecotourism.

• Manage and develop coastal and wetland biodiversity.

• Sequester carbon and promote carbon trading.

• Raise climate resilient plantations, create new forests, and collect and supply forest

products.

• Protect the stability of land-based production systems.

• Improve natural and socio-economic conditions.

• Expand forest and social forestry activities.

• Manage protected areas, including wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, botanical

gardens, eco-parks, and safari parks, properly.

BFD does not seem to be a high priority organisation for GoB, as indicated by the staff position

given below:

Table 7-1: BFD staff position66

Class Approved Existing Vacant Vacancy %

1st 297 172 125 42.09%

2nd 424 307 117 27.59%

3rd 5349 3783 1566 29.28%

4th 4054 3476 578 14.26%

Total 10124 7738 2386 23.57%

As can be seen 23.5% of the staff positions are vacant and the vacancies at the senior level

are as high as 42%. With such a high level of vacant positions, expecting efficiency and quality

of work from an organisation is not justified.

66 Annual Report of MoEF 2014-15.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –167

The relatively high rates of vacancies associated with these more senior positions reflects one

of the more recognizable aspects of the series of issues that will be considered in assessing

options for restructuring the Forest Department and realigning its programmes in the revision

and updating of the Forestry Master Plan. Several of the other representative issues that will

also be considered include:

• The extent of the expansion of the number of sanctioned senior positions that will

ensure that the Forest Department has sufficient manpower to respond in an effective

manner to the emerging challenges affecting forest management, especially those

associated with the shifts toward participatory and collaborative management,

enhanced recognition of the contributions of forest ecosystem functions and services,

and efforts to adapt to, as well as mitigate climate change.

• The extent to which the Forest Department should be expanded to accommodate

possible incorporation of additional wings established to respond to emerging

challenges.

• The manner in which the organization of the Forest Department would be restructured

to ensure the integration of its wings more effectively to strengthen internal

communications between and among its various divisions and departments and

enhance collaborative planning.

• The means of securing and maintaining the organization's annual budgets to ensure

that administrative costs, especially salaries, are accounted for in those budgets, as

are the management costs directed to ensuring the sustainable management of the

country's reserved forests and protected areas.

• The development of targeted training programmes to strengthen the capacities of BFD

officers responsible for responding to the institutional, environmental, and

socioeconomic challenges confronting the forestry sector, as well as reducing impacts

associated with the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation.

The restructuring and realignment of a number of government, as well as quasi-autonomous

government, organizations which are allied in some manner with the Forest Department will

constitute another component to consider in the comprehensive assessment of options for

restructuring the BFD and realigning its programmes in the revision and updating of the

Forestry Master Plan. The state of several of those organizations are evaluated in the following

sections.

Issues and Constraints

Despite being a premier organisation of the Government, BFD suffers from tremendous

systemic constraints which need to be urgently looked into while devising the roadmap for the

future of the organisation. The most important constraints and issues faced by the organisation

in successful discharge of its mandate are briefly discussed below

Shortage of Manpower

The current sanctioned strength of the forest department is 10215 members but actual number

in position has rarely been more than 8000. 22% of the posts are vacant at present, despite

some bulk recruitment at lower levels in the last two years, the vacancies at the higher levels

are nearly 50%. As against this current scenario, BFD has been pursuing a reorganisation

proposal which requires to raise the staff strength to 19635 in order to improve its field

presence as well as to facilitate the harmonious management of various cadres. BFD wants to

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expand its presence to the upazila level so that coordination with other departments can be

improved.

Faulty Field Structure

Traditionally, BFD has had a single tier field structure, in which territorial DFOs performed all

the management, enforcement and administrative functions. Quite appropriately, some of

these divisions have been named as social forestry divisions in view of the fact that these

districts have little forests and the only job of the BFD in these areas is to promote social

forestry i.e. plantation outside state forests. However, the only function that most of these

divisions perform is that of issuing permits for cutting and transporting of private trees, apart

from doing a little bit of their own plantation and nursery work. While their designated function

is social forestry (forestry extension), there is no money for this work until an externally aided

project is there. Thus, these divisions need to be more functional by providing extension funds.

BFD has also created 7 wildlife and nature conservation divisions since 2001 but these

divisions have also not been given any clear mandate. While many of them hold no territory

(protected areas) at all, which they are mandated to manage, their official job is just to advise

other DFOs in dealing with wildlife matters. They have no special qualification or capacity to

render this service due to lack of training, staff, equipment etc. Their law enforcement activities,

related to wildlife crime, are also not exactly legal as the wildlife Act is still not operational, due

to the lack of proper notifications and rules, and, as a result, they virtually have no powers to

enforce the law.

Thus, the field structure of BFD needs to review to increase efficiencies and to ensure best

use of available staff and other resources.

Irregular Recruitments at All Levels

Any large organisation has to plan its staffing needs keeping in view upcoming retirements and

possible attrition due to other reasons. However, BFD has been recruiting its staff very

irregularly, generally only when the number of vacancies becomes too large. As a result, it

creates serious cadre management problems. For example, whereas a large number of

vacancies reduce efficiency, bulk recruitments lead to dissatisfied cadres due to the

government’s inability to ensure equal promotion opportunities to all members of large batches.

As one of the worst examples, members of the same/close batches, at present, range from

DCF to CCF level. At present, most of the field staff, upto ranger level, is close to retirement

and are busy planning and discharging their family responsibilities. Although the situation has

improved a little at the field level due the recruitment of nearly 226 forest guards in 2015 and

a few rangers and ACFs recently, but this will set in motion another cycle of the same problem

as they will mature and retire at the same time. But many of these appointments are in a limbo

due to the ongoing litigations.

Currently, Officers of 1982 and 1984 batches are placed in the top management of the forest

administration. No officer of 1982 batch will continue in the department after January, 2017.

The last officer of 1984 batch is scheduled for retirement in December, 2019. Thereafter,

officers of 2003 batch will occupy the senior positions in the department with only 16 years of

experience. Moreover, the position of CCF as per recruitment rule of BCS (Forest) Cadre

demands 18 years’ experience in the concerned service, including 3-years as Deputy Chief

Conservator of Forests. Therefore, no officer of 2003 will be eligible for holding the position of

CCF immediately after retirement of officers of 1984 batch. Even before December, 2019 many

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –169

positions will be vacant due to retirement of officers of 1984 batch and they need to be filled

up with officers having lack of sufficient professional field experience in forest management

and administration. This is the result of irregular recruitment of officers in the BCS (Forest)

Cadre. Regular in-take of officers is the only possible way of maintaining professionalism in

the department.

The situation in most other ranks is similar. There has been no recruitment of forest rangers

since 1995 and all the current rangers are promotes from the lower ranks. As a result, they

neither have the education nor the modern technological skills required to perform their current

duties. Most of them are old, infirm and worried about settling their family affairs before retiring.

The decline in the condition of forests in the last few decades may be attributed, at least partly,

to the loss of vigour and efficiency amongst forest rangers in the department. Thus, it is

important that BFD should have a proper recruitment plan which ensures that trained

replacements for potential retirements are available in time.

Adhoc Recruitments

106 Assistant Conservators of Forests (ACF) were recruited as non-cadre officers under

different development projects in 1990, 1993 and 1994. Sixty-four ACFs were transferred from

development budget to revenue budget after reorganization of the Forest Department in 2001.

Following recommendation of Bangladesh Public Service Commission these officers were

regularized on 05 April 2003 and accordingly, the MoEF issued Government Order. Efforts

have been underway for their inclusion in the cadre since November 2005 when the MoEF

sent formal proposal to the Ministry of Public Administration (MoPA) for their encadrement.

The matter is still pending and the fate of these officers has virtually been sealed. While they

are one of the largest groups of officers in the department, they are also the most demotivated

lot as any happy solution to their fate is unlikely. The reason is that even if the government

tries to encadre them, it will affect the interest of someone in the cadre who will naturally seek

safety in litigation. This situation is going to haunt BFD for many more years.

These non-cadre officers have put in more than 20 years of service in the Forest Department

and have acquired sufficient professional knowledge and experience in forestry. Moreover,

their individual capacities have been developed through training programmes in different fields

of forestry in home and abroad.

Two officers have acquired PhD degree - one in Geo-Science and the other in Environmental

Forestry Management and Education. Twenty-four officers have completed Masters Program

abroad: 12 in Tropical Forestry, 5 in Natural Resources Management, 1 in Forestry, 1 in

Ecotourism, 1 in Project Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, 1 in Conservation Ecology, 1 in

Environment and Development, 1 in Geo-Information Science and 1 in Mangrove

Management. Ten officers have received Post Graduate Diploma abroad. Fifty-five non-cadre

officers have also participated in different short training programmes abroad.

Dissatisfaction prevails among these trained and long experienced non-cadre officers due to

their stagnant position in the department and loosing of seniority over very newly recruited

BCS (Cadre) Officers. This is adversely affecting their morale, efficiency and effectiveness of

the Forest Administration. This matter needs serious attention of the decision makers. The

resolution of this problem is especially difficult due to the multiple litigations going on at any

time.

170– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Similarly, a large number of staff at various levels, starting from wildlife scouts, wildlife rangers,

biodiversity conservation officers, veterinary officers have been recruited under the ongoing

Strengthening Regional Cooperation for Wildlife Protection (SRCWP), but their fate is

uncertain. Only a few of them are likely to be transferred to the revenue budget and these lucky

few will face the same situation which the ACFs have been facing. Moreover, their designations

have not been empowered to exercise any legal or financial powers. Therefore, they are unable

to work at full efficiency (e.g. wildlife rangers are often not given forest advance by DFOs).

Lack of Human Resource Development and Management Policy

BFD has a training and education wing but there is no coherent training policy. The tradition of

induction training, immediately after recruitment, has been discontinued ever since BFD

started recruiting forestry graduates to the officer ranks. Even at lower ranks, there is no

induction training. As a result, people are posted on field jobs without any training in procedures

and field craft prevalent in the department. Due to irregular recruitments, and consequent non-

availability of trainees, the training institutions are also in a state of decay. Many of them have

only skeletal staff and all their facilities are unused. All the current training programs are project

driven short term training events which may have no relevance to the current job of a trainee.

Many people do go abroad for training but very few return to the jobs where these qualifications

are useful.

Weak ICT Infrastructure

Internet and computing capability is the backbone of any modern organisation. In BFD,

computing facilities are, in general, limited to typing and e-mail level only. Very few offices

below the division level have computers or internet. There is no system of networking even at

the headquarters. There are no databases, apps or any other tools to facilitate efficiency. A

limited GIS facility is available only in the RIMS and no other office uses or demands GIS

support. Due to this limitation, it is virtually impossible for BFD to implement any modern

program efficiently because all such programmes need reasonable levels of computer and

communications support.

Weak Monitoring and Evaluation Systems

BFD has very week monitoring and evaluation systems, primarily, though not only, because of

the week computing capacity. Although monitoring of forest resources is always a project

driven activity in view of its intensity, there is no system of proper collection, collation and

analysis even of routine management data. There is an office of ACCF (Monitoring), but all the

reports it gets are in paper form which are virtually impossible to compile and analyse, what

with the lack of even minimal computing facility. As forest cashbooks have traditionally been

the veritable storehouse of all management information, digitisation of range and divisional

cashbooks can be extremely helpful in collection of management data. There is no system of

annual reports nowadays, at any level. Therefore, nobody feels the need to compile all the

reports and any compiling and analysis is now done only on the basis of demand from higher

offices.

Weak Resource Information Management Systems

Resource Information Management Systems (RIMS) is the unit, in the BFD, responsible for

generating, managing and disseminating resource related information. However, due to the

lack of resources and staff, resource surveys and inventories have become very infrequent.

The last country wide assessment of forest and tree resources was done in 2005 although

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –171

another assessment is currently underway. The activities of RIMS unit are, like all other

activities in BFD, primarily project driven. Therefore, as long as there is no project, especially

with outside funding, no survey or assessment is generally undertaken. RIMS has sufficient

computers and other equipment but no staff to implement. Many facilities developed under

various projects stop functioning after the projects, end due to lack of sustainability planning.

It is important that a reasonable and regular cycle of resource surveys should be carried out in

order to ensure efficient planning and management. Without frequent assessments, there is

no way to know the results of various investments and policies.

Lack of Forest Management Planning

Bangladesh had a long tradition of forest management planning in the form of 10-year working

plans. These plans required a detailed survey and enumeration of forest stock every ten years.

However, this system was abandoned in the late eighties and at present the only planning

being done is for the preparation and implementation of occasional projects. As a result,

intimate knowledge of the resource condition to the field staff, so common in the past, is

missing. As there is no work to be done, there is no patrolling in many parts of the forest, as

much of the forest patrolling is incidental to work. The accelerated loss of natural forests in the

last few decades may be linked, to some extent, to this passivity in forest planning.

Legal Issues

Forest department is responsible for enforcing the Forest Act 1927 and Wildlife (Conservation

and Security) Act 2012, While the wildlife Act has completely replaced the 1973 wildlife

ordinance, the Forest Act has also been amended many times to bring it in tune with the

demands of changing times. One major amendment in the forest law was the

institutionalisation of social forestry while several other amendments aimed at effective

enforcement have been carried out from time to time.

However, many of the notifications issued by the government to implement various provisions

of the forest act have not been reviewed for a long time and many of them have become

obsolete or unimplementable due to the changes in the organisational structure of the

department over time.

Three notifications numbering 2404, 2405 and 2406 dated 26th December 1959, which

empower only gazetted officers to exercise powers invested in forest officers under section 72

of the Act, need to be urgently amended as all action against criminals is taken by the

subordinate staff, not by gazetted officers. Moreover, many new designations in the

department, such as wildlife scouts, wildlife rangers, do not fall within the definition of “forest

officer” as defined by notification no. 2396 dated 26th December 2016 and have no powers to

enforce the Act. In fact, some courts have started refusing forest cases on the ground that the

complainant officers (foresters) are not authorised to file cases in the courts.

Similarly, the three sets of transit rules prevailing in the country need to be reviewed to create

unified regulations that govern the whole of the country. In fact, these rules continue to be seen

as an obstruction to the growth of tree cultivation in the country, as they have lost their

relevance with the virtual disappearance of sal and hill forests and their only use at present is

to harass the public.

Although the wildlife Act was promulgated in 2012, it has still not been fully operationalized as

the necessary rules have not been promulgated and empowering notifications have not been

172– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

issued. Moreover, the law has some serious shortcomings which need to be urgently

addressed. For example, forest officers have no power to arrest wildlife criminals or to file

cases in courts, under this Act.

There can be many more such law-related issues which may need urgent attention. It is,

therefore, necessary to conduct a comprehensive review of the current legal framework of the

country in order to make it effective in meeting the current and emerging challenges faced by

the forestry sector.

Lack of Research Support

Modern forestry is highly research dependent as the availability of modern tools and

techniques make it possible to go deep into questions which brooked no answers a few

decades ago. The appearance of new challenges such as climate change, and mandates,

such as biodiversity conservation, valuation of ecosystem services etc. make it imperative for

the forest managers to have access to researched information and knowledge for correct and

efficient decision making. Due to the poor state of the BFRI, BFD has been deprived of the

necessary research support in making management decisions. The country needs to find out,

for example, climate resilient tree species suited to different habitats, new fast growing species

for meeting growing demand for timber and other products, demands and markets for forest

products, silvicultural and financial rotations for homestead trees which contribute bulk of the

timber to the nation’s markets, new combinations for agroforestry, ex situ conservation of

species of NTFP and medicinal value, and so on. BFRI and a few universities are involved in

limited forestry research in the country but not much research of applied nature has been done

in the country so far. The country has to take stock of the situation and create a proper research

environment to support the growth of forestry.

Financial Constraints

Bangladesh has lost most of her sal and hill forests and the pace of this loss has been quite

fast in the last few decades. The country has made ambitious plans and policies for preserving

its forest wealth in the past, but has not been successful, although the conservation of natural

resources in such a densely populated and poor country is not an easy task. Although it cannot

be said that this failure in conservation has been entirely due to lack of resources, the rate of

loss could have been far less if BFD and other BFRI had been well funded. Apart from the

shortage of development funding, to take new capital works, the sector has been chronically

short of even maintenance level funds. For example, the junior staff never gets any travel

funds, lack of funds for patrolling and prosecution inhibit action against criminals, staff housing,

vehicles etc. are always ill maintained for want of funds. All these shortages damage staff

morale and motivation and also encourage corruption which is ultimately reflected in poor

delivery.

Inadequacy of Field Infrastructure and Logistics

There is a tremendous shortage of field infrastructure particularly in remote areas like

Sundarbans and CHT. Staff accommodation is often not available or is of very poor quality.

Transportation is often not available as there is hardly any money for fuel even if a government

vehicle is available. Travel bills are never reimbursed. Staff working in remote areas have to

maintain double or triple establishment in order to look after their families and aged parents.

This puts tremendous financial burden on them and often initiates them into corrupt practices.

Staff working in forest stations have no furniture, often no electricity, no facilities for keeping

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –173

government records safe. Of course no computers. Most agencies working under such

circumstances, like police, BGB etc., are paid special allowances to compensate them for the

difficulties. However, forest subordinates are paid nothing, despite the fact that the facilities

they get in the field are much worse than what other agencies get.

7.4.2 Bangladesh Forest Research Institute

The Bangladesh Forest Research Institute (BFRI) is a national institute under the

administration of the Ministry of Environment and Forest, as well as a component of the

National Agricultural Research System through which it collaborates with international forestry

organizations and networks. It is the only national organization that has the mandate to conduct

forest management and forest products utilization research and maintains the largest forestry

library and documentation facilities in the country. It has published more than 1,360 research

papers and 160 technical bulletins and trained more than 10,000 individuals in using the

technologies that have been developed by the Institute's research scientists.

The BFRI was established as the Forest Products Research Laboratory in 1955 while

Bangladesh was still part of Pakistan. In 1965, the laboratory was provincialized as the East

Pakistan Forest Research Laboratory with the mandate to conduct research under the

management of the Forest Department. Its primary objective during that period was to conduct

studies on the utilization of wood and wood products. The recognition of the relative paucity of

forestry management research information occasioned by the rapid decline in stock density in

forest lands, however, resulted in the establishment, with the assistance of FAO and UNDP,

of the Forest Management Research Wing in 1968, which, after independence, was

reorganized as the BFRI. In 1985, the BFRI was separated from the Forest Department and

its administrative control was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture and subsequently re-

transferred once more to the Ministry of Environment and Forest in 1988.

BFRI currently has two research wings - the Forest Products Wing, with six research divisions,

and the Forest Management Wing, with eleven research divisions. There are also two other

service divisions under the direction of the Director. The research responsibilities of the Forest

Products Wing are the efficient utilization of forest products with quality improvement and

maximum utilization, while the research responsibilities of the Forest Management Wing are

to increase the productivity of forest land through measures that encompass improved

management, conservation of soil and water, protection of trees from pests and diseases, and

tree improvement.

