Humanitarian Foundation

Baseline Survey Report
Name of the project
Indigenous Community Based Sustainable Management of
Chimbuk Hill Forest in Bandarban Hill District
Implementing entity
HUMANITARIAN FOUNDATION, Bandarban
partner NGO of ARANNAYK FOUNDATION
Prepared by
Prof. Dr. Mohammed Jashimuddin,
Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences,
University of Chittagong, Chittagong 4331, Bangladesh.
Email: [email protected]
0
Introduction:
This report describes the baseline survey result designed to establish the initial conditions of
the project “Indigenous Community Based Sustainable Management of Chimbuk Hill Forest in
Bandarban Hill District” implemented by Humanitarian Foundation, Bandarban, partner NGO
of Arannayk Foundation. Forests and forest lands play a pivotal life-supporting role in the lives
of tribal community across the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs). They provide them all with many
benefits including their livelihoods, vital ecosystem services, raw materials, fuel and goods for
trading. Yet these benefits are being seriously eroded by the mounting momentum of
deforestation. The survey was designed to observe the socio-economic conditions of the local
indigenous people and current status of the biodiversity resources especially timber, fuel,
medicinal plants, wildlife and their uses in and around Chimbuk hills of Bandarban. Two
community based forest/village common forest (VCF) dependent communities are involved in
the proposed project. VCFs are usually managed under the leadership of village karbaries and
mouza headman or run by elected committees. The VCFs in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs)
are generally managed through semi-structured or unstructured methods. Both male and
female are involved in the conservation of the VCFs, but female do not generally have any role
in major decision-making processes. The areas around Korang para and Kapru para are both
rich in biodiversity and under extreme threat of loss due to illegal logging and fuel wood
collection. The project initially assumed that food insecurity including declining access to land,
forest products and income from agricultural products is the most important constraints for
livelihood security in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs). At present unavailability of forest products
(Bamboo, Cane, Timber, and Non-timber etc.) causes unyielding of the production of natural
resources based production. This situation arises due to pressure of increasing population,
over-use of land for cultivation, allotment of hill-lands at private ownership and improper
management of the government sponsored plantation/forestation projects or through
declaring reserved forests. The majority of the indigenous people in CHTs have low incomes and
most of the trade and commerce are controlled by outsiders and political elites linked to
national political parties. Once jhum or swidden (shifting) cultivation was highly productive and
jhum technology had been helpful to sustain life and livelihood of the hill people. The
indigenous people were once self sufficient to meet their demand for food, clothes and shelter.
But now the situation has changed due to population pressure, over exploitation of natural
resources, shortening of the fallow period from 15-20 years to 3-4 years for jhum, political
unrest etc. and the indigenous people are facing food insecurity that in a sense destroying the
biodiversity and the natural resource base of the CHTs. In this connection the proposed base
line survey tried to gather information on the current status of the homesteads and owned or
leased hilly lands to which the local people depend for their food, timber, fuel and medicinal
products and income. The survey also tried to appraise the biodiversity of the homesteads and
the hills.
1
Objectives of the baseline survey:
 To assess the socioeconomic conditions of the people living in the study area.
 To identify the biodiversity available in the homesteads and hilly areas of the study area.
 To identify the lost/endangered biodiversity from homesteads and hilly areas.
Methodology of the baseline survey:
The baseline survey was conducted at the homesteads and hilly areas of the proposed project
area of Humanitarian Foundation in Chimbuk Hill Forest areas of Ruma and Lama Upazillas of
Bandarban Hill District, a hill forest zone with semi-evergreen and sub-tropical forest types, to
assess the forest resources, households’ economic status, their dependence on forest resources
and gender role in agro-forestry practices. The proposed project includes two community
reserves or village common forest (VCF) of Korang para of Ruma Upazilla and Kapru para of
Lama Upazilla. The baseline survey was conducted in two phases. First, a homestead survey
was conducted with a pre-structured questionnaire in the study area. A total of 35 households
were surveyed from two villages/paras, namely, Korang para (n= 20) and Kapru para (n= 15)
villages from where project participants will be selected by Humanitarian Foundation. The head
of each selected household was interviewed to gather required information. Then a forest
survey was conducted by passing through the forest reserves of Korang para and Kapru para
with a group of experts to identify and list the plant species present in the forests. The collected
data were analyzed and presented in the result section.
Description of the study area:
Korang para is located under 364 Galengga Mouza, Galegga union, Ruma Upazilla of Bandarban
Hill District. The distance of Korang para from Bandarban Sadar is 39 km. The Korang para is
situated by the left side from Bandarban-Thanchi road. Ethnicity of the community people is
Mro. The number of family of Korang para is 27. Religion of the community people is Christian
and Crama. 11 families are Christian and 16 families Crama. The name of the Karbari of Korang
para is Palea-Mro. The name of the Headman of Galengga is Menroth-Mro. The total number of
population of Korang para is 183. There are one Girza, one community centre and one
temporary school upto class five. The main source of income of the community people is Jhum
cultivation and six families partly depend on business. The method of Jhum cultivation is
traditional. Area of the community forest of Korang para is 100 acre. Kapru para is located
under 304 Lemu-Palong Mouza, Soroui union, Lama Upazilla of Bandarban Hill District. The
distance of Kapru para from Bandarban Sadar is 45 km. The Kapru para is situated by the right
side from Bandarban-Thanchi road and opposite from Nilgiri Porjaton Complex. Ethnicity of the
community people is Mro. Religion of the community people is Christian. The name of the
Karbary of Kapru para is Ing-Chang-Mro. The name of the Headman of Lemu Palong is Babu
Khaing-Oai-Mro. The number of family of Kapru para is 38. The total number of population of
Kapru para is 270. There are two Girza and one temporary school upto class five. The main
source of income of the community people is Jhum cultivation and two families partly depend
on business. Area of the community forest of Kapru para is 200 acre.
