IMPLEMENTATION OF COMMUNITY FORESTRY FOR POVERTY REDUCTION IN BANGLADESH

INTRODUCTION

Bangladesh is located in the northeastern part of South Asia between 20°34’ - 26°38’ N and 80°01’ -
92°41’ E. The area of the country is 14.75 million hectares, mostly composed of flood plains (80 percent),
except some hilly areas (12 percent) concentrated in the east and southeast of the country. In land use,
9.12 million ha are under cultivation, 1.91 million ha under public forest, 0.27 million ha under village
groves, and 1.64 million ha remain constantly under water. The other land areas (1.81 million ha) are
occupied by tea gardens, fallow lands, rural and urban houses, ponds, etc. (Kibria et al. 2000). The
country enjoys a subtropical climate with distinct rainfall and dry periods. The annual rainfall of the country
ranges from 1270 to 5080 mm. Average daily temperature varies from 11 to 34 °C. In summer, the
temperature varies from 36.7 to 40.4 °C and in winter it ranges from 7.2 to 23.3 °C (BBS 1994).

Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries of the world. Its population is 131.6 million
with a density of 834 persons km -2 (Census 2001) of which 77 percent live in the rural areas. Overall per
capita land availability is about 0.12 ha. Sixty percent of the rural population are functionally landless, and
depend on wage income only as they have no other skills.

Agriculture is the major economic activity of the rural people. Rice is the major agriculture crop while jute,
sugar-cane and tea are the main cash crops. Other important crops are wheat, tobacco, pulses,
vegetables and tree fruits. Garments, jute products, tea, fish, leather and leather goods are the chief
exports. Principal natural resources are natural gas, coal, limestone, ceramic clay and glass sand. At
present, agriculture employs about 68 percent of the labour force. Employment in agriculture has almost
reached a state of saturation while the labour force is increasing at an annual rate of 2.7 percent. In fact,
income from crop production is not enough to allow marginal and small farm households to subsist.
Forestry (social forestry/community forestry) could play an important role in this regard with the
introduction of "integrated production system" such as agrisilviculture, agrisilvipasture,
agrisilvipisciculture, apiculture, sericulture, lac culture, mushroom culture, etc. in the homesteads and
other marginal lands.

POVERTY IN BANGLADESH

Poverty is a basic problem of rural people throughout the developing countries including Bangladesh and
this problem is widespread and complex. About 55.3 million people are living without food, on less than
2122 kilocalories per day (absolute poverty). In general, they are deficit or insufficient of materials of basic
needs. These exist due to lack of assets, inadequate stocks and limited flow of food and income.
According to Rahaman (1992), 55 percent of the rural population had inadequate income to pass the
poverty line and 38 percent of the population were living below the poverty line. The major causes of rural
poverty in Bangladesh are population explosion, unemployment, illiteracy, low rate of production, low
income, malnutrition, landlessness, indebtedness, gender inequality, degradation of natural resources,
poor sanitation, insufficient organization, lack of coordination, natural calamities, exploitation and other
social problems.

Rural poverty and deforestation are inter-related problems in Bangladesh, accelerated by overpopulation,
land scarcity and natural disasters (Ali and Ahmed 1993). Many rural people living adjacent to forest
areas maintain their livelihood on forest resources, particularly on the daily collection, consumption,
processing and selling of non-timber forest products. Forest degradation creates scarcity of these
resources and accelerates the poverty and hunger in Bangladesh. The rapid degradation of the natural
resource base of the country is further worsening rural poverty. Unless the natural resources like forest,
soil and water of the country are maintained and enhanced, poverty, malnutrition and hunger will grow
continuously.
FORESTS OF BANGLADESH

The total forest area in Bangladesh is estimated at 2.18 million ha corresponding to 17.10 percent of the
surface area of the country. This includes 1.19 million ha Forest Department controlled land, 0.72 million
ha unclassified state forest (USF) under control of district office and 0.27 million ha village forest land
(mostly homesteads). Much of the government forest land is treeless due to indiscriminate exploitation.
Only 0.84 million ha (about 5.8 percent) of the state forest land have acceptable vegetation (FD 2003).
Forest types and areas in Bangladesh are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Forest types and areas in Bangladesh

Forest type Location Area (million Growing stock Remarks

ha) (% of total (m3) (stocking
land) m3 ha-1)*
Mangrove
Sundarbans Southwest (Khulna, 0.57 (4.0) 13.19 (23.1) Includes 0.17
Satkhira) million of water
Coastal forest Coast on Bay of 0.11 (0.76) 5.05 (45.9)
Bengal
Hill forest
Managed reserved Eastern part 0.67 (4.65) 28.32 (42.3)
forest (Chittagong, CHT
and Sylhet)
Unclassed state CHT 0.72 (5.00) Treeless Denuded due to
forest (scrub shifting
forest) cultivation
Plain land forest
Tropical moist Central and 0.12 (0.83) 1.13 (0.94)
deciduous forest northwest region
Subtotal 1.91 (15.2) Excluding water
government forest bodies
Village forest 0.27 (1.87) 54.68 (202.5)
Total forest 2.18 (17.1)

Source: BFRI 1993, slightly altered in location. * Refers to wood volume, not biomass. CHT = Chittagong
Hill Tracts.

In fact, Bangladesh forest is declining at an alarming rate in terms of area and production. Deforestation
has been occurring through illegal felling, unplanned settlement and encroachment. The country had 15
to 20 percent of forest cover a few decade ago; it has now shrunk to about 6 percent. Because of the high
and rapidly growing population and overexploitation by commercial interests, there is now an acute
shortage of timber, fuelwood, fodder, bamboo, cane, medicinal plants and other goods. Wood-based
industries such as paper mill, newsprint mill, pulp mill, hardboard mill, particleboard mill, match factory,
furniture factory, sawmill, etc. have also been suffering from shortage of raw materials.

