Abstract
Peoples 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.
Highlights
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
The single largest tract of natural mangrove forest of the world is the Sundarbans of Bangladesh consisting a total area of 601,700 hectare which represents 4.07% of the land mass of the country and 40% of total forest land (MOEF, 2009)
Its existence and exceptional mangrove ecology and ecosystem support a large group of fish, shrimp, edible crab and supply food and livelihood to 3.5 million dependent coastal communities other than precious wood and Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFPs)
Summary
The single largest tract of natural mangrove forest of the world is the Sundarbans of Bangladesh consisting a total area of 601,700 hectare which represents 4.07% of the land mass of the country and 40% of total forest land (MOEF, 2009). Anjan Kumer Dev Roy and Khorshed Alam / American Journal of Environmental Science 8 (5) (2012) 549-555 system has failed to realise true sustainable indicators from overall stakeholders’ viewpoints, for instance, avoidance of local people’s customary rights and knowledge in resource conservation. This needs reformulation of present management policy by examining the introduction of Participatory Forest Management (PFM) which has become successful in different countries as a new paradigm for sustainable forest management (Stone et al, 2008). It presents some of the examples of PFM programmes of Bangladesh with the distribution of financial benefits to the participants and rationality of the replication of such interventions for its sustainability
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
