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Management of Natural Resources and Community Forestry at Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary (MNRCF-Chunati) Project
Project Completion Report
Livelihood Development of Forest Dependent Communities in and around Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary (LDFC-CWS)
Developed and
Funded by
Implemented by
in association with
Arannayk Foundation
August 2015
Herd of Asian Elephant at Chunati WS. Photo Credit: MM Feeroz
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Abbreviations and Acronyms
AF Arannayk Foundation
AIGAs Alternative Income Generating
Activities
BDT Bangladeshi Taka
BFRI Bangladesh Forest Research Institute
CBOs Community Based organizations
CMC Co-management Committee / council
CMO Co-management Organization
COV Community organizing Volunteer
CPG Community Patrol Group
FDC Forest Dependent Community
FUG Forest User Group
GIZ German Development Cooperation
Govt Government
IFESCU Institute of Forestry and Environmental
Science, Chittagong University
NGO Non-Government Organization
RLF Revolving Loan Fund
SHED Society for Health Extension and
Development
VCF Village Conservation Forum
VCF-UF
Village conservation Forums’ Union
Federation Garjan (Diperocarpus spp) – Once dominant tree
species of Chunati WS.
Photo Credit-Abdul Mannan
Contributors
Abdul Mannan
Mohd. Abdul Quddus, Ph.D
Farid Uddin Ahmed
Mohammad Zashimuddin
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Introduction
Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) is one of the most
important protected areas (PAs) of Bangladesh, situated in
Lohagara and Banskhali upazilla of Chittagong and
Chakaria upazila of Cox’s Bazar districts. The sanctuary
was declared as protected area (i.e. Wildlife Sanctuary) in
1986 under Bangladesh Wildlife Act 1974 as it is a very
important breeding ground of globally threatened Asian
elephant and rich with diversified flora and fauna. Until
1995 the forest of CWS was home to Bangladesh’s
second largest hoolock gibbon population. But it has been
in a serious state of degradation due to over exploitation
of its resources, as more than 50,000 people living in and
around the sanctuary is directly or indirectly dependent on
the sanctuary and nearby forests for their livelihoods.
Since 2005, the sanctuary has been managed
through co-management system with the active
cooperation of local people and forest staffs of
seven Forest Beats under two Forest Ranges of
Bangladesh Forest Department.
In partnership with Society for Health Extension
and Development (SHED), Arannayk Foundation
has been implementing Livelihood component of
MNRCF-Chunati project titled ‘Livelihood
Development of Forest Dependent Communities
in and around Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary
(LDFC-CWS)’ sub-project since January 2012
and successfully completed the project on June
2015.
The general objective of the project was to
conserve the forest and existing biodiversity
resources of Chunati Wildlife sanctuary by
reducing the livelihood dependency of about 1500
forest dependent families located in and around the CWS in Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar
districts while the specific objectives of this sub- project were (i) Promotion of alternative
livelihood of the forest dependent poor people of the project area through development of
their skills, institutions and access to capital and market; (ii)A monitoring system for the
biodiversity of wild fauna of the CWS is established and the outputs (biodiversity related
information and photographs) are published in the “Bio-Track” database to help assess
the impact of the forest management and livelihood development interventions of the
project and (iii)Establishment of a Google earth/Remote Sensing data based monitoring
system to track forest cover change over time for the CWS to help assess the impact of
the livelihood development program.
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Project Accomplishments
Community mobilization and formation of community based organizations (CBOs)
Field level Implementation of the LDFC-CWS sub-project started on April 2012. As per
plan, the members of the existing Village Conservation Forums (VCF) and Community
Patrol Groups (CPG) were supposed to be the target beneficiaries of the alternative
livelihood development activities of the LDCF-CWS but it was found that many of the
members of the VCFs (organized by the erstwhile NSP and IPAC projects) were either
inactive or improper for AIGA support. As such the VCFs as well as some of the CPGs
had to be reformed and their organizational and management skills strengthened.
Reorganization of VCFs and CPGs was completed by August 2012 and since then
organizational capacity development and AIGA activities are being actively promoted
among the VCF and CPG members through training and input support.
VCFs and VCF Union Federation’s leaders are receiving Organizational Development and Management (ODM)
training. Photo credit: SHED
Under community mobilization and community based organization formation
intervention of the sub project, 60 Village Conservation Forums (VCF), 08 VCF-Union
Federations, and 12 Community Petrol Groups ( CPG) formed or re-organized involving
2627 poor forest dependent people’s households in 60 villages in and around Chunati
Wildlife Sanctuary(CWS). For sustainable functioning of those CBOs, 315 leaders
(Male- 199 & Female- 116) of 60 VCFs, 8 VCF-UFs and 12 CPGs were trained on
organizational development and management (ODM) including financial management
and exposure visit to related organizations. Moreover, constitution, policies and by-laws
related to operation and management of CBOs were introduced to indemnify good
governance within the CBOs. To secure long term operation and sustainability of the
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CBOs, the project has established 07 VCF Union Federation offices. Besides official
work of CBOs, these houses are being used for local social, cultural and educational
purposes. Three houses (Harbang, Adhunagar and Poichari UF) are already in use for
non-formal education. One house (Chunati UF cum CMC house) is established on FD-
land and other 6 are established on VCF members’ lands on long term lease. In fact, all
these endeavors developed social capital of self-governed local institutions (CBOs)
through capacity building which are capable of under taking community development
activities and help conservation of CWS.
Monthly meeting of Village Conservation Forum (VCF). Photo Credit: SHED
The VCF is a village based organization of 60-70 forest dependent people which is
mainly managed by an Executive Committee consisting of 5 members, democratically
elected for two years by the VCF members. 8 Union Federations of VCFs were formed
with the VCFs present within the area of a Union ((lowest strata of local government).