Severe limitations in land and forest resources have severe impacts on the people and environment.
Alienation of the local people from their traditional forest resources has led to a decline in traditional  in
situ use of the hill and terrace forests. Much of the burden of subsistence use has shifted to village
groves.

With forest degradation, rare wildlife and biological diversity have also been reduced quite rapidly. Many
species have gone totally extinct. Human habitats, lives and cultures of the forest communities have also
been severely affected because of shrinking forests. Protection of forest land and resources has become
very difficult and the situation becomes aggravated day by day. On the other hand, the rapidly growing
population of the country demands more land for cultivation and more forest products, especially
fuelwood, timber, bamboo, cane, medicinal plant, etc. More than 73 000 ha of forest land have already
been encroached and turned into agricultural lands. About 8000 ha of forest land per year are being
deforested (Hamilton 1983).

RURAL ENERGY SITUATION

The situation of natural forest in Bangladesh is not in a balanced condition. There is no productive public
forest in the northern and central regions of the country. This has created acute energy shortage in these
regions. As a result, most of the households light their cook-stoves only twice or even once a day. The
per capita consumption of fuelwood (0.1 m3) in Bangladesh is one of the lowest in the world and there is a
big shortfall of supply compared to demand, the balance of fuelwood requirement being met by farm by-
products (Douglas 1982, Ohlsson 1984, Abedin and Quddus 1989). This supply and demand gap is
widening every year. If the tree resource is not managed properly on a sustainable yield basis, there will
be a net deficit of about 3.47 million cubic meter of fuelwood by the year 2013 (GOB 1993).

In the above discussion it is evident that Bangladesh is an overpopulated country with limited resources.
Though more than 80 percent of the people are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, cultivable
land is scarce (per capita land holding approx. 0.2 ha). The natural forest occupies about 18 percent of
the land surface but they are unevenly distributed (out of the total 64 districts of the country, 28 districts
have no forests). Again, most of the forests are devoid of vegetation and severely degraded. Forest
products, essential for basic human needs, become scarce and the forest destruction is so high that an
unbalanced situation is prevailing in the ecosystem creating frequent floods, cyclones, draughts,
earthquakes, etc. and as a consequence the rural poverty is accelerating in Bangladesh.

To avert the above situation, ‘community forestry programmes’ have been undertaken in Bangladesh
since 1982. The programmes are based up on growing trees on public or community land, and meant to
refer to a farming system in which food and wood crops are grown together in unit land through involving
the disadvantaged sections of the rural community. The community forestry programmes aim to establish
plantations in the degraded forest lands, private, communal or government waste and fallow lands
alongside the roads, highways, railways, canal banks, embankments, etc. (Alim 1982).

The basic needs of rural people are agriculture and forest based, i.e. food, fuelwood, fodder, water and
others. As such, different subsystems of agroforestry have been adopted in the community forestry
programme for rural development and poverty reduction. The Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) has
launched extensive community forestry (now in the name of social forestry) programmes all over the
country since 1982, emphasizing the following three important principles (Bhuiyan 1993b):

 readily creating resources at the users’ level;

 alleviating rural poverty through tree growing activity; and
 creating a buffer zone resource to save traditional forestry from the demands of the hungry
population.

COMMUNITY FORESTRY - AN APPROACH TO POVERTY REDUCTION IN BANGLADESH

The Government of Bangladesh has been implementing wider programmes to promote a much larger
diversification of the economy for poverty reduction of the rural masses. The major programmes include
afforestation (community forestry/social forestry), cattle, goat and poultry rearing, handicrafts, small and
cottage industries, etc. so that poor people can generate employment and income to come out from the
vicious circle of poverty. With this in view, the Government of Bangladesh has been paying much
attention and channelling more money towards the community forestry programmes since the early
1980s, taken as an approach to poverty reduction and environmental amelioration. Along with the
government programme more than 100 national and international NGOs are also engaged in community
forestry programmes as part of their strategy for environmental development and poverty alleviation.
Some integrated production systems such as agrisilvicultural system, agrisilvipastoral system,
aquasilvicultural system, etc. have been applied in this regard. In addition, other production systems such
as apiculture, sericulture, mushroom culture, lac culture, etc. are also being practised in the community
forestry programmes.

In Bangladesh, the first attempt in community forestry can be traced back to the Betagi and Pomora
community forestry projects in 1979 and 1980 respectively in Rangunia subdistricts of Chittagong. The
experience of the projects was extended later. Since 1982 some community forestry programmes have
successfully been completed by the BFD and some new programmes are in progress. The notable and
successful programmes are described in the following sections.

Community Forestry Project (1982-1987)

The principal purpose of the project was to develop a participatory approach to resource generation and
management based on a ‘benefit-sharing’ mechanism between the government and the local
communities. The components of the project included strip plantation, fuelwood plantation, pilot
agroforestry demonstration plot, village afforestation and community forestry growth centre.

Thana Afforestation and Nursery Development Project (1987-95) and Extended Social Forestry
Project (1985-97)

The main objective of the projects was to raise agroforestry and woodlot plantations in the degraded and
encroached sal (Shorea robusta) forest land. The other components of the projects were: strip plantation;
institutional planting and seedling distribution; training of local community leaders, NGO workers, teachers
and students; Thana nursery and Forestry Extension Nursery Training Centre; and support to private
nurseries.