2
Village common forests (VCF) or para reserves are usually managed by the community people.
Usually one committee formed from the community people is responsible for the management
of this reserve. The community people usually do not cut trees or bamboos from the reserve.
But if some one cut or extract any resource without prior permission of such committee or steal
any resource from the reserve then he is fined for his action. However poor people are allowed
to extract any resource from the reserve to meet their emergency need if they seek permission
from the management committee. The community people usually live on jhum. They also
collect fuel wood from the nearby forest areas of their reserves.
Results:
Part I: Homesteads survey
Respondents’ age, sex, occupation and education level
The result of the survey shows that the average age of the respondent is 38 years and they are
most responsible person of the community. Among the respondents most of them are male
(86%) and the rest are female (14%) (Table 1). It is found that almost all the families (94%) are
engaged in jhum/shifting cultivation and tree farming and only a few (3%) are involved in
business and service as primary occupation. However, some of them (26%) are also involved in
secondary occupation that includes mainly business, jhum and daily labourer (Table 2).
Table 1: Distribution of respondent households by respondents’ age, sex and educational level
(Note: M= male; F= Female) (values in the parentheses denote percentages).
Para name
Korang para
(n=20)
Kapru para
(n=15)
Total
(n=35)
Sex
Educational status
M
F
Total Illiterate Primary Secondary S.S.C.
38.50
15
5
20
11
7
2
(75) (25) (100)
(55)
(35)
(10)
37.53
15
15
8
2
2
3
(100)
0 (100)
(53)
(13)
(13)
(20)
38.09
30
5
35
19
9
4
3
(86) (14) (100)
(54)
(26)
(11)
(9)
Age
Total
20
(100)
15
(100)
35
(100)
Table 2: Distribution of respondent households by occupation (values in the parentheses
denote percentages)
Primary Occupation
Secondary occupation
Para name
Agriculture Business Service Total Agriculture Business Service Other Total
Korang para
19
1
20
1
4
5
(n=20)
(95)
(5)
(100)
(5)
(20)
(25)
Kapru para
14
1
15
1
1
2
4
(n=15)
(93)
(7) (100)
(7)
(7)
(13) (27)
Total
33
1
1
35
2
4
1
2
9
(n=35)
(94)
(3)
(3) (100)
(6)
(13)
(3)
(6) (26)
3
Family size, sex and earning member
Average family size in the study area is 5.8 of which 3.0 (52%) are male and the rest 2.8 (48%)
are female (Table 3). Among the family members almost half of them were found in the
younger age category of 0-20 years (49%). On average each family has 2.57 (44% of the total
family size) earning members of which 1.54 are male (27% of the total family size) and 1.03 are
female (18% of the total family size) (Table 3). This result shows that both male and female are
earning members of the family meaning women are more or less equally involved in income
generating or livelihood activities. But women are usually deprived of their labour compared to
male. If women work as daily labourer they get less wage compared to the male member of the
community. It is interesting to see that female member of the community especially younger
married one works more in the jhum compared to her younger counterpart. The community
people wake up early at the dawn and women usually cook and prepare rice for the whole
family, take rice in the early morning with their families including the children, wrap some rice
with banana leaves for lunch, keep some of the wrapped rice for children at home and then
each member of the family except the infant go out to work in the jhum taking one wrapped
food with them which they take during lunch.
Table 3: Distribution of respondent households by family size, sex and total earning members
(values in the parentheses denote percentages) (Note: M= Male, F= Female, T= Total).
Family size (age class)
Para name
Sex
M
Korang para
F
(n=20)
T
M
Kapru para
(n=15)
F
T
M
Total
(n=35)
F
T
<10
0.95
(16)
0.7
(11)
1.65
(27)
0.80
(15)
0.87
(16)
1.67
(31)
0.89
(15)
0.77
(13)
1.66
(29)
10-20
20-30
30-40
0.60
(10)
0.70
(11)
1.3
(21)
0.33
(6)
0.67
(12)
1.00
(19)
0.49
(8)
0.69
(12)
1.17
(20)
0.80
(13)
0.35
(6)
1.15
(19)
0.47
(9)
0.73
(14)
1.20
(22)
0.66
(11)
0.51
(9)
1.17
(20)
0.55
(9)
0.40
(7)
0.95
(16)
0.47
(9)
0.33
(6)
0.80
(15)
0.51
(9)
0.37
(6)
0.89
(15)
4
40-50
0.15
(2)
0.25
(4)
0.4
(7)
0.27
(5)
0.13
(2)
0.40
(7)
0.20
(3)
0.20
(3)
0.40
(7)
>50
Total
0.35
3.4
(6) (56)
0.30
2.7
(5) (44)
0.65
6.1
(11) (100)
0.13
2.5
(2) (46)
0.20
2.9
(4) (54)
0.33
5.4
(6) (100)
0.26
3.0
(4) (52)
0.26
2.8
(4) (48)
0.51
5.8
(9) (100)
Earning
members
(% of total
family size)
1.75
(29)
1.05
(17)
2.8
(46)
1.27
(23)
1.00
(19)
2.27
(42)
1.54
(27)
1.03
(18)
2.57
(44)
Land resources
Land resources occupied by each family in the study area are 460.97 decimals of which most of
the lands are hilly (96%) and only 4% area is occupied by homesteads (Table 4). Hilly lands are
usually used for jhum or tree plantation. The situation in Kapru para is different from Korang
para in that in Kapru para most of the areas in homesteads (5.91%) are used for trees compared
to Korang para (0.50%). However, average land resources occupied by each family are higher in
Korang para (484.55 decimals) compared to Kapru para (429.53 decimals) (Table 4).
