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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Forest Restoration through Village Common Forests in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh: The Role of NGO Interventions
Sustainability, Vol.16(19), pp.1-19
2024
Abstract
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are widely recognized for their support of biodiversity conservation and forest restoration in tropical developing countries. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) of Bangladesh, ethnic forest-dependent communities have long maintained the Village Common Forest (VCF), an ancestral forest managed for community well-being. In recent years, some VCFs in the CHT have received support from local and international NGOs due to their perceived role in supporting biodiversity, ecosystem services, and improving local livelihoods. Although such support remains limited, its impacts on forest restoration and vegetation are not yet fully investigated. In the present study, we used remote sensing techniques and field surveys to measure vegetation cover changes and tree diversity in selected VCFs in the area. Our findings indicate that vegetation condition and tree diversity were better in NGO-supported VCFs compared with those without NGO intervention. Based on our study, we recommend increasing NGO involvement in VCF management with a more holistic and ecosystem-based approach, fostering institutional cooperation addressing land ownership issues, developing a market for forest ecosystem services, and improving local capacity for science-based forest management and ecosystem restoration in the CHT.
Details
- Title
- Forest Restoration through Village Common Forests in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh: The Role of NGO Interventions
- Authors
- Md. Shafiqul Bari - Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology UniversityMd. Manik Ali - Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology UniversityMohammad Jahangir Alam - Bangladesh Agricultural UniversityMahmuod Abubakar Bashir - Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology UniversityOliver Tirtho Sarkar - United International UniversitySharif A. Mukul (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Tropical Forests and People Research Centre
- Publication details
- Sustainability, Vol.16(19), pp.1-19
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Date published
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.3390/su16198490
- ISSN
- 2071-1050
- Copyright note
- © 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Data Availability
- Datasets generated during this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
- Grant note
- This research was funded by SANDEE “Grant number RP6 (SANDEE); Cost Center: 6-948-224-0-P-948-02-02-21-A-901” through the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Kathmandu, Nepal.
- Organisation Unit
- Tropical Forests and People Research Centre
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991079398202621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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