Forest Resources Management Project (1992-2000)

The main objective of the project was the development of forest and human resources for forestry
development in the country. The project also envisaged developing participatory (experimental)
agroforestry models in the degraded hill forest lands, especially in the southern districts, Chittagong and
Cox’s Bazar.

Coastal Green Belt Project (1995-2000)

The main objective of the project was to create a live shelterbelt of trees along the coastlines of the
country. The principal components included embankment plantation; foreshore and barrow pit plantation;
homestead and institutional plantation; establishment of nurseries and training centres. The project has
adopted a participatory approach to plantation establishment and management through benefit sharing
mechanisms.

Forestry Sector Project (1997-2004)

The primary objectives of the project are to augment and strengthen the overall tree resource base in the
country and to reduce the rate of depletion of forest, to enhance public awareness about conservation
and sustainable management of forest resources through local community participation. The project also
emphasizes on the participatory plantation and management of different forests including public protected
forest areas and buffer zones. The project activities have been extended to the newly accreted lands
(locally called char), drained tracts (an undulated tracts), ponds and tank boundaries, etc.

NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS (NTFPS), RURAL ECONOMY AND FOREST POLICY

Forest and forest products have provided food, shelter, clothing and many necessities of life to the forest
dwellers and rural poor since prehistoric days. As the economy of Bangladesh is predominantly
agricultural and about 90 percent of the population live in rural areas, forests play an important role in
supplying fuelwood for cooking and timber for house construction, agricultural implements, boats, carts,
furniture, etc. Besides fuelwood and timber, NTFPs provide many vital forest resources such as food,
medicine, honey, essential oil, spice, resin, gum, latex, fiber and floss, bamboo and cane, broom-grass,
sun-grass, mushroom, tamarind, silk cocoon, lac, khoer (catechu), etc.

NTFPs play a crucial role in the daily life and economy of the rural population. These provide off-farm
employment and income and are linked to the problem of poverty and subsistence. The forest foods
supplement what is obtained from agriculture, thus increasing food security. NTFPs also create new
opportunities for entrepreneurship development. The collecting and processing of NTFPs provide major
employment opportunities to the poorest rural population and contribute about TK.1.3 billion annually to
the Bangladesh economy (GOB 1993). Besides their subsistence role, NTFPs also have commercial
importance in supporting small-scale industries through which value-added products are developed. Many
of the participants in the community forestry projects have been including income generation activities by
using NTFPs, and are trying to improve the returns from their forest resources. Various income-
generating activities from NTFPs in the community forestry projects involve bamboo and cane and their
products, medicinal plants, spices, lac, silk cocoon, dye, betel nut, betel leaf, ginger, turmeric, calocasia,
arum, fruit, vegetable, flower, honey, etc.

A comprehensive and well-articulated ‘forest policy’ is vital for the development of NTFPs. Such a policy
would specify the relative role of NTFPs in supporting conservation and management, the level and
nature of resource use and management, product development and promotion, entrepreneurship
development, socioeconomic development and poverty reduction. But the previous forest policies of
Bangladesh neglected the conservation and management of NTFPs. The clear-felling followed by artificial
regeneration system in the hill forest management severely degraded the NTFPs. Again, the monoculture
of Tectona grandis was not favorable for the natural regeneration of NTFPs.

In general terms NTFPs are called ‘minor forest products’, though its importance is not minor. The
previous forest policy and management strategies in Bangladesh were timber dominant. The timber
dominated forest management did not give due attention to the sustainable management of NTFPs.
There were harvesting rules for some products such as bamboo but were not strictly followed. So,
depletion of bamboo resources was accelerated.

In the New Forest Policy (1994), the policy statement considered NTFPs as priority forest products. It
states that "one of the forestry sector’s primary contributions to the basic needs of the people is to ensure
sustained production of small timber, poles and firewood. Other priority products are construction wood
for housing and paper products for printing and packaging. Numerous non-wood forest products such as
forage, medicinal plants, fruits and extracts are also regarded as high priority species". The Forest Policy
(1994) gives much emphasis on biodiversity conservation, which is also applicable for the conservation of
NTFPs. But restriction on collection of NTFPs is mostly non-existent; there is no effective management
system and little recognition goes to replenishing the resources. However, the present ‘clear-cutting
followed by artificial regeneration’ with monoculture is highly discouraged and mixed plantation is getting
preference over monoplantation. Again, cultivation of cane and medicinal plants along with tree
plantations is getting preference in the management plan. Cultivation of bamboo and morta (Tenogyne
dichotoma) is also being emphasized. The targeted NTFPs plantation area developed in the Forestry
Master Plan (1993) totals 34 600 ha (Table 2).

Table 2. NTFPs plantation development (ha)

Programme 1993-97 1998-02 2002-07 2008-12 Total

Rattan 5000 5000 5000 5000 5000
Lac 1680 1680 1680 1680 6 720
 Lali/catechu 775 775 775 775 2 860
Golpata 210 210 210 210 840
Murta 200 200 200 200 800
Hogla 780 780 780 780 3 060
Medicinal plants 60 60 60 60 240
Total 8645 8645 8645 8645 34 580

Source: FMP, 1993.

There will be 60 percent of plantation for rattan and 30 percent in the lac and lali programmes. An
estimated amount of TK.326 million will be spent on lac production. The programme envisages 8000 ha of
rattan plantation directed by the Forest Department and 6000 ha under participatory development and
management. A private programme targets raising plantations on tea gardens unused lands or degraded
lands of 2000 ha by planters and furniture manufacturers. Also 4000 ha will be planted by small farmers
(FMP 1993).

