People's Livelihoods and Involvement in Co-Management of Madhupur National Park, Bangladesh

Abstract

"Natural forests in Bangladesh have been severely degraded due to over exploitation, encroachment, fire, uncontrolled and wasteful commercial logging, illegal felling, overgrazing, and the collection of fuelwood to support the energy needs of a large population. In 2003 the Forest Department (FD) with assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched the Nishorgo Support Program (NSP) to test a participatory co-management approach to protected area (PA) management. The project lasted until 2007 and was followed in 2008 by the Integrated PA Co-management (IPAC) project with the aim of improving local people‘s livelihoods through greater access to and control over local forest resources. This paper investigates the livelihoods of local people in two villages and their involvement in management of Madhupur National Park. Based on data collected between September and December 2009 I argue that farmers in the study area are heavily dependant on forestry-related activities to support livelihoods. Residents of both villages have a long history of participation in outside-initiated social forestry programs, and farmers have become suspicious that these programs may not provide the benefits promised, may limit their access to forest resources, and may exacerbate long standing conflicts with the FD. Moreover, despite their history with these programs, many people have little knowledge of co-management. In this paper I conclude that potential exists for various alternative income generating (AIG) activities that could help improve the livelihoods of the local people and the management of Madhupur National Park."