The BFRI is obligated to provide research support to the Forest Department and its affiliated

government organizations, including the Bangladesh Forest Industries Development

Corporation (BFIDC), in conducting forestry activities. BFRI's current research program is

directed to maintaining the sustainable productivity of the country's forest land and forest

industries without resource depletion. Its primary goal is to reduce the expanding rift between

the demand for and supply of forest resources. Its priorities are demand-driven research,

including promotion of farm forestry and agroforestry, and sustainable management of the

Sundarbans and other coastal forest land.

The organizational structure of the BFRI is summarized in the accompanying figure. It does

not, however, depict the Common Service Branch, which is under the administrative control of

the Director.

174– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Director

Chief Research Officer

Forest Products Wing. (6 Divisions) Divisional Officer Senior Research Officer Junior Research Officer (Presently Research Officer)

Chief Research Officer

Forest Management Wing (11 Divisions and a section of wildlife) Divisional Officer Senior Research Officer Junior Research Officer (Presently Research Officer)

Administrative Division Service Engineering Division

Figure 7-1: Organizational structure of BFRI.

The BFRI has established 21 research stations and sub-stations under five field divisions which

cover forest types that spread over eight dendro-ecological regions of the country. Its principal

mode of operation is for research study that is assessed by an in-house meeting and

scrutinized by a Technical Committee of the Institute consisting of researchers and clientele

representatives headed by the Director. The recommendations of that Committee are

subsequently examined by a Coordination Committee consisting of researchers and clientele

representatives headed by the Director. The BFRI's annual research programmes are

ultimately finalized by a Research Advisory Committee headed by the Secretary of the MoEF.

Irrespective of the various research contributions that have been made by the BFRI, there still

remain several 'bottlenecks' that will have to be resolved in preparing the revised and updated

Forestry Master Plan.

Like other institutions, BFRI is also suffering from acute shortage of manpower, especially at

the senior level. The latest available status of manpower the instate is as follows;

Table 7-2: Staff position in BFRI67

Class Approved Existing Vacant

1st 103 56 47

2nd 43 23 20

3rd 433 310 123

4th 213 136 77

Total 792 525 267

It is disheartening to note that 33% of the approved positions in the institute are vacant at

present while the vacancies at the senior level (scientist level) are as high as 45%. During

discussions, the faculty came across as highly aggrieved and demotivated due to the problems

they are facing in the institute.

67 Annual Report of MoEF 2014-15.

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The primary constraints, according to the BFRI, that restrict research activities are:

• No digitization of library, no library management software, no projects provide support

to library.

• Journal (Bangladesh Journal of Forest Science) comes out off and on, last issue in

2013, before that in 2008, one issue under preparation: Lack of funds, lack of

contributions from writers.

• No funds for library, SRCWP provided 5 computers under a sub project titled "Wildlife

Corner in BFRI Library”. No new books are purchased due to lack of funds.

• Last FMP did not contribute anything to BFRI, none of the recommendations were

implemented.

• There is a need for a planning and evaluation division.

• No new divisions created since the creation of BFRI: original structure continues

despite new challenges and areas of interest/concern, ex. Climate change, social

forestry.

• A new project, “modernizing of BFRI”, worth nearly 109 crores under submission to

MoEF.

• Shortage of manpower due to retirements, no new recruitments, recruitment process

very slow (takes 2-3 years to fill a vacancy). Most recruits leave due to lack of career

advancement. No promotions for 20-30 years. Promotions are vacancy based (position

must be empty before position can be advertised).

• Recruitment rules are outdated (1985 vintage), revision proposed several times but not

finalized. Forestry as a qualifying subject for faculty recruitment still does not exist.

• Dependent on regular govt. funds only, no donor support except FRMP and ARMP

(Agricultural Resource Management Project). Annual budget nearly taka 22 crores

(incl. salaries), research budget approx. 1.6 crores/yr., Bamboo composites project is

approved by GOB, 25 crores (5 years), mangroves project 1 crores taka.

• Recruitment rules outdated, forestry graduates cannot be recruited as forestry is not a

qualifying subject even now.

• Infrastructure in bad shape, even worse in 20+ field stations, no modern equipment

since 1955, except a few computers.

• No research planning division, so no planning.

• Internet: only 40 persons have access.

• FD wants research done, also university, individual farmers, sometimes industry, but

no one provides funding.

• BFRI does not have a marketing channel, does not know how to get product to market,

incl. NTFPs.

• Very unmotivated and listless faculty.

• No work on agroforestry in BFRI.

• No commercial nurseries of BFRI.

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BFRI administrators stress the difficulties the Institute experiences in coping with recent trends

and challenges in the forestry sector for several reasons, but most especially the lack of

adequate trained manpower; the shortage of modern research facilities; inefficient recruitment

rules; the limited scope of the Institute; weak linkages with the Forest Department; the

ineffective enactment of acts and guidelines; and the defined status of the institute, as well as

its Director.

The importance of removing those constraints is underscored by the recognition that there is

a widening gap between the demand for, and the supply of, wood. That deficit, moreover, will

be further aggravated in the coming years because of increasing population pressure and the

consequences of climate change. In order to resolve those conditions, there appears to be no

other alternative than to support intensive research to increase the productivity of forests, as

well as conserve forest resources through proper management and utilization.

In the recognition of the critical nature of addressing these research requirements and creating

the facilities to cater to national demand, BFRI has recommended the reorganization of the

institutional infrastructure, organogram and the reorientation of the research directions of the

Institute. That reorganization and reorientation would encompass the:

• Giving BFRI the status of an autonomous organisation at par with other institutions in

the BARC network;

• Modernization and restructuring of BFRI to increase capacities to respond effectively

to field level demands required to ensure the sustainable management of forests, as

well as emerging trends in the forestry sector;

• Modification of the recruitment process to secure scientists trained in graduate

programmes in emerging disciplines that impact the forestry sector;

• Widening of the career scope of the professional scientists of BFRI;

• Development of disciplines, such as those of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering,

Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, Planning and Development, and

Information and Communications Technology, as well as a Technology Transfer

Division and a Social Forestry Division and the establishment of a modern, well-

equipped Geographical Information System (GIS) facility;

• Determination and upgrading of the status of the Institute and its Director; and

• Strengthening collaboration and coordination among BFRI, BFD and other

stakeholders.

• Upgrading of the Wildlife Section to a Wildlife Research Division.

7.4.3 Bangladesh Forest Academy

The Bangladesh Forest Academy, which had its origins prior to independence with the

establishment of the East Pakistan Forest College in 1964, is the only in-service training

institute of the BFD.

The Forest Academy is located in Chittagong and is under the administrative management of

the BFD and, as such, manned by service forest officers. The Director, an officer of the rank

of Conservator of Forests, is deputed on a full-time basis and is responsible for the overall

administration of the Academy with direct administrative control residing with the Deputy Chief

Conservator of Forests (Training and Education) of the Forest Directorate in Dhaka.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –177

The Forest Academy was affiliated with Chittagong University in 1977, at which time it had

offered a two-year B.Sc. (Pass) Forestry Degree to newly-recruited Forest Rangers having a

Bachelor of Science degree. The initial intake was 25 rangers in 1982 and the course continued

until 1985. Subsequent to its affiliation with Chittagong University, 119 Forest Rangers have

been trained who are currently posted as Forest Rangers, or as Assistant Conservators of

Forests, with the Forest Department.

Professional (Assistant Conservator of Forests) and sub-professional (Forest Ranger) trainees

of the Forest Department had previously had to be trained at Dehra Dun in British India and

thereafter at the Pakistan Forest Institute, Peshawar, until 1986 when the Bangladesh Forest

College, which would subsequently be renamed the Bangladesh Forest Academy was

established on 27 June 1989. Initially, a Diploma-in-Forestry was offered to Forest Rangers of

the Forest Department, but soon thereafter professional and sub-professional programmes

were introduced.

Cadre officers of the Bangladesh Civil Service were offered in-service training courses after

1986 at the Forest Academy and in the 1st Batch, 28 Assistant Conservator of Forests were

provided with M.Sc. Degrees in Forestry. In the 2nd Batch offered in 2004-05, 30 Assistant

Conservators of Forests received their Master of Forestry Degrees.

The summary of the courses and programmes that have been offered through the Forest

Academy, as well as the numbers of participants, is highlighted in the accompanying figure:

Table 7-3: Courses and programmes offered by the Forest Academy.

Degree/Course Period Participants

Diploma in Forestry 1965 - 1977 76

B.Sc. (Pass) in Forestry 1978 - 1989 119

M.Sc. in Forestry 1986 - 1988 28

Master in Forestry 2004 - 2005 30

Short Courses * 1990 - 2016 ** 2,428

* **

orientation, refresher, issue-based up to 24 March 2016

The infrastructure of the Forest Academy includes two well-furnished classrooms with air

conditioning and two well-furnished classrooms without air conditioning, each room with a

seating capacity of 30; a library; an auditorium with seating capacity for 300; a conference

room with seating for 40 participants; and a dormitory for students participating in academic

programmes; six computers with printers; and a full-time internet connection.

The primary objectives of the Forest Academy are to broaden the understanding, strengthen

the technical skills, and provide opportunities to obtain informed information on new and

innovative developments required of BFD personnel through in-service training courses, as

well as academic programmes.

The following training courses have been previously offered through project and revenue

budgets:

• Social Forestry Course for Deputy Conservators of Forests, Assistant Conservators of

Forests, Forest Rangers, and Deputy Forest Rangers under the Forestry Sector

Project.

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• Watershed Management Course for Assistant Conservators of Forests under the

Forestry Sector Project.

• Orientation Course for Assistant Conservators of Forests under the Coastal Greenbelt

project.

• Biodiversity Management and Skill Development for Forest Rangers and Deputy Forest

Rangers under the Sundarbans Environmental and Livelihood Security Projects.

• Ecosystem Management and Skill Development for Forest Rangers and Deputy Forest

Rangers under the Sundarbans Environmental and Livelihood Security Projects.

• Assisted Natural Regeneration for Instructors, Forest Rangers, and Deputy Forest

Rangers under the revenue budget.

• GPS for District Forest Officers, Assistant Conservators of Forests, Instructors, Forest

Rangers, and Deputy Forest Rangers under the United States Forest Service.

• Basic Forestry Course for Biodiversity Officers, Wildlife Officers, and Wildlife Rangers

under the Biodiversity Conservation and Ecotourism Development Project.

• Training on Protected Area Management and Ecotourism Development under the

Strengthening Regional Cooperation for Wildlife Protection Project.

• Wildlife Crime and CITES for Wildlife Officers, Biodiversity Officers, and Forest

Rangers under the Strengthening Regional Cooperation for Wildlife Protection Project

• Refresher Course on Forestry under the Strengthening the Environment, Forestry and

Climate Change Capacities of the Ministry of Environment and Forests and its

Agencies (Ministry of Environment and Forest support project).

• Refresher Course Related to Forestry for Deputy Conservators of Forests, Assistant

Conservators of Forests, Senior Research Officers and other senior officers under the

Strengthening the Environment, Forestry and Climate Change Capacities of the

Ministry of Environment and Forest and its Agencies (Ministry of Environment and

Forest support project).

Training courses that are planned to be offered through project and revenue budgets will

include the following:

• Capacity Building for Forest Department Personnel under the Climate Resilient

Participatory Afforestation and Reforestation Project.

• Short Refresher Course of Promoted Officers for Deputy Rangers with 25 participants

in each of three batches, two offered in 2016-2017 and one offered in 2017-2018 under

the Facilities Development of all Training Institutes of Forest Department Project.

The principal constraints affecting the delivery of these courses, as well as academic

programmes, offered through the Forest Academy to officers, rangers, and other professional

and non-professional staff of the Forest Department include the following:

• The insufficient number of faculty available to offer sufficient opportunities for in-service

training and refresher courses, as well as professional programmes, including:

▪ Professional Courses: Masters Program: one-year Master of Forestry (MF) and

two-year Master of Science in Forestry (MSc).

▪ Sub-professional Courses: two-year Bachelor of Science (pass) in Forestry.

▪ Orientation Courses (3-6 months).

▪ Refresher Courses (1-3 weeks).

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –179

▪ Project-related Training (1-2 weeks).

▪ Issue Based Training (3-10 days).

• The current faculty and teaching staff of the Forest Academy purportedly includes

▪ 1 Deputy Conservator of Forests;

▪ 2 Assistant Conservators of Forests;

▪ 1 Chief Instructor;

▪ 1 Senior Instructor

▪ 2 Instructors;

▪ 2 Forest Rangers;

▪ 32 other officers and staff.

In discussions with Forest Academy representatives, however, it was affirmed that most of

these positions continue to remain unfilled, which has necessitated the short-term hiring of

local academics and others to ensure that even the minimum numbers of these courses are

offered. Other related constraints include:

• Inadequate funds to support offering important courses and programmes.

• The lack of a permanent resource person.

• Inadequate infrastructure, including a gymnasium for students that reside at the Forest

Academy while completing academic programmes, a prayer room, and a common

room in the officers' dormitory.

• The absence of a medical officer.

The prospect of the sustainable management and resource conservation of the country's

forests that receives support through the offerings of the Forest Academy in strengthening the

capacities and capabilities of Forest Department personnel would seem to warrant the

immediate investments that would be required to be made to overcome these constraints.

7.4.4 Forestry Science & Technology Institute, Chittagong

The Forestry Science & Technology lnstitute (FSTI), Chittagong, was established in 1994

under the auspices of the Forest Resources Management Project to provide students with

Secondary School Certificates the opportunity to obtain a three-year diploma in forestry under

the Bangladesh Technical Education Board. The purpose of establishing the Institute was to

provide the Forest Department with trained foresters, who, although employed at the sub-

professional level, would be prepared to assume meaningful roles in the conservation and

development of the country's forest resources. The Institute, which was initially referred to as

the Forester's Training School, started its academic activities the year after its establishment

in the Bangladesh Forest Academy building. Those activities were under the administration of

the Director of the Forest Academy, but two years later, the Institute shifted its offerings to its

own building. ln 2001, the FSTI was attached to a government revenue budget allocated to the

forest school in Chittagong and was headed by a Director of the rank of Deputy Conservator

of Forests. The school was subsequently renamed the Forestry Science & Technology

Institute, Chittagong, in 2009 and the three-year diploma course was upgraded at that time to

a four-year diploma in forestry.

The objectives of the Forestry Science & Technology Institute are to:

• Produce trained, skilled field-level manpower for the Forest Department through the

offering of an academic Diploma-in-Forestry course;

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• Train skilled workers to contribute to programmes in forest conservation, forest

production, and plantation raising in various sectors in the country;

• Provide up-to-date coursework and create skilled workers through suitable curricula

that encompass balanced consideration of issues of national and international concern;

• Ensure the strengthening of the technical knowledge of students through study tours

and field attachment assignments;

• Produce entrepreneurs in different sectors of the economy by involving environment

and forest-related organizations, NGOs, other development organizations, and

representatives of tea gardens, rubber gardens, and tourism organizations in the

Institute's programmes; and

• Provide short-term training for Forest Department staff, NGOs, and other organizations

according to their professed requirements.

The Institute's course curriculum and examinations are controlled by the Bangladesh Technical

Education Board and the four-year diploma in Forestry course consists of the completion of 50

required basic and forestry subjects. The students participating in the studies are initially

selected by the Bangladesh Technical Education Board from on-line applications.

The academic infrastructure of the FSTI is very good. It includes a four-storied building with

classrooms, offices, laboratories, a conference room, a library, and a canteen. There is also a

student's hostel with accommodations for 150 with 75 rooms for students, a dining room, a

student's common room, and a prayer room. There is a computer lab; a training room to offer

short-term, in-service training of officers and staff according to the requirements of the Forest

Department and other organizations; three laboratories (physics, chemistry, and biology); a

microbus for officials to perform official assignments; and a thirty-seat minibus for students to

participate in field exercises and study tours; as well as student sports facilities.

There are provisions, as well, for four-month field assignments through which each student is

attached to a beat, range, or division office to enhance their understanding of field activities

and management applications.

The Institute's record of completed, as well as ongoing, offerings of the Forestry diploma

course is provided in the next two tables, which indicate, as well, the numbers of student

participants in each of those batch offerings, each of which provides opportunity to enrol up to

50 students.

Table 7-4: FSTI courses and graduation numbers.

Batch Academic Year Year of Final Examination

Nº of Students

Completed courses

1 1994-1995 1997 26

2 1995-1996 1998 30

3 1996-1997 2000 19

4 1997-1998 2001 33

5 1998-1999 2002 38

6 1999-2000 2003 43

7 2000-2001 2004 40

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –181

Batch Academic Year Year of Final Examination

Nº of Students

8 2001-2002 2005 47

9 2002-2003 2006 28

10 2003-2004 2007 44

11 2004-2005 2008 38

12 2005-2006 2010 32

13 2006-2007 2011 33

14 2007-2008 2011 23

15 2008-2009 2012 42

16 2010-2011 2013 21

17 2011-2012 2014 21

18 2012-2013 2015 16

Total 574

Current courses

19 2013-2014 5 37

20 2014-2015 3 38

21 2015-2016 1 43

Total 118

There have been 574 students who have participated in the Forest diploma program and, of

those, 212 students have been accepted as Foresters in the Forest Department. In a survey

of potential employers for forestry diploma holders, moreover it was revealed that there is

considerable scope for employment, not only in the Forest Department, but also with tea

gardens, rubber gardens, forest-based industries, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development

Board, the Bangladesh Forest Industries Development Corporation, the Bangladesh Forest

Research Institute, Young Power in Social Action, Family Development Services and

Research, the Cotton Development Board, banks, and NGOs.

The most intractable problems that are currently restricting the development of the FSTI are

the rather severe limitations on the current number of sanctioned, as well as filled, faculty

positions, which also detracts from the incentives package that is available to those in

permanent positions and the unavailability of a sufficient budget from the Forest Department,

especially to allow increases in the number of guest lecturers. Indeed, the discussions with the

Director of the Institute and his principal instructor revealed that there are currently only three

instructors available to teach the panoply of diverse courses that are required to complete the

program.

The FSTI is the only institution to offer a diploma in Forestry to students of Secondary School

Certificate or equivalent background. The primary attraction of the Institute is that during

recruitment, the BFD only invites students who have a diploma in Forestry in the advertisement

for the 'Forester' posts, which provides compelling reason for serious consideration of

increasing funding, as well as the number of sanctioned posts of the Institute.

There are two other FSTIs situated in Rajshahi and Sylhet providing refresher courses to

foresters from time to time. As a course (2 year diploma) in FSTI is now compulsory for

182– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

promotion to the rank of deputy rangers, these institutions are running such course to meet

this demand as well. Apart from the FSTIs, another institute called Forest Development

Training Centre (FDTC) is situated in Kaptai, in Rangamati district. This school provides

training in various subjects (refresher training) to forest guards. All these institutes are reported

to be suffering from the same problems as the FSTI Chittagong and other institutions, namely,

shortage of staff, funds and capacity development.