All members of each VCF democratically selected 3 members who represented the VCF
in Union Federation. Every VCF –UF is run by a5- member Executive committee,
elected democratically by the VCF representatives in the Union Federation. Every VCF
and Union Federation meets once a month and review their organizational activities,
collect monthly savings, review and approve loan applications, collect repayments of
loans, discuss about AIGA issues, cooking stoves, conservation of the forest (CWS), etc.
In the meeting the leaders also write minutes of the meeting and maintain account books
and ledger with the help of project staff. During the project period, both Union
Federations of VCFs had regularly sent their meeting minutes and financial reports
including the status of their savings and revolving loan fund (RLF)to the project team.
The team used to review the documents and provide necessary feedback and
accompaniment support for further improvement. These activities capacitated the VCF
and Federation leaders to properly manage their organizations and also empowered the
general members, especially the women to raise their voice, access extension services and
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loan facilities and take part in the management of the CWS. It could be noted here that,
the project has contributed remarkably in mainstreaming and social inclusion of the
women throughout the project activities. Among project participants more than 60%
members were women and priorities of all supports for livelihood development were
given to them.
Project team’s Consultation with community at monthly VCF meeting at Jaldi site, Banshkhali. Photo Credit: SHED
There exists a close cooperation between VCF and UF, especially for managing and
depositing monthly savings in the bank account and disbursing loan from RLF.
Whenever loan applications of VCF members including business plan and other
necessary documents are sent to the respective federation by VCF Executive committee
the UF- Executive committee grant loan against the applications endorsed by the latter.
The cashier of the UF delivers the approved loans to the applicants within five days of the
meeting. Both savings and RLF grant were deposited in the Bank account of 8 Union
Federations and the funds are managed as per RLF management guidelines/ policies
prepared by VCF and UF Executive committees with the help project staff. The monthly
saving scheme and RLF management has developed cooperative spirit among the CBO
members and handling of RLF has increased the capacity of many CBO leaders in
financial management. In fact, the monthly meetings of the CBOs throughout the project
period played a significant role in changing attitude and behavior of most of the
participants, particularly in organizational management, decision making process and
conservation of forest and environment. On an average, 86% members were present in
the monthly meetings where more than 80% were women. But it was observed that only
few participants were present in decision making process. The principal cause behind it
was elite oriented leadership of the CBOs and fear and shame of the poorer participants.
During third year of the project, the project team was expecting to include more
leadership from poor forest dependent people but most of the older Committee members
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were again elected in most of the COBs. This lesson implies that, still there is scope of
improving the governance within the CBOs.
VCF Union Federation’s monthly meeting and RLF operation. Photo Credit: SHED
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Developing alternative livelihood options of forest dependent people As the main mandate of the project was to develop non forestry income sources of the
participants, the project adopted three strategies to constitute alternative livelihood
options of forest dependent communities. The first strategy was to identify the non-
forestry based traditional livelihood skills of project participants and supporting them to
have more income from these traditional livelihood skills. For doing so, the project
identified 17 traditional IGAs practiced in the project area through PRA techniques such
as FGD with community members and key informant interviews. As it was identified
that, the project participants were in need of soft loans to enhance their traditional
livelihood whereas existing sources of loan such as microcredit from NGOs or money
lenders in their own locality were not suitable for them due to high interest rate and short
payback period. As such, the project created a Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) as a source as
soft loan for their AIGAs. Through project facilitation, the CBO members stated savings
since April 2014. As the savings amount was not enough to avail loan by participants,
Arannayk Foundation gave some matching fund as grant to CBO accounts. So far, BDT
7.48 million RLF fund has been created at 8 VCF Union Federations of which 1.78
million has been created by project participants through monthly savings. The VCF
Federations provided AIGA loans to1511 participants (male-576 & female-935). The
cumulative amount of the disbursed loans was BDT 11.77 million. The CBOs are
performing RLF operation very well as the ‘on time realization’ or ‘on time payback’ rate
of the RLF loan is around 99%.
The second strategy was to upgrade the traditional skills as well as developing new skills
of project participants by providing trainings and coaching. On May 2015, the project
A project participant in her rose garden (developed through project’s RLF support). Photo Credit: Tasfiq Mahmood
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conducted a training need assessment (TNA) among project participants and based on the
findings, the project conducted extensive training programs for the participants. As of
June 2015, all project participants were trained on vegetable cultivation, homestead agro-
forestry development, poultry & livestock rearing, fish culture and nursery raising for
skill development to adopt alternative income generating activities (AIGAs). Out of total
2627 participants, 211 participants got training on two events (Table 1)
AIGA training to project participants. Photo Credit: SHED
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Table 1: Training on AIGAs provided to the participants of LDFC-CWS Project
AIGAs Total
Batch
Total
participants
Female Male
Day long orientation on Vegetable cultivation 1579 1113 446
Training (03 days) on vegetable cultivation 60 36 24
Total : 55 1639 1149 490
Day long orientation on livestock & poultry rearing 981 368 262
Training (03 days) on poultry rearing 60 37 23
Day long orientation on poultry vaccination and
disease control
60 46 14
Total: 37 1101 802 299
Day long orientation on fish culture 02 30 05 25
Training (03 days) training on nursery raising 01 08 01 07
Agroforestry Model in Homestead 02 60 41 19
Total : 5 98 1005 653
Grand Total 97 2838 1998 840
The third livelihood development strategy of the project was developing some homestead
based production agroforestry model in the village by providing critical input support to
selected households to create motivation and confidence among the participants on such
production systems. The demonstration helps participants in realizing that their
homestead can be a great source of their livelihood and daily necessities. The
demonstrations also restrict the selected beneficiaries within their household for most of
their necessities. This strategy reduces anthropogenic pressure on adjacent forest areas,
for collection of fuel wood and other NTFPs. The project established demonstrations on
bio-intensive homestead agroforestry model in 60 households. Moreover, input support
such as vegetable seeds and fruit saplings of improved varieties were provided to all
(2627) project participants and 2550 local poultry birds were given to 510 beneficiaries to
scale up agroforestry production systems within their households.