The Forestry Master Plan envisaged that the development of NTFPs in Bangladesh will be promoted,
facilitated and financed in view of their economic importance and use of the rural communities. Small-
scale enterprises based on NTFPs are given special consideration for providing off-farm income and
employment to the rural communities. The New National Forest Policy (1994) also includes the provisions
for community participation, private forestry development, poverty alleviation and involvement of voluntary
and non-government institutions in community forestry programmes.

HOW TO ADD MARKET VALUE TO NTFPS?

Up until two to three decades ago there was little commercialization of NTFPs except bamboo and cane
in Bangladesh. The local people collected most of the NTFPs for their own consumption. Now with the
development of modern communication and transportation and with the increasing demand of NTFPs for
urban as well as local consumption, many people have entered the marketing of NTFPs. The harvesting
and sale of NTFPs are now a major business for many rural poor. But there is no well-organized
marketing infrastructure of NTFPs in Bangladesh.

Product development is very important to add market value to NTFPs. Again, better products are
dependent on the supply of good raw materials. So, addition of market value to NTFPs needs scientific
management from harvesting to transportation of the raw materials and even up to product development
and sale.

To add market value to NTFPs, the following areas should be considered:

 post-harvest care which is important because of loss in qualitative and quantitative terms during
transport and storage;
 rational and improved collection method;
 improvement of storage facilities;
 processing with latest technology;
 grading;
 packing;
 transportation;
 development of marketing channels;
 linkage among producers, traders and companies;
 ensuring sustainable flow of raw materials.
The sale of most NTFPs is done without processing or value addition in Bangladesh. The producers and
gatherers sell most of the NTFPs in village or weekly markets and they generally have no access to big
consumers. But some NTFPs such as bamboo, cane, morta, etc. have many value-added products that
are made in the cottage industries of Bangladesh. These products have occupied a good market at home
and abroad.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF FARM FORESTRY TO RURAL LIVELIHOOD

Farming is an activity carried out by households on holdings that represent managerial units organized for
economic production of crops and livestock. When tree components are integrated with the farming
system it is called farm forestry. It is an integral part of land-use system. So, we could define farm forestry
as a subsystem or a component of community forestry that refers to an activity which involves the rural
individuals in forestry activities in their farms. It generally improves the production base and gives
additional benefits that subsist the farmer. There are different traditional farm forestry practices in
Bangladesh; the most familiar practices are homestead forestry and cropland agroforestry. The former is
practised all over the country and both of them are practised in the northwestern and southwestern parts,
especially in the districts of Rajshahi and Khulna Division.

CONTRIBUTION OF HOMESTEAD FORESTRY TO RURAL LIVELIHOOD

Homestead has been a part of traditional farming system in Bangladesh for ages. It is an unit of land
surrounding a dwelling house, on which a number of annual and perennial plants including agricultural
crops and trees are grown together with/without livestock, poultry and/or fish, largely managed by the
household members for their own use or commercial purposes. The homesteads thus present an
excellent example of all embracing multipurpose land-use system and biodiversity conservation.

In Bangladesh, about 80 percent of the population live in villages having small homesteads. There are
about 15 million homesteads in the rural areas. Planting trees and retaining naturally grown trees in
homesteads are in fact quite common. Homestead forests appear to offer the best potential to improve
production of tree products (Alim 1984, Byron 1984, Hocking and Islam 1984). Trees and shrubs grown in
and around homesteads are a ready and sustainable source of food, fruit, vegetable, fuelwood, fodder,
building material, NTFPs including spice and medicine, and also a source of cash income. Trees along
the borders of the homesteads minimize soil erosion and enhance soil productivity of the homesteads as
well as nearby crop fields (Hassan and Mazumder 1990).

Trees in homesteads play an important role in the livelihood of rural poor and in the rural economy of
Bangladesh (Chowdhury and Sattar 1993) and act as a buffer against rural poverty. Trees and tree
products also play an important role in household food security, the most important being in meeting
seasonal food needs. The household consumption of fruits like jack fruit, mango, banana, guava, coconut,
papaya, etc. from the homestead trees and the cash earned through the sale of fruits and other tree
products help the poor farmers to overcome the lean periods. Hassan et al. (1985) reported that in the
homesteads vegetables were available year round while tree fruits were available during one lean period.
In most of the villages of high elevation and hilly regions, root crops and tubers are also produced under
trees and these are extensively used during lean periods. Nutrition supply is also associated with
household income, livelihood and poverty. Homestead trees meet the household nutritional requirement
to a great extent.

Fuel from homesteads provides a major source of energy for cooking and food processing in rural
communities. Douglas (1982) reported that the estimated 30 400 ha of homesteads in Bangladesh
provide 85 percent of all wood consumed, including 90 percent of fuelwood and 90 percent of bamboo.
Fuelwood scarcity is rising day by day in Bangladesh and the most acute situation is prevailing in the
northern region of the country. Fuelwood shortage indirectly affects household food security, forcing both
men and women to spend their time collecting fuelwood and less time in income generation activities.
Depletion of homestead forestry is aggravating the situation. Contingencies make the rural poor more
poor and they are among the major causes of poverty in Bangladesh. Homestead forestry plays a
significant role to meet the contingencies.

In Bangladesh, trees, crops, livestock and fish are traditionally integrated in most of the homesteads and
these altogether form a niche. However, due to shortage of fodder for the livestock and feed for poultry,
these traditional practices of rural households are facing problems, but still this production system
contributes significantly to rural livelihood.

