Participatory Forest Management for the Sustainable Management of the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest

Abstract

People's participation in forest management has become successful in many countries of the world. The Sundarbans is the single largest mangrove forest in the world, bearing numerous values and holding importance from economic, social and ecological perspectives. It is the direct and indirect sources of the livelihood of 3.5 million people. As a reserve forest, government is always providing extra care through state monopolies for its management with the introduction of policies and guidelines. Bangladesh, being the signatory of a number of international conventions and treaties, is committed to preserve its resources. In spite of all these initiatives, its resources including biodiversity have been losing gradually over the last few decades. Thus, sole management by the Forest Department has raised the question of its sustainability. The need for a critical analysis of the options of present management structure and the involvement of local people and their power-sharing to reduce degradation is inevitable. In this study, we examine the prevailing management crisis of the state machinery of forest bureaucracy and forwarded the argument for community involvement through community-based forest management for sustainable use of its resources.

An overview of fishes of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh and their present conservation status

“…This mangrove forest was declared a Ramsar site by the Convention of Wetlands of International Importance in 1992 and declared as a Natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997 (Figure 1). Despite continued degradation, the Sundarbans contributes 3% to the country's gross domestic product out of 5% contribution of the country's forestry sector (Roy & Alam 2012).…”

Systematic Planning and Ecosystem-Based Management as Strategies to Reconcile Mangrove Conservation with Resource Use

“…But even these few accurate studies are not taken into consideration by decision makers or environmental authorities. The largest mangroves in the world, the Sundarbans, for example, lack a specific protection agenda or policy (Roy and Alam, 2012).…”