Thus it can be seen, nearly all the organs of BFD are performing at sub-optimal level due to

shortage of staff, funds and efficient systems. It is important to look into these issues before

any major development programs are accepted by BFD as the programmes will run the risk of

sub-optimal accomplishments in the absence of such reforms.

7.4.5 Bangladesh National Herbarium

The Bangladesh National Herbarium (BNH), which is attached to the MoEF, is the national

research organization for plant taxonomic research and museum of dried plant specimens. It

is involved with the exploration, collection, identification, and preservation of the country's

plants. During explorations, its scientists collect fertile plant specimens, as well as associated

information on locations, local names, collection dates, phenologies, diversity, abundance,

distribution, local uses, and risks. These endeavours have not only enriched the herbarium

with recent collections, but also have contributed to the publication, as well as checklists, of

the national flora. The BNH currently has a collection of more than 100,000 plant specimens

accompanied by records that include the names of species and families, accession numbers,

collection dates, names of collectors, collection numbers, ecology, and important notes

regarding the plants. These specimens are used as the basis of plant identification and plant

diversity assessments throughout the country that will be bequeathed to posterity and continue

to be used as reference materials in plant taxonomic research and the conservation of

biodiversity and the environment.

The initial formation of the BNH occurred in 1970 under the development project entitled the

“Botanical Survey of East Pakistan” implemented by the Department of Botany at the University

of Dhaka. The project was renamed the “Botanical Survey of Bangladesh” subsequent to the

country's independence and provided financial support from the Ministry of Agriculture and

thereafter from the Ministry of Forest, Fisheries and Livestock. The BNH was officially

established on 1 July 1975 and under the administrative order of the Cabinet Division was

transferred the Ministry of Agriculture to the Ministry of Environment and Forests on 1 July

1994 when a permanent national herbarium building with modern facilities was established

beside the National Botanic Garden at Mirpur on a plot of 1.24 acres. On 1 July 1999, the

National Herbarium was transferred to a revenue budget and on 16 October 2004, it was

declared as an attached department of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The vision of the BNH is

Increasing and diffusing basic information about plant-related topics.

Its mission is

Exploring and preparing inventories of plant resources of the country.

The principal purposes of the BNH are to conduct botanical surveys and identify, collect and

preserve the country's plant species, including those associated with national traditions and

culture. The BNH assumes an important role in the study of medicinal plants, the research and

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –183

development of economically important plants, the conservation of the environment and

ecology of plants, and the conservation of biodiversity.

The strategic objectives of the BNH are:

• Conducting botanical surveys throughout the country and collecting specimens of every

plant species.

• Preserving collected plant specimens and associated information for the use of

forthcoming generations.

• Conducting research on plant taxonomy and printing floristic publications.

• Ensuring proper use of the herbarium database and preserved plant specimens.

• Providing technical services associated with plant-related issues and assuming an

effective role in the conservation of endangered plant species.

• Developing human resources and ensuring transparency and accountability.

The herbarium is suffering from the same problems as other sectoral institutions, namely the

shortage of staff, funds and capacity building initiatives. The latest available staff position in

BNH is given in the table below:

Table 7-5: Staff strength of BNH68

Class Approved Existing Vacant

1st 19 9 10

2nd 3 3 0

3rd 18 14 4

4th 12 11 1

Total 52 37 15

The number of vacancies in BNH seems to be very large, especially at the senior level. Even

the director’s post is vacant. There is very limited mobility for the staff, consisting of just one

car and two old jeeps, computer facility is very limited. The herbarium has never received any

outside funding or any other development funds for conducting new surveys except last year

when it received Tk. one crore for a new survey and specimen collection project.

7.5 Bangladesh Forest Industries Development Corporation69

The government of the then East Pakistan established this autonomous body under the name

'East Pakistan Forest Industries Development Corporation' in 1959. The name of the

corporation was changed to Bangladesh Forest Industries Development Corporation, with its

headquarters at Dhaka, in 1972.

The corporation is functioning on a commercial basis. The general direction, administration of

the corporation and other affairs of the Corporation is vested with a 4-member Board consisting

of Chairman and three Directors of BFIDC. The Board of Directors exercises all powers and

performs all activities of the corporation under the guidance of the Ministry.

68 Annual Report of MoEF 2014-15 69 This description is largely based on the “Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of Bangladesh, 2013. Situation Analysis and Capacity Needs Assessment in the Ministry of Environment and Forests and its Agencies, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 432p.”

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Vision, Mission, Functions and Responsibilities

Vision: To be a leading public sector corporation in the areas of rubber industry as well as

furniture making industry for the benefit of the society.

Mission: To enhance the competitiveness and viability of Bangladesh rubber and rubber-wood

based industry through focused research, development, effective transfer of technology and

quality support services.

Functions and Responsibilities

Currently, BFIDC’s functions are confined to:

• Procurement of timber & other forest produces from forest land;

• Establishment of industries/factories for commercial uses of forest produces;

• Treatment and Seasoning of Timber;

• Manufacture of furniture and various wooden items for supply to Government offices;

• Raising of Rubber Plantations and rubber production;

• Promotion of Rubber cultivation in Bangladesh through Private Sector/Multinational

companies.

The organization is aimed at:

• Best utilization of forest produce by establishing factories / industries to meet the

growing need of wooden items by facing market competitiveness;

• Raising of profitable & sustainable rubber gardens, promoting rubber cultivation in

private sector, creating employment opportunities for poverty alleviation of the rural

poor, caring for the environment, protecting degradation & erosion of land;

• Producing highest quality of natural rubber to meet the local requirement of rubber

based Industries and to ensure value addition & creation of indirect employment;

• Participating in macro-economic activities of the country & playing vital role in

augmenting GDP by generating economic activities in producing of natural rubber,

addressing import & saving of foreign exchange.

The Corporation’s functions are divided into two sectors: Industrial Sector and Agriculture

(Rubber) Sector.

Organizational Structure

The general direction and administration of the Corporation and its affairs are vested in a Board

consisting of Chairman and three Directors. The Board of Directors exercises all powers and

performs all activities of the corporation under the guidance of the Ministry. The Chairman,

BFIDC is supported by Director (Finance), Director (Planning and Development), Director

(Production and Commercial) and a Secretary in charge of Secretariat Division.

The Director (Planning and Development) looks after Planning and Development Division,

Rubber Division and Implementation Division, each headed by General Manager and a

Coordination Branch headed by a Manager. The Rubber Division comprises 16 rubber gardens

in three zones: seven in Chittagong Zone, 4 in Sylhet Zone and 5 in Tangail Sherpur Zone.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –185

Each Zone is headed by a General Manager. One Manager/Deputy Manager is in charge of a

garden.

The Director (Finance) has two divisions and two branches under his control. These are

Accounts Division and Audit Division, each headed by General Manager, and Finance Branch

headed by Manager.

The Director (Production and Commercial) is in charge of Production and Sales Division

headed by General Manager, Market Survey Branch headed by Deputy General Manager

(Marketing) and Coordination Branch headed by Manager (Coordination). The Director

(Production and Commercial) also looks after seven industrial units, namely (i) Cabinet

Manufacturing Plant (CMP), Dhaka, (ii) Eastern Wood Works (EWW), Dhaka, (iii) Sangu-

Matamuhuri Timber Extraction Unit, Chittagong, (iv) Wood Treating Plants (WTP), Chittagong,

(v) Cabinet Manufacturing Plant (CMP), Chittagong, (vi) FIDCO Furniture Complex, Chittagong

and (vii) Lumber Processing Complex (LPC), Kaptai, Rangamati

The Chairman, an Additional Secretary to the Government, three Directors, three General

Managers and the Secretary are posted on deputation to BFIDC by the Ministry of Public

Administration. Currently, three Co-ordination Branches remain as dormant units due to lack

of manpower. The responsibilities of many of the positions are vested with officers of lower

rank due to lack of sanctioned manpower for those positions.

Human Resource

The staff strength and vacancies in the BFIDC structure is given below:

Table 7-6: BFIDC staff position70

Class Approved Existing Vacant

1st 228 84 144

2nd 13 4 9

3rd 519 237 282

4th 551 404 147

Labour 5277 4340 937

Total 6588 5069 1519

As can be seen in the above table, 63% of the senior posts and 44% of the total staff positions

are vacant which is a very serious disability on the part of the organisation.

The corporation has proposed a reorganization and strengthening plan to the government

which will give it a total staff strength of 2215.

BFIDC’s HRD programs are almost negligible. Occasionally some training in field operations

is given to the field staff. Overseas training to senior staff is almost non-existent.

70 MOEF Annual Report 2024-15

186– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Industrial Sector

Nineteen Industries were established by BFIDC. Of these, 01 Industry: Sylhet Pulp & Paper

Mill was handed over to BCIC, 03 Industries: United Bobbins Factory (UBF), Narayangonj;

Rahimanee Industries, Chittagong & Integrated Timber Industrial Unit (ITIU), Rangpur have

been sold to the Private Sector by the Ministry of Industry, 07 Industries have been declared

pay-off by the Govt. of which 4 units have already been sold by the Privatization Commission

& handed over to the Private and 03 Industries are in under process of sale / handover. One

Industry: Chittagong Board Mill (CBM), Kalurghat, Chittagong has been sold but possession

has not yet handed over due to court case.

Seven Industrial units are currently running under BFIDC: These are: (i) Cabinet Manufacturing

Plant (CMP), Dhaka, (ii) Eastern Wood Works (EWW),Dhaka, (iii) Sangu- Matamuhuri Timber

Extraction Unit, Chittagong, (iv) Wood Treating Plants (WTP), Chittagong, (v) Cabinet

Manufacturing Plant (CMP), Chittagong, (vi) FIDCO Furniture Complex, Chittagong and (vii)

Lumber Processing Complex (LPC), Kaptai, Rangamati.

The Sangu- Matamuhuri Timber Extraction Unit, Chittagong and Lumber Processing Complex

(LPC), Kaptai, Rangamati are engaged in procurement of timber from the forest department

(seized material) as well as extraction of rubber trees after expiry of economic life cycle.

Lumber Processing Complex (LPC), Kaptai, Rangamati is also involved in seasoning and

treatment of timber. Cabinet Manufacturing Plant (CMP), Dhaka, Eastern Wood Works

(EWW),Dhaka, Cabinet Manufacturing Plant (CMP), Chittagong and FIDCO Furniture

Complex, Chittagong are involved in the manufacture and marketing of doors, widows, chairs,

tables, benches, executive furniture and dunnage for food godowns. Wood Treating Plants

(WTP), Chittagong carries out treating and seasoning woods.

Shortage of wood is one of the constraints in the industry sector. As there is a moratorium on

felling of trees in natural forests, the seized wood procured from the Forest Department does

not meet the full requirement of BFIDC.

Agriculture (Rubber) Sector

First attempt to grow Rubber in Bangladesh was made in 1952 when Forest department

initiated a pilot rubber plantation project in Chittagong for raising 710 acres of rubber plantation

from seeds & budded stumps imported from Malaysia & Sri Lanka. In 1959 BFIDC (the then

EPIDC) was established by the then Govt. In 1962, Forest Department handed over the pilot

Rubber Planting project to BFIDC. Under an agreement signed between the Govt. of the then

East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) & EPIDC (now BFIDC) on 13-04-1963, BFIDC was mandated

to get forest land on lease for 40 years to raise Rubber Gardens. BFIDC switched over to

clonal plantation programmes in 1980-81.

The corporation owns 36654 acres (14834 ha) of forest land. It has so far established 16 rubber

gardens in 32,635 acres (13207 ha) of land by use of Malaysian clones. There are seven

Rubber Gardens in Chittagong, 4 in Sylhet and 5 in Tangail Sherpur area. 2 million rubber

trees in BFIDC’s plantations are now under production. Old plantations are continuously being

replaced with new plantations. The production figures reflect an annual average production of

5447.57 MT. The low level of production is attributed to loss of economic life (>32 years) of a

large number of rubber trees as well as theft of latex.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –187

As an Apex Body, BFIDC has been promoting rubber cultivation in the private sector. A total

of 32,550 acres of hilly lands have been allotted to 1302 individuals (25 acres/ person) for

raising rubber gardens in the private sector. 13000 acres (5261 ha) of rubber plantation are

under Chittagong Hill Tract Development Board. Tea gardens and other organizations have

also raised about 20,800 acres (8418 ha) of rubber plantation. Private sector produces about

5500 MT of rubber annually.

Rubber Sector is a promising sector but it is facing some acute problems: Shortage of skilled

manpower, old dated machineries, factories, smoke houses etc. Low Yielding Factor, re-

plantation/raising of new rubber plantation and disposal of trees over economic life cycle.

Moreover, due to lack of appropriate technology in the treatment of rubber wood it has not

been possible to popularize the extensive use of rubber wood in furniture making. In view of

the low-level production in respect of both latex and timber, the corporation wants to switch

over from old-dated production system to modern production technology and the use of high

yielding latex-timber clones.

Financial Resources

BFIDC is a self-financed organization. The corporation prepares its budget and submits the

same to Ministry of Finance through MoEF for its approval. The budget includes revenue

income, revenue expenditure, profit and capital expenditure. Any surplus is saved as bank

deposits. The corporation pays BDT 5.0-10.0 million to the Government from its profit. The

state of its finances varies from year to year depending on market conditions and the

performance of its various units. It earned a profit of TK 403.97 lakh in the year 2014-15, mainly

on the strength of its manufacturing operations while the rubber business suffered a loss of Tk.

875 lakh. The corporation consumed 1110034 cft. timber in its manufacturing operations in

that year, out of which 613511 cft. came from its own gardens in the form of old rubber trees.

The corporation is reported to be suffering from over centralisation of financial decision making

and decentralisation efforts have not been successful so far. The corporation has very limited

IT infrastructure, its field units have no internet access, in general. The website of BFIDC is in

a very poor condition.

Looking at the overall forestry based and industrial nature of its operations, it is surprising to

note that there is no forester or industry expert in its top management. Although, the

corporation has been instrumental in spreading rubber cultivation to the private sector, it has

shown no interest in promoting the development of forest industries in the country, beyond

running its own businesses. As the forest based industries and occupations are one of the

biggest employment generators in the country, the country needs a body to spearhead their

growth and development. It will be in the fitness of things if BFIDC could take up this role.

7.6 Gender aspects of forest planning, implementation and management

Women in Bangladesh are actively engaged in forestry programmes. The concept of ‘social

forestry’ started with loans from the ADB in the late 1980s that enabled women and local poor

people to have access to alternative sources of income and to overcome the rural fuel crisis

through the planting of fast-growing tree species.

Some of the more prominent gender aspects that are associated with forest planning,

implementation and management have been integrated into the strategic objectives of the

188– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

MoEF, particularly with respect to the relevance of those strategies to women's rights and

advancement. The roles of women in those strategic objectives are considered in the following

discussion points.

• Mitigating the adverse effects arising from climate change: Women suffer most

from the adverse effects of climate change and will, accordingly, benefit most from their

participation in different climate adaptation and mitigation programmes, especially the

social forestry reforestation and afforestation activities that are implemented by the

BFD. Women have demonstrated that they are more receptive to adopting activities

such as homestead gardening and reforestation and afforestation, as well as the

establishment of tree plantations, and are more responsible in the management and

use of forest resources.

• Conservation and sustainable management of forest resources: The programmes

for establishing participatory block forest strip gardens and coastal char and mangrove

gardens to offset the contraction of forests will increase the income of poor

communities, including women. Training programmes for those involved in social

afforestation will also increase their awareness and contribute to the establishment of

forest resources. Women, in particular, will have opportunities for self-employment and

income generation as the result of their involvement in participatory plantations and

training and the distribution of different fruit trees, commercial trees, and medicinal

plants for homestead gardening. Their involvement in these programmes will also

indirectly enhance women's social status and contribute to their empowerment.

• Conservation of biodiversity: The implementation of activities associated with

ecotourism, awareness raising, and social forestry will expand employment, increase

income, and contribute to the poverty reduction of a significant number of poor people.

It is of some significance that at least 50% of the participants in biodiversity preservation

activities are poor and destitute women. Moreover, 30% of the representation in local

planning committees has been reserved for women, which will implicitly increase their

income and promote their social status.

Within the MoEF and the BFD:

• There is an emphasis on expanding employment opportunities for rural, poor women

through expansion of social afforestation activities across the country to mitigate and

develop low carbon emission initiatives and the implementation of these mitigating

activities will have positive impacts on women and children’s health.

• The implementation of participatory biodiversity protection activities will ensure the

participation of poor and destitute women, as will their participation in forest resources

local planning and management committees. There are provisions in the revised

regulations for the social afforestation program, as well, that encourage the active

participation of women in those forest management committees. Further initiatives

have also been advanced to provide training on forest management and biodiversity

conservation to beneficiaries under the social afforestation program and those involved

in the co-management of reserved forests, 40% of whom are women. Those activities

will act to empower women.

There is one issue of particular concern to women that more directly involves the Forest

Department. That concern is the recruitment process for promoting the hiring of women.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –189

Women are currently considerably underrepresented in the Forest Department and that

concern, as well as recommendations associated with institutional reforms and restructuring

that would also improve hiring practices, will be further elaborated in the Task 6 report on

“Financial and other resources needed for the implementation of the Forestry Master Plan,

policies, institutional reforms and technical capacity required for implementing the Forestry

Master Plan.”

190– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

8 Resource mobilisation

Forestry was once considered important only for socioeconomic reasons or for conserving soil,

water and biodiversity. But with the advent of the concerns for climate change, and the role

that good forestry can play in dealing with the impacts of climate change, has lent it a totally

new sense of priority. While the consumables provided by the forests can perhaps be imported,

at least to some extent, the role that forests can potentially play in protecting the country

against the impacts of climate change cannot be outsourced. Action for that has to be here.

As Bangladesh is considered to be one of the most vulnerable lands in the world, the sense of

urgency cannot be overemphasised. To reinforce the defences against the impacts of climate

change through forestry, and meeting the needs of the society for forest products, is going to

need a tremendous amount of technical and financial resources. As the capacity of the country

to generate these resources internally is extremely limited, BFD has to primarily look outward

for development funding and technical support while the local exchequer comes forward to

maintain healthy and efficient institutions that can spearhead future developments. Some

important issues related to the mobilisation of resources and some salient constraints in

mobilising and efficient use of these resources are discussed below.