CONTRIBUTION OF CROPLAND AGROFORESTRY TO RURAL LIVELIHOOD

Cropland agroforestry is a traditional land-use system of Bangladesh where trees are grown in
association with agricultural crops in crop fields. The farmers of the northern districts of Bangladesh
practise tree plantation in their croplands. They plant many tree species such as Acacia nilotica, A.
catechu, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Eucalyptus, Dalbergia  sissoo, Phoenix sylvestris (date-
palm), Borassus flabellifer  (palmyra-palm) etc. not only in the boundaries but even in the entire croplands
in wide distances. It was observed that trees in the crop fields contribute, on average, about 2 percent to
the family income. About 43 percent of the fuel needs at Jessore were met by tree products and 50
percent of this came from trees grown in the crop fields (Abedin and Quddus 1988).

Besides supplying fuel for household cooking, the trees grown are very important for the livelihood of the
area as they produce fruit, juice, and timber for multiple end-uses. Extraction of juice from the date- palm
and its subsequent processing into "gur" is an important source of income not only for the owners but also
for the artisans. To some of the poor artisans, employment in this trade can generate enough cash to buy
food for more than six months of the year. Leaves of the date-palm trees are used for making mats, bags
and baskets by women and make good income. Palmyra-palm also provides fruit, juice and timber and
farmers earn a handsome amount of money. Women make fans from the leaves of palmyra-palm and
earn a lot. Making of village canoes with the trunk of palmyra-palm provides employment for the artisans.
The species also provides good, durable construction timber and creates a scope of employment for
artisans.

Croplands provide huge quantities of acacia, which is used to extract tannin for making "khoer" and the
product has a good market. Many cottage industries have developed in the Charghat area of Rajshahi
District based on Acacia catechu for khoer production.

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT OF FOREST RESOURCES (SOME MODELS OF BANGLADESH)

Community-based forest management was widespread before the advent of nationalization and
commercialization, which in turn resulted in alienation of the local people from most of the forests
(Davidson 2000). Tree plantations were raised in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in the early 1870s, with
people allowed to participate through taungya for a limited time where teak was being planted using paid
labour. There was no suggestion that local communities would share in the benefits of forest production.
By any modern definition it was neither truly participatory nor community management.

At the end of 1970s community forestry projects were started in Betagi and Pomora in the CHT and this is
considered a milestone in the history of community forestry in Bangladesh. Considering the success story
of Betagi-Pomora community forestry projects, many community forestry programmes were undertaken
by the government (Forest Department, FD) and NGOs in different regions of the country and in different
forms. Some of the renowned models are briefly discussed here:

1. Betagi-Pomora model

The model has the following characteristics:

  integration of poor landless farmers with degraded forest land (land areas of Betagi and Pomora
were Forest Department’s and Khas land respectively);
 homogeneous characteristics of the participants (farmers);
 1.62-ha land allocation to each family;
 tenurial security ensured to both husband and wife;
 adoption of agrisilvicultural production system on the basis of farmers’ needs for food, fuelwood,
timber, cash and other products;
 inclusion of short-term, mid-term and long-term crops with emphasis on fruit trees (60 percent);
 adoption of indigenous technology;
 self-help ideology;
 decentralized decision-making process;
 solidarity and existence of strong organization (Bhumiheen Samity);
 technical and financial assistance;
 strong patronage from state and local elite;
 linkage with middlemen for marketing the products and to ensure fair price;
 ecologically sound and economically sustainable land use.

2. The Chittagong Hill Tracts rehabilitation model

The model has the following characteristics:

 is based on participation of nomadic shifting cultivators;

 2.0 ha of land allotted for each family, of which 0.20 ha is for homestead and kitchen garden and
1.82 ha for agrosilvihorticultural garden with short-, mid- and long-term crops;
 setting up cluster villages in convenient locations so as to afford all social and community facilities
like water supply, health care, education, access road and product marketing;
 financial assistance for land development, housing and subsistence grant for the first year until
the agricultural crops are harvested. The farmer families work in their own holdings but are paid
for their wages;
 extension services provided by the FD and the health, education, local government and co-
operative departments extended community services;
 engaged in block plantations on participatory concept with the FD and the farmers get wages for
their work and practised taungya cultivation in the new plantation areas.

3. Community forestry project (North Bengal)

The model has the following characteristics:

 is based on participation of local landless farming community, especially the forest encroachers;
 practised in the denuded (in many cases encroached) plain land sal (Shorea robusta) forest
areas of northern districts;
 motivation by the local FD officers and staff;
 allotment of 1.2 ha land for a period of one year by offering usufructory rights under a lease
agreement which is extendable up to the rotation period of trees subject to satisfactory
performance of the participants;
 introduction of specially designed alley-cropping agroforestry models;
 fast-growing short rotation exotic and indigenous tree species planted with agricultural crops;
 first-year agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, insecticides given to the farmers as free
grants of the project;
 the entire agricultural produce of the holdings belongs to the farmers free of costs; 50 percent of
the timber or its sale proceeds at harvest also granted to the farmers through bilateral agreement
between the FD and the individual farmer. Besides, the fallen trees, leaves, twigs and branches
from the pruning also given to the farmers free of costs;
  training provided to the farmers and during training they are given a money incentive fairer than
their daily wages.