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Homestead/ household based AIGA of project participants. Photo Credit: SHED
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With input support, all participants adopted one or two AIGA in very small scale. These
small scale production ventures boosted the confidence of the project participants on non-
forest based sources of income. So, the participants were motivated to extend their
AIGAs in number and space per household by taking loan from the RLF. Up to June
2015, 1511 beneficiaries received loan from RLF and they adopted 33 different types of
AIGAs (Table- 2) in medium to large scale to improve their livelihoods and they
abstained themselves from forest resource extraction. The types and extents of the AIGAs
adopted by the beneficiaries are evident from the Table 2. It reveals that among 1511
beneficiaries 632 beneficiaries adopted large scale (commercial) vegetable cultivation in
their own land and /or leased land, 311 beneficiaries adopted rice production in leased
land and 293 beneficiaries adopted cow rearing. Another44 beneficiaries adopted
rickshaw van pulling, 41 beneficiaries’ handicrafts making and most of the remaining
beneficiaries adopted various small businesses (13%).
A project participant in his flower garden (developed through project’s RLF support). Photo Credit: Abdul Mannan
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Table 2: List of traditional AIGAs adopted through RLF- loan by project
participants (as on June 2015)
Sl.
No
Name of AIGA
Jaldi Chunati Grand
Total Female Male Total Female Male Total
1 Cow rearing 19 26 45 108 140 248 293
2 Goat rearing 1 0 1 10 4 14 15
3 Hen and Duck rearing (Poultry) 2 2 4 5 3 8 12
4 Fish Culture 0 3 3 7 18 25 28
5 Vegetable Cultivation 304 200 504 77 51 128 632
6 Agriculture (Paddy cultivation) 30 28 58 177 76 253 311
7 Nursery 0 1 5 1 3 4 9
8 Floriculture 0 0 0 4 4 8 8
9 Small business( tea stall) 3 4 7 7 5 12 19
10 Small business( Fish selling) 3 2 5 1 0 0 6
11 Small business (Poultry shop) 1 0 1 0 1 1 2
12 Furniture shop 1 1 2 4 0 4 6
13 Small business( Fruit selling) 4 2 6 0 4 4 10
14 Ferry Business 3 0 3 2 0 0 5
15 Small business( Rice selling) 0 1 2 0 0 0 2
16 Small business( Vegetable) 5 1 6 2 3 5 11
17 Small business (Tailoring) 3 2 5 16 10 26 31
18 Small business (Hair cutting
salon)
1 0 1 0 1 1 2
19 Small business (Goat selling ) 1 1 2 0 0 0 2
20 Small business( Betel leaf, nut
and Other )
5 6 11 1 0 1 12
21 Small business (Grocery shop) 15 12 27 30 20 50 78
22 Small business ( renting rice
thrashing machine )
0 0 0 0 2 2 2
23 Small business- Edible lime
making & selling
0 0 0 1 0 1 1
24 Small business( renting irrigation
pump)
0 0 0 1 2 3 3
25 Small business- Furniture
Coloring
0 0 0 6 3 9 9
26 Small business- Medicine
(Kabiraj)
0 1 1 0 1 1 2
27 Tea Leaf Business 0 1 1 0 0 0 1
28 Small business: Shopping bag
making
0 0 0 1 0 1 1
29 Handicraft( tolai, Lai, mat, net) 25 0 25 15 1 16 41
30 Rickshaw Van/ Rickshaw pulling 16 13 29 8 7 15 44
31 Fruit Cultivation 0 0 0 0 2 2 2
32 Tree Plantation 0 0 0 1 1 2 2
33 Apiculture 0 0 0 1 0 1 1
Total 448 307 755 488 269 756 1511
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The AIGAs contributed significantly in raising income of the beneficiaries. Moreover, to
spend time to accomplish the AIGAs, they had to refrain from forest resources extraction
from the CWS. The profitability of the different AIGAs as experienced by the LDFC-
CWS participants is shown in Table-3 and the average monthly AIGA income of the
households in different months is presented in Figure-1.
Bag making and supplying to local shops: An AIGA found to secure livelihood of a forest dependent family. Photo Credit: Abul Mannan
Table 3: Income derived from adopted AIGAs by the beneficiaries (up to June 2015)
Sl.
No.
Name of AIGA Length of IGA
production / Cycle
(Months)
Average
Investment
(TK)/AIGAs
Average
Monthly
Income
1 Livestock(Cow, Goat, pigeon) rearing 12 10000-15000 3000-5000
2 Hen and Duck rearing (Poultry) 12 3000-5000 700-1000
3 Fish Culture 12 10000-20000 4818-5000
4 Vegetable Cultivation 3-5 5000-15000 771-4114
5 Agriculture (Paddy cultivation) 03 10000-20000 5000-11334
6 Nursery 06-12 5000-15000 11260
7 Floriculture 03 5000-20000 6950-15000
8 Small business 01 5000-10000 6719-10000
9 Handicraft( tolai, Lai, mat, tailoring,
net weaving,)
01 3000-5000 1025-2000
10 Rickshaw Van/ Rickshaw pulling 01 10000-15000 6000-10000
11 Edible lime making & selling 01 5000-10000 7500-10000
12 Apiculture 3 2000-5000 3000-5000
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Figure-1 reveals that the average monthly household income per beneficiary was around
BDT 12000 at the end of the project in June 2015, of course with seasonal variations. The
Figure also shows that in winter season (e.g. December 2014) the average monthly
household income of the beneficiaries was BDT 15820; and it was due to favorable
environmental condition in winter for vegetable, egg and meat production as well as other
income generating activities.
