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Perception Based Assessment of Ecosystem Services of Madhupur Sal Forest in Bangladesh

Soumitra Saha
Dept. of Agril. Extn. & Rural Devt., BSMRAU, Gazipur, Banglades

Shaikh Shamim Hasan
Dept. of Agril. Extn. & Rural Devt., BSMRAU, Gazipur, Banglades

Md. Enamul Haque
Dept. of Agril. Extn. & Rural Devt., BSMRAU, Gazipur, Banglades

Tofayel Ahamed
Dept. of Agroforestry & Environment, BSMRAU, Gazipur, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Madhupur Sal (Shorea robusta) forest, the largest belt of natural Sal forest in Bangladesh, is rich in ecological resources and biodiversity. In recent years, human disturbance leads to biodiversity loss from the forest, and it has a successive effect on the services that the forest provides. Thus, it is crucial to explore the present condition of the forest’s available ecosystem services with local people’s consciousness about the ecosystem. The present study investigated the available ecosystem services of Madhupur Sal forest, respondents’ perception towards those services and the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents that influenced their perception. Data were collected by interviewing 90 respondents with a focus group discussion. Most of the respondents in the study area were ethnic people (Garo). A total of 20 ecosystem services were identified where soil erosion control, mental peace and maintenance of soil fertility were the top-ranked services. About 83% of the respondents had moderately favorable perception towards ecosystem services. The study results showed that the respondents with a higher level of education, higher family annual income, and more training received on agriculture perceived ecosystem services to a greater extent than others. So, improvement of their perception towards ecosystem services can make them aware of forest biodiversity conservation.

Keywords: Ecosystem Services, Madhupur, Bangladesh, Perception, Sal Forest.

Location: Dept. of Agril. Extn. & Rural Devt., BSMRAU, Gazipur, Banglades

Start Date: 00-12-2019

End Date: 00-03-2020

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Non-commodity: Evaluation

Objectives:

The following objectives were set to lead the study: 1. To identify the ecosystem services in the Madhupur Sal forest and perception of the respondents towards those services. 2. To determine the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents as well as the contribution of those characteristics towards their perception of the ecosystem services.

Methodology:

A. Research Design The descriptive survey research design was followed in this study. A focus group discussion was carried out to identify the ecosystem services. In person interview method with a semi-structured interview schedule was used to collect data from the respondents. The respondents were selected from the three villages of Madhupur Upazila of Tangail district. All the respondents of three villages whose livelihood strategy directly or indirectly associated with the Sal forest were the population of the present study. The total number of respondents of the three villages was 764. Out of them, 90 respondents were selected as a sample through a proportionate random sampling technique. The data collection process was completed within December 2019 to March 2020. B. Measurement of Dependent Variables The perception of the respondents towards ecosystem services was the dependent variable of this study. A fivepoint Likert type scale, consisting of 21 statements on ecosystem services was used to measure respondents’ perception towards ecosystem services. Among the statements, 14 were positive and 07 were negative. Reverse scoring was assigned for negative statements. Score 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 was assigned for strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree and strongly disagree statements respectively. To get respondents’ perception score towards ecosystem services, individual scores of 21 statements were added together. Thus, the perception score of a respondent could range from 21 to 105, where 21 indicating ‘very low perception’ and 105 indicating ‘very high perception’. By using the formula of mean ± SD, the respondents’ perception scores were categorized into less favorable (up to 58), moderately favorable (58 to 68) and highly favorable perception (more than 68). C. Measurement of Independent Variables The independent variables of the present study were gender, age, family size, level of education, land ownership, farm size, family annual income, extension media contact, and training received on agriculture. Age of a respondent was assessed based on the actual age of his life and expressed in years. Family size was measured by the total number of members, including the respondent himself, spouse, children and other members who jointly lived. The education was measured by the number classes completed. Land ownership was measured by the total land area owned by the respondents. The farm size included the lands used for the maintenance of farming enterprise(s) by a respondent and it was expressed in acres. The family annual income of a respondent was estimated based on his total annual earnings from service, business agriculture, and other sources. The extension media contact scores of the respondents were computed based on their extension contact with different sources of information. The training was measured by the total number of agriculture-related training a respondent experienced from different organizations. For data analysis, Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used and statistical tests like frequency count, percentage, mean, standard deviations were performed. Multiple regression analysis was used for exploring the factors that contribute to respondents’ perception and 0.05 and 0.01 level of probabilities were used as a basis for exploring the association between the dependent and independent variables.

Source of Information: European Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences Vol 3 | Issue 1 | January 2021

Article Link (Online Journal): DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24018/ejfood.2021.3.1.94

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Based on the above findings, the following conclusions were drawn: 1. A total number of 20 ecosystem services were identified. All of the services except crop cultivation showed a decreasing trend. Rapid population growth, deforestation, industrialization, urbanization, and pollution were the main contributing factors behind this decreasing trend of the services. About 83% of the respondents possessed moderately favorable perception towards ecosystem services. This might be due to majority of the respondents were forest dwellers (Garos). 2. A major part of the respondents were ethnic people (Garo). Most percentage of the respondents (79%) of the study area were male, more than half (54.9%) of them aged over 41 years. The average family size was 5.73 and most percentage of them (35.30%) received secondary level education. About 70.60% of them possessed their land with an average of 1.70 acres of farm size. The average family annual income of the respondents was BDT 223686.27. Most often the respondents (37%) maintained contact with SAAOs and around half of them (53.2%) received training on agriculture-related issues. These could create a medium perception of the respondents towards ecosystem services. Furthermore, respondents’ level of education, family annual income, and training received on agriculture were the contributing factors that influenced their perception towards ecosystem services. That means, the higher the abovementioned characteristics, the higher their perception towards ecosystem services.

Knowledge Management: Journal