Family income
Analysis of the family income by the respondent households’ show that average family income
in the study area is 32193 Taka/year of which maximum amount of the income (86%) comes
from farming including 38% income from crops or jhum products (paddy, vegetables, spices
etc.) and 49% income from tree products (fruits and timber) followed by other category (8%)
including daily labourer. However, average family income was found a little higher in Korang
para (32840 Taka/year) compared to Kapru para (31329 Taka/year) (Table 5).
Table 4: Distribution of respondent households by land resources (in decimals) (values in the
parentheses denote percentages).
Para name
Korang para
(n=20)
Kapru para
(n=15)
Total
(n=35)
Dwelling unit
3.95
(0.82)
3.40
(0.79)
3.71
(0.81)
Homestead
Animal
Tree areas
shed
2.4
0.05
(0.50)
(0.01)
25.40
0.40
(5.91)
(0.09)
12.26
0.20
(2.66)
(0.04)
Yard
Total
Hilly
areas
0.65
(0.13)
2.33
(0.54)
1.37
(0.30)
7.05
(1.45)
31.53
(7.34)
17.54
(3.81)
477.50
(98.55)
398.00
(92.66)
443.43
(96.19)
Total
land
484.55
(100)
429.53
(100)
460.97
(100)
Table 5: Distribution of households’ family income (Taka/year) in the study area (values in the
parentheses denote percentage of total income)
Para name
Korang para
(n=20)
Kapru para
(n=15)
Total
(n=35)
Farm income
Agricultural products Fruits
13065
12275
(40)
(37)
10810
10511
(35)
(34)
12099
11519
(38)
(36)
5
Timber Subtotal Service
4000
29340
(12)
(89)
4341
25663
4000
(14)
(82)
(13)
4146
27764
1714
(13)
(86)
(5)
Others
3500
(11)
1667
(5)
2714
(8)
Total
32840
(100)
31329
(100)
32193
(100)
Plant diversity
Table 6 list the plant species and Table 7 shows the plant diversity measures present in the
homesteads of the study area. A total of 40 different plant species were found in the
homesteads and hills of the study area (Tables 6 & 7). Table 6 lists the plant species present in
the study area with their local and scientific names. Usually the community people are more
dependent on crops and tree products that are grown in and around the homesteads and hilly
areas occupied or owned by them. Among plant diversity different timber, fruit and medicinal
species are found growing. It is evident that Gamar (90%), Am (90%), Komola (90%), Jambura
(90%), Segun (85%), Fuljhumuri (80%) and Banana (75%) were found dominating in the
homesteads and hills of Korang para and on the other hand Segun (100%), Am (100%), Gamar
(100%), Banana (100%), Jambura (100%), Fuljhumuri (100%), Koroi (100%), Papaya (100%),
Komola (93%) and Achar gula (93%) were found dominating in the homesteads and hills of
Kapru para (Table 7). Species density was found higher for Gamar (342) followed by Segun
(314), Banana (210), Komola (82), Jambura (40) and Am (30) in Korang para. The same result
was also observed in Kapru para regarding the species density with higher species density for
Segun (457) followed by Gamar (343), Banana (197), Komola (41), Jambura (31), Koroi (21), Am
(14) and Achar gula (13) (Table 7). In total species density was found higher for Korang para
(1452) compared to Kapru para (1360). However both the measures are good from bio-diversity
point of view. In case relative density highest percentage was also observed for Gamar (24)
followed by Segun (22), Banana (14) and Komola (6) in Korang para and more or less similar
result was observed in Kapru para with higher relative density for Segun (34%) followed by
Gamar (25%) and Banana (14%). It is interesting to see that the species density and relative
density is higher for Segun and Gamar compared to other plant species in both the para
reserves of the study area (Table 7). This is because the local people are planting this species at
greater numbers to get economic benefits in and around their homesteads and hills.
Table 6: List of plant species present in the study area.