A project participant in his grocery shop (developed through project’s RLF support). Photo credit: Abdul Mannan
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Incomes of homestead agro-forestry model houses were very promising. Their monthly
incomes ranged from BDT 6224 to 24754 (table 4a and 4b). The variation in income
levels were due to the number of AIGAs adopted by the households. It was observed that
the more the AIGAs adopted per household the more income derived by them.
It was observed that, vegetable cultivation was very popular in the project area and most
of the beneficiaries adopted it as AIGA. But it brought little income in comparison to
other AIGAs due to large investment for leasing land, high labor costs, environmental
hazards and problems in marketing. The average monthly income per beneficiary ranged
from BDT 609 to 4024. The income level of vegetable growers varied from season to
season as well as based on the land area under cultivation. However, the beneficiaries
were satisfied with vegetable cultivation because of its role in household food security
and nutrition supply.
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Majority of the project participants were rearing local chicken as their traditional AIGA
(Table-5). Though it is easy to rear local chicken in small space of a homestead and it
brings good income, but in 2nd year (2013) more than 90% chicken of every family died
due to seasonal disease (mainly Ranikhet disease). To overcome such catastrophe in
future, the project immediately provided training on ‘vaccination of poultry birds’ to 60
VCF members (one from each VCF) to make them service provider for their VCF
members as well as other people of the village.
The fourth and last livelihood development strategy of the project was promoting
conservation friendly green technologies within the households of the project
participants. As of June 2015, 2060 Improved Cooking Stoves (ICS) were installed at
household level to reduce fuel-wood collection by the project beneficiaries since fuel-
wood collection is one of the major causes of deforestation in CWS. Besides, it also takes
a considerable amount of fuel-wood gatherers’ time which they can invest for AIGAs.
They also deprive their children from going to school to engage them in fuel wood
gathering. People of the area use traditional cooking stoves that consume huge amount of
fuel-wood due to low combustion efficiency. Moreover, indoor air pollution (IAP) from
traditional cooking stove is a notable cause of respiratory diseases of women and
children, since they spent most of their time in the kitchen. On the other hand, ICS
requires less (around 50%) fuel wood and helps maintain cleanliness of the kitchen as
well as of living rooms and save the ceiling of kitchen and living house from damage by
smoke. As a result, the amount of fuel-wood collection decreased and the beneficiaries
are investing their time in AIGA development. On the other hand, 30 beneficiaries have
been trained on treating bamboo, wood, sun-grass etc. with chemicals (CCB treatment)
for increasing the lifespan of the forest resources. The technology is very much helpful
for forest conservation and livelihood development of the poor.
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As disease free good health of participants is closely related to livelihood development,
1000 sanitary latrines were installed at homestead level for sanitation measures of the
beneficiaries which are protecting the participants from different types of waterborne
diseases as well as saving money from frequent visits to doctors and purchasing of
medicines.
In the project proposal the target beneficiaries for AIGA development was 1500 and the
achievement was more than 100 %. At the middle of third year, GIZ and AF advised to
include all participants (2627) as AIGA beneficiaries. Accordingly, all the remaining
participants were provided with AIGA training and input support and loan to a few
participants. Over all 58 % participants adopted 3-5 AIGAs and their average income
increased by around 40%.As a result, 1500 beneficiaries completely shifted to alternative
livelihoods giving up forest resources extraction to maintain their livelihood.
Publication of LDFC-CWS subproject under MNRCF-Chunati Project
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Protection of forest resources by Community Patrol Groups (CPG)
Aside from the alternative livelihood development interventions, under the ‘protection of
CWS’s core zone’ work package, the project reformed Community Forest patrol Groups
(CPGs) and provided special livelihood support to those forest protectors. Now, 12
CPGs including 2 female CPGs consisting of 274 members from VCF (Male- 228 &
Female- 46) have been patrolling the CWS with FD staff for enhancing forest
conservation through minimizing illegal felling of trees and extraction of other forest
resources. For strengthening CPG patrolling and its sustainable development, BDT 1.45
million was provided to 11 CPGs as grant money for group entrepreneurship
development. They also increased the fund by adding monthly savings of BDT 0.28
million. The CPGs are doing group business such as cow fattening, floriculture, fish
culture, rice hording etc. and making a good profit with the grant. The group business
initiative is also developing their cooperative spirit and enthusiasm to engage in forest
patrolling along with the FD staff.
Community forest patrol groups (CPGs) are in action. Photo Credit: Abdul Mannan
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Eleven CPGs with the cooperation of project staff prepared business plan for group
business. The CPGs at Chunati and Jaldi Range invested 1,624,925 taka for 04 different
types of group business that are prospective in their respective areas. Considering market
niche and forest friendly nature,07 CPGs adopted cattle farming, 01 CPG adopted pond
fish culture and 01 CPG adopted floriculture and vegetable cultivation at Chunati and
Jaldi Ranges. The CPGs distributed profit of group business to their group members in
time. The group business developed cooperative spirit among the CPG members and also
accelerated enthusiasm in patrolling for conservation of CWS. Now FD should take the
advantage and play more pro-active role to utilize maximum potentials of the CPGs and
VCFs for effective conservation of CWS.
CPG’s group enterprise – Aqua culture (developed through project’s RLF grant). Photo Credit: SHED
The project organized coordination meetings every month with every CPG in presence of
FD Staff (Range officer or Beat officer). During the meetings they set monthly patrolling
schedule and discussed different issues about conservation of CWS, organizational and
institutional development, preparing business plan for group business, profit sharing of
group business, loan recovery and depositing money to the bank account. In addition to
monthly savings in respective VCF, the CPGs established CPG- saving scheme. The CPG
members deposited money in the fund every month and the fund raised was BDT
283,560 at the end of June 2015.
