Local community attitudes towards mangrove forest conservation: Lessons from Bangladesh

Abstract

Degradation of mangrove ecosystems is a major concern in many countries of the world. This study examines the attitudes and perceptions of local communities towards the conservation of the world's largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans in Bangladesh. Village households were interviewed. The Schlager and Ostrom's theoretical framework was applied to reveal local forest-dependent people's positive attitudes towards conservation and that their socio-economic and demographic characteristics influenced these attitudes. They valued those functions that were directly linked to their economic wellbeing and were inclined to engage in alternative livelihood activities provided illegal access to forest resources were curtailed. Respondents living adjacent to the forests admitted their illegal access due to a lack of alternative economic opportunities. 60% of the respondents viewed that present state property rights regime violated their harvesting rights. More than half of the people (57%) surveyed desired to participate in conservation practices as proprietors. Policy directives in line with Schlager and Ostrom's theory for de facto and de jure ownerships and management change may provide some scope for development of sustainable livelihoods for forest dependent people from the conservation of critical mangrove ecosystems like the Sundarbans.