4. Strip-plantation in roads and highways

This takes the following characteristics:

 the FD takes the allotment of strips of land from the Authority of Roads and Highways, the
Bangladesh Water Development Board and the Bangladesh Railway Board;
 motivation of local landless people and formation of groups (10-15 participants per group);
 allocation of strip lands among the groups;
 plantation establishment and cultivation of agricultural crops (intercrops) by the groups on the
strip land under the guidance of the FD;
 the FD provides seeds, seedlings, fertilizers and daily wages to the groups at the time of planting;
 responsibility given to the groups for postplanting maintenance, management and supervision;
 the participants receive 100 percent of the agricultural crops and pruning materials from the trees;
 a bilateral agreement between the groups and the FD is that the final yield of the tree crop would
be shared with the participants: 65 percent to the farmer groups, 20 percent to the FD, 10 percent
to the agency owning the land and 5 percent to the Union Council. In the case of Union Council
road, 80 percent of the harvest goes to the groups and 20 percent to the Council.

SMALL-SCALE FOREST INDUSTRIES IN COMMUNITY FORESTS

Small-scale forest industries constitute an important part of the forestry sector in Bangladesh, contributing
significantly to the development of both the sectors of the rural and industrial economies. Being small,
such enterprises are able to utilize local valuable but scattered forest resources, which might otherwise be
unproductive. The rural people benefit from such enterprises in a short time. Moreover, the enterprises
are characterized by small size, technological simplicity of operation, low capital intensity, heavy reliance
on entrepreneurs, seasonality of activities, etc. The Small and Cottage Industries Corporation of
Bangladesh (BSCIC) listed 157 types under small and cottage industries (BSCIC 1983). The following
types of small and cottage industries are located in or nearest to the community forestry projects which
are based on the raw materials from the community forests.

Table 3. List of community forestry-based small-scale industries in Bangladesh

1. Sericulture 19. Bidi and choroot

2. Lac culture 20. Brick manufacturing
3. Apiculture 21. Candle making
4. Mushroom culture 22. Chanachur making
5. Catechu/khoer production 23. Chira (flaked rice) and mori (puffed rice)
6. Gur (molasses) 24. Dairy products (sana and sweetmeat)
7. Charcoal production 25.Lime manufacturing
8. Furniture from wood 26. Metal working/foundries
9. Cane and bamboo furniture 27. Oil extraction
10. Basketry from cane and bamboo 28. Paddy parboiling
11. Novelties from wood, cane, bamboo and 29. Pottery other NTFPs 30.Soap
12. Broom-making 31. Dying (rug and cloth)
13. Agricultural tools, 32. Fish smoking/drying
14. Cart (wheel and body) 33. Ginger and turmeric drying and grinding
15. Musical instrument 34. Goldsmith
16. Handicrafts 35. Tile making
17. Bakery and confectionery 36. Tobacco curing
18. Blacksmith 37. Herbal medicine

Kanwal (1982) reported that there are about 75 000 bamboo and cane units in Bangladesh. According to
Abdullah (1979), there are only 45 000 small-scale industries and 425 000 cottage industries in
Bangladesh. But Sirajuddin (1986) stated that there are 3.22 million cottage industries in Bangladesh that
are able to produce 160 items and employ approximately 9.18 million people.

EMERGENCE OF COMPANY-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP AND DEAL

There is no organized marketing system of forest produce, especially of NTFPs, in Bangladesh. Links or
communications between company and community are, in fact, absent.

Like other developing countries, the marketing of fuelwood and NTFPs in Bangladesh is informal with no
definite marketing structure. Marketing of these products starts from simple village level consumer
markets to large industrial markets. It is a system undertaken within a network of growers, middlemen and
traders. Unlike agricultural crops, the marketing of the forest products is almost entirely conducted by
private traders in Bangladesh. The middlemen/traders collect information about market conditions and
offer prices for the products. Producers and gatherers perform very limited marketing services.

The main raw material of the Karnafuly Paper Mill (KPM) is bamboo. The mill authority collects bamboo
from natural bamboo forests of the Chittagong Hill Tracts through contractors. There are bamboo cutting
rules and contractors sign the agreement to obey the rules. But in practice they do not follow the rules in
order to maximize the collection and this leads to severe degradation of bamboo forests in Bangladesh.

The lack of a marketing system, pricing policy and the absence of a market have created imperfect
conditions where the communities are exploited by the buyers, i.e. the middlemen and the traders. The
rural landless people who have participated in the community forestry programmes started cultivation of
trees and NTFPs on the understanding that they would gain from the sale of timber, fuelwood, fruit,
medicinal plants, etc. in the near future. But a proper marketing infrastructure to sell the produce is absent
in the country. It is observed that when marketing problems are not solved, farmers suffer economic
losses and lose their interest in adopting new farming practices and technologies (Siddiqui 1994).

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN REFORESTATION

The Forest Department generally does reforestation of upland public lands and afforestation in coastal
areas. The Department reforests degraded sal forest mostly with the participation of the local people on
benefitsharing system under the community forestry programmes. In some areas NGOs are also involved
to accelerate the reforestation programme. The BFRI, FD and some NGOs have their own nurseries and
there are many small private nurseries all over the country for raising planting materials for afforestation
and reforestation at different regions of Bangladesh.

Many people of different tribal communities and Bengali settlers in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) raise
plantations of Tectona grandis and Gmelina arborea on their joth (lease land). Private entrepreneurs are
raising rubber plantations in the degraded hills of the CHT and they also raise tree plantations in the
rubber estates. There are also market oriented horticultural plantations at the CHT. The Bawm, Lushai
and Pankhua were perhaps the first people in the CHT to start market-oriented horticulture on a
commercial scale (Roy 2002).