Sl. No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Scientific name
Microcos paniculata
Acacia auriculiformis
Mangifera indica
Phyllanthus emblica
Spondias pinnata
Annona squamosa
Bambusa vulgaris
Musa sapientum
Aegle marmelos
Gariga pinnata
Terminalia bellerica
Zizyphus mauritiana
Dillenia indica
Anogeissus acuminata
Species name/Local name
Achar gula
Akashmoni
Am
Amloki
Amra
Ata
Bamboo
Banana
Bel
Bhadi
Bohera
Boroi
Chalta
Fuljhumuri/Itchri
6
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
Gamar
Garjon
Guava
Gutguttya
Haritaki
Jalpai
Jam
Jambura
Kanak
Kanthal
Komola
Koroi
Lebu
Litchi
Mahagony
Narikel
Neem
Painna gula
Papaya
Rong gach
Sajna
Segun
Sofeda
Supari
Tentul
Tetua koroi
Gmelina arborea
Dipterocarpus turbinatus
Psidium guajava
Bursera serrata
Terminalia chebula
Elaeocarpus floribundus
Syzygium cumini
Citrus grandis
Schima wallichii
Artocarpus heterophyllus
Citrus sinensis
Albizia procera
Citrus spp.
Litchi chinensis
Swietenia mahagoni
Cocos nucifera
Azadirachta indica
Flacourtia jangomas
Carica papaya
Morinda angustifolia
Moringa oleifare
Tectona grandis
Manilkara zapota
Areca catechu
Tamarindus indica
Albizia odoratissima
Table 7: Analysis of the plant diversity present in the study area (Note: Nos. = Number of
trees/culms; HH= Households; SD= Species density; RD= Relative density)
Sl.
No
.
Species
name
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Achar gula
Akashmoni
Am
Amloki
Amra
Ata
Bamboo
Banana
Korang para (n=20)
Frequency
SD
Nos.
HH (%)
420
531
30
6
4
3150
50
90
45
5
10
75
42.00
29.50
3.33
6.00
2.00
210.00
7
RD
(%)
2.89
2.03
0.23
0.41
0.14
14.47
Kapru para (n=15)
Frequency
SD
RD
Nos.
HH
(%)
(%)
186
93
13.29
0.98
29
33
5.80
0.43
209
100
13.93
1.03
33
40
5.50
0.41
2
7
2.00
0.15
29
53
3.63
0.27
150
33
30.00
2.21
2960
100 197.33 14.53
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
Total
Bel
Bhadi
Bohera
Boroi
Chalta
Fuljhumuri
Gamar
Garjon
Guava
Gutguttya
Haritaki
Jalpai
Jam
Jambura
Kanak
Kanthal
Komola
Koroi
Lebu
Litchi
Mahagony
Narikel
Neem
Painna gula
Papaya
Rong gach
Sajna
Segun
Sofeda
Supari
Tentul
Tetua koroi
59
3
314
6150
10
169
130
26
197
715
207
335
1469
10
30
110
25
19
42
505
15
5330
3
55
51
20120
25
10
80
90
5
40
45
35
65
90
60
45
90
5
5
25
20
30
25
20
15
85
5
35
30
11.80
1.50
19.63
341.67
10.00
21.13
14.44
3.71
15.15
39.72
17.25
37.22
81.61
10.00
30.00
22.00
6.25
3.17
8.40
126.25
5.00
313.53
3.00
7.86
8.50
1451.6
2
0.81
0.10
1.35
23.54
0.69
1.46
1.00
0.26
1.04
2.74
1.19
2.56
5.62
0.69
2.07
1.52
0.43
0.22
0.58
8.70
0.34
21.60
0.21
0.54
0.59
100.0
0
25
43
19
35
5
150
5150
66
153
91
2
11
95
460
83
228
580
313
29
153
54
59
28
23
170
156
6
6860
47
166
23
41
1892
2
53
33
40
87
33
100
100
73
67
87
13
33
60
100
93
93
93
100
67
53
87
73
60
60
100
80
13
100
40
67
60
33
3.13
8.60
3.17
2.69
1.00
10.00
343.33
6.00
15.30
7.00
1.00
2.20
10.56
30.67
5.93
16.29
41.43
20.87
2.90
19.13
4.15
5.36
3.11
2.56
11.33
13.00
3.00
457.33
7.83
16.60
2.56
8.20
1357.6
9
0.23
0.63
0.23
0.20
0.07
0.74
25.29
0.44
1.13
0.52
0.07
0.16
0.78
2.26
0.44
1.20
3.05
1.54
0.21
1.41
0.31
0.40
0.23
0.19
0.83
0.96
0.22
33.68
0.58
1.22
0.19
0.60
100.0
0
Most of the households (81%) responded that the plant species are planted by themselves and
only few (20%) responded that they are naturally occurring (Table 8). Most of the households
(51%) have planted these species from their own source followed by nursery (41%) and others
(8%) (Table 8). Among the agricultural crops the households responded that they also grow
vegetables (100%), paddy (94%), zinger (94%) and turmeric (89%) (Table 9).
8
Table 8: Distribution of respondent households by mode of occurrence (%) and sources of
seedlings (%).
Mode of occurance (%)
Planted
Natural
Total
Para name
Korang para
(n=20)
Kapru para
(n=15)
Total
(n=35)
Source of seedlings (%)
Nursery
Own
Others
Total
85
15
100
51
42
7
100
75
25
100
28
63
9
100
81
19
100
41
51
8
100
Table 9: Distribution of respondent households by agricultural crops planted.