8.1 Review of the resources available and mobilized from national and international sources for the forestry sector

The flow of financial resources to the forestry sector has always been inadequate and has

been mostly dependent on donor contributions. Availability of funds to the BFD since 1985-86

is given in Table 8-1. The existing Forestry Master Plan, 1995 – 2015, indicated a minimum

investment requirement of Tk. 6,024 crore (scenario 1) during the 20 year period, for the

fulfilment of the objectives of the National Forestry Policy 1994. However the total availability

to the sector during this period was only Tk. 2,317 crore (1995-96 to 2014-15). This is only

about 38% of the estimated requirement. Bangladesh has been getting significant Overseas

Development Assistance (ODA) for the development of the forestry sector, since

independence, both from multilateral donors, such as the WB, ADB, UNDP, FAO, UNESCO,

GEF, EU and bilateral donors, such as, USAID, SIDA, DFID. But the forestry sector continued

to suffer from the inadequacy of resources. Table 8-1 shows that in some years the contribution

of donor-funded projects to the total allocation was even more than 90%. This shows the high

dependence of the sector on outside sources. However, despite the generous donor

contributions, the availability of funds to the sector continued to be far below the estimated

requirements of the sector. ODA assistance declined sharply from Tk. 95.8 crore in 2000-01

to a mere Tk. 4 crore in 2010, but has picked up again since then. In 2014-15, the contribution

of donor supported projects to the total development kitty of BFD was more than two-thirds.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –191

Table 8-1: Annual Development Programme (ADP) and Expenditure (in crore Taka; Office of the ACCF, Development Planning Unit, BFD)71

Financial

Year

Revised

ADP

Expenditure Project Aid

(Net Grant) %

1985-86 27.0 24.3 89.9 --

1986-87 38.2 31.7 82.9 --

1987-88 31.1 26.2 84.2 --

1988-89 36.6 27.3 74.7 --

1989-90 57.0 41.4 72.6 --

1990-91 55.2 43.7 79.2 --

1991-92 49.4 37.2 75.3 --

1992-93 74.0 57.9 78.2 --

1993-94 82.6 75.3 91.2 --

1994-95 94.7 81.7 86.3 --

1995-96 78.4 67.2 85.7 50.7

1996-97 82.0 71.5 87.2 45.8

1997-98 77.2 60.5 78.4 56.1

1998-99 68.1 63.0 92.5 49.8

1999-2000 101.5 89.4 88.1 77.8

2000-01 119.1 104.5 87.7 95.8

2001-02 104.9 90.2 86.0 67.1

2002-03 96.9 71.4 73.7 52.6

2003-04 112.6 99.2 88.1 54.2

2004-05 95.6 89.3 93.4 46.4

2005-06 117.7 111.7 94.9 66.8

2006-07 56.1 53.3 95.0 17.2

2007-08 59.0 53.4 90.5 21.4

2008-09 36.7 36.1 98.4 11.7

2009-10 33.2 32.5 97.7 4.0

2010-11 114.2 107.6 94.3 30.0

2011-12 221.8 207.5 93.6 59.1

2012-13 154.1 119.9 77.8 76.1

2013-14 263.4 211.1 80.2 192.0

2014-15 302.44 294.9 97.5 216.43

2015-16 292.04 269.1 92.2 224.52

Table 8-1, however, does show that the utilisation rate of the available funds has remained

relatively high since mid-nineties and has, in fact, improved significantly over the years. The

utilisation percentage (net grant) was usually below 80% before 2000 but in recent years it has

generally been above 90%. This shows the increasing capacity of BFD to undertake ambitious

development programmes.

71 Office of the ACCF, Development Planning Unit, BFD.

192– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Although the apparent allocations to the forestry sector have gone up, year by year, the real

value of the available funds have actually been going down. Table 8-2 shows the discounted

value of all allocations, both development as well as revenue, for all the years since 2004 –

2005. It is clear that the real allocations to the sector have in fact declined since then and the

current allocations are no better than the allocations 10 years ago, despite the newfound

realisation of the importance of the sector for coping with the impacts of climate change.

Table 8-2: Budget Allocations of BFD (crore Taka).

Year Development

budget

Revenue budget Total Real value of

current allocation*

2004-05 95.6 81.6 177.2 177.2

2005-06 117.7 83.9 201.6 180.0

2006-07 56.1 101.7 157.8 125.8

2007-08 59.0 112.9 171.8 122.3

2008-09 36.7 115.8 152.4 96.9

2009-10 33.2 130.5 163.7 92.9

2010-11 114.2 153.0 267.2 135.4

2011-12 221.8 160.1 381.9 172.8

2012-13 154.1 155.8 309.8 125.1

2013-14 263.4 183.0 446.4 161.0

2014-2015 302.44 192.3 516.8 166.4

2015-16 292.04 255.43 547.47 157.38 * At 12% discount rate.

Table 8-3 also shows the revenue budget, in the last ten years, which mostly covers staff costs

and infrastructure maintenance expenditure. The revenue budget, or normal budget, as it is

often called, showed more than three-fold rise in allocations in the ten years, although the

growth trend has been very slow. Obviously, the allocations did not go up in real terms due to

the effect of inflation and other economic factors. As mentioned before, the real value of the

allocations in 2015-16 was even less than the allocation in 2004-05 (Table 8-2). About 85% of

the revenue budget is spent on pay and allowances for the BFD staff. The supply and services

head comprising municipal and land tax, post and telephone, water, electricity, fuel, stationary,

training, legal affairs, survey, computer accessories, arms and ammunition, publicity and

advertisement, uniforms, animal food, books and journals, photocopy, travelling allowance,

etc. receives only about 7-8% share of the total revenue budget. This is a critical budget

category which covers all the primary expenses of the department. The budget in this head

was insufficient for an agency having more than 10,000 staff. Only a meagre part

(approximately 4%) of the revenue budget is allocated for raising new plantations. The irregular

allocation pattern of revenue budget causes serious field problems. It not only makes forward

planning by field officers difficult, sheer lack of funding makes the organisation virtually

ineffective in the lean years.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –193

Table 8-3: Revenue budget (crore Taka).

Year Budget sub-heading

Pay and

Allowances

Supply and

Services

Plantation Others Total

2004-05 63.2 6.0 11.2 1.2 81.6

2005-06 66.9 6.9 9.0 1.1 83.9

2006-07 86.7 7.3 6.6 1.1 101.7

2007-08 89.7 11.1 9.9 2.3 112.9

2008-09 99.1 8.4 5.5 2.8 115.8

2009-10 110.3 9.6 7.8 2.7 130.5

2010-11 131.0 11.8 6.5 3.7 153.0

2011-12 136.1 13.1 7.0 3.9 160.1

2012-13 132.2 13.3 7.0 3.4 155.8

2013-14 156.7 14.0 7.5 4.7 183.0

2014-15 162.8 15.4 8.0 6.2 192.3

2015-16 222.7 16.94 9 6.7 255.43

The low priority to the forestry sector is reflected in a comparison of the national ADP and the

forestry sector ADP (Table 8-4). It shows that the sector received only 0.27% of the national

development budget in the 9 years between 2006-07and 2015-16. This is much below the

1.3% share of forestry in the GDP of the country72, even if one ignores the intangible benefits

of forests to the society. The forestry sector ADP also showed an irregular trend during this

period. The figure declined sharply from Tk. 119.2 crore in 2001-02 to just Tk. 38.4 crore in

2009-10, primarily due to the lack of donor contributions during this period. The period 2006-

07 to 2010-11 was perhaps the worst period in recent history when the sector got the lowest

allocations. Inadequate financing was one of the main challenges for the successful

implementation of the FMP 1995.

Table 8-4: Financial Resources for National ADP vs. Forestry Sector ADP.73

Financial

Year

National

Development

Expenditure

(Tk. millions)

FD

Expenditure

(Net Grant)

(Tk. millions)

Forestry: National

(%)

2007-08 269,640 533.63 0.20%

2008-09 273,790 360.65 0.20%

2009-10 316,390 324.7 0.10%

2010-11 396,940 1,076.37 0.10%

2011-12 472,760 2,075.27 0.44%

2012-13 564,390 1,198.88 0.44%

2013-14 673,270 2,111 0.31%

2014-15 818,080 2,949.09 0.31%

2015-16 985,870 2,691.48 0.27%

72 FAO. 2014. Contribution of the forestry sector to national economies, 1990-2011, Forest Finance Working Paper FSFM/ACC/09. 73 ACCF Development Planning Unit, BFD

194– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Any decline in budget to the forestry sector first affects the development programmes as the

obligatory expenses like salaries and wages cannot be avoided. The country saw a sharp

decline in expenditure on afforestation and reforestation programmes during the period from

1998-99 (Tk. 149.83 cr.) to an all-time low of Tk. 9.5 cr. In 2008-09, before reversing the trend

in 2009-10 again.

Figure 8-1: Trends in expenditure on afforestation and reforestation74

8.1.1 Financial gaps

Table 8-2 shows that over the last few years, the development expenditure has far outstripped

the revenue expenditure. Prima facie this seems to be a good trend as revenue expenditure is

generally considered a necessary evil to carry out the development. But revenue budget

provides the money for core functions of the organisation (as listed before), without which the

organisation just cannot be run. As the government cannot avoid paying salaries, the usual

victim of austerity measures is the category called “supply and services”. Shortage of funds for

these core functions of the department, can play havoc with the morale and efficiency of the

staff. Without an efficient and motivated department, it is difficult to expect quality performance

in development. As we have seen in Table 8-4, the share of “supply and services” in the total

revenue budget is less than 8%. Even within this category, mandatory items like electricity bills,

take priority.

Usually there is little money for meeting the travel expenses of the field staff and people have

not seen their travel bills reimbursed for years. Whatever money is there, is just sufficient to

pay for the travel expenses of senior officers, unless a field unit is linked to a well-funded

project. For this reason, either the field staff does not travel, or they have to eke out money

from some other account through unfair means.

Similarly, it was noticed that there was no money for dealing with crimes and court procedures.

As a result, the field staff is wary of booking an offence because they have no money to feed

the arrested persons, their transport to the court, and for various types of court expenses.

Thus, hundreds of offences go unreported and unprosecuted due to the shortage of funds.

74 ACCF (Monitoring)

72.7278.621

40.69

149.83137.029

104.115

64.74469.21745.834

56.9356.74

18.02112.429.479

193.07

243.282

93.414

142.516

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –195

Quite often there are vehicles and boats but no fuel, unless a project pays for fuel. There may

be many other such critical needs for which either no provision is made or only a cosmetic

provision is made. These shortages slow down the department quite significantly but no steps

have so far been taken to rectify the situation. The situation is well-known to senior officers but

they find themselves helpless.

Nearly all the development budget comes in the form of projects which are site specific and

action specific. Including the donor funded projects. These projects usually focus on asset

building but hardly ever provide for their maintenance. During the project period, some

maintenance funds, such as for fuel, travel etc. may also be available. But when a project ends,

or in an area where there is no project, the field staff faces a very critical situation. There is

generally a gap between the end of one project and the beginning of the next. Quite often

funds for the maintenance of the assets and for performance of normal functions of the

department dry up. As a result, many of the gains of the development projects are lost.

It is, therefore, important that the GoB recognises the fact that without keeping the department

in peak condition, by toning up various internal systems, peak performance cannot be

expected from the frontline staff.

8.1.2 Development partners

Bangladesh receives international assistance from a large number of development partners.

As mentioned before, several multilateral (the WB, ADB, UNDP, FAO, UNESCO, GEF, EU)

and bilateral (USAID, SIDA, DFID, GIZ) donor agencies have been active in the forestry sector

for long. With the emergence of the climate change as a major concern in forestry, flow of

international funding in the name of mitigating and adapting to climate change has increased

significantly. Although there have been a large number of internationally funded projects in the

country, a list of the major recent projects, and the sponsoring agencies, is given in Table 8-5.

Table 8-5: Donor Financed Projects (Completed, Ongoing and Committed).75

Project Title Period Project Cost

(Lakh Taka)

Donor's

Contribution

(Lakh Taka)

Donor Status

Forest Resources

Management Project

1992-2000 23,472 19,337 IDA Completed

Forestry Sector Project 1997-2006 41,529 20,940 ADB Completed

Coastal Greenbelt

Project

1995-2002 11,834 9,892 ADB Completed

Nishorgo Support

Project

2004-2009 6,209 5,620 USAID Completed

Support to Essential

Management Capacity

in the Sundarbans WH

Site following the

Passage of Cyclone

Sidr.

2008-2009 75 75 UNESCO Completed

75 ACCF Development Wing, BFD

196– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Project Title Period Project Cost

(Lakh Taka)

Donor's

Contribution

(Lakh Taka)

Donor Status

Integrated Protected

Area Co-Management

(IPAC)- Nishorgo

2010-2013 6,107 4,386 USAID Completed

Sundarban

Environmental and

Livelihood Security

(SEALS)

2010-2014 13,620 10,058 EU Completed

Sustainable

Development and

Biodiversity

Conservation in Coastal

(Protection) Forest

(SDBC-Sundarban)

2012-2015 4,182 4,000 GIZ Completed

Management of Natural

Resources and

Community Forestry

(Chunoti)

2011-2015 2,833 2,500 GIZ Completed

Community Based

Adaptation to Climate

Change through Coastal

Afforestation in

Bangladesh

2009-2014 7,158 4,142 GEF Completed

Biodiversity

Conservation in the SRF

1998-2005 39,886 23,862 ADB GEF Partly

Completed

Strengthening Regional

Co-operation for Wildlife

Protection Project

2011-2016 27,620 25,495 IDA/WB Ongoing

Bangladesh Climate

Resilient Participatory

Afforestation and

Reforestation Project

2012-2016 28,350 27,540 BCCRF

and AF

Ongoing

Climate Resilient

Ecosystems and

Livelihoods (CREL)

2012-2018 12,967 10,291 USAID Ongoing

BAGH Project 2013-2018 10,188 9,426 USAID Ongoing

Integrating Community-

based Adaptation into

Afforestation and

Reforestation

Programmes in

Bangladesh.

2015-2019 4,520 4,520 GEF Prodoc

Signed

UN-REDD Bangladesh

Programme

2015-2018 1,677 1,677 UNDP

and FAO

Prodoc

Signed

Expanding the

Protected Area System

to incorporate Important

Aquatic Ecosystems

2016-2020 1,301 1,301 GEF Prodoc

Signed

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –197

As can be seen from Table 8-5, a fair amount of international finance has been flowing into the

forestry sector of the country. There have been no blank years for a long time. While several

large projects have been completed, new ones are being signed and a considerable amount

of funds have been lined up for the next few years.

Apart from the traditional national and international sources of funding, several new avenues

of finance have also opened up in the recent years. The GoB has created two new funds for

financing climate change mitigation and adaptation programmes from where financing for the

forestry sector can also be accessed. The Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF)

is resourced entirely from the government’s own budget, while the Bangladesh Climate

Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF) consists of funds pledged and provided by developed

countries or groups (such as the United Kingdom, Sweden and the European Union). The two

funds have differing governance and management arrangements, but both are meant to

support the implementation of the BCCSAP.

In addition to these new national vehicles for financing climate action, including forestry, Green

Climate Fund (GCF) created by the UNFCCC is another promising source of funding for the

future. The GCF is a fund within the framework of the UNFCCC, founded as a mechanism to

assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change.

The GCF will support projects, programmes, policies and other activities in developing

countries using thematic funding windows. It is intended to be the centrepiece of efforts to raise

climate finance of USD 100 billion a year by 2020.

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and

Forest Degradation (REDD+) of the UNFCCC are now well-known carbon finance mechanisms

for generating international support for forestry and conservation. Bangladesh is well on its

way to benefit from REDD+ as it has become a member of the UN-REDD Programme and has

already prepared projects which are ready for submission. Similarly, activities proposed under

Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAPA) and Intended Nationally-Determined

Contributions (INDCs) can also attract international finance from developed countries on the

lines of REDD+ and CDM. Although the carbon market is quite down at the moment but the

concerted international efforts to revive the mechanism hold a good promise of recovery

someday.

Apart from these multilateral institutional sources, many developed countries also provide

climate change mitigation and adaptation funding to developing countries through bilateral

arrangements. Norway International Climate and Forest Initiative, Germany REDD Early

Movers Program and United States USAID, Forest Service and Tropical Forest Alliance 2020

are some of the important agencies which provide climate change finance to developing

countries on a bilateral basis (discussed in more detail in section 6.3 at page 133).

8.2 Major constraints in financial and technical resource mobilization

As was discussed in the preceding discussion, the development budget in Bangladesh has

really picked up in the last 5 years and there is no real shortage of funds for development

expenditure, looking at the capacity of BFD to utilise these funds effectively and efficiently.

However, in view of its extreme vulnerability to climate change related risks, the country is

likely to attract even more international support in future and BFD has to gear up to benefit

from these new opportunities. At present, the level of ODA infusion is primarily limited by the

198– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

capacity of BFD to utilise more funds effectively and efficiently. As the country needs much

more ODA in the forestry sector, in order to be able to deal with the climate change related

and socioeconomic issues, the systemic constraints that limit the capacity of BFD to utilise

more funds need to be addressed urgently.

The revenue budget of BFD, which is the core funding for maintaining the department, is

perennially inadequate and some activities such as travel, forest protection etc. are seriously

affected by this shortage, as discussed before. As the revenue budget is provided out of the

national resources, it has to depend on the capacity of the national economy. As the overall

size of the national economy is small, and claimants for these limited resources are many,

shortage of funds is natural. Even then, forestry has been getting a disproportionately low

share of the national kitty (0.27%) perhaps due to the lack of appreciation of the importance of

forests to the rural economy and the environment. As revenue funds run the core systems of

the government, adequate revenue funds are required to enable BFD and other institutions to

use the development resources effectively and efficiently. The only constraint that seems to

be inhibiting the sector from accessing a higher share of the national budget is perhaps its

influence with the planners and financiers of the nation.

One important requirement for efficient use of financial resources is the technical capacity of

the organisation. Technology is one of the key ingredients of modern governance as it

improves efficiency, and transparency. The country has been getting technical support bundled

with the investments for a long time but most of the gains are often lost with time as the

organisation does not encourage or reward technical excellence and the system does not show

a hunger for technical excellence. It is often seen that persons trained for something are posted

on other jobs, new equipment is not used because technical staff to use them is not available,

or there is no money to maintain or upgrade the new acquisitions. While forestry is fast

modernising in the world, on the strength of new technological infusion in the form of

computers, communications, remote sensing, GIS technologies, but most of the BFD

operations are still run the old way, using little or no technology. Some of the technological

constraints of the forestry sector are due to the prevailing technological level of the Bangladesh

society but agencies like BFD can become the harbinger of change as they can demonstrate

the benefits of going hi-tech to the rest of the country and can thus help in fast tracking the

country’s development.

Some of the weaknesses of the forestry sector that militate against faster growth and

development area briefly discussed in the following sections.

Low penetration of information technology and internet

Due to the low use of information technology (IT) and internet, the availability and transmission

of information is very badly affected. Although computers are now penetrating the offices of

BFD, as everywhere else, the pace of their penetration and assimilation is quite slow. Most

offices have computers but they are not networked, there is no culture of creating databases,

there is just one facility (RIMS) in the department which uses GIS and remote sensing

technologies to produce and store spatial information, and an MIS developed 10 years ago

was never used because necessary staff could not be trained or recruited. No computers are

available at the range level where all the primary data is produced. Obviously, internet in these

offices is also not there. There is no unit within BFD which is responsible for upgrading the IT

infrastructure and skills in the department.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –199

Information technology is the backbone of every society or organisation. It can make work

faster and better. Availability of computers and computing skills is a primary requirement to be

able to absorb other new technologies. BFD cannot benefit from the increasing availability of

local or international resources, if its IT capabilities are limiting its capabilities.