GENDER ROLE IN COMMUNITY FORESTRY (CF)

In Bangladesh about half of the population are women. But the conventional wisdom tells us that here
women are in a disadvantaged position. Women’s contribution to the family and national economy is
substantial and largely unacknowledged (Westward 1983). Equal access to jobs, education, training,
technology and access to resources is generally denied. Gender inequality is also a significant factor for
poverty in Bangladesh. It was observed that the FD has engaged the poor women as daily labourers in
raising nurseries and plantations. Later they were included in the CF programme.

No notable effort has so far been made in evaluating women’s participation in CF in Bangladesh. Arif
(1985) conducted a review work on women’s involvement in community forestry. Since the Betagi and
Pomora community forestry projects were the first of their kind some authors have made detailed studies.
According to Quddus et al. (1992) and Rahman (1993), women planted the maximum number of trees in
the Betagi project and women spent 3-6 hours per day in the homestead agroforestry practice. Khundakar
(1991) reported that in the Betagi community forestry project women were involved in preparing land,
collecting seeds, raising seedlings and saplings, watering plants, controlling pests and diseases, etc.
They were found to make cash by selling fruit, wood, poultry birds, eggs, and milk to meet the cash
expenditure of the household. Rahman (1991) reported that women in the same project took part in
fuelwood and sungrass (Imperata cylindrica) cutting. Women’s participation in Betagi-Pomora in tree
planting was 100 percent but about 46 percent could sell products without the consent of their husbands
and they could keep the money in their own custody. The rest could do these jointly with their husbands.
Therefore, CF links women with the market economy and this system may be considered as a
phenomenal advancement in the control of resources. The women of Betagi were more enthusiastic to
work and sell the products because of joint ownership rights on the land with their husbands (Quddus  et
al. 1992, Rahman 1993).

Khundakar (1991) also reported that the women members in the social forestry programmes of the
BRAC, Nijera Kori, Proshika and RDRS made up 54, 37, 33 and 26 percent respectively. Women did
most of the work in the nursery such as preparing soils, bagging soils, seed sowing, watering, weeding,
seedling grading, nurturing, etc. Women groups are largely involved in planting trees in most of the
government and NGO directed community forestry programmes. Proshika has achieved formation of an
equal number of women groups compared to male groups in their social forestry programme. Now the
emphasis is on the maximization of women’s participation. In 1990-91, 1457 women’s groups and 494
male groups which make a total of 1951 groups were involved in the social forestry programme of
Proshika (Rahman 1993). The BRAC has mulberry plantation programme for sericulture development
where 100-200 sericulture women are selected every year to plant 50-100 mulberry trees around each of
their homesteads (Bhuiyan 1993a). Huda (1994) reported that the Village and Farm Forestry Project
(VFFP) of the Swedish Development Corporation (SDC) involved more women compared with men in the
project activities.

In homestead agroforestry, women perform many activities such as collection and storing of seeds,
raising seedlings, planting, watering, fencing, fertilizing, harvesting and processing. It was found that
women also took care of the seedlings to save them from theft and being destroyed by cattle, goats and
wild animals. Collection and processing of agroforestry products and preparing them for marketing is an
integral part of homestead forestry where women do the maximum work from collection to processing. But
most critical is the decision-making process. Generally women’s consent is ignored during decision-
making. In homestead plantations both the wife and husband play key roles in decision-making. Both
husband and wife jointly make decisions to plant trees in all farm categories. But for vegetable production
women are involved more than men regardless of farm categories. Many authors reported that women
were more interested in planting annual crops than trees because of greater immediate benefits.

Saha (1994) reported that the Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) plants about one million trees
every year, with 70 percent of the harvest ensured to the beneficiaries. About 2000 women are employed
as caretakers for a period of three years, 50 percent of them engaged in viable income generating
activities after two years of employment.

COMMUNITY FORESTRY CAN REDUCE POVERTY AND MAKE MONEY

Community forestry if properly planned and implemented can reduce poverty and make money. It gives
opportunities to the participants to produce food, fruit, fuelwood, timber, fodder, spices, medicinal plants
and other essential NTFPs. It has also created ample opportunities for employment and income
generation in the locality. With the multidimensional production systems, employment opportunities and
income of the participants are sharply increased. The programmes provide subsistence and link the
participants with the market economy. The community forestry programmes (CFP) in Bangladesh have
provided the previously landless families with a considerable degree of stability and security.

In the Pomora CFP, the average annual income of the individual farmer has increased to about TK.35
000 per annum. Families who settled in 1981, 1983 and 1985 have average incomes of TK.30 000, TK.20
000, and TK.10 000 respectively (Mohammed 1990). Rahman (1991, 1993) reported that during 1984-85
the average income per family per annum at the Pomora CFP was TK.9000. He also reported that the
previous income of Betagi farmers varied from TK.4000-5000 per year before involving in the Betagi CFP.
After joining the project their average annual income was TK.10 000 per family during 1983-84. During
1984-85 it rose to more than TK.15 000 and by 1990 it rose to TK.20 000-50 000. Regular RRA studies
by Rahman (1993) revealed that from 1984 onwards the income at Betagi was TK.30 000 to TK.65 000.
At Betagi, there were a few families who were earning more than TK.90 000 per year.

Quddus et al. (1992) made a thorough study of the Betagi and Pomora community forestry projects and
reported that the postsettlement mean monthly family income of all settlers (TK.3480) had increased more
than two and half times from the presettlement value (TK.1298). The postsettlement mean monthly family
income of the Betagi settlers had increased about four times (TK.4617) from their presettlement value
(TK.1170) while in Pomora it had increased only about twice (i.e. from TK.1373 to TK.2814). The
differences between pre- and postsettlement mean monthly family incomes of both Betagi and Pomora
were found statistically significant (sig.0.001).