Para name→
Crop name↓
Pineapple
Paddy
Zinger
Turmeric
Olkachu
Vegetables
Korang para (n=20)
Frequency
%
0
0
18
90
18
90
18
90
3
15
20
100
Kapru para (n=15)
Frequency
%
3
20
15
100
15
100
13
87
11
73
15
100
Total (n=35)
Frequency
%
3
9
33
94
33
94
31
89
14
40
35
100
Collection of forest resources
The respondent households were asked to know the type and quantity of forest resources they
usually collect from the neighbouring forests. It is observed that respondent households usually
collect fuel wood. Each family in the study area was found to collect 225 mounds of fuel wood
per year travelling a distance of 1.33 kilometres. They usually spend about 8.49 hours a day on
average in jhum and also collecting forest resources (Table 10).
Table 10: Distribution of respondent households by the collection of forest resources.
Para name
Korang para (n=20)
Kapru para (n=15)
Total (n=35)
Fuel wood
(Mound/family)
Distance
(Km)
226
223
225
1.33
1.33
1.33
9
Time spent per day in
jhum and collecting
forest resources
(Hour)
8.50
8.47
8.49
Lost Species
The homestead survey tried to find out the species that are lost from the homesteads and hilly
regions of the study area. The respondent households were asked to identify the name(s) of the
lost species from their homesteads and hilly lands. It is found that a total of 19 tree species
were identified by the respondents of the study area that were lost from the locality. Among
the lost species Latkon (66%), Garjon (63%), Darmara (54%), Goda (54%), Civit (49%), Jaganna
gula (43%) and Gila lata (29%) are the mostly answered plant species that are lost from the
study area (Table 11).
Table 11: Frequency distribution of respondents’ perception about lost species in the study
area (Note: HH= Number of households responded).
Sl.
Species name
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Achargula
Bartha
Civit
Dharmara
Dumur
Garjon
Gila lata
Goda
Gutguttya
Jaganna gula
Koroi
Latkon
Meda
Tulshi
Scientific name
Microcos paniculata
Artocarpus lacucha
Swintonia floribunda
Stereospermum personatum
Ficus semicordata
Dipterocarpus turbinatus
Derris trifoliata
Vitex peduncularia
Bursera serrata
Ficus racemosa
Albizia spp.
Bixa orellana
Litsea monopetala
Ocimum sanctum
Korang para
(n=20)
HH
%
2
10
3
15
9
45
10
50
1
5
13
65
8
40
12
60
0
0
8
40
3
15
17
85
7
35
4
20
Kapru para
Total
(n=15)
(n=35)
HH
%
HH %
0
0
2
6
2
13
5 14
8
53 17 49
9
60 19 54
3
20
4 11
9
60 22 63
2
13 10 29
7
47 19 54
9
60
9 26
7
47 15 43
4
27
7 20
6
40 23 66
4
27 11 31
4
27
8 23
Causes of and problems faced due to loss of species
The respondents were also asked to identify the causes of and problems faced due to loss of
plant species from the study area. It is found that population pressure (83%) is identified as the
major cause of biodiversity loss followed by jhum/shifting cultivation (69%) and fuel wood
collection (49%) in the study area (Table 12). The respondent households were also identified a
lot of problems they are facing due to biodiversity loss from the study area. All of them (100%)
answered that they face problems due to biodiversity loss (Table 13). Some of the mentionable
problems identified by majority of the respondents are lower production (83%), reduced water
in the streams (74%) and less rainfall (63%) (Table 13).
10
Table 12: Frequency distribution of respondent households by the causes for biodiversity loss in
the study area (values in the parentheses denote percentages).
Reasons for loss of biodiversity
Population pressure
Natural calamities
Jhum cultivation
Forest fire
Fuel wood collection
Homesteads establishment
Para name
Korang para (n=20)
Kapru para (n=15)
19 (95)
10 (67)
7 (35)
6 (40)
15 (75)
9 (60)
9 (45)
7 (47)
8 (40)
9 (60)
3 (15)
-
Total (n=35)
29 (83)
13 (37)
24 (69)
16 (46)
17 (49)
3 (9)
Table 13: Frequency distribution of respondent households by the problems faced due to
biodiversity loss in the study area (values in the parentheses denote percentages).
Difficulty faced
Do you face any
difficulty
Types of
difficulty
Yes
NO
Less of rain fall
Reduced water in the stream
Lower production
Increasing temperature
Increased soil erosion in hilly
area
Para name
Korang para
Kapru para
(n=20)
(n=15)
20 (100)
15 (100)
12 (60)
10 (67)
16 (80)
10 (67)
18 (90)
11 (73)
1 (5)
11 (73)
4 (20)
8 (53)
Total (n=35)
35 (100)
22 (63)
26 (74)
29 (83)
12 (34)
12 (34)
Recommendation for biodiversity conservation
The respondent households were asked to know their perception about how to overcome the
loss of biodiversity from the study area. It is evident that most of the households responded to
plant trees with jhum or shifting cultivation (97%) followed by mixed plantation (71%) and to
plant indigenous species (57%) (Table 14). All of the respondents (100%) will consider all types
of species to plant in and around their homesteads and hills when they are asked to choose
species to plant (Table 15). All the respondents (100%) opined that they do not face any
problem of technical knowledge for planting trees and most of them (80%) have not received
any training for biodiversity conservation (Table 15).
11
Table 14: Frequency distribution of respondent households by their recommendation for
biodiversity conservation (values in the parentheses denote percentages).
