Graduate School of Agriculture

A study was conducted at two-biodiversity conservation areas of Northeastern Bangladesh (a part of Sylhet Forest Division) to assess the species composition, diversity and density of natural regeneration of tree species both indigenous and exotic species. Data were collected by stratified random quadrate method during

A study was conducted to assess the status, ecological diversity, traditional uses, spatial arrangement, and importance of homestead garden for biodiversity conservation of the urban and rural households in Kishoreganj Sadar of northern Bangladesh. Assessment was done by means of multistage random sampling from a total of 80 households using a semistructured questionnaire. A total of 62 plant species belonging to 36 families including 5 threatened species were identified. The majority of the species were used as fruit and food (45%) followed by medicinal plants (38.71%), firewood (32.26%), and timber (29%). Ecological diversity indices indicated that the existing plant species in the homestead gardens in the study area have moderately high biodiversity and species richness. Farmers perceived importance for homestead plant species conservation was for fruit and food (85%) followed by building materials (78.75%), subsistence family income (73.75%), and source of firewood (68.75%). In addition, analysis of existing management regime indicates that growers lack scientific information, almost every household still follows traditional management systems. Finally, a specific homestead forest management plan, conservation of homestead species diversity through scientific management and obtaining training and support from government and NGOs, was found highly demandable by this study.

Species diversity and ethno-medicinal usage of 39 species of invasive plants were explored in and around two protected areas, Khadimnagar National Park (KNP) and Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary (RKWS), of northeastern Bangladesh,. Status of invasive plants were investigated in 60 sample plots with 5 different habitat types, including forest, roadside, homestead, fallow land and others (ponds, canals, water logged areas, agricultural land, etc.). Data about the usage of invasive plants in traditional health care were collected through interviewing 110 households. Among the five habitat types, fallow land (28 species) possessed the highest number of species, followed by roadside (25 species), forest (23 species), homestead (22 species) and others (13 species). Based on the survey, invasive plants of study areas were also categorized into five degrees of invasiveness e.g., naturalized, introduced, possibly invasive, moderately invasive and highly invasive. Additionally, there is the linear trend between degrees of invasiveness and use percentage of invasive plants. Total 39 species of invasive plants belonging to 29 families were recorded, which are generally used to treat 37 diseases, ranging from simple headache to highly complicated eye and heart diseases. The majority of the species used by the local inhabitants were herbs (16 species), followed by some shrubs (11 species), climbers (5 species), trees (5 species) and grasses (2 species). The use percentage of aboveground plant parts were higher (70.58%) than that of underground plant parts (16.18%).

This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights a b s t r a c t Natural disasters are frequent phenomena in the coastal regions of Bangladesh, causing significant damage to the coastal community and environment. The present study was conducted in southern coastal region of Bangladesh with the aim to explore women's preparedness, risk and loss, cultural and conditional behaviour, adaptability and recovery capacity from the natural disasters. During disaster a kind of functional disorder gets created where women had to face challenges different from men. Women have to face loss of livelihood opportunities, deprivation from relief materials, sexual harassment and enjoy little scope of participation in any response or management activities. Likewise, they also suffer from inverse care law after disaster. Contrary to that, disaster also creates a condition to accrue diverse positive and constructive impacts including women's transformative role which often do not get reported. Disaster leads the planners to follow not merely the compensatory principle but also restoration and augmentation principles which give more benefits to the low income group of the coast. Nevertheless, in the coast the higher is the loss of property, the lower is the tendency among the dwellers to invest which has a long-lasting effect on capital formation and social development.

Protected area (PA) management involving local communities is now widely practiced mostly in developing countries. Bangladesh Forest Department developed co-management program in PAs with the financial support from USAID. It aims to promote and institutionalize co-management system for sustainable natural resources management and biodiversity conservation involving local communities. The present study was conducted in Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary (RKWS) which is one of the pilot PA co-management sites. The objectives are to identify the local community’s attitude and perception on co-management, and the pattern and trends of benefits deriving from co-management. The study aims to look into the reciprocal services provided by the communities for forest conservation and co-management sustainability. Putting of some functional and policy recommendations is also a part of the study. Primary information was collected through local and focus group discussions, key informant interviews, household surveys by using a semi-structured questionnaire. Study results identified twenty-six local issues on four broad categories, viz., livelihood, AIG support, forest biodiversity conservation and management to explore the co-management sustainability in RKWS. Co-management has given different AIG supports to the community. These have added substantial benefits to his/her family income although AIG supports have some mentionable weaknesses. It was estimated that local community has positive responses on co-management. Some issues like unemployment, absence of established educational institutions, insufficient AIG supports, need for involving more Community Petrol Group (CPG) members for continuous forest patrolling with monthly salary, limited tourist facilities and awful road communication system are the burden for its sustainability. However, the communities are satisfied on forest management and biodiversity conservation, awareness raising activities and training, institutional arrangements and capacity development and reducing illegal logging and hunting. They opined that livelihood and AIG supports are not enough. Finally, the study concluded some recommendations for the continuity of co-management to help taking policy decisions, implementing field activities and conducting research.