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Developing conservation awareness in adjacent communities
Though livelihood development of forest dependent communities was the main mandate
of LDFC-CWS subproject, the sub project also aimed to develop awareness of adjacent
communities so that the communities get enough motivation to play pro-active roles in
conserving the forest and biodiversity of Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary. Under the
awareness raising component, a forest and biodiversity conservation focused
‘Environmental Education Program (EEAP)’ was conducted. Initiative was taken to
provide such education among 2000 High school students of 10 secondary schools
adjacent to Chunati WS. Under this EEP program, a non-formal education module was
developed and 20 teachers of those schools were trained on that module. A reference
book was developed and distributed to the students of the targeted schools. The teachers
will educate the students on the needs and ways of conserving the wildlife sanctuary
using the reference book by organizing special classes in relation to the biological and
environmental science courses of the students. Under this program, World Environment
Chunati WS conservation based Environmental Education Program: Facilitators with participants of training workshop (up) and
conduction of ‘conservation oriented teaching methods and approach’ training workshop (down)
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Day 2015 was observed in those schools and 500 students participated in the event.
Earlier in 2013, another Environmental education program called ‘Fun and Learn’
method has been carried out at 10 schools around CWS when 500 school students
received a day-long conceptual training on the importance and ways of conserving local
forest resources and environment at large.
World Environment Day 2015 celebration by a high school (CWS adjacent) as part of forest and biodiversity
conservation based Environmental Education component of project. Photo Credit - SHED
Moreover, the ‘World Environment Day (WED) and National Tree Planting Campaign’
was observed every year on 05 June since inception of the project. Upazila
administration, local Union Parishad and Pourasava, schools near the Upazila
Headquarters and CWS, all CBOs including CMC, FD staff including DFO and ACF,
Arannayk Foundation and GIZ (MNRP-Chunati) actively participated in these occasions.
The main events of the day-long program were: colorful rally, seedling distribution to
school students, discussion and debate on theme of the WED, art competition among
school students, forest hiking, folk song (kabi gan) and drama on relevant themes (forest
and biodiversity conservation, tree plantation, etc.). People of all walks of life in the area
witnessed and enjoyed the events of the day. This endeavor made significant contribution
in making local people aware and motivated in conservation of the CWS and the also
environment at large. Communication materials such as leaflets, folders and booklets
were distributed to the people and visitors from college, Universities and Forest
academies in many occasions to share the activities and achievements of the project and
to build their awareness in forest and biodiversity conservation.
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Environmental Education component of the project was mainly for creating CWS conservation awareness among new generation
(school going children); forest hiking by primary and kindergarten school students (up-left), drawing competition among primary
school students (up-right), distributing native tree species among students (down). Photo Credit: Abdul Mannan
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Monitoring of biodiversity and forest cover change
Floral diversity monitoring team is conducting their study. Photo Credit: Abdul Mannan
Aside from alternative livelihood development of the forest dependent project
participants, the LDFC component of the project conducted a detailed biodiversity survey
(including both flora and fauna) and a GIS/RS based forest condition monitoring study as
per plan. The survey and monitoring of wildlife as well as that on floral biodiversity have
been completed and the findings, including high resolution photographs of all the recoded
species, have been published in the form of books (02 volumes). Current faunal diversity
of the CWS includes 244 species of birds (60 species being migratory), 39 species of
mammals (including 7 species that are completely nocturnal), 52 species of reptiles, 28
species of fishes, 23 amphibians and 100 invertebrates. Current floral diversity of the
CWS includes 240 species of trees, 102 shrubs, 211 herbs, 106 climbers, 19 ferns, 7
epiphytes and 6 parasitic plants. As such CWS is still rich in both floral and faunal
biodiversity.
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Some wildlife of Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary. Photo credit: Wildlife branch-Zoology department, Jahangirnagar University
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For GIS/RS based forest condition monitoring, detailed base map has been prepared by
digitizing Mouza (land-administration maps demarcating individual plots) and present
land-use of each plot has been documented through field survey (Fig-4). For remote
sensing (RS) based vegetation cover analysis, satellite (Quick Bird) data have been
procured and data analysis and mapping have been completed as per plan. The beat level
GIS and RS based maps not only define the existing forest cover of the CWS but also
help Forest Department to plan for habitat restoration as well as overall management of
this protected area.
Figure-4: Beat basis digitized forest cover map of Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary
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Forest resources extraction monitoring
Arannayk Foundation developed an internal monitoring system to measure the impact of
alternative livelihood development interventions on collection of forest resources by local
community people. Following the AF’s methodological guidelines, the project conducted
forest resource extraction monitoring at CWS since September 2012. The project team
identified 56 forest entry points through which forest resource collectors enter into the
forest and come back with the collected forest resources. The project conducted the forest
resource collection monitoring exercise in 15 entry points. In each entry point, a data
collecting-group consisting of two students and one CPG member were engaged for
collecting data twice a month ( a market-day and a non- market day). Prior to data
collection, 30 data collectors (school students and CPG members) were trained on data
collection methods and tools. The amount of forest resources collected from CWS from
September 2012 to June 2015 and their monetary values are shown in Table 4.
Collection of forest resources from CWS by forest dependent people. Photo Credit: SHED
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Figure 5: Collection of forest resources by resource poor in year 2013 and 2014.
It was observed that, fuel wood collection increased in the year 2014 compared to 2013
(Figure 5). On the other hand, small size pole and bamboo collection reduced which
indicates that due to awareness on forest conservation they are not collecting newly
established local species (regeneration). It also helped wild elephants to have their food
from the forests (bamboo). From the study by Dr. Mahfuz’s1 it was observed that the
present average density of the CWS is 1247 trees/ha while it was 239 trees/h during
baseline survey in 2012. He also found that, 8.4 % natural regeneration of trees increased
and the forest coverage has increased by 13.61%. The possible explanation could be, FD
and CPG have successfully reduced collection of pole and sawn timber and those
collectors have now become fuel wood collectors since fuel wood collection is sometimes
socially acceptable form of resource collection from the forest.