Staff vacancies and erratic recruitment

Table 8-6 below shows the current level of vacancies in important cadres in BFD. As can be

seen, there are a large number of vacancies as a result of recruitments not keeping pace with

retirements or attrition. While overall the department is 22% short of its staff, at the senior level

the vacancies are a glaring 43.8%. The two critical levels for field operations, the deputy

conservator (Divisional Forest Officers) level and ranger level, are short of staff by 50% and

39.5%, respectively. Due to such a huge vacancy level, the performance of the staff

deteriorates. BFD has not recruited rangers and assistant conservators for decades. As a

result most of the staff is past their prime and there is no young blood in the department to lend

it the requisite energy and dynamism. Whenever these vacancies are filled, in future, there will

be bulk recruitments, which will lead to new administrative problems as they will all become

entitled to promotions at the same time and will retire at the same time. In the absence of

regular recruitment, the training institutes also start decaying as there are no clients for

decades.

Unless BFD develops a proper human resource management system, the capacity of the BFD

to attract and utilise resources shall always remain limited.

Table 8-6: Vacancies at important levels in BFD.

Name of the Post Total Posts In Position Vacant Positions

Deputy Chief Conservator of Forests 4 2 2 50.0%

Deputy Conservator of Forests 63 31 32 50.8%

Senior Instructor 4 0 4 100.0%

Sub-Divisional Forest Officer 7 0 7 100.0%

Research Officer/Botanist 12 5 7 58.3%

Assistant Conservator of Forests 160 98 62 38.8%

Instructor 12 6 6 50.0%

Total at Higher Level 297 167 130 43.8%

Forest Ranger/ Field Investigator 403 244 159 39.5%

Overall 10,240 7,992 2,248 22.0%

Utilisation of Training, Technical Reports, Equipment

As mentioned before, Bangladesh gets a lot of technical support from international agencies,

which always comes bundled with financial packages. Apart from the special technical

assistance projects, most investment projects also have a strong component of capacity

building in the form of overseas training and equipment supply. A large number of consultancy

outputs are available, which were meant to help in preparing new investment projects, or

developed training materials, conducted technical studies to improve knowledge and

understanding of resources or reviewed the departmental systems, laws, policies etc. in order

to improve the delivery of the system. However, most of these inputs are often not utilised for

the benefit of the sector, for one reason or the other. Trained persons often do not get a chance

to use their training because they are transferred to some other positions, technical reports are

often not used for the purpose for which they are ordered because the systems are very slow

200– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

and bureaucratic. New equipment is not used because either the required staff is not there or

the equipment becomes dysfunctional for want of maintenance and upgradation. BFD has to

tone up its internal systems to ensure that the technical assistance it receives is utilised to the

maximum extent.

Lack of incentives for skill enhancement

Another weakness that may affect the performance of the department adversely is the lack of

systems that encourage skill development. As in most traditional organisations in South Asia,

all professional staff is recruited at the same level and they all follow the same growth path

until their retirement. The promotions are primarily on the basis of seniority and merit has only

a marginal role in career advancement. Acquisition of an additional skill entails no advantage

or incentive and the person may be required to do things which have nothing to do with his

special skills. There is no system of lateral recruitment of inducting specially qualified technical

staff to work in emerging areas. As a result, virtually every officer in the department has the

same skill set and they are generally unable to cope with situations requiring to deal with

anything other than afforestation, patrolling, office management etc. Perhaps it is time that

BFD reviews its skill requirements in the context of modern forestry and develop appropriate

staff strength either through lateral entry or by retraining existing staff through incentives and

encouragement.

Inefficiency, bureaucracy

The ability of a government organisation to mobilise resources also depends on its reputation

and name for delivery. If the government has the confidence that the resources provided to an

agency shall be well spent, it may be more generous towards that agency, even in the middle

of a competition for resources. Although BFD has done some wonderful work in the teeth of

severe difficulties, but the public image of the department is not that of a clean and efficient

organisation. As the frontline staff of BFD has to deal with poor resource dependent people,

complaints of excesses and corruption keep appearing in the media. The public remembers

these incidences more than the great work being done by the organisation in the worst of

conditions. Although there is a clear realisation in the society that good forest management is

critical for the wellbeing of the people of Bangladesh, but the country is not investing enough

in keeping BFD healthy and efficient. Perhaps, BFD should mount a strong image building

campaign and should also have a public relations office so that positive stories about the

achievements of the department keep leaking into the media.

8.3 Other Organisations76

Apart from BFD, Bangladesh Forest Research Institute (BFRI), Bangladesh National

Herbarium (BHH) and Bangladesh Forest Industries Development Corporation (BFIDC) are

operating in the forestry sector. Out of these, BFIDC is not dependent on government finance

and is almost self-reliant in resources. It makes a small annual profit from its operations which

has been dwindling over the years. It made the highest profit of Tk. 87.24 crore in 2010-11 in

recent years, while the profit in 2014-15 was only Tk. 4.04 crore, with a loss of Tk 8.15 in the

previous year.

BFRI is completely dependent on revenue budget and has no development funding at present.

However, one project entitled "Establishment of Regional Bamboo Research and Training

76 Also see section 7.4 at page 167.

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Centre" at Domar, Nilphamari (Tk. 17.0 crore) has been approved in 2016-17 financial year

under development budget. Their revenue budget in the year 2015-16 was Tk. 3.86 crore.

Additionally, BFRI had a few small research projects funded by the GoB until 2013-14 (total

budget Tk. 2.35 crore for 3 years) but currently they have nothing. Obviously doing any

research in BFRI must be very difficult. BFRI has had no externally aided project in the recent

past. 235 posts out of 792 are vacant, more in the technical category. A modernisation project

worth Tk. 109 crore is said to be under discussion with the government. Recruitment of staff is

very difficult due to outmoded recruitment rules and quality staff does not stay due to lack of

career development opportunities. Organisation structure of the institute has not been

reviewed ever since 1969.

BNH, which preserves specimens of the vascular flora of the country, is in no better position

than BFRI. It survives only on the development budget, which was only Tk. 2.4 crores in the

year 2015-16. After nearly a decade, BNH has received development funding for the first time

for a research project worth Tk. 7.19 crore, for two years 2015-16 and 2016-17.

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9 Challenges, vision and goals for the FMP

9.1 FMP Vision and Objectives

The Forestry Master Plan shall endeavour to achieve the vision enshrined in the National

Forest Policy (draft) 2016, i.e.:

• Restore and maintain the country’s environmental integrity;

• increase and stabilize its forest cover to at least 20% of the country's geographical

area;

• address in the most effective manner the emerging challenges associated with climate

change and the maintenance of sustainable flows of ecosystem goods and services;

• increase the contributions of the country's forests to national income and the

enhancement of local employment and income opportunities; and

• support efforts to secure food security and alleviate poverty by enhancing biodiversity

conservation through the sustainable management of forests, wildlife and other

ecosystems, including those of protected areas, social and community forests, coastal

forests of mangroves and charland plantations, wetlands, homesteads, and other tree

cover.

The principal objectives of the National Forestry Policy are to:

1. Reduce forest degradation and halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and

conserve environmental services, biodiversity and wildlife, promote food and water

security and enhance community livelihoods to mitigate the impacts of climate

change.

2. Intensify efforts to ensure that 20% of the country's area is under forests and tree

cover, including 100% of state forests, 80% of hill land areas, 30% of terrain land

areas, and 10% of plain land areas, by 2035 through afforestation, reforestation,

social forestry, and ecological restoration and sustainable forest management

programmes involving the government, conservation and natural resources

management non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector in

partnership with local communities.

3. Enhance forest resilience through the conservation of forests and biodiversity,

arresting forest fragmentation and degradation, establishing and linking forest

corridors, encouraging participatory afforestation with climate resilient species, and

strengthening forest resources patrolling activities by expanding the use of MIST and

SMART monitoring and reporting systems and linking their applications with the

actions of rapid response forest crime enforcement teams.

4. Strengthen biodiversity conservation by mitigating threats and drivers of forest

degradation and the loss of biodiversity and expanding and sustainably managing

protected area landscapes and wildlife, including forest corridors.

5. Increase contributions to revenue generation and the enhancement of local

employment and income opportunities through the establishment of sustainable and

profitable forest products enterprises, the development and expansion of nature- and

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –203

culture-based tourism, and the optimization of carbon credit and other related

sources of conservation funding.

6. Promote innovative forms of collaborative, participatory forestry to increase forest

productivity with positive implications on climate change mitigation, poverty

alleviation and the equitable distribution of socioeconomic benefits to local

communities.

7. Restore and sustainably manage degraded and other marginal areas, including

coastal areas and wetlands, under climate resilient, participatory afforestation,

reforestation, rehabilitation and ecological restoration processes to increase carbon

sequestration consistent with the production and distribution of co-benefits that

contribute to meeting local community requirements.

8. Launch and sustain a country-wide conservation movement by encouraging,

especially, women, youth and indigenous people to promote climate resilient private

tree growing and forge innovative conservation partnerships with the private sector,

civil society and conservation and natural resources management NGOs to forestall

forest land encroachment, impede deforestation and forest degradation, and control

wildlife poaching and trafficking.

9. Ensure compliance with the requirements of relevant international agreements,

conventions, and protocols to which the Government of Bangladesh is a signatory

and establish appropriate enabling conditions to access international funds made

available under those agreements, conventions, and protocols.

10. Monitor the state of forest, biodiversity and ecosystem services to provide relevant

management and decision-making information required by the government and its

departments and agencies, as well as by other stakeholders, through increasing

manpower and the institutional strengthening of forestry research and analytical

capacities and monitor the status of local community forest users and resource uses.

Guided by this broad sectoral vision, and objectives, the FMP shall attempt to achieve the

goals presented in the following sections.

9.2 Meeting growing biomass demands and socio-economic needs

The population of Bangladesh is projected to increase from 160.9 million currently to 186.5

million in 2030 and 202.2 million in 2050. Despite growing industrial and service-related sectors

of the economy, the pressure on land to provide agricultural employment and to attain food

self-sufficiency can be assumed to increase in step. The population growth will also lead to

greater demands for biomass, predominantly in the form of timber for construction and wood

fuel. Incidentally, recent trends show a decline in the consumption of wood fuel but the

consumption of construction and industrial wood is still rising. Although detailed studies of the

demand and supply situation are required, there is no doubt that demand for biomass in the

future will continue to rise during the plan period due to the increase in population. Despite the

apparent decline in demand for biomass in recent years (see section 0), the current production

of woody biomass is happening at the cost of losing tree cover in the country. Bangladesh lost

71,906 ha of tree cover from areas with more than 10% canopy cover between 2001 and 2014,

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making an average annual loss of approximately 5,136 ha77. A large part of the natural forests

is virtually treeless now. This indicates a very high pressure on forest and that the current

demand is not being met sustainably.

One of the important policies in the new FMP is to increase the capacity of the BFD to collect,

interpret and manage information related to all aspects of forest management in Bangladesh,

including the mapping and demarcation of all gazetted forest land. This should lead to better

protected RF land. Over 32% of the geographical area of the country is already under

significant tree cover and an approach to enrich the vegetative cover in this already available

land shall help in meeting most of the goals of the forestry sector.

In order to mitigate the pressures on (forest) land and to maintain or even increase production

of timber and NTFPs, while enhancing the livelihoods and resilience of local communities, the

following goals are defined:

• Undertake a massive reforestation programme in the denuded RF, PF and USF areas

to boost biomass production and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

• Promote agroforestry in rural areas so that areas under forest cover directly contribute

to rural livelihoods while producing biomass (mostly for wood fuel) and other goods and

services (such as fodder for livestock, nitrogen fixation for soil fertility, micro-climate

regulation).

• Introduce tree species that have a higher yield of biomass, specifically tailored or

selected to match the environmental conditions of the major ecological regions of

Bangladesh.

• Introduce payment schemes related to maintenance or enhancement of forest area and

biomass, such as through the National REDD+ Programme and other schemes for

payment for ecosystem services.

• Promote climate-neutral alternatives for forest-based products in construction,

manufacturing and domestic use. Increase efficiency to reduce demand for biomass

(e.g. brick kilns, improved cook stoves and solar cookers).

9.3 Addressing environmental challenges; climate change, biodiversity and ecosystem services

Climate change

Combating climate change through mitigation and adaptation measures shall be an important

goal of the FMP. The measures shall include:

• Preserving natural forests, undertaking plantation of climate resilient tree species for

sequestering carbon, creating shelterbelts of climate resilient species of trees to protect

coastal communities, infrastructure and natural resources, and protecting river

catchments and watersheds.

• Equipping climate vulnerable communities with the skills and resources to undertake

alternative income generation activities at times of climate related stresses on existing

livelihoods.

77 Global Forest Watch

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –205

• Effects of sea level rise and storm tidal surges are reduced by protection provided by

existing mangroves and other coastal forests. Siltation in coastal and estuarine forests

will be enhanced through the use of silt traps, to increase the rate of forest floor rise to

help compensate for sea level rise. Where large infrastructural works are implemented

along waterways, strip plantations will be integrated. Research into salt-tolerant

species for planting in temporarily flooded areas will be strengthened.

• Plantations of trees will recognize the predicted rising temperature and changes in

rainfall patterns, selecting species that are optimally adjusted to the local conditions

predicted throughout the rotation period. Research into climate change patterns in

Bangladesh and appropriate species selection will be strengthened.

• Natural forests will be monitored intensively to identify changes in ecology and

biodiversity due to changing climate patterns early on. In particular, habitat effects for

faunal species – including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and insects – will be monitored

and remedial action undertaken as required.

• River discharge patterns will be monitored to assess impacts on freshwater (e.g.

Tanguar Hoar) and estuarine forest ecosystems (Sundarbans, coastal forests).

Biodiversity

Biodiversity of Bangladesh is depleting as a result of forest loss and degradation as well as

due to unsustainable, illegal, exploitation of many wildlife species. Climate change is likely to

create new threats for many species of plants and animals. Apart from the measures indicated

above, measures to conserve biodiversity shall include the following:

• The rich biodiversity in forest lands of Bangladesh will be preserved in a sustainable

manner, including both flora and fauna species. The genetic diversity found in the

forests has enormous potential to support sustainable harvesting of non-timber forest

products, including medicines and other rare chemical compounds, and to safeguard

the forest resources against the effects of climate change (water availability, rising

temperatures, prolonged flooding or exposure to high levels of saline water).

• Bangladesh has some natural areas of global ecological importance – most notably the

Sundarbans and Tanguar Hoar – and emblematic fauna species such as the Bengal

tiger. Areas of importance in maintaining a high degree of biodiversity will be protected,

with buffer areas established around them.

• Measures to curb poaching and trafficking of wildlife products and derivatives shall be strengthened.

• A research programme will be established to continuously monitor the biodiversity of

the forests, including minor flora and fauna species.

Ecosystem goods and services

Maintaining and monitoring the continuous supply of ecosystem goods and services shall be

a challenge to be addressed under the FMP. These services are threatened by the climate

change and socioeconomic pressures on all ecosystems. The goals and measures indicated

before shall contribute significantly to the maintenance of ecosystem services. Additional

measures to be taken for this purpose shall include the following:

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• BFD will continuously monitor and publish detailed information on yield of forest

products, including their economic value. This includes timber and non-timber forest

products for gazetted forest areas, but also from homestead forests, social forestry

areas and other forest resources. The publication will be done in digital format and

serve the multiple purposes of formal forestry statistics, forestry research and to

educate the population on the goods that the forests of Bangladesh provide.

• Eco-tourism for domestic and international clients will be fostered, in particular in places

of high interest due to proximity to cities or because of intrinsic natural values. Local

communities will be engaged in eco-tourism activities wherever possible, to provide

opportunities for socio-economic development and to foster local guardianship over

forest resources.

• Ecosystem services, in particular those related to pollination, pest and disease control,

micro-climate regulation, water and air purification and carbon sequestration need to

be assessed (and quantified where possible) on a spatially-explicit basis. A

comprehensive field-based monitoring system will be developed, as well as a research

programme to analyse data and to develop approaches that optimize the generation

and sustainability of ecosystem goods and services. All relevant information on

ecosystem services will be shared with other sectors of government at central and local

levels such that policies in other areas may be informed of the importance of

safeguarding forest resources. Additionally, the information will be shared with the

general public for education and awareness.

9.4 Adopting sustainable and participatory forest management systems

• The goals of participatory forest management include: (1) Developing the stakes of the

local communities in tree farming and conservation of forests; (2) Empowering the

weaker sections of the local community (poor, under-privileged youths, women); (3)

Promoting a cooperative structure in the locality to articulate the interest and voices of

local people; (4) Meeting the needs of local people for forest products ; (5) Improving

the socio-economic condition of the local people: (6) Establishing self-reliance and self-

dependency in the minds of the poor and distressed people; (7) Stopping or reversing

the process of ecological and climatic degradation by improving the overall

environmental condition of the country by increasing tree and forest resources.

• Improved participatory social forestry management programmes in place, on

government and community lands, and expanded “greenbelt” coastal afforestation

programme with mangrove plantings along the shoreline. The programmes will be

extended by enhancing secondary benefits from plantations and co-management of

natural forests, such as fruits, honey, mushrooms and other non-timber forest products

that enhance the livelihoods of the participating communities.

• Expansion of community-based wildlife management and exploitation of eco-tourism

ventures.

• Policies outside of forest land will be developed in collaboration with relevant

government agencies to promote multiple-use species in agricultural landscapes and

along roads and canals, for the provisioning of tree products to local communities, such

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –207

as fire wood, fodder (from leguminous tree species), poles, construction timber, fruit,

etc.

• An urban forestry programme will be established in collaboration with local authorities

to enhance the urban environment (e.g. air filtration) and provide spaces for leisure to

the urban population, involving local schools and disadvantaged groups in

establishment and maintenance.

9.5 Policies, institutions and resources to meet the environmental and socio-economic challenges

The policies that will be required to meet the environmental and socioeconomic challenges

that will increasingly be confronted over the planning period of the Forestry Master Plan will

have to recognize the importance of (1) conserving and restoring forests and expanding forest

areas; (2) adopting sustainable management practices; (3) conserving and restoring sustained

flows of ecosystem services; (4) reducing vulnerabilities to current climate risks and climate

change by enhancing the resilience of forest ecosystems and communities; and (5) ensuring

participatory forest management, including meeting local biomass needs and enhancing local

livelihoods.

The strategies designed to facilitate the implementation of the National Forestry Policy to

support the achievement of these national development priorities will strengthen:

• Sustainable Forest Management by means of forest conservation and ecological

restoration and the use of modern forest technologies and innovative and collaborative

management practices. The country's forest ecosystems will be managed sustainably

to provide climate change- and socioeconomic-related benefits and resources for

meeting local community requirements for timber, fuelwood, non-timber forest

products, and other forest resources.