Respondents’
recommendation for
biodiversity conservation
Tree plantation with jhum
Mixed plantation
Planting indigenous species
Protection of planted tree(s)
Stop felling tree(s)
Para name
Korang para (n=20)
Kapru para (n=15)
19 (95)
16 (80)
9 (45)
7 (35)
5 (25)
15 (100)
9 (60)
11 (73)
9 (60)
5 (33)
Total (n=35)
34 (97)
25 (71)
20 (57)
16 (46)
10 (29)
Table 15: Frequency distribution of respondent households by their considerations and
technical knowledge in planting tree species (values in the parentheses denote percentages).
What is consideration for planting trees in the homestead?
Para name
Total (n=35)
Variables
Korang para (n=20) Kapru para (n=15)
All types all species
20 (100)
15 (100)
35 (100)
Species which are needed for family
uses
0
1 (7)
1 (3)
All indigenous species
1 (5)
5 (33)
6 (17)
Species which have more economic
value
1 (5)
4 (27)
5 (14)
Do you face any problem of technical knowledge for planting trees?
Yes
0
0
0
No
20 (100)
15 (100)
35 (100)
Received any training for biodiversity conservation
Yes
5 (25)
2 (13)
7 (20)
No
15 (75)
13 (87)
28 (80)
Distribution of labour in homestead agro-forestry activities
The household survey also tried to identify the labour involvement in homestead agro-forestry
activities especially on women involvement. Table 16 shows the different agro-forestry
activities in the homesteads with the labour involvement based on sex. It is found that both
male and female member(s) of the household are more or less equally performing most of the
activities where male performs 52% and female performs 48% of the total agro-forestry
activities in the study area (Table 16). In is evident that most of the agro-forestry works
including planning, choice of species, seedling collection, propagation, planting, nursing,
harvesting are performed at equal percentage by both male and female member(s) of the
respondent households. However selling of the agro-forestry products is mostly performed
(75%) by the male member of the households in both the communities although female
members and children were also seen to perform this job (Table 16).
12
Table 16: Distribution of labour (%) in homestead agro-forestry activities.
Para name →
Agro-forestry activities↓
Planning
Choice of species
Seedling collection
Propagation
Planting
Nursing
Fertilizer application
Weeding
Harvesting
Trees
Fruits
Vegetable
Spices
Processing
Selling
Total
Korang para (n=20)
M
F
T
50 50
100
50 50
100
50 50
100
50 50
100
50 50
100
50 50
100
50 50
100
50 50
100
50 50
100
50 50
100
50 50
100
50 50
100
52 48
100
55 45
100
80 20
100
52 48
100
Kapru para (n=15)
M
F
T
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
70
30 100
51
49 100
Total (n=35)
M
F
T
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
50
50 100
51
49 100
53
47 100
75
25 100
52
48 100
Social/Development organizations working in the study area
The study also tried to find out the organisations working in the study area for social and/or
other development. It is found that there are only 2 government approved nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) working in the study area for providing loans to the community people
(Table 17). Only 40% households in the study area responded that they became members of
the NGOs listed to get loan. CCDB (34%) and Krishi Bank (6%) are working in the study area
(Table 17).
Table 17: Distribution of NGOs activity in the study area.
NGOs
CCDB
Krishi Bank
Total
Para name
Korang para
Kapru para (n=20)
(n=20)
9 (45)
3 (20)
2 (13)
9 (45)
5 (33)
13
Total (n=40)
Activity
12 (34) Loan
2 (6) Loan
19 (40) -
Part II: Forest Survey
Forest survey was conducted in Korang para reserve of Ruma Upazilla and kapru para reserve of
Lama Upazilla. It is done by walking through the forest reserves with a group of experts and
identifying and observing the species found in the forests and also identifying the regeneration
status on the forest floor. The forests of the reserves seem very good with both natural and
artificial plantations as these are maintained as para reserves or village common forest (VCF)
for long and biodiversity are occurring naturally in these reserves (Photos 1, 2, 3 & 4). Some of
the plants were also planted such as, Gamar. Both the para reserves or VCFs in Korang para and
Kapru para found very rich in biodiversity and dense in numbers. Some giant trees of different
trees especially Jaganna gula and Fuljhumuri were found to grow in the reserves. Some rare
plant species were also found to grow in this forest especially Banspata, Civit, Jaganna gula,
Painna Mandar, etc. A total of 63 different species were seen or identified in the para reserve
of Kapru para and 56 different species were identified in Korang para reserve (Table 18). The
regeneration status of the forests was found good as seen from Photos 1(d), 2(e & f) and 3(f).
The forests are also rich in wildlife biodiversity including wild boar/boar, deer, common birds,
snakes, lizards, bon murag, owl (pecha), etc. However, the study area was once home of tiger,
rhinoceros, wild buffalo and vulture/kite according to the community people.
14
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
Photo 1: Status of village common forest (VCF) of Korang para showing (a) Para reserves and
jhum areas; (b) Trees with herbs and shrubs; (c) Common tree species; (d) Garjon regeneration
occurring naturally from planted mother tree; (e) Giant Jaganna gula tree beside a small creek
and acting as source of water in the creek; and (f) Giant woody climber.