1 Dr. Mahfuzur Rahman, associate professor, Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences-University
of Chittagong. A consultant hired by AF to document the project achievements and impacts
2013 2014
Fuel-wood
Pole (large size)
Round timber
Sawn-timber
Pole (Small size)
Bamboo
Bamboo (Small stick)
Cane
Sun grass(thatching grass(
Broom Grass(Jharu fhol)
Dry leaves and twigs
Grass (fooder)
Sand
Charcoal
28 | P a g e
Table 4: Data on Forest Resources Collection from CWS at Chunati and Jaldi Ranges (Sep 2012 to Jun 2015)
Sl.
No.
Forest
Resources
Unit of
measurement
Total Amount Collected including
(monetary value in ‘000’ BDT)
2012
(Sep-
Dec)
2013 2014 2015
(Jan-
June)
1 Fuel-wood Kg 15,183
(4,55,49)
22106325
(66318)
26223525
(115990)
14566700
(68699)
2 Pole (large size) Number 17537
(5261)
17963
(5390)
792109
(10502)
2786
(418)
3 Round timber Cu.ft. 105782
(15867)
211761
(31764)
183438
( 51200)
87213
(24699)
4 Sawn-timber Cu.ft. 45,482
(18193)
17
(6800)
3214
(1274)
1026
(433)
5 Pole (Small
size)
Number 175214
(2628)
800250
(12004)
194835
(3941)
224936
(4499)
6 Bamboo Number 147272
(3682)
178508
(4463)
68862
(3866)
19312
(1142)
7 Bamboo (Small
stick)
Number 4470093
(5721)
6701003
(13826)
5993845
(13107)
4796332
(9862)
8 Cane Number 84743
(1694)
379855
(7597)
84434
(2028)
164284
(1778)
9 Sun
grass(thatching
grass(
Bundles 39033
(8291)
267935
(40357)
454508
(38587)
57311
(12833)
10 Broom Grass
(Phul Jharu)
Bundles 3267
(882)
49630
(23384)
239526
(479)
33731
(74)
11 Dry leaves and
twigs
Sack 73543
(1471)
199669
(3993)
190187
(2042)
113531
(1152)
12 Grass (fodder) Sack 58346
(1167)
83763
(1675)
79027
(855)
27743
(308)
13 Sand Cu.ft 1400190
(14002)
622077
(6221)
1006052
(12084)
1769965
(19820)
14 Charcoal Kg 39599
(198)
0 23451
(187)
0
Total value
Note: Figure in the parenthesis indicate the monetary value of the product in ‘000’ BD
29 | P a g e
Project Impacts
The sub-project (LDFC-CWS) has been able to demonstrate its effectiveness in reducing
dependency of community people on forest for livelihood, mainly through promotion of
AIGAs and ICS among the forest dependent households. A survey at the end of third year
by Dr. Mahfuzur Rahman, Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences revealed that
the net income increment of the project participants was BDT 1701 per month per
household. This has significantly reduced peoples’ dependence on forest resources for
their livelihood. Number of people collecting forest resource per family has decreased.
100% of the LDFC participants, who once relied heavily on forest resources for their
bread and butter, now believe that AIGAs have improved their socio-economic
conditions and reduced their forest dependency. The report also showed that the basal
area per hectare, forest density, tree frequency per hectare increased in the permanent
sample plots in the CWs compared to baseline estimates.
A participatory rapid assessment and a number of case studies also revealed that the
project has been able to create significant positive impacts on the forest and biodiversity
resources of CWS. First of all, forest resources extraction pressure on CWS has greatly
reduced due to alternative livelihood development of, and adoption of improved cooking
stove by, the project (LDFC) participants. More than 1500 forest dependent man and
women have shifted their primary occupation from forest resource collection to AIGAs.
Before the project, each of the households used to gather 100 Kg of fire wood per week
from local forests. For that they used to cut 10 small sized trees (saplings, poles) per
household per week (i.e. 300 trees/ household/ month and 3,600 trees/ household/ year).
Thus, a total of 5,400,000 trees (1500 x 3,600) have been saved from cutting from the
CWS per year due to the shift of occupation of the project participants from fuel wood
gathering to AIGAs. If we consider the average present value of each tree Tk. 100.00, the
value of 5,400,000 trees come to Tk. 540 million. Thus, it is apparent that only the AIG
activities have been saving 5,400,000 small trees, worth BDT 540 million per year. If the
5,400,000 young trees could complete their rotation cycle, the total value of the trees
could rise to BDT 27 Billion at an estimated average price of BDT5000 per tree. Even if
only 50% of the trees could finally survive, the total value of the trees at the end of the
rotation period could still be BDT 13.5 Billion. If we add their contribution to
environmental benefits, the value will increase many folds. On the other hand, more than
2000 households in the project area are using improved Cooking stove (ICS). Discussion
with the users revealed that a 4-6 member household (poor family) needs around 5 kg of
fuel-wood per day for cooking with traditional cooking stove. Thus, the requirement of
fuel-wood per household is around 150 kg/month or1800 kg /year. The cost of fuel wood
per kg is BDT 4.00 (BDT 150 per mound) in the local market. So, a 4-6 member family
used to spend BDT 7200 per year. The ICS users reported that, improved cooking stove
could save at least 50% consumption of fuel wood which was needed for traditional
stove. A 4-6 member poor family can save around 900 kg fuel-wood, worth BDT 3600,
per year and also save 90trees per year (as it was estimated that an immature tree yields
10 kg of fuel-wood on the average). Therefore, 2000 household (poor family) of the
project area are saving 180,00 trees, worth BDT 18,000,000 per year (@BDT100per tree)
by using ICS. The contribution of 180,000 trees in environmental amelioration is
immense.