Bhuiyan (1994) reported the economic performance of a 6.05-ha plantation at Madhyapara Range of
Dinajpur Forest Division under the community forestry project. The plantation was harvested at the age of
eight years and the average earning from timber sale was TK.57 086 for each holding of 1.2 ha. This
gave an average sale cash receipt of TK.28 543 to each family (half of the sale proceeds). The value
outturn of agricultural crop during 1985-91 was TK.1 36 412. This gave an average cash receipt of TK.27
282 for each holding of 1.2 ha over six years.

Bose (1989) reported that between 1981-82 and 1984-85, 145 farmer participants of the Dinajpur
Community Forestry Project benefited from the 232-km strip plantation worth TK.101 000, and 216
farmers benefited from 318-km strip plantation worth TK.196 000. The cash income earned from selling
‘gur’, the crude sugar made from date-palm juice, sustained poor families for 5-6 months in a year in
some areas of Jessore (Akter and Haque 1986). Homestead trees are considered to be assets and
savings by the rural people of Bangladesh (Abedin and Quddus 1988). The mean income from trees
grown in homesteads of Kishorgonj District was estimated to be TK.5090 and TK.23 580 per farm per
anum for an average homestead area of 0.06 ha and 0.18 ha respectively (Hossain 1991).

The Forest Department (2003) reported that the plantations raised under the Community Forestry Project
and Thana Afforestation and Nursery Development Project are now being harvested and the shares
distributed to the participants in the years 1999-2000, 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 are summarized in
Table 4.

Table 4. Share distribution to the community forestry participation (1999-2002)

Type of Area Timber Fuelwoo Pole Total Participant Participant TFF GOB
plantation felled quantit d s sale s involved s share (TK. revenu
harvested (ha/km y (m3) quantity (No.) proceed (No.) (TK. '000) '000) e in
) (m3) s (TK. (TK.
'000) '000)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Woodlot 2 353 499 747 189 2 652 80 434.44 18 89
 (ha) 950.79 763.52 745.93 861 038.06 903.7 699.82
8
Agroforestr 914.45 133 157 229 83 961 37 464.18 8 37
y 648.71 436.04 572 253.72 325.3 464.17
7
Strip (km) 1 238 218 23 125 9 572 56 495.54 120 50
523.21 342.66 425.81 831 875.66 633.4 356.91
0
Total 5 725 875 1 001 398 13 185 174 394.16 39 177
388.45 754.90 607.77 264 167.45 292.5 520.90
6

A Proshika group planted Cajanas cajan as nurse crop in a one-kilometer roadside strip plantation at
Sirajganj and made a net profit of TK.10 000 simply by selling pods and firewood.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Community forestry (now well known as social forestry), which is an appealing land-use strategy by local
poor landless community, has been in practice in Bangladesh for more than twenty years. It has become
a highly attractive and acceptable programme to the rural people, especially the landless and small
farmers. It has generated sufficient resources and income to raise the rural poor above subsistence level
and proved that community forestry can play a significant role in rural poverty alleviation in Bangladesh.
Apart from the creation of resources, employment and income, community forestry is playing a vital role in
preserving the environment, which also helps alleviate rural poverty.

The efforts of the last twenty-year’s activities have resulted in the emergence of community forestry as a
rural institution. This is perhaps the most significant achievement. Motivation and awareness creation of
communities towards tree plantation in marginal lands, degraded forest lands and community lands is
also a great achievement. The participants have already obtained their share as per participatory benefit
sharing agreements and now strongly believe that community forestry can reduce poverty.

The incomes of community forestry participants have increased. But there are still many constraints that
need to be overcome for smooth functioning and sustainable management of community forestry
programmes.

Some recommendations are made below to alleviate the major constraints and improve community
forestry programmes in Bangladesh:

1) Ensure true participation. Joining the community forestry programmes and getting a share from the
sale of products do not mean true participation. All decisions are still taken by the higher authorities of the
government and NGOs without involving the target clientele. From the programme planning stage to
implementation and evaluation, decision must be taken in consultation with the local communities.

2) Ensure tenurial security of both land and tree. Medium- and long-term leasing of land should be
introduced. Letters of agreement or deeds must be given to the participants/clientele. Tenure should be
given jointly to both the husband and wife of a household.

3) Integration of multifarious production systems. Agrisilvicultural, agrisilvipastural, agrisilvipiscicultural

production systems along with apiculture, sericulture, lac culture, mushroom culture, poultry rearing and
livestock rearing should be integrated in the CF programmes, especially in the homesteads. Homesteads
should be utilized as a production unit with all available and site suitable production systems.
4) Integrate small and cottage industries in the homesteads or develop community-base enterprises.
Processing of food or other raw materials and product development (e.g. handicrafts) should be done with
indigenous or advanced technologies.

5) Provide participant farmers with collateral-free credits to carry out the CF programmes and equip the
farmers with technology.

6) Develop marketing infrastructure to sell the products. Linkages should be developed among producers
(participants), village traders, retailers and consumers.

7) Develop marketing information system so that farmers get information about demand and prices of the
products.

8) Create/format community organizations. Local organizations should be created or strengthened to

foster self-reliance and to encourage people to mobilize their own resources in managing a CF
programme. The Krishak Samabay Semite (Farmers Co-operative Association) and the Bhumiheen
Samabsy Semite (Landless Farmers Association) could be best utilized in participation.

9) Obtain strong patronage from state, political leaders, government officials, local elite and community
organizations.

10) Provide training and extension.

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