ABSTRACT

Bangladesh Forest Department had undertaken co-management of protected area (PA) initiatives for halting the rapid rate of forest degradation and deforestation in the country. However, only few research has been conducted to assess the effectiveness of co-management. In this study, drawing empirical data from two co-managed PA, namely, Bariyadhala National Park (BDNP) and Hazarikhil Wildlife Sanctuary (HWS), we investigated the impacts of co-management on spatio-temporal patterns of land use and land cover change, forest fragmentation, and local peoples’ perception on how co-management approach was underpinning these changes in the studied PA landscape. Results showed that forest cover (4800 ha gain) and forest patches (26 patch gain) had increased in two studied PA while agricultural practices and resources extractions from forest had decreased during the study period. The increase in forest coverage might be attributed to the reforestation program (3253.81 ha) undertaken under the co-management project. More than 90% of respondents admitted that various activities on co-management such as awareness creation, restriction on hunting, and forest products collection have had positive impacts on biodiversity conservation. The findings of this research would be useful to formulate future course of actions regarding forest PA co-management in Bangladesh, and elsewhere.

摘要

孟加拉国林业部已对保护区 (PA) 倡议进行了共同管理，以制止该国森林退化和毁林的快速速度。然而，只有很少的研究来评估共同管理的有效性。在这项研究中，我们从两个共同管理的 PA 即 Bariyadhala 国家公园 (BDNP) 和 Hazarikhil 野生动物保护区 (HWS) 中提取经验数据，调查了共同管理对土地利用和土地覆盖变化的时空模式的影响、森林破碎化以及当地人民对共同管理方法如何支撑所研究的自然保护区景观的这些变化的看法。结果表明，在两个研究的 PA 中，森林覆盖率（增加 4800 公顷）和森林斑块（增加 26 个斑块）增加了，而在研究期间，农业实践和森林资源提取减少了。森林覆盖率的增加可能归因于在共同管理项目下开展的重新造林计划（3253.81 公顷）。超过 90% 的受访者承认，提高意识、限制狩猎和林产品采集等共同管理的各种活动对生物多样性保护产生了积极影响。这项研究的结果将有助于制定未来有关孟加拉国和其他地方森林保护区共同管理的行动方针。81 公顷）在共同管理项目下进行。超过 90% 的受访者承认，提高意识、限制狩猎和林产品采集等共同管理的各种活动对生物多样性保护产生了积极影响。这项研究的结果将有助于制定未来有关孟加拉国和其他地方森林保护区共同管理的行动方针。81 公顷）在共同管理项目下进行。超过 90% 的受访者承认，共同管理的各种活动，如提高意识、限制狩猎和林产品采集等，对生物多样性保护产生了积极影响。这项研究的结果将有助于制定未来有关孟加拉国和其他地方的森林保护区共同管理的行动方针。