15
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
Photo 2: Status of village common forest (VCF) in Korang para showing (a) Bamboos; (b) Canes;
(c) Dense herbs and climbers; (d) Wild insect showing the richness of biodiversity; and (e & f)
Different herbs and regeneration.
16
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
Photo 3: Status of village common forest (VCF) in Kapru para showing (a, b, c & d) Aerial views
of para reserve and homesteads inside the reserve forest areas; (e) Dense forest with herbs,
shrubs and trees including climbers and (f) Regeneration status of the para reserves.
17
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
Photo 4: Status of homestead and and jhum areas in and aroud VCF in Kapru para showing (a)
Jhum areas; (b) Typical homesteads with one or more elevated houses made of bamboos; (c)
Storage of fuel wood stock beneath the house; (d) Sharing of household works by children; and
(e & f) Tentul and jambura fruits as source of income in the homesteads.
18
Table 18: List of species found in the village common forests of the study area.
Sl.
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Kapru para reserve
Local name
Scientific name
Achargula
Microcos paniculata
Alofilus
Am
Mangifera indica
Amloki
Phyllanthus embelica
Banadarhola Duabanga grandiflora
Banspata
Podocarpus neriifolius
Bhadi
Lannea coromandelica
Bohera
Terminalia belerica
Barmala
Callicarpa tomentosa
Bon verenda Jatropha curcas
Boroi
Zizyphus mauritiana
Bot
Ficus bengalensis
Korang para reserve
Local name
Scientific name
Achargula
Microcos paniculata
Akashmoni
Acacia auriculiformis
Alphani
Am
Mangifera indica
Banadarhola Duabanga grandiflora
Bhat
Clerodendrum viscosum
Bhadi
Lannea coromandelica
Bohera
Terminalia belerica
Bon gab
Diospyros montana
Barmala
Callicarpa tomentosa
Bon sonalu
Cassia nodosa
Bon
Jatropha curcas
12 verenda
Boroi
Zizyphus mauritiana
13
14 Bot
Ficus bengalensis
15 Bouhenia
Bouhenia purpurea
16 Chalta
Dillenia indica
17 Chatian
Alstonia scholaris
Dadmordon Cassia alata
18
Dakroom
Heterophragma
19
adenophyllum
Dharmara
Stereospermum
20
personatum
21 Doris
Doris robusta
22 Dumur
Ficus semicordata
23 Fuljumuri
Anogeissus acuminata
24 Gamar
Gmelina arborea
25 Goda
Vitex glabrata
26 Gutgutiya
Butea parviflora
27 Hona gula
Oroxylum indicum
28 Jam
Syzygium grande
29 Jambura
Syzugium samarangrnse
Jial bhadi
Garuga pinnata
30
31 Jognna gula Ficus racemosa
32 Jolpai
Elaeocarpus robusta
Sl.
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Bhat
13
14
15
16
17
Chalta
Chatian
Chikrashi
Dadmordon
Dakroom
18
Dharmara
19
Dumur
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
Fuljumuri
Gab
Gamar
Garcinium
Goda
Gutgutiya
Hafko
Hona gula
Jam
Jambura
30
31 Jial bhadi
32 Jognna gula
Clerodendrum
viscosum
Dillenia indica
Alstonia scholaris
Chickrasia tabularis
Cassia alata
Heterophragma
adenophyllum
Stereospermum
personatum
Ficus semicordata
Anogeissus acuminata
Diospyros peregrine
Gmelina arborea
Garcinium spp.
Vitex glabrata
Butea parviflora
Oroxylum indicum
Syzygium grande
Syzugium
samarangrnse
Garuga pinnata
Ficus racemosa
19
33
34
35
36
Jongli amra
Kainjal badi
Kala koroi
Kamranga
Kanthal
37
38 Katgolap
Kola/
39 Banana
40 Komola
Konari
41
42 Konok
Kuraci
43
Lal Verenda
44
45 Linostrema
46 Malta
Muli
47 bamboo
48 Nagesshor
49 Narikel
50 Oaris
Painna
51 mander
52 Papaya
Payara
53 (Guava)
54 Pramna
55 Puti jam
56 Rong gach
57 Segun
58 Silkoroi
59 Simul
60 Telsur
61 Tetul
62 Til
63 Toon
Spondias indica
Bischofia javanica
Albizia lebbek
Averrhoa carambola
Artocarpus
heterophyllus
Brownea spp.