• Protected Area Management and Biodiversity Conservation by means of demarcating

protected areas into core zones and buffer areas and promoting the co-management

of protected areas, including wetlands;

• International Conventions, Treaties, and Protocols by means of adhering to, and

ensuring compliance with, the requirements of international agreements, including

those to conserve biodiversity, ensure the sustainable management of natural

resources, enhance carbon stocks, and sustain the flows of forest ecosystem goods

and services;

• Climate Resilient Forestry by means of (1) promoting forest ecosystem-based natural

disaster mitigation and risk reduction programmes and mainstreaming social and

environmental safeguards, including the rights of indigenous communities expressed

through 'free, prior and informed consent;' (2) prioritizing coastal afforestation and

mangrove regeneration as an adaptation response in recognition of the prevailing high

risks and vulnerabilities of coastal communities; and (3) supporting forest-dependent

communities in coastal areas in conducting village level climate change vulnerability

assessments and developing and implementing climate change adaptation plans.

• Forest and Wildlife Protection by means of strictly enforcing and regularly reviewing

and amending applicable legislation and regulations to deter illegal tree felling, forest

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fires, forest grazing, wildlife poaching and trafficking, and encroachment on forest lands

and protected areas, as well as by strengthening institutional mechanisms and

coordination with relevant law enforcement agencies, including the Coast Guard, Navy,

Police, and the Bangladesh Border Guards.

• Commercial Forestry by means of discouraging the supply of subsidized forest

products from state forests to forest-based industries and recognizing that the supply

of wood for those industries will be increasingly provided from homesteads and other

non-state forests and will be supported through the establishment of private plantations

with an emphasis on employment-generating income growth for the rural poor;

• Forestry Research, Monitoring, Education, Training, Extension, and Communication by

means of (1) strengthening the capacities of public forestry institutions, conservation

and natural resources management NGOs, civil society organizations, and forest

dependent communities through targeted training programmes; (2) incorporating

forestry, environment, and climate change-related subjects into natural science

disciplines in agriculture and other public and private universities and institutions; and

(3) redirecting the perspective of the BFD from its previous prominence on maximizing

timber revenues to climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity conservation,

and environmental services management by strengthening human resources and

restructuring forestry training institutions and education programmes;

• Legislation, Personnel Management and Administration by means of ensuring that

state forests will not be converted to non-forestry uses without prior approval from the

Prime Minister’s office, updating the organizational structures of public sector forestry

organizations to account for required personnel and emerging responsibilities,

strengthening human resources, and ensuring that the primary basis for promotion and

posting will be performance, professionalism, commitment, efficiency and integrity; and

• Indigenous Communities and Chittagong Hill Tracts by means of applying an integrated

watershed conservation approach that incorporates indigenous community watershed

protection, especially in the headwater reserved forests of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Institutions

The institutional modifications supported under the National Forestry Policy required to meet

the environmental and socioeconomic challenges that will respond to the emerging challenges

associated with climate change and the maintenance of sustainable flows of ecosystem goods

and services are primarily concerned with strengthening and reforming forestry sector public

institutions. Those efforts will be supported through the establishment of a Wildlife and Nature

Conservation Wing, as well as an operational crime control unit and international cooperation

unit, in the BFD. The Resources Information Management System (RIMS) will be upgraded,

as well, through the establishment of a new wing on Forest Resources Assessment and

Monitoring with adequate skilled staffing that will be responsible for forest resources-related

data collection, documentation and dissemination, as well as for planning and conducting

periodic analyses of forest cover and forest resources inventories, and coordinating resource

monitoring. The training facilities of the Forest Training Academy, Forest Development and

Training Centre, and Forest Science and Technology Institutes will also be restructured and

enhanced by increasing the numbers of qualified and skilled faculty members and ensuring

the provision of adequate budgets and sufficient logistic support.

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The BFRI will establish field research connections with the participation of public and private

universities and other research institutions, as well as the private sector, to facilitate the design,

development and implementation of research programmes that are responsive to the country's

development requirements, as well as to those of sustainable forest management and

resource conservation. In establishing those connections, forest research will increasingly

encompass the investigation of emerging forestry, biodiversity, and climate change-related

issues.

Government policies regarding recruitment, posting and management of professional cadre

and non-cadre foresters, forest scientists and public forest industry staff will be reoriented to

ensure the provision of appropriate incentives to increase motivation and enhance professional

competence required to assume increasing responsibilities with human resources planning

conducted in every public agency active in the forestry sector.

Forestry extension under the Social Forestry Wing will be enhanced to deliver information on

forest functions and services supported by research linkages and field evidence and to expand

access to silvicultural and forest management 'best' practices and nursery and plantation

technologies. Agricultural extension facilities, including extension personnel, will be leveraged

to support those activities whenever possible. Technical assistance and extension services will

be provided to private nursery owners and investors in growing trees through Forestry

Extension, Nursery and Training Centres (FENTC) and Social Forestry Plantation Centres

(SFPCs). Sabuj Clubs at union parishads, or at the village level, will be developed as the

principal civil society institution for the promotion of private nurseries and tree growing and for

increasing awareness of climate change. Partnerships involving forestry extension and

communication will be encouraged by establishing links with the private sector and

conservation and natural resources management NGOs. Conservation-linked livelihood

development will be strengthened, as well, by promoting forest and non-forest based

enterprises and women, youth, indigenous communities and other marginal segments of

society will be assured equitable representation and importance in forestry extension and

management decision-making activities.

Resources

Providing human, technical and financial resources for the implementation of the revised FMP

will be a huge challenge. BFD and all the other public sector institutions are suffering from

huge manpower shortages due to obsolete recruitment rules, restrictions on fresh recruitments

and attrition due to lack of adequate career development opportunities. Institutional structure

of the institutions has not been reviewed in the context of contemporary requirements for a

long time. Human resources development programmes of the institutions are almost non-

existent as the training programmes are neither linked to needs nor there is much scope for

using new skills. BFD does get adequate technical resources in the form of equipment,

software and overseas training, under programmes funded by donors, but the scope for using

and retaining the technical knowledge is limited due to the non-existent manpower planning

and deployment systems. Most of the equipment received under various projects is often non-

functional due to lack of resources for maintenance and operators.

Availability of financial resources for raising vast plantations and undertaking various other

measures is going to be a huge challenge. FMP 1995 could get less than 40% of the estimated

requirement. Availability of resources is likely to be largely dependent on the interest of donors,

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including multilateral financial institutions, which will further depend, among others, on the

ability of the BFD and other institutions to use the available funds responsibly. Even if the funds

to undertake development work are available, providing revenue funds for the core

requirements of the BFD shall be an equally big challenge. Without adequate revenue funds,

the ability of the BFD and other organisations to undertake ambitious development

programmes shall be seriously undermined. Following measures shall be required to enable

the forestry sector to implement the FMP effectively:

• Manpower requirements of the forestry sector organisations shall be reviewed in view

of the contemporary challenges and steps shall be taken to fill the vacancies

expeditiously and regularly.

• Needs of the BFD and other organisations for technical resources such as training and

equipment shall be reviewed and steps shall be taken to ensure that these resources

are regularly provided through collaborations with national and international technical

institutions.

• All avenues of international finance to provide adequate funds for the implementation

of the FMP shall be accessed, in addition to the national resources. Government of

Bangladesh shall regularly review the need for revenue funds of the forestry sector

organisations and shall take steps to meet the needs regularly.

9.6 Strategies to address International Conventions

• MoEF/BFD will establish a monitoring system capable of producing the most common

information that is required in the various reports to international conventions, such as

the UNFCCC (National Communications, Biennial Update Report and Technical Annex

(REDD+), Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, National Adaptation Plan of

Actions, etc.), the UNCCD (National Reports, National Action Programme), the CBD

(National Reports), the Ramsar Convention (National Reports), the Forest Resources

Assessment (Country Report), etc. The information will be extracted as much as

possible from existing operational procedures in BFD in order to reduce the resources

required to produce and compile the required information. The entire process of

reporting to the international conventions will be integrated in the general procedures

of MoEF/BFD and resources allocated to it.

• Where necessary, institutional arrangements will be established to streamline the

efforts of the relevant government agencies in producing the reports. An inter-

institutional focal point will be established to coordinate efforts.

• Specific information for each of the conventions will be supported through a data

collection protocol tied to the BFD monitoring system and directed research, in

particular where complex analyses are required such as for the assessment of

reductions in GHG emissions under the REDD+ mechanism.

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10 Other Critical Issues

The terms of reference of this assignment have not provided for a discussion and evaluation

of some critical issues relevant to the development of the FMP. These issues are, namely,

Land Management, Current Forest Management and Wildlife Management. As these issues

are likely to form the core of the recommendations in the new FMP, it is important to review

them and draw conclusions which can guide the development of proposals for the future.

10.1 Land Management

Forest Department is the custodian of a huge estate which forms almost 13% of the landmass

of the country. Land is a very precious and scarce and there are all kinds of demands, both

legal as well as illegal, from the public as well as government agencies, for taking it away.

Although BFD is very reluctant to share forest land with anybody, even for purposes of

reforestation of degraded forests, it has still not developed proper land management and

monitoring practices which can help it in keeping this resource secure and productive. The

poor state of forest land records is reflected in the fact that the records of the headquarters do

not tally with the records of the field offices.

While the total area notified as forest, or otherwise under the control of the forest department

is 1879503 ha, as per the records in the BFD headquarters, the same estate is 1962360 ha

according to the records of the forest division offices. The area under encroachments, although

it has never been surveyed, is occularly estimated to be 104154 ha while the area transferred

to other agencies for various purposes is reported to be 125626 ha. Despite this land loss

(229780 ha), BFD has not corrected its records and continues to report the notified figure as

the forest estate.

One reason for this sad state of affairs is that the forest estate has not been mapped and

demarcated on the ground. As a result, the neighbours are free to push the boundaries, a few

feet at a time and BFD does not have the capacity to map changes in the estate on a case to

case basis. In the absence of authentic maps and demarcation, it is virtually impossible to

prove the offence in a court. Therefore, the actual holding of the forest department is likely to

be much less than what the records may say. Land survey used to be one of the basic skills

taught to even the lowest of foresters in the past. But that skill has been completely lost now

due to disuse. Although GPSs have become common place now but there is no move to use

these modern tools to assess the condition of the forest lands. Due to the lack of boundary

demarcation, even the FIGNSP (2013) exercise to map the forests could not give any

assessment of the forest area under encroachments or occupation. Due to the absence of

clear records and maps, hundreds of court cases related to land disputes are languishing in

the courts.

One primary requirement for land management of any kind is to have good quality maps. Every

officer in charge of any parcel of land, starting with the beat officer right upto the conservator

of forests, must have a clear idea of forest boundaries and must check them with the maps

from time to time. Although the Survey of Bangladesh produces good quality maps but these

maps are hardly ever seen with the foresters in the field. The only maps one sees with the field

staff are the photocopies of the manual maps prepared in the sixties. It is reported that these

are the only maps recognised by the courts in cases of disputes.

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Due to large scale encroachments and shifting of boundaries, surveying and mapping of

forests will now be extremely difficult as the neighbours are likely to try to stall the process

though litigation, if intimidation does not work. CHT area does not have even the cadastral

maps of the area. Therefore, mapping and surveying CHT area is going to be virtually

impossible, especially in the light of the law and order situation prevailing in the area. However,

there is no option but to survey and map the forest estate, and update these maps regularly, if

the country wants to preserve its natural forests.

Paradoxically, the current social forestry policy also comes in the way of proper land

management, as, rather than evicting forest encroachers, government recognises and

respects their right to occupy government land by planting trees at government expense. As

these encroachers can never be evicted now, evicting any new encroachers will cause a moral

dilemma for the government. Thus the situation is likely to worsen if some tough decisions are

not taken.

Newly accreting char land is another major concern for the forest department. Government

has notified all upcoming char lands as reserved or proposed reserve forests which need to

be stabilised with the help of mangrove plantations. However, these lands become suitable for

shrimp cultivation and other uses over time and the pressure to release these lands mounts.

Despite notifying these areas as forest, government expects to get this land back for other

uses at some stage, even if it has been planted up. The failed plantations are at an increased

risk of being demanded for alternative uses. Approximately 168000 ha char land is expected

to be available for plantations in the next 20 years, as per the assessment made by CEGIS.

As coastal plantations have now become important more for their protective role against

climate induced risks, than simple tree land, government has to change its policy of land

diversion in order to have a permanent and effective shelterbelt of coastal plantations.

Under the difficult circumstances faced by BFD, the only viable option for BFD is to strengthen

its hold on the surviving forests wherever possible, in the first place, by surveying and mapping

them urgently. In the CHT, even that is going to be difficult. Although Sundarbans have not

faced any major land alienation in the past, but the pressures are going to mount in future, as

many new development projects come up in the area. Therefore, it is high time that the

boundaries of the SRF, both on land as well as on water are demarcated and mapped before

the situation worsens any further.

Modern equipment like the total stations and GPSs make the surveying and mapping job very

easy. Irrespective of the fact whether anybody else recognises these maps or not, BFD must

map their existing forests immediately for its own records and monitoring. In fact, the FIGNSP

(2013) project has already mapped all the forests. The boundaries of these forests may not be

clear in these maps but the boundaries of existing natural vegetation are clear. These

boundaries can be immediately demarcated on the basis of these maps, especially wherever

they are adjacent to private holdings or encroachments, so that further chipping away of the

forest estate is prevented.

Demands for diversion of forest land for other land uses is always going to be there. Therefore,

Government must have a strict policy to release forest land only in extreme cases. As proposed

in the new forestry policy, the demanding agencies must be asked to provide equivalent area

of land and the cost of compensatory afforestation. A system of calculating and charging the

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net present value (NPV) of the released land should be devised to make the demanding

agencies pay for the lost land, in case they cannot provide land.

10.2 Forest Management

10.2.1 Current status of the forest estate

The condition of the state forests has been described in detail in chapter 1. In a nutshell, out

of 1.87 million ha of notified state forests, only about 500000 lakh ha is in its natural condition

at present, out of which approximately 400000 ha is in the Sundarbans (nearly 200000 ha is a

water body in the Sundarbans). The remaining forest estate is either degraded or encroached

or planted with teak and gamar (hill forests) or akashmoni (sal and hill forests). While the

remaining sal and hill forests (natural) have a canopy density between 10% and 70%, most of

the Sundarbans has better canopy density which improves as one goes from west to east.

Although the hill forests are a part of the global biodiversity hotspot extending into Northeast

India and beyond, but most of that diversity seems to have been lost with the loss of forests.

Due to the degradation of hill forests, the village common forests (VCF) maintained by local

people are more biodiverse than the state forests. Most of SRF is dominated by just three tree

species, namely, Sundari, Gewa and Goran, in association with nearly 25 other mangrove

species.

Due to the ban on felling of trees in natural forests, limited natural forests that have survived,

are mainly an ecological asset now. The only production forests in the country, in terms of

timber production, are the plantations, both within and outside the state forests. Nearly all of

the consumable wood products needed by the country now come from private forests. The

remaining natural forests are extremely fragmented and vulnerable to further damage. A map

of the Kassalong Reserve Forest, which is one of the best surviving reserve is give below as

an illustration.

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Map 10-1: Kassalong reserve forest.

Due to the ban on felling in natural forests, forest management in Bangladesh is now limited

to afforestation and reforestation, apart from protection against illicit felling, encroachments

etc. Salient features of the current forest management in Bangladesh are as follows:

10.2.2 Protection against illicit felling, encroachments and wildlife poaching

Protection of forests, forest lands and forest products, including wildlife, is the first and foremost

job of the forest department. The forest laws and the para-military nature of the forest

department are meant to help in the discharge of this responsibility. However, in a densely

populated and largely poor countryside, protecting forests against socioeconomic pressures is

a herculean task. Even the forest laws recognize the fact that forests have historically been

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –215

the resource grounds of the rural people, and any provisions for conservation of the forests

can be only mildly coercive. Although the laws have been made tougher over time but without

any effect. When the laws turned out to be ineffective in conserving the forests, foresters tried

to protect them with the help of the people by sharing the benefits with them, through

programmes like social forestry and co-management of PAs. But the results have been mixed,

at best. Despite all the efforts, forests have continued to degrade and disappear under assault

from encroachments, illicit felling and shifting cultivation. The sal forests are almost on the

verge of extinction, while the hill forests are not far behind. Only 15% of the sal forests (17495

ha), 15039 ha bamboo forest and 11% of hill forests (79161 ha.) have been found to be intact

in the satellite base mapping exercise in 2013 while the rest is either degraded wasteland, or

agroforestry or akashmoni mono culture (on degraded forest land), or under encroachment or

other uses. The remaining natural forests are so fragmented that they do not have much

ecological value. Encroachments on forest land, especially are rampant even within protected

areas (e.g. Madhupur National Park). Estimates of encroachments are always conservative,

in the absence of a proper survey, still 100000 ha has been recorded as encroachments.

Another 125000 ha has been transferred to other agencies for development works.

Sundarbans, fortunately, have escaped degradation or deforestation to a large extent, perhaps

due to natural reasons.

While the enforcement of the forest act has its own problems, the new wildlife act has still not

become operational as no rules have been promulgated nor notifications issued for its

implementation. Wildlife poaching is rampant and Bangladesh has become a convenient

transit route for wildlife and products on way to East Asia from South Asia. The iconic Royal

Bengal Tiger is limited to just about 100 animals and the poorly equipped forest guards are no

match for tiger poachers and other criminals. Other than the tiger, most of the poaching of

wildlife is to feed the pet trade and the appetite for wild meats.

Under the circumstances, the country needs to review its conservation strategies in the light

of past experience. No liberties can now be taken with the remaining bits of sal and hill forests.

They must be protected, if for nothing else, as symbols of the lost glory of the wilds of

Bangladesh. Although it will be a tough decision, these forest patches must be declared as

some kind of national monuments under a new law, if the forest laws are found inadequate,

and must be protected really effectively, with or without the participation of the local people.

10.2.3 Moratorium on felling of trees in natural forests

Government of Bangladesh took notice of the precarious situation of the forests when it

gradually started imposing moratorium on felling of trees in natural forests in the seventies.

The moratorium was first placed in the sal forest, then it was extended to Sundarbans and then

to all forests. In the beginning, an exception was made in the case of gewa in Sundarbans, for

supplying raw material to Khulna Newsprint Mills but even that exception was withdrawn, in

2010. Thus at present there is a complete moratorium on felling of trees in natural forests.

There is no exception even for carrying out silvicultural operations such as thinning.

Other than Sundarbans, this moratorium is only of an academic interest now. As the forests in

the sal and hill areas have already disappeared except a few fragments, there is not much to

debate about the effect of moratorium on forests. As official felling programs are always more

guided by silvicultural considerations, than revenue earning, it is unlikely that forests could

have been more harmed if the moratorium in the sal and hill forests had not been there. Now

that the forests have disappeared despite the moratorium, it is obvious that the other drivers

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of forest degradation and deforestation are more powerful and harmful than any wrong

silvicultural operations.

