Bangladesh government has recently pledged to restore 0.75 million ha of degraded forestland as part of its commitment to the Bonn Challenge, however little is known about the potential challenges and opportunities involved in achieving that goal. Using secondary literature complemented by expert consultation and a field survey, we examined the outcomes and limitations of previous restoration programmes and identified key social, ecological and institutional aspects crucial for a successful forest restoration programme in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh. The CHT region accounts for over a third of state-owned forests, and it supports a large part of the country's forest-dwelling ethnic populations, although most of the forestland is severely degraded. Our analysis revealed that past programmes had utilised participatory tree planting, horticulture and rubber-based agroforestry to restore degraded forestland and improve community livelihood in the CHT. However, past restoration programmes merely emphasised improving tree cover without considering the ecological functionality, biodiversity and carbon co-benefits of restored forests. The duration of these programmes was also relatively short, and there was no clear plan for engaging local communities in the restoration activities beyond the programme period. Among other things, the local ethnic community’s land rights issue remained unresolved and the participant's land ownership influenced their willingness to participate effectively in any restoration programme. Households with secured land rights had a more positive attitude towards participating in forestland restoration than those with unsecured land rights. Suitable acts and policies that would allow people to legally continue to use tree-based land in the regions (i.e. forest and land tenure rights) are also lacking. Future forest and landscape restoration (FLR) programmes may thus need to focus on improving the biodiversity and ecological functionality of those restored forests, resolving local people's forest and land tenure rights and involving them in site-specific restoration interventions. The engagement of local and regional-level multi-stakeholders in such an FLR programme is also essential for realising the restoration's multiple social and ecological benefits.

孟加拉国政府最近承诺恢复 75 万公顷退化林地，作为其对波恩挑战承诺的一部分，但人们对实现该目标所涉及的潜在挑战和机遇知之甚少。我们使用辅以专家咨询和实地调查的二手文献，研究了以前恢复计划的结果和局限性，并确定了对孟加拉国吉大港山区 (CHT) 森林恢复计划的成功至关重要的关键社会、生态和制度方面。CHT 地区拥有超过三分之一的国有森林，它支持着该国很大一部分居住在森林中的少数民族人口，尽管大部分林地已经严重退化。我们的分析显示，过去的计划利用参与式植树、园艺和橡胶农林业来恢复退化的林地并改善 CHT 的社区生计。然而，过去的恢复计划仅仅强调改善树木覆盖率，而没有考虑恢复森林的生态功能、生物多样性和碳协同效益。这些项目的持续时间也相对较短，并且没有明确的计划让当地社区参与项目期后的恢复活动。除其他外，当地少数民族社区的土地权利问题仍未解决，参与者的土地所有权影响他们有效参与任何恢复计划的意愿。地权有保障的农户比地权无保障的农户对参与林地恢复的态度更为积极。也缺乏允许人们合法地继续使用该地区林地（即森林和土地使用权）的适当行为和政策。因此，未来的森林和景观恢复 (FLR) 计划可能需要侧重于改善这些恢复森林的生物多样性和生态功能，解决当地人的森林和土地保有权问题，并让他们参与针对特定地点的恢复干预措施。地方和区域层面的多方利益相关者参与此类 FLR 计划对于实现恢复的多重社会和生态效益也至关重要。也缺乏允许人们合法地继续使用该地区林地（即森林和土地使用权）的适当行为和政策。因此，未来的森林和景观恢复 (FLR) 计划可能需要侧重于改善这些恢复森林的生物多样性和生态功能，解决当地人的森林和土地保有权问题，并让他们参与针对特定地点的恢复干预措施。地方和区域层面的多方利益相关者参与此类 FLR 计划对于实现恢复的多重社会和生态效益也至关重要。也缺乏允许人们合法地继续使用该地区林地（即森林和土地使用权）的适当行为和政策。因此，未来的森林和景观恢复 (FLR) 计划可能需要侧重于改善这些恢复森林的生物多样性和生态功能，解决当地人的森林和土地保有权问题，并让他们参与针对特定地点的恢复干预措施。地方和区域层面的多方利益相关者参与此类 FLR 计划对于实现恢复的多重社会和生态效益也至关重要。因此，未来的森林和景观恢复 (FLR) 计划可能需要侧重于改善这些恢复森林的生物多样性和生态功能，解决当地人的森林和土地保有权问题，并让他们参与针对特定地点的恢复干预措施。地方和区域层面的多方利益相关者参与此类 FLR 计划对于实现恢复的多重社会和生态效益也至关重要。因此，未来的森林和景观恢复 (FLR) 计划可能需要侧重于改善这些恢复森林的生物多样性和生态功能，解决当地人的森林和土地保有权问题，并让他们参与针对特定地点的恢复干预措施。地方和区域层面的多方利益相关者参与此类 FLR 计划对于实现恢复的多重社会和生态效益也至关重要。