30 | P a g e
Moreover, due to reduction of unsustainable collection of forest resources, the
improvement of biodiversity at CWS developed a number of intangible benefits. For
example, the increased vegetation cover improved the hydrological regime and the
increased water flow in the streams originating from or flowing through the CWS during
winter (after monsoon season) enabled the farmers to cultivate more winter crops in the
agricultural lands around the sanctuary.
The project also empowered the community. The CBOs organized by the project have
emerged as new “social forums” in the area. These have empowered the forest dependent
people to contribute their views in decision making processes of various social activities,
especially those related to natural resource management. It has also empowered the
community people to demand appropriate services from local government bodies and
government line agencies. Moreover, the project has created “financial capital” for the
poor forest dependent people (VCF members) through monthly savings of the VCF
members and RLF grant from the project, which has resulted in a paradigm shift in the
livelihood of the targeted project participants. Now they rely mostly on their income from
alternative (non-forest based) income generating activities and do not dependent much on
collection of forest resources.
Now attitude of the forest dependent people has changed towards forest conservation.
Around 58% of the LDFC-CWS participants refrained from forest resources extraction as
AIGAs increased their income. But it should be noted that, during project period, only
58% participants had the opportunity to receive loan from RLF as the amount of RLF
was not big enough to provide loan to all participants.
It was also observed that, realizing its benefits, the improved cooking stoves are rapidly
being adopted by the people of the project area. ICS manufacturers in the area have
established effective supply chain in the project area and successfully catering to the
demands of the people. The project has promoted gender equity and empowerment of
women through organizational leadership development, income generation and by
creating opportunities for them to taking part in decision making at both household and
community level..
The project was not found (or reported by any quarter) to create any negative social or
environmental impact in the project area or elsewhere.
The achievements of the LDFC component of the MNRCF Chunati project against the
results and impacts expected in the project design document (Results Framework) are
summarized in Annex-1.
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Lessons learned
A number of lessons have been learned from the experiences of LDFC-CWS project. The
most important and firm lessons learned are furnished bellow:
Identification and involvement of relevant and real stakeholders is necessary for
effective project implementation;
Community organizing along with creating sense of common ownership to local
natural resources is a hard task but it is the most required activity for ensuring
sustainable collaborative management of the same. If the communities are
organized by giving false assurance of benefit, it will certainly gear up the
organizing process but in the long-run it will not sustain. Ownership can be built
through stakeholders’ involvement in every step of planning, implementation and
monitoring of the project and by ensuring gender and social equity in these
processes; For sustainable management of Community Based Organizations
(CBOs), good governance including democratic decision making process must be
established;
The trust and confidence of the communities on project staffs is very important
for successful implementation of the project;
Development of ownership rights of project participants over the project is
essential to achieve the goal;
If motivated properly, it is easy to organize the forest dependent people under the
umbrella of organizations to protect and conserve forest. But economic activities
for their livelihood development should be the entry point with the forest
dependent communities, because economic incentives win the trust and respect of
community members and get them interested in forest resource management
faster;
Monthly savings of VCFs and CPGs, and project grant for RLF strengthened the
group dynamics that played an important role to sustain the VCFs and CPGs;
Though it is easy to create capital for RLF by participatory savings but it is
difficult to manage the fund by community members due to lack of knowledge
and experience about financial management;
Equitable partnership between stakeholders is essential for co-management of
forest resources. But equitable partnership between FD and co-management
partners (VCF, CPG) is not yet evident in CWS. Equitable partnerships imply that
each partner takes a share of the responsibilities of sustainable forest
management;
At present, support of external agency (NGO) is essential to establish co-
management system in CWS because VCFs, CPGs, UFs and CMCs in Banskhali
and Lohagara are still in developing phase and gradually building their capacities
through constant capacity building support of the project;
32 | P a g e
Strategy towards empowerment of forest dependent community should play the
central role in forest resource management and enhancement of biodiversity of
CWS. FD should be more aware and interested to involve the stakeholders (forest
dependent community leaders) in all decision making process about the
development of CWS;
Last but not the least, regular monitoring, cooperation, support and review of the
project activities with the project team and community people may lead to smooth
implementation and make result oriented.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The project activities manifested promising results towards alternative livelihood
development of forest dependent people and biodiversity conservation in the CWS, but in
a limited scale. The project (LDFC component) supported only 2627 households in
developing non-forestry based income opportunities while the total number of forest
dependent households is around 8,000. So, it would be better if the project can create
alternative livelihood opportunities for all dependent families of CWS. However, the
CBOs (especially Union Federation of VCFs) have the right to include additional
members (forest dependent people).So, when all the existing members of VCF Union
Federations will adopt the alternative livelihood options through RLF support, the
Federation may adopt new members and support the remaining forest dependent
households of the area in developing alternative income sources. The sustainability of
VCF Union Federation is a big challenge to achieve this result.
The CBOs (VCFs and their Union Federations) are not yet capable enough to run their
organization efficiently without external support. Most of the CBO leaders are not yet
knowledgeable and skilled enough to planning and conducting meetings, writing meeting
minutes and maintaining accounts. As such, if the project disengages with the project
participants at this stage, there would be the risk that they may go back to their old
primary occupation i.e., illegal and unsustainable extraction of forest resources.