Rattan, an important non-timber forest product, is a flexible palm used in weaving baskets or furniture. Rattan is light yet sturdy, making it suitable for furniture that can be moved often. Bangladesh has a large number of rattan-based enterprises. This paper reports a case study carried out in Sylhet City Corporation of northeastern Bangladesh, exploring the production, financial profitability and marketing of rattan-based products, and the problems and priorities of rattan-based enterprises as well as their potential contribution to employment opportunity. A sample survey was conducted of 58 randomly selected rattan-based enterprises with entrepreneurs personally interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Based on the total investment, the enterprises were divided into large, medium and small categories. Three origins of rattan (Local, Myanmar and Indonesia) and five species were used by the enterprises to produce 29 rattan-based product types. Rattan products were divided into three basic categories, viz. domestic utensils, domestic decorative articles and others for which uses are not specific. Among the three rattan origins, processing cost of local and Myanmar rattan species products was less and more articles were sold than for Indonesia rattan species. Financial analysis indicated that rattan-based enterprises are a profitable and attractive option for local socioeconomic development. Entrepreneurs' views on major problems and issues in rattan-based product trading and suggested measures to improve the condition of rattan-based enterprises also collected. Rattan-based enterprises will generate more domestic revenue, foreign exchange and employment if policies are adopted to

The article describes the status, distribution, diversity, and curative values of medicinal plants in Khadimnagar National Park, a protected area in northeastern Bangladesh. A stratified random sampling method was applied for the quantification of plants and we collected information on utilization patterns through direct observation and by interviewing older respondents using a semi-structured questionnaire. A total of 1684 plants of 50 species (42 families) were recorded to possess curative values. Of the 50 species, 22 trees, 12 shrubs, 10 herbs, and 6 climbers and 6 grass species were found belonging to 17, 10, 9, and 6 families, respectively. The low lands were found most favorable for medicinal plants (40%) followed by middle of the hill (34%). Plants identified within the area were used for the treatment of 69 ailments. For medicinal
preparations and treating various ailments, above-ground parts of plants were used more often than below-ground parts. Shannon–Wiener diversity, species diversity, and species richness indices were calculated. Medicinal plants used by the community seemed to be sustainable, but commercial extraction of some valuable species was found unsustainable. This calls for urgent conservation measures by the relevant authorities to maximize the sustainable use of these vital resources in the study area.

Rural home garden is an important traditional source of medicinal plants for daily curative uses throughout Bangladesh. Such knowledge is continuing from generation to generation without documentation. An ethnobotanical investigation was conducted through focus group discussions and households' survey accompanied by field observation to document the indigenous knowledge of herbal medicines being used by the rural communities of Comilla district in Bangladesh. A total of 45 ethnomedicinal plant species belonging to 34 families were found, where trees (37.78%) were the most commonly utilized growth form. Plant resources are used to treat 31 different individual ailments ranging from simple cuts to heart disease. Plants are mainly used to treat dysentery (12 species), cold ailments, cough, and fever (6 species each). For curing ailments, the use of the above ground plant parts was higher (86.44%); particularly fruits (37.29%) and leaves (30.51%) were the most commonly used plant parts. More than half of the medicinal plants are indigenous (71.11%), being edible fruit bearer (48.89%), plants parts suitable for animals and birds (57.78%), and natural regeneration present (64.44%) indicated that medicinal plants play a vital role in biodiversity conservation in the study area.

An exploratory study was conducted on the traditional medical ethno-botany perception of the Patra tribe community living in and around the Khadimnagar National Park of Northeastern Bangladesh, to focus on the implications of healthcare using medicinal plants. The study indicates that the traditional medical system is well functioning in the area. A total of 33 households were assessed using different participatory appraisals through direct observation and semi-structured questionnaire. A total of 31 medicinal plant species belonging to 23 families were recorded with the help of tribal people of the area as mostly collected from the forest and were found to use for curing 55 ailments; ranging from simple headaches to highly complicated eye and heart diseases, including diabetes, jaundice, chickenpox, dysentery, constipation, teeth ache, cut and wounds, diarrhea etc. Study also revealed that majority of the species used by the local inhabitants was herbs (6 species) followed by trees (14 species), shrubs (8 species), and climbers (3 species). For curing ailments, the use of aboveground plant parts was higher (76%) than the underground plant parts (17%) among mainly used leaves, either taken orally or used externally. Homesteads (32%) are the primary source followed by forest (27%) and few medicinal plants are cultivated. Since this knowledge is handed down orally from generation to generation, there is a great possibility that the knowledge will be lost over time. The findings of the study conclude that the conservation of the indigenous knowledge of the Patra tribe regarding medicinal plants can help conserve the forest.