Musa sapientum
33
34
35
36
Kannari
Kala koroi
Kanthal
Komola
Konak
37
38 Lal Verenda
Meda
39
40 Malta
Muli
41 bamboo
42 Narikel
Painna
43 mander
Payara
44 (Guava)
45 Pitraj
46 Puti jam
Rong gach
47
48 Segun
49 Silkoroi
50 Simul
Sissoo
51
52 Udal
Telsur
53
54 Tetul
55 Til
56 Ulotkombol
-
Citrus aurantium
Gardenia coronaria
Schima wallichii
Holarrhena pubescesn
Jatropha jossypifolia
Citrus sinensis
Melocanna baccifera
Mesua nagessarium
Cocos nucifera
Oaris robusta
Erythrina variegata
Carica papaya
Psidium guajava
Syzygium fruticosum
Morinda angustifolia
Tectona grandis
Albizia procera
Bombax ceiba
Hopea odorata
Tamarindus indica
Sesame indicum
Toona cilliata
20
Gardenia coronaria
Albizia lebbek
Artocarpus heterophyllus
Citrus aurantium
Schima wallichii
Jatropha jossypifolia
Litsea monopetala
Citrus sinensis
Melocanna baccifera
Cocos nucifera
Erythrina variegata
Psidium guajava
Aphanamixis ploystachya
Syzygium fruticosum
Morinda angustifolia
Tectona grandis
Albizia procera
Bombax ceiba
Dalbergia sissoo
Sterculia villosa
Hopea odorata
Tamarindus indica
Sesame indicum
Abroma augusta
-
Conclusion:
Finally, it can be said that the people of the study area are mainly dependent on agro-forestry
(with 86% of total family income) products they get from their homesteads and hills (Tables 5, 9
& 10). However, the people of Korang para (with 89% of total family income) are more
dependent on agro-forestry activities compared to Kapru para (with 82% of total family income)
(Table 5). Gamar (90%), Am (90%), Komola (90%), Jambura (90%), Segun (85%), Fuljhumuri
(80%) and Banana (75%) were found dominating in the homesteads and hills of Korang para
and on the other hand Segun (100%), Am (100%), Gamar (100%), Banana (100%), Jambura
(100%), Fuljhumuri (100%), Koroi (100%), Papaya (100%), Komola (93%) and Achar gula (93%)
were found dominating in the homesteads and hills of Kapru para (Table 7). Among the lost
species Latkon (66%), Garjon (63%), Dharmara (54%), Goda (54%), Civit (49%), Jaganna gula
(43%) and Gila lata (29%) are the mostly answered plant species that are lost from the study
area (Table 11). Population pressure (83%) is identified as the major cause of biodiversity loss
followed by jhum/shifting cultivation (69%) and fuel wood collection (49%) in the study area
(Table 12). Some of the mentionable problems identified by majority of the respondents are
lower production (83%), reduced water in the streams (74%) and less rainfall (63%) (Table 13).
Most of the households responded to plant trees with jhum or shifting cultivation (97%)
followed by mixed plantation (71%) and to plant indigenous species (57%) when they were
asked how to overcome the problem of loss of biodiversity (Table 14). All of the respondents
(100%) will consider all types of species to plant in and around their homesteads and hills when
they are asked to choose species to plant (Table 15). All the respondents (100%) opined that
they do not face any problem of technical knowledge for planting trees and most of them (80%)
have not received any training for biodiversity conservation (Table 15). Reducing rate of
harvesting, increasing rate of tree planting, providing land ownership/tenure to the villagers are
some of the recommendations by the community people to conserve lost biodiversity. It is
found that both male and female member(s) of the household are more or less equally
performing most of the activities where male performs 54% and female performs 46% of the
total agro-forestry activities in the study area (Table 16). The people of the study area are now
interested to plant and restore their homestead biodiversity with all those species specially the
indigenous one which will enrich biodiversity and be useful for their family purposes and can
earn extra income for the family. From the forest survey it is evident that the forests of the
reserves seem very good with both natural and artificial plantations as these are maintained as
para reserves or village common forest (VCF) for long and biodiversity are occurring naturally in
these reserves (Photos 1, 2, 3 & 4). Some of the plants were planted such as, Akshmoni, Gamar,
Segun etc. Both the para reserves (VCFs) in Korang para and Kapru para were found very rich in
biodiversity and dense in numbers. Some giant trees of different species especially Jaganna gula
and Fuljhumuri were found to grow in the reserves. A total of 63 different species were seen or
identified in the para reserve of Kapru para and 56 different species were identified in Korang
para reserve (Table 18). The regeneration status of the forests was found good as seen from
Photos 1(d), 2(e & f) and 3(f). It is interesting to note here that Jaganna gula, Jial bhadi and
Painna mandar are found growing near the streams and the community people believes that
these species can retain water and keep the stream alive. So these species should be conserved
and planted along the streams to produce more water in the streams for the tribal community
21
which will act as source of water for them. The forests are also rich in wildlife biodiversity
including wild boar/boar, deer, common birds, snakes, lizards, bon murag, owl (pecha), etc.
However, the study area was once home of tiger, rhinoceros, wild buffalo and vulture/kite
according to the community people. The study area especially the Kapru para is situated very
near to Nil Giri recreational area of the Chimbuk Hills of Lama Upazilla. Many tourists including
both foreign and locals usually visit the area during the tourist season and most of them
frequently use to visit the Kapru para reserve as this reserve has got recreational potential due
to its unique forest composition and presence of rare plant species with lots of older trees and
natural regeneration and has also got the potentiality of nature walk. For this reason the
community people of this area are in fear of government intervention and eviction to develop
the site as recreational spot in the future. If this happens they might loose their reserve and
habitation. So they are not interested to provide any information willingly. However if they can
be convinced that the reserve needs attention not only for the recreational purposes but also
for their livelihood security and they also need to play pivotal role in its development so that
they can ensure their livings and conserve the important biodiversity of the country. As a result
the reserve can be better managed and used as source of income and conserve important
biodiversity for the community and the nation as well. If this project can successfully implement
their activities in the study area it will bring a positive impact on the biodiversity of the region
and help people earn extra money from producing plant resources that will enrich the
biodiversity of the region and certainly improve the environmental quality of the locality.
22