Although there is not much to be salvaged, some young sal crops in Mymensingh and Tangail

divisions are suffering from high congestion as BFD is not carrying out badly required thinnings

due to the prevailing moratorium. This has also resulted in the government going back on its

signed commitments to the social forestry groups with whom the government has entered into

agreements for benefit sharing. In fact, only those areas regarding which there is a social

forestry agreement are standing intact while most of the other areas have already been

destroyed. In the light of this situation, it may be advisable to revisit the moratorium in specific

situations in order to carry out the tending operations as well as to strengthen the commitment

of the people to protect their neighbouring forests, by implementing the promised benefit

sharing.

However, it seems the moratorium has had a positive effect on the health of the Sundarbans

forests. This forest had been exploited for its timber resources at least since the Moghul period

and had shown continuous decline in growing stock until the moratorium came into effect. Main

thrust of management during and after the British period was on the exploitation of timber

resources, particularly Sundri (Heriteria fomes). Several good timber inventories were carried

out in the past (1959, 1983, 1996), in order to know the growing stock of this large mangrove

forest (Choudury & Hossain, 2011). During this period of 37 years (1959-1996) the growing

stock had declined by more than 50%; for some species like Gewa, it even declined by 67%

due to the enormous demands of this timber species for the Khulna Newsprint mill. Although

the extraction of gewa has continued till recently, the positive trend in growing stock and

number of stems per ha has been visible since the mid-nineties Hence, main reasons for this

decline in stock were, obviously, over-exploitation, whereby the quantities in the forest

management plans permitted for extraction, were exceeded. The following table shows the

turn-around in the condition of the Sundarbans forests since the moratorium started taking

effect:

Table 10-1: No. of trees and growing stock per ha (trees over 15 cm dbh) in Sundarbans since 1959 (Source IRMP).

It is obvious that the density and growing stock of trees of all species has improved since the

introduction of the moratorium. Many people associate this change with the reduction in illicit

felling done by the contractors in the name of contracted exploitation. Although subsistence

exploitation, though illegal, is still believed to be going on in the SRF, but it is clear that it is far

below the threshold level. As the main function of Sundarbans now is to provide protection to

the coastal population against sea-borne calamities, and more the density better its

effectiveness in absorbing the force of the storms, it seems logical to continue the current

moratorium till the day when the country is able to devise a strategy which can ensure that any

official felling shall be within the silvicultural limits and the resulting forest shall be as effective

in protecting the coastal people and properties.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –217

10.2.4 Reforestation of degraded forest through social forestry

These are, mostly, akashmoni plantations in evicted encroachments or other degraded forests

in the sal forest as well as hills, except CHT where social forestry has not been able to take

root so far, due to the prevailing mistrust of the local people towards BFD. There are huge

areas awaiting reforestation in the hills but the pace of the program is too slow to make any

dent into the problem. As per BFD records, only 51389 ha of block plantations have been

undertaken since 1980-81 until 2014-15, while the extent of degraded area available for

planting is at least 283900 ha, mostly in the hill districts, as per the forest mapping done in

2013. Thus, unless a special project focuses on this issue, the pace of reforestation will not be

able to keep pace with the pace of degradation/deforestation.

Another issue with social forestry programs is that it focuses only on exotic fast growing

species, in order to generate maximum benefits for the beneficiaries. This is not good for the

environment, particularly in the context of climate change resilience required from the forests

of the future. Therefore, although social forestry is helpful in providing tree cover to denuded

forests, some consideration for increasing the diversity of species in the afforestation programs

will be required.

10.2.5 Agroforestry on encroached forest lands-social forestry

Agroforestry is an important component of social forestry everywhere but in Bangladesh it is

virtually synonymous with the planting of fast growing species on encroached forest land. It is

an excellent approach which benefits both the farmer (encroacher) as well as the government

(society). It generates cash benefits for the farmer (45% of income) while government is able

to put more wood products in the market. The only problem with this approach is that it virtually

rewards a criminal act, and may encourage further encroachment of the remaining forest land.

However, in a complex socioeconomic environment, such compromises have to be made.

Although the government does not have enough money to expand this program to all the

encroached land (only 10626 ha planted till 2014-15), the occupants of the land are also

reluctant to participate in the programme in the fear that the plantation may strengthen the

government’s claim on the land and weaken his. As more than 100000 ha land is officially

recorded to be under encroachment, it will take a serious effort on the part of the government

and development partners to be able to make any visible progress.

10.2.6 Strip plantations on the sides of roads, canals, railway lines, embankments etc.-social forestry

Bangladesh had established 62,329.38 km (1000 plants/km) until 2014-15. This is an excellent

program and the plantations are generally very successful. However, it is a very expensive

programme (Tk. 200000/1000 plants), in comparison with the usual block plantations, and the

progress is expectedly slow. Moreover, the land owning agencies are reported to be reluctant

to hand over their land for this purpose as the plantation may interfere with their future

development plans, such as road widening.

10.2.7 Harvesting of social forestry plantations

The only production of timber and fuelwood from BFD programs comes from the harvesting of

social forestry plantations. Despite the use of fast growing species, mainly Acacia

auriculiformis, the yields from these plantations have not been satisfactory. While the average

yield from all felling records since 1981 has been only 2 m3/ha on a ten year rotation, analysis

of 10 recently harvested plantations in Mymensingh division also gave only 2.47 m3/ha,

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including fuelwood, although a yield of 6.53 m3/ha was also noticed in one plot. Of course,

the results do not include the thinning yields which the beneficiaries take home directly. Global

experience indicates that akashmoni is capable of producing more than 15 m3/ha. Therefore,

there is a dire need to carry out research as to why the yield in Bangladesh is so low. Either

BFD should improve yields from akashmoni or discontinue the species in favour of other more

promising species like Eucalyptus, Gliricidia sepium, Leucaena leucocephala etc.

10.2.8 Coastal Plantations (mangrove, non-mangrove, nypa etc.)

Bangladesh is perhaps one of the pioneers in coastal plantations, particularly, mangrove

plantations. These plantations are undertaken mainly on newly accreted lands when they have

reasonably stabilised. As the plantation site matures, and becomes unsuitable for mangrove

species due to reduction in inundation frequency, non-mangrove species are planted using

mound and ditch technique. This is an excellent approach and is working very well except that

the demand for land in the coastal areas is very high and there is pressure for encroachments

and diversion for other land uses. Although almost all the upcoming accretions have already

been notified as forest under the forest Act, but many plantation areas are diverted for

agriculture and shrimp farms as per existing government policy of giving the land to BFD only

for 20 years. More than 45000 ha land has already been given back to district administration

for distribution to various interest groups. Although in a land scarce country, such compromises

cannot be avoided, but in view of the impending climate change, this policy of converting

coastal plantations into other land uses needs to be reviewed. As the coastal plantations can

play a significant role as shelterbelts against cyclones and storms, the plantations have to be

seen as more important than just land occupied by trees.

10.2.9 Core zone plantations, ANR, enrichment plantations for biodiversity conservation

These are mixed plantations undertaken in the deeper parts of the forests and protected areas

for the purpose of enhancing the biodiversity of the area. The species planted are the

indigenous ones and there is no benefit sharing agreement with the local people. As the

planted species are long rotation species, there is no chance of any cash benefits in the near

future. In the assisted natural regeneration (ANR) variation, the existing root stock or advance

growth is tended and cleaned and promising plants are adopted at suitable spacing, in addition

to gap planting. However, these plantations suffer from the usual risk destruction due to local

biotic pressures in the absence of any concern from the people due to lack of benefits. As in

other cases, the progress of the program will depend on the availability of funds under some

special projects. However, BFD must find its own resources to protect the plantations, with the

help of community patrol groups if possible, even if externally aided projects are not there.

10.2.10 Regulated extraction of NTFP

Although NTFP items are available in all forests, healthy or degraded, most of them are

collected by the local people without any restrictions. However permits are issued for the

collection of fish, honey, golpata and some other items in Sundarbans and for Murta in the

Sylhet division. Whereas this system brings in only insignificant amounts of revenue to the

government, this regulation is meant to bring sustainability to extraction and some much

needed resource information to the BFD. While the collection of fish, honey, golpata, crabs

and prawn larvae is a significant operation in Sundarbans, Murta extraction is a very small

operation and is slowly declining. Demand for golpata is also going down. As the demand for

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –219

fish, honey and other food materials is never going to die, unlike other products, sustainability

of their harvest is of utmost importance. Fish and honey harvests coming out of Sundarbans

seem to be stable for the time being around 7000 tons and 150 tons per annum, respectively,

BFD needs to be vigilant against overexploitation due to pressures coming from unrecorded

extraction. BFD does not allow extraction from the three wildlife sanctuaries which also act as

sanctuaries for fishes and other aquatic fauna. However, BFD has no staff with expertise in

fisheries and aquatic/marine biology, to study sustainability issues. Therefore, while continuing

to concentrate on regulation of harvest, BFD must carry out regular resource assessment with

the help of relevant experts to warn against any unforeseen issues in sustainability. It will be

better if specialist staff is posted in Sundarbans on a regular basis so that experts into BFD’s

aquatic operations are available in real time. As finding an independent expert permanently

will be difficult to find and maintain, taking someone on deputation from the fisheries

department may be a more viable option.

10.2.11 Capacity for management at the field level

BFD is a very old institution with a strong work culture. Foresters are used to working in very

difficult conditions. But with changes in the socioeconomic environment and technology, things

on the ground are changing quite fast. Due to the deterioration in the training culture of the

department, the skills and knowledge of the field staff is deteriorating. New staff entering the

forest department is highly educated and is often used to urban facilities. Most have working

spouses and want to send their children to good schools which are not available in remote

rural areas. As a result, many field officials either do not stay in the remote stations or continue

to try for transfers to more cosy locations. This affects their efficiency badly.

As the staff does not go through proper training where a culture of physical fitness is imparted,

many new recruits are not tough enough for their jobs. The vacancies in the field put extra

pressure on the remaining staff. The accommodation and transportation facilities in the field

are often not satisfactory. As mentioned several times in this report, travel bills are not

reimbursed at all. There is now an emphasis on working with the people, rather than Just as a

law enforcing force, as in the past. Although frequent trainings are imparted to the field staff

on this aspect, they often find it difficult to combine their enforcement role with the need to

communicate with the people at equal level. As a result, BFD’s engagement with the people

at the ground level remains weak.

As mentioned before, the forest laws and the rules, and notifications issued to implement them,

are not adequate in the current context. While non-gazetted staff has no powers to take action

against criminals, contrary to popular belief, under the Forest Act, Wildlife Act has still not

become operational although field staff is implementing it without proper authority. Wildlife

divisions have no authority to enforce the wildlife law but they are doing it because territorial

divisions think this is no longer their job. Forest case conducting officers (FCCOs) have been

appointed to manage and argue cases in the courts, but most of them are also in charge of

ranges and have no time to attend to the court business. Moreover little funds are provided for

court expenses. Therefore, these rangers have to find money for court expenses from

somewhere else. Such weaknesses of the system breed corruption and inefficiency.

Under these circumstances, it is a miracle that BFD has been able to undertake large

development projects. However, the rapid loss of natural forests is a clear reflection of the state

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of affairs. A deep organizational study of the prevailing systems in BFD is urgently required in

order to make BFD an efficient and responsible organisation.

10.3 Forest Dependent Communities

Forests of Bangladesh are concentrated in three distinct belts. The three forest belts have very

distinct tribal and non-tribal communities associated with them which have their distinct

cultures and religious beliefs. The population of Bangladesh can be roughly divided into

majority ethnic Bengali people (of any religion) and ethnic tribal people belonging to several

tribal groups specific to the area and the forest that they are traditionally associated with. While

the Bengalis are spread all over the country, the tribals are restricted to their special niche

areas around the forest belts.

As the ethnic communities have evolved with local forest resources, their cultures have heavy

dependence on forest produce, both major and minor. Their houses are primarily made of

timber, bamboo and thatch grass although this is now changing due to non-availability of local

materials availability of alternatives. They cultivate forest land, jhum or otherwise, and use

forest produce as a significant part of their food and medicines. With the increase in population,

both tribal as well as non-tribal, forest resources have shrunk and degraded due to the resulting

overexploitation. These tribes generally consider forests as their ancestral heritage and

oppose the government’s control over them. Forest areas traditionally have had low human

density and tribal societies have thrived in the forest belts as long as the exploitation levels

remained within the carrying capacity of the forests. However, with the increase in population,

traditional lifestyles, rooted in liberal supplies of natural resources and products, have become

unsustainable.

Communities of the hill forests

The hill forests are inhabited by tribes like Chakmas, Marmas, khasi, Jaintia. Chakmas and

Marmas practice jhum over most of the forests of the area. There are many more smaller

groups and sub-groups. Hill areas outside the CHT districts are predominantly populated by

ethnic Bengali people. Following information culled primarily from Khan et al. (2012), sums up

the socioeconomic environment of the CHT area as far as its relevance to forestry is

concerned:

Population of CHT districts according to 2001 census was 1342740 which grew to 1587000 by

2011, increasing the population density from 100 to 119 persons per sq km. The proportion of

tribal population had gone down to 48.13% due to the migration of the plains people to the hills

(under government sponsored programmes). Submergence area of the Kaptai dam is 68000

ha which included 22000 ha of agricultural land (40% of all arable land in CHT). The rest was

forest land. Nearly 60000 families are involved in jhum cultivation. Illicit felling of trees in

reserve forests is rampant and annual value of illegal timber is estimated to be Tk. 50 crore.

“Pablakhali wildlife sanctuary has been converted into a barren field due to illegal logging”,

65% of Kassalong RF had been destroyed by jhum cultivation by 1993. Land degraded due to

jhum cultivation was estimated to be one million ha in 1993. A very telling quotation from ADB

92001) sums up the condition of natural resources and the perception of the local people

towards the agents of degradation:

“They have eaten the forests - the daroga (police) has eaten; the tila babu (forester) has eaten,

the sodor (merchants) who bring the truck from towns (to carry the logs) has eaten. Trees are

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –221

all gone. Stones are also gone ---- Do you know why the water is dirty in the stream? Because

there are not many stones in the river".

As mentioned above, shifting cultivation or jhum has been the predominant land use in the

CHT areas which was officially allowed in the forest areas outside reserve forests, i.e. in the

USF areas. However, under the prevailing lawless conditions for several decades, it spread

into the reserve forests. Due to the increase in population, the jhuming cycles have become

progressively smaller and smaller and the damage to soil and vegetation has reached

unsustainable levels. Current fallow periods are reported to be as short as 3-4 years only. CHT

areas have been especially affected by the increase in population density due to the movement

of the plains people into the hills as a part of the resettlement programme of the government.

Apart from jhum, practices like tobacco cultivation which need a lot of firewood to cure tobacco

have also impacted the forest resources. Illicit felling under the garb of jote permits has further

denuded the hill forests. Local tribals used to extract sizable quantities of NTFPs like Haritoki,

Amloki, Bahera etc. from the forests, but with the degradation of forests, the production of

these products has also declined sharply.

Communities of the sal forests

Santal tribe lives in the northwestern districts of Dinajpur, Naogaon, Thakurgaon and

Panchagarh etc. Garo tribe occupies central region of Tangail, Mymensingh Jamalpur, Sherpur

and Gazipur. Both tribal as well as no –tribals have extensively encroached upon the sal forest

land. Even people from coastal areas are reported to have encroached land in the sal forests.

There is a high demand for social forestry participation in the sal region and people from

faraway places try to get enrolled, using political influence. Government has tried to build

cooperation with the local communities through social forestry and co-management initiatives.

Although social forestry has been able to return tree cover to encroached forest lands to some

extent, co-management in protected area like Bhawal National Park and Madhupur National

Park has not shown significant results. Community patrol groups are not effective because the

patrollers are not paid due to non-availability of funds. Co-management committees are there

in Madhupur but 12000 acres out of 22000 acres continues under encroachment, some

covered under social forestry plantations in the pine apple cultivation.

Coastal communities.

Due to natural factors, the remaining Sundarbans has been less vulnerable to encroachments

and overexploitation, although the current extent of the mangroves is only a small fraction of

the original extent which extended deep into the mainland. The communities living around

Sundarbans are more interested in its NTFP like fish, crabs, honey, golpata etc. and less in

the land itself, because the lands are not suitable for habitation or cultivation due to regular

inundation. Of course there is pressure for fuelwood and timber extraction along the rims of

Sundarbans. With the moratorium on exploitation of forests, the forests have started recovering

in the interiors but pressure on the peripheries continues to degrade the resources to some

extent. However, with changing lifestyles, the pressures on forests are also changing. The

demand for thatching materials like golpata has been reported to be going down due to the

easier availability of commercial roofing sheets. With the spread of gas and homestead

plantations, the pressure for fuelwood is also going down. The future drivers of degradation in

Sundarbans may not be the local communities but the many new development projects

proposed in the area. Apart from other things, this will increase the population dependent on

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the SRF for timber and fuelwood which will have a cascading effect on all the ecosystem

services provided by the SRF.

Thus, it seems the mangroves are likely to remain relatively safe against socioeconomic

pressures, if the upcoming development projects are carefully planned. However, the sal

forests and hill forests are likely to suffer further damages due to increase in population around

them and the inability of BFD to enforce the laws effectively.

10.4 State of reporting and information management

Efficient management of forests requires a regular flow and management of information on the

condition of the forest resource and the results of management. While RIMS is responsible for

generating and managing resource information, various offices of BFD are responsible for

generating and managing information on field activities and their results, and relevant financial

and organisational information, on their own. The office of Assistant Chief Conservator of

Forests (Monitoring) is responsible for compiling information from various branches and field

offices on core issues.

While generation and management of resource information is highly technical and expensive,

this information is generated intermittently, in the form of various assessment exercises,

whenever funds are available. There is no fixed periodicity at which information on the status

of forests and associated parameters is to be generated78.

Information on management issues is generated in three modes. One standard mode is the

periodic (monthly, quarterly or annual) returns in standard forms sent by the field offices to the

head office. Second method consists of monitoring formats and procedures designed as a part

of the approval of a project. The third mode is need-based information generation whenever

such a need arises. In BFD, range level and division level cashbooks are written in

considerable detail and as a result, they become a veritable storehouse of management

information.

One problem of the modern age is that there is an information overload but it is generally not

available in any easily useable form. As BFD has not yet stepped into the age of information

technology, management of information at present is very poor. Most of the information is

generate, stored and transmitted on paper and needs compiling at every stage of analysis and

collation. This becomes cumbersome and is generally not done unless an urgent need arises.

As a result, BFD suffers from a serious lack of authentic, verified and analysed information on

nearly every aspect of forest management and urgently needs to modernise its affairs. It cannot

be done without a strong IT backbone and culture. It is extremely important to create a national

information grid through which information from important records/reports automatically

continues to flow into a national database from which anybody who needs information can

obtain it. It should be available at the click of a button. The new FMP should strongly

recommend emphasis on information management as a core function of BFD.