Therefore, all the efforts made so far may go in vain. Hence, the project needs to be
extended in order to enable the CBOs attain a sustainable position and play effective role
in sustainable management and conservation of the CWS. The capacity of the CBOs
should be strengthened in such areas organizational and financial management, fund
raising,, community mobilization and linkage development with the government
departments, financial institutions and other service providing agencies. Until the groups
achieve sustainable level of institutional development and management competences
Arannayk Foundation and local NGO should have support and some degree of control
over the groups.
In a nut shell, it can be concluded that, the alternative livelihood development initiatives
of the project for protection of the CWS have been largely successful. The project is now
at mature stage. All the groups are organized and the group members are well aware
about the benefits of alternative livelihood development and biodiversity conservation.
Introduction of AIGAs through training, inputs and financial supports and promotion of
improved cooking stove made a significant contribution to reducing poverty and forest
dependence of the forest dependent stakeholders and conserving biodiversity in CWS. In
33 | P a g e
addition, training on CBO management and financial management capacitated the CBO
members that have strengthened institutional sustainability. However, the project was
implemented in a very limited scale in comparison to the total area of the forest and
numbers of forest dependent people. In order to achieve the objective of the project in
comprehensive and sustainable manner, the project needs to continue for at least 2-3
more years and including more number of poor people who are still mostly dependent on
forest resource collection for their livelihoods. As introduction of improved cooking
stoves has created significant positive impact on biodiversity conservation in CWS
through reducing the requirement of fuel wood, efforts should be made to introduce
improved cooking stoves in all the households of the project area. Besides, initiatives
should be taken to involve the young generation in the conservation initiative by
establishing ‘Nature Clubs’ or ‘Green Clubs’ involving them and by introducing non-
formal environmental education program in the secondary schools of the project area
which has been successfully piloted in a few schools in the current phase of the project.
These initiatives will play a great role in safeguarding the forest and biodiversity of the
CWS in a sustainable manner.
Annex-1: Achievements of the LDFC-CWS subproject of MNRCF-Chunati project as per Results Framework of the Project as of June 2015
Objective Indicators Achievements as of June 2015
Module Objective:
Sustainable participatory forest management in CWS has improved
The average density of indigenous tree species in CWS has risen by at least 10%
The baseline value of average density of tree species in CWS was 239 trees/h. Dr. Mahfuz
1 of IFESCU explored that, the
present average density is 1247 trees/ha. Moreover, he also explores that, (i) 8.4 % natural regeneration of trees increased and (ii) the forest coverage has increased by 13.61%
The number of people using forest resources in a non-sustainable manner has been reduced by 50%
The specific achievements as per indication can be learnt from IFESCU’s
2 final monitoring report. A recent study of Dr.
Mahfuz1 from IFESCU stated that, no illegal removal was
identified in any of the 75 sample plots surveyed while it was 153 stumps/ha in baseline. Moreover, on account of using ICS by 2060 participants, the household fuel wood demand has been reduced by 50%
At least 60% of the female participants in training programs for alternative income generating measures confirm that their income has increased because of alternative sources of income and that they are therefore no longer compelled to use forest resources in a non-sustainable manner
The income of all female participants (65% of total project participant) has been increased by 47% due to project interventions of developing alternative livelihood options.
Component-1 (Income generating measures) Objective:
The local people are less dependent on the non-sustainable use of forest resources.
The average income of participants in training programs for alternative IG measures has risen by at least 20%
As per study of Dr. Mahfuz2, the average income of project
participants is now BDT 10678 while it was BDT 5617 in 2012 (baseline), which implies that (47%) income of project participants increased.
At last 1000 beneficiaries are provided with microfinance services by local co-management organizations. Women count for at least 40% of people taking loans.
Microfinance service system established for all 2627 participants, already 1511 participants received microfinance service of which 935 participants were female (62%)
Component-2 (Forest Management) Objective:
The number of illegally felled trees in the core CWS area declines by at least 50%
A recent study of Dr. Mahfuz1 from IFESCU stated that, no
illegal removal was identified in any of the 75 sample plots
2 Dr. Mahfuzur Rahman, associate professor, Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences-University of Chittagong. A consultant hired by AF to document the project
achievements and impacts
35 | P a g e
Objective Indicators Achievements as of June 2015
Local stakeholders practice sustainable forest protection and effective afforestation.
surveyed while it was 153 stumps/ha in baseline. Dr. Mahfuz also found that, (i)on an average participant household reduced the monthly number of visit to the CWS by 25 (ii)8.4 % natural regeneration of trees increased and (iii) the forest coverage has increased by 13.61%
Component-3 (Environmental Education & awareness raising) Objective:
The local population is aware of the advantages of protecting the forest in CWS.
At least 60% of the local population is familiar with the key aspects of biodiversity and climate change (Source: number of participants, interviews)
Dr. Mahfuz1 found that, 100% sample households of his study
were aware about key aspects of biodiversity and climate change. The project involved key stakeholders and CWS adjacent communities in World Environment Day celebration throughout the project period. Through folk song sessions and drama the aspect of biodiversity and climate change were thought to communities.
At least 50% of the local population considers the protection of the forest in CWS to be essential.
The specific achievements as per indication can be learnt from IFESCU’s
3 final monitoring report. However, the project report
and case studies depict that all project participants and stakeholders not only consider the protection of the forest in CWS is essential but also works for better protection.
Environmental protection, biodiversity and climate change are part of the curriculum in local schools and/or are part of the relevant teaching material (Source: teaching and learning materials, info brochures, lesson materials)
An extra-curricular module of ‘forest and biodiversity’ conservation based environmental education established in 10 CWS adjacent high schools. 20 teachers have been trained on this module. A reference text book has been developed and distributed to 2000 students. Moreover, 500 primary school students of CWS adjacent 10 primary schools were educated about the importance of forest, forest resources of CWS, biodiversity of CWS, environment and conservation of CWS.
3 Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Chittagong University (IFESCU). A third party organization hired by GIZ to conduct the project monitoring