The present study deals with the gender aspects of water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) situation in post-cyclone Aila period in Bangladesh. Data were collected using participa-tory approaches like individual interview, key informant interview, focus group discussion and field level observation. Study reveals that after Aila, women had to travel 500 m-2 km per day to fetch water from safe water sources spending 30-90 min. People used pit and hanging latrines, uncovered water framed latrines as well as had open defecation. Considering the impromptu needs, government and other aid-giving agencies focused on immediate WaSH programme. The paper is an outcome of a critical assessment of those arduous efforts made to overcome the WaSH challenges after Aila, particularly women's role in and challenges faced by them to improving the situation. Also attempt has been made to examine the opportunities and challenges of sustainability of WaSH programme pursued in the post-disaster period. For recovery of the WaSH system, a two-part strategy was followed where one was to make technology (tubewell, pond and filter, saline purification and rainwater harvesting plants) that supporting social arrangement and another was social arrangement (group formation, capacity building on construction, operation and maintenance) that supporting technology. A techno-social contingent model has been followed for addressing the post-disaster WaSH situation following a WasH approach. Women's these roles in meeting the households' WaSH requirements might be called WaSH-feminism. The main finding is that although there was a technical challenge to overcome the water and sanitation crises, after the disaster a set of appropriate technologies could remove it considerably, but a corresponding social arrangement was required there to operate it. Many kinds of technical and social limiting factors were there for women that could be removed partly but not totally.

Species diversity and ethno-medicinal usage of 39 species of invasive plants were explored in and around two protected areas, Khadimnagar National Park (KNP) and Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary (RKWS), of northeastern Bangladesh,. Status of invasive plants were investigated in 60 sample plots with 5 different habitat types, including forest, roadside, homestead, fallow land and others (ponds, canals, water logged areas, agricultural land, etc.). Data about the usage of invasive plants in traditional health care were collected through interviewing 110 households. Among the five habitat types, fallow land (28 species) possessed the highest number of species, followed by roadside (25 species), forest (23 species), homestead (22 species) and others (13 species). Based on the survey, invasive plants of study areas were also categorized into five degrees of invasiveness e.g., naturalized, introduced, possibly invasive, moderately invasive and highly invasive. Additionally, there is the linear trend between degrees of invasiveness and use percentage of invasive plants. Total 39 species of invasive plants belonging to 29 families were recorded, which are generally used to treat 37 diseases, ranging from simple headache to highly complicated eye and heart diseases. The majority of the species used by the local inhabitants were herbs (16 species), followed by some shrubs (11 species), climbers (5 species), trees (5 species) and grasses (2 species). The use percentage of aboveground plant parts were higher (70.58%) than that of underground plant parts (16.18%).

Forest-dependent indigenous communities rely on natural resources for their livelihoods, but those are currently under threat due to many factors, including the adverse impact of climate change. The present study looks into climate change-related perception and adaptation strategies of three forest-dependent indigenous communities, namely, Khasia, Tripura and Garo in the Lawachara National Park of Northeastern Bangladesh. Household surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and observation methods were used to unveil the climatic events, impacts and related adaptations. The events include the change in temperature and rainfall patterns, landslide, soil erosion and flash flood, heavy cold and fog, and natural calamities. Moreover, livelihood problems emanating from these events are the drying up of streams and wells, irregular rainfall, increased dieback and mortality of seedlings, pests, diseases, and the attack of crops by wild animals. Likewise, the reduction of soil moisture content, growing season and crop productivity, landslides, damage of roads and culverts, and increased human diseases are common. This study recognized 29 adaptation strategies and divided them into six management categories, drawing on their local knowledge of the natural resources and other technologies. The study reveals that, although adaptation strategies through land use and land cover changes are not enough to sustain their livelihoods, the tactics help them to reduce the risk of, and increase food security and community resilience against, climate change.

A special type of indigenous knowledge on plants utilization and farming system was explored by the Garo tribe community in the NorthEast region of Bangladesh, which correspond to the severe dependence on homestead forest. Results show that the Garo are totally dependent on the natural resources and that the extent of their dependency is faithfully reflected in their ethno-botanical knowledge. Dependencies that the study addressed focused on various aspects of food, fruit, energy, timber and health care on plants products. Garo tribe community in Bangladesh followed agrosilvipastoral system in their homesteads. They have indigenous hunting procedure to trap the animal in the forest. A total of 9 foods, 15 fruits, 12 energy-producing and 11 timber species was found and recorded that the Garo used in their daily life. Moreover, Garo used 23 medicinal plants species and have vast indigenous knowledge about using herbal medicine in daily health care practices. The Garo women do mostly the household activities, managing homestead forest and helping agricultural field where men perform all hard working activities like ploughing, cutting trees, digging the soil, preparation of horticultural and agricultural land, hunting, etc. The overall quality of life of the Garo could be considerably upgraded if ethno-botanical issues and their own indigenous knowledge will complement with scientific knowledge. The findings of the study conclude that the conservation of the indigenous knowledge of the Garo tribe related to plants utilization can also be turned to good account in forest conservation and is an important tool in this tribal area of Bangladesh.