78 Please see chapter 5 and task 7 report for more details.

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –223

10.5 Management of Wildlife and Protected Areas

The status and the current approach to wildlife conservation in the country has been briefly

discussed in section 1.5.3. The principal elements of the approach to wildlife conservation in

Bangladesh consists of three elements:

• Constitution of protected areas

• Control on poaching and illegal trade of wildlife specimens

• Management of human-wildlife conflict

• No consumption or utilisation of wildlife products and derivatives.

Conservator Wildlife and Nature Conservation circle is responsible for wildlife management in

the country. The principal threats to wildlife come from poaching and habitat loss. At present

only sizable and secure habitat for wildlife is the SRF where reasonable populations of valuable

species such as tiger, spotted deer, saltwater crocodile, dolphins, and hundreds of species of

birds survive in sizable populations. However birds and reptiles, especially snakes and turtles,

occur in sizable numbers in the huge water bodies (haors and baors) outside the forest and

most of the trapping for food and pet trade happens in these areas.

10.5.1 Protected areas

There are 53 protected areas, mainly national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, notified under the

Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act, 2012 with a combined land area close to 300000 sq

km (see section 1.5.3). However, some of the PAs have sizable human populations inside and

their protection is not satisfactory due to shortage of staff and other resources. The only PAs

with significant tourism facilities and visitation are Bhawal National Park, Lawachara National

Park and Satchari wildlife sanctuary. All protected areas are managed though a system of co-

management in partnership with local people, NGOs and local administration. The revenues

from tourism are shared with the co-management committees. The committees are expected

to patrol the forests in partnership with the forest staff. Although they are meant to be paid for

their patrolling support, but most PAs have no money to pay them. As a result, patrolling by

the community patrol groups are generally perfunctory, although the co-management is a good

medium for the management for staying connected with the local communities. Although co-

management, at least formally, is currently being implemented in all PAs, but somehow, the

new law provides for co-management only in wildlife sanctuaries. An important park, Bhawal

National Park, however, has no co-management institutions.

10.5.2 Wildlife divisions

There are seven wildlife divisions whose main job was meant to be management of protected

areas and assisting territorial divisions in wildlife conservation. However, no wildlife division,

except Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong has any PA under its charge. At present, the wildlife

DFOs have taken over the job of enforcing the wildlife Act, although they have very limited staff

and other resources. Although every territorial DFO is responsible for enforcement of wildlife

law in his/her division, somehow the impression has gained ground that control of wildlife crime

is the responsibility of the wildlife divisions alone. Although the detection rates of wildlife crime

seems to have gone up since the constitution of wildlife divisions, at least in some areas, but

these divisions are generally so poorly equipped that they are unlikely to have any significant

impact on the ground, in the long run. DFO wildlife Sherpur has only one ranger and one

forester on his staff while DFO wildlife Habiganj had just one forester on the staff. Although

some divisions like Dhaka and Khulna have good staff strength, but most of their staff has

224– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

been hired under the SRCRP project or the Biodiversity Conservation and Ecotourism

Development project which are closing in December 2016. If the services of this staff are not

regularized, most of these divisions shall be incapacitated.

10.5.3 State of Wildlife Crime and Criminal Justice System

Territorial divisions, wildlife divisions and the Wildlife Crime Control Unit (WCCU) are the

agencies involved in controlling crimes related to wildlife trafficking and poaching. Other law

enforcement agencies, such as mobile courts, police, RAB etc. also help from time to time. A

snapshot of the cases which came recorded by the WCCU and other agencies (not the whole

state) is given in the table below:

Table 10-2: Wildlife crime cases recorded by WCCU (June 2012 to April 2016)

Number of Cases Wild animals released/seized

Year No. of Operations

P.O.R

U.D.O.R

Mobile court

Police RAB head office

Mammals Birds Reptiles Trophies

Number of Criminals

2016 76 25 3 2 43 318 103 17 14

2015 130 6 36 21 11 61 3897 8997 184 43

2014 68 9 19 28 5 4 54 2230 5700 167 146

2013 34 12 16 4 2 45 892 3259 1 65

2012 42 5 29 2 5 15 961 1010 2 119

Total 410 32 125 67 25 4 218 8298 19069 371 387

Among other things, this table indicates that only in about 25% of the cases detected by BFD,

criminals are detected. The number of birds and reptiles involved is far higher than mammals.

Some important conclusions recorded in the draft Wildlife Crime Control Strategy (2015) of

BFD regarding the state of wildlife crime and criminal justice in Bangladesh are as follows:

a. Birds (mynas, munias, parakeets, lorikeets, water birds etc.), geckos and

turtles/tortoises are the most common seizures. Main objective of offences seems to

be pet trade and meat. Indian star tortoises and Hamilton’s turtles (Black pond turtle)

are smuggled in from India, in very large numbers, for transmission to East Asian

countries.

b. Most offences seem to be committed outside the forests where presence of the forest

department is minimal. Total detection percentage of offences is not known, but

offenders are not identified in 60% of detected cases (UDOR cases). Only 24% cases

are decided by the courts even after 8 years, although conviction rate is 70.65% of the

disposed cases. (this relates to all forest offences, not only wildlife related offences)

c. Nearly all the convictions are in Khulna circle. Six months’ imprisonment and BDT 5000

fine seems to be the modal penalty. Other divisions have had virtually no convictions,

except the cases handled by mobile courts.

d. Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act 2012 is not yet operational as no notifications

have been issued and no rules have been framed. Field staff is taking a serious risk by

taking unauthorized action. The law is very weak as the enforcement powers are

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –225

missing. There is no power to arrest suspects, issue search warrants or to compel

presence of witnesses or material evidence.

e. There is an erroneous impression in the department that the enforcement of the Wildlife

(Conservation and Security) Act 2012 is the responsibility of the Wildlife Divisions only.

Wildlife divisions have been given no law enforcement responsibility by the

Government, although they are enforcing the Act.

f. Notifications related to section 72 of the Forest Act 1927, issued in 1959, are out of

date. None of the new designations created to implement the Wildlife Act fits into the

definition of Forest Officer and, as a result, have no powers to implement the Forest

Act or the Wildlife Act, until they are specially empowered in this regard.

g. No funds are provided to FCCOs for court related expense and there is no budget for

travel expenses of investigators, arrestees and witnesses, in most divisions. Therefore,

they avoid action to save expenses.

h. Modal age of the frontline staff (Forest Guards, Foresters, Deputy Rangers and

Rangers) is 56-58 years and they are incapable of strenuous physical work.

i. There is no system of training in law enforcement as the new recruits are not sent for

induction training, except in the case of ACFs (who have not been recruited for many

years).

It is obvious from the above account that the criminal justice system, related to forest

and wildlife crime needs serious strengthening.

10.5.4 Human Wildlife Conflict

Human beings and wild animals have to share common resources, namely, space, water and

food and conflict between them is quite natural. However, in the interest of conservation, it is

important that this conflict is properly managed so that people suffer the least at the hands of

wild animals and maintain a sympathetic and supportive attitude towards them. In view of the

precarious condition of wildlife in Bangladesh, the conflict issues are not very pronounced

except in some localities. The main theatres of conflict in the country are Sundarbans for

human tiger conflict and southeastern hill forests and northern forests for human-elephant

conflict. Apart from these, crop damage by monkeys, birds and wild pigs occurs in some

localities.

In Sundarbans, tigers attack human beings and livestock while people kill/injure tigers in

retaliation or in self-defence. Nearly 50 attacks take place every year, both inside forests as

well as in villages and the number of deaths is approx. 22 per year79. Approx. three tigers die

every year in this conflict while the loss of livestock is nearly 80 heads per annum. Most of the

human victims are people entering the forests for resource harvesting such as honey collection

and fishing etc. Forest department has tried various strategies in the past to manage the

conflict. The current strategy focused on the constitution of tiger response teams, in

collaboration with NGOs, in vulnerable villages seems to be working well and the level of

conflict seems to have reduced significantly, especially the one resulting from tigers straying

into villages.

79 https://thejaguarandallies.com/2016/03/10/protecting-people-and-tigers-in-the-bangladesh-sundarbans/

226– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

Human elephant conflict is expressed in the form of crop damage, house damage and human

deaths and injuries. The conflict level in the hill area is much more pronounced than in the

northern Sherpur area. The level of conflict has gone up significantly since 2000 perhaps due

to the increase in human density in the hill areas. The increase in conflict level may also be

the result of increase in tiger population in the adjoining areas of India as a result of successful

conservation efforts. The number of persons killed by elephants is approximately 15 per year

now while prior to 2000, it used to be 3-4 per year (Hossen 2013). The major strategy adopted

by BFD is the constitution of elephant response teams, with the help of conservation NGOs,

who help people in distress as well as try to prevent attacks by driving elephants away.

Human wildlife conflict is generally a by-product of successful conservation and increasing

human population. It can only be managed but cannot be completely eliminated. Apart from

firefighting action, the country needs to look at some strategic options to minimize conflict.

Moving people out of sensitive habitats, particularly from protected areas, in the conflict zone,

fencing forest boundaries where possible and removing rogue and habitual animals

expeditiously can go a long way in mitigating conflict. Encouraging affected people to adopt

safe lifestyles, keeping the risk in mind, can also be helpful in lowering conflict.

10.5.5 Wildlife Master Plan

BFD has prepared a Wildlife Master Plan (2015-2035) for the conservation of wildlife in the

country but it has not yet been approved by the government. The master plan has proposed

very comprehensive strategies and actions for the conservation of wildlife in the country. The

actions/programmes proposed under the wildlife master plan are as follows:

Species Management

• Tiger conservation programme

• Deer conservation programme

• Elephant conservation programme

• Cetaceans conservation programme

• Marine turtle conservation programme

• Crocodile management

• Conservation programmes for birds

• Release and reintroduction of animals in protected areas (buffalo, swamp deer, sambar

deer, hog deer, marsh crocodile)

Habitat Management

• Wetland management

• Rural wildlife management

• Environmental management

Ecological network planning

• Protected area system development

• Connectivity management

• Land use planning

• Establish Chittagong Hills and CHT biosphere reserve

• Promoting integration of conservation and development

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –227

Protected area management

• Management planning and zoning

• Boundary demarcation

• Fencing

• Resolving tenure and encroachment issues

• Control of domestic animals in protected areas

• Enhancing surveillance

• Organisational development and capacity building

• Review of policy and legal framework

• International and regional cooperation

• Supporting communities in wildlife zones

• Nature based tourism development

• Communication, awareness and education

• Wildlife research

Thus the Wildlife Master Plan has 30 programs aimed at every aspect of wildlife

conservation. The document provides details of the activities to be under taken under

the master plan but does not provide cost estimates of the proposed programmes.

Above account indicates that BFD does not possess what it takes to be able to

conserve wildlife of the country over the long run. The laws are weak, organisational

systems are weak, budget is short and the field staff lacks the capacity to do a good

job due to lack of motivation and capacity. Rejuvenation of wildlife conservation in the

country should be one of the main foci of the new master plan.

228– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

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Annex I Organizational chart and staffing of BFD A: Organizational Chart of the Bangladesh Forest Department

234– SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING

B: Bangladesh Forest Department Staffing

Sl.Nº Post category and name Grade Pay Scale (Tk.) Posts

from to total occ. vac.

A. Class One Gazette Officers

1 Chief Conservator of Forest 1 78000 0 1 1 0

2 Deputy Chief Conservator of Forest 3 56500 74400 4 2 2

3 Conservator of Forest 4 50000 71200 11 11 0

4 Deputy Conservator of Forest 5 43000 69850 5 5 0

5 Deputy Conservator of Forest 5 43000 69850 63 31 32

6 Computer Programmer 5 43000 69850 1 0 1

7 Senior Research Officer 6 35500 67010 2 2 0

8 Senior Botanist 6 35500 67010 1 0 1

9 Chief Instructor 6 35500 67010 1 0 1

10 Law Officer 6 35500 67010 1 0 1

11 Senior Instructor 7 29000 63410 4 0 4

12 Sub-Divisional Forest Officer 7 29000 63410 7 0 7

13 Budget Officer 9 22000 53060 1 1 0

14 Research Officer/Botanist 9 22000 53060 12 5 7

15 Accounts Officer 9 22000 53060 1 1 0

16 Assistant Conservator of Forest 9 22000 53060 160 98 62

17 Mass Communication Officer 9 22000 53060 1 0 1

18 Librarian 9 22000 53060 3 2 1

19 Assistant Computer Programmer 9 22000 53060 3 0 3

20 Curator 9 22000 53060 1 0 1

21 Veterinary Surgeon 9 22000 53060 1 1 0

22 Instructor 9 22000 53060 12 6 6

23 Sociologist 9 22000 53060 1 1 0

Sub-total Class One 297 167 130

B. Class Two Non-Gazette Officers

24 Administrative Officer (AO) 10 16000 38640 2 0 2

25 Physical/ PT Instructor 10 16000 38640 4 2 2

26 Demonstrator 10 16000 38640 4 0 4

27 Diploma Engineer 10 16000 38640 4 4 0

28 Forest Ranger/ Field Investigator 10 16000 38640 403 244 159

29 Assistant Veterinary Surgeon 10 16000 38640 1 1 0

30 Assistant Librarian 10 16000 38640 1 0 1

31 Draftsman 10 16000 38640 5 5 0

Sub-total Class Two 424 256 168

C. Class Three Non-Gazette Staff

32 Computer Operator 11 12500 30230 19 16 3

33 Wildlife Warden 11 12500 30230 2 0 2

34 Mechanical Supervisor/ Mechanic 11 12500 30230 5 4 1

35 Foreman 11 12500 30230 3 1 2

36 Engine Driver/ Engineman 12 11300 27300 38 16 22

37 Head Assistant 13 11000 26590 46 12 34

38 Stenographer cum Computer Operator 13 11000 26590 12 5 7

39 Accountant 14 10200 24680 57 22 35

40 Cashier 14 10200 24680 34 23 11

41 Steno typist cum Computer Operator 14 10200 24680 48 40 8

42 Deputy Ranger 14 10200 24680 454 15 439

43 Radio Operator/ Wireless Operator 14 10200 24680 22 15 7

44 Generator cum Electrician 14 10200 24680 2 2 0

45 Electrician (Diploma) 14 10200 24680 5 5 0

46 UD Assistant 15 9700 23490 55 30 25

47 Forester 15 9700 23490 1345 1236 109

48 Supervisor 15 9700 23490 2 0 2

49 Serang 15 9700 23490 23 8 15

50 Draftsman 15 9700 23490 13 10 3

51 Surveyor/Overseer 15 9700 23490 17 14 3

52 Audiovisual Equipment Operator 15 9700 23490 1 0 1

53 Data entry Operator 16 9300 22490 32 22 10

54 Store Keeper 16 9300 22490 2 2 0

55 Store Assistant 16 9300 22490 1 1 0

56 Office Assistant cum Computer Typist 16 9300 22490 289 209 80

57 Electrician (Non Diploma) 16 9300 22490 1 1 0

58 Library Assistant 16 9300 22490 4 3 1

59 Compounder 16 9300 22490 1 1 0

60 Turner 16 9300 22490 2 1 1

61 Fitter 16 9300 22490 1 1 0

62 Electric Generator Driver 16 9300 22490 2 1 1

SECTORAL STUDIES FOR FORESTRY MASTER PLAN UPDATING –235

Sl.Nº Post category and name Grade Pay Scale (Tk.) Posts

from to total occ. vac.

63 Carpenter 16 9300 22490 3 3 0

64 Driver 16 9300 22490 138 120 18

65 Speedboat/ Trawler Driver 16 9300 22490 91 67 24

66 Blacksmith 16 9300 22490 2 0 2

67 Truck Helper 16 9300 22490 1 0 1

68 Pump Operator/ Deep Tube well Operator 16 9300 22490 16 9 7

69 Cash Sarker 17 9000 21800 32 27 5

70 Plumber 17 9000 21800 3 3 0

71 Forest Guard/ Junior Wildlife Scout 17 9000 21800 2491 1928 563

72 Sukani 18 8800 21310 13 10 3

73 Welder 18 8800 21310 1 1 0

74 Cook 18 8800 21310 6 4 2

75 Record Supplier 18 8800 21310 3 1 2

76 Security Inspector 18 8800 21310 1 0 1

77 Photocopy Operator 18 8800 21310 10 4 6

Sub-total Class Three 5349 3893 1456

D. Class Four Non Gazette Staff

78 Lift Operator 19 8500 20570 1 1 0

79 Dispatch Rider 19 8500 20570 35 32 3

80 Wildlife Keeper 19 8500 20570 9 9 0

81 Watcher/ Patrol Guard 19 8500 20570 100 95 5

82 Wildlife Scout 19 8500 20570 9 9 0

83 Security Guard 19 8500 20570 7 5 2

84 Boatman 20 8250 20010 1312 1026 286

85 Tendol 20 8250 20010 10 7 3

86 Deck Kessob 20 8250 20010 8 4 4

87 Engine Room Kassob 20 8250 20010 2 2 0

88 Greaser/ Fire Greaser 20 8250 20010 14 10 4

89 Tendol Stroker 20 8250 20010 2 2 0

90 Electric Stroker 20 8250 20010 2 2 0

91 Oilman 20 8250 20010 8 7 1

92 Gate Man 20 8250 20010 8 8 0

93 Dresser 20 8250 20010 1 1 0

94 Lashkar/ Khalashi 20 8250 20010 95 79 16

95 Helper 20 8250 20010 3 3 0

96 Mali/ Head Mali 20 8250 20010 1738 1627 111

97 Banglow Chowkider/ Cottage Keeper 20 8250 20010 70 65 5

98 Water Carrier 20 8250 20010 2 0 2

99 Tractor Helper 20 8250 20010 2 2 0

100 Banglow Attendant 20 8250 20010 8 7 1

101 Lab Bearer 20 8250 20010 5 4 1

102 Mahout 20 8250 20010 5 1 4

103 Grass Cutter 20 8250 20010 3 3 0

104 Water Carrier Helper 20 8250 20010 4 4 0

105 MLSS 20 8250 20010 436 394 42

106 Assistant Cook 20 8250 20010 6 6 0

107 Security Guard (Night Guard) 20 8250 20010 70 68 2

108 Cleaner (Jharudar) 20 8250 20010 62 62 0

109 Cleaner (Sweeper) 20 8250 20010 17 17 0

Sub-total Class Four 4054 3562 492

Total Officers and Staff: 10124 7878 2246 Out Sourcing

Pump Operator/ Deep Tubewell Operator 16 9300 22490 2 2 0 Mali/ Head Mali 20 8250 20010 24 24 0 Banglow Chowkider/ Cottage Keeper 20 8250 20010 5 5 0 Grass Cutter 20 8250 20010 2 2 0 MLSS 20 8250 20010 48 46 2 Night Guard 20 8250 20010 13 13 0 Cook 20 8250 20010 2 2 0 Cleaner (Jharuder) 20 8250 20010 19 19 0 Cleaner (Sweeper) 20 8250 20010 1 1 0

Sub-total outsourcing 116 114 2 Total officers and staff, including outsourcing staff 10240 7992 2248