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Present Status of Peoples’ Participation in Social Forestry Program at Sakhipur Upazila of Tangail District, Bangladesh

Md. Wasiul Islam*
Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh

Md. Muktarul Islam
Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh

Farhadul Islam
Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Social forestry (SF) in Bangladesh is designed as a development strategy to promote the biosocioeconomic conditions through poverty alleviation and better distribution of income. The success of this program depends on the active participation of the target people. SF program was initiated in Sakhipur Upazila of Tangail district in 1988-89. The study revealed that people are participating in SF activities organized by government and non-government organizations (NGOs) and are getting different types of benefits from the program. Of the respondents 80% are engaged in Forest Department’s and 20% are engaged in NGOs’ SF program. Among the participants 90% are male and 10% are female. Of the participants 80% are farmers, 11% are service holders and only 9% are housewives. In the study area participatory woodlot program involved majority (62%) of the participants, followed by sal forest coppice system (26%) and agroforestry (12%). SF plantation has increased overall income of the participants and now they are very careful to protect their plots against damages.

Keywords: Social forestry, Woodlot plantation, Agroforestry, Sal coppice, Tangail, Bangladesh

Location: Sakhipur Upazila of Tangail District, Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Commodity: Agroforestry

Objectives:

Sakhipur Upazila of Tangail district was selected as the study area purposively due to pressure of active public participation and diversified SF practices. The objectives of this study are to know the status of peoples’ involvement and their attitude toward SF program at Sakhipur Upazila of Tangail district and to assess the success and failure of peoples’ participation in SF program in the study area. Study on the present status of peoples’ participation in SF program may identify the loop holes in the program and contribute to increase participation and may enhance selection and management of participants in SF program.

Methodology:

Study area: Sakhipur is one of the 11 upazilas of Tangail district. The Upazila covers an area of 429.63 sq km and bounded by Ghatail Upazila on the north, Mirzapur Upazila on the south, Bhaluka, Shreepur and Kaliakair Upazila on the east, Kalihati and Basail Upazila on the west. The Bangshai and the Salda are important rivers of the Upazila (Anon, 2004). A special feature of the sal tract is that the forests are located on flat-topped hillocks (locally called Chala) separated by an intricate network of depressions (locally called Baid) in honeycomb layout pattern. The baids are generally cultivated with paddy. Homesteads, cultivable lands and forests are inextricably mixed up making forest boundary demarcation and maintenance extremely difficult (Bhuiyan, 1994). Sakhipur Upazila has a sub-tropical moderate climate with a medium rainfall during April to October. But during the months of June to July (monsoon period) the rainfall is more than the rest of the year. The average annual rainfall of this region is about 2246 mm. The remaining five months are dry period (ranges from 4 mm in December to 34 mm in March). The percentage of relative humidity is highest having a range from 68% in March to 89% in July. The mean monthly temperature ranges from 18.3º C in January to 28.7 ºC in August, whereas mean annual temperature is 25.33º C (Anon, 1999). The soils of sal forest area belong to the Red Brown Terrace soil, grey terrace soils and deep Red-Brown Terrace soils. The topsoil texture ranges from silt loam to silty clay loam. The sub-soil texture is mainly silty clay loam or clay. The substratum is usually clay. The underlying clayey substratum is either partly weathered or unweathered and usually occurs at the depth of around 1 m (Amin and Fattah, 1994). There are total 26134 ha cultivable land, 16279.62 ha of forestland under 12 forest beats (smallest administrative unit) and 345 ha fallow land in this Upazila. Of the total area single crop land is 40%, double crops 58% and treble crop land 2%. Land under irrigation covers 75% of the total land area. Main crops are paddy, wheat, onion, brinjal and chili. Main fruits are mango, jackfruit, banana, papaya, berry and watermelon. Population of this Upazila is 220281; of which 51.01% male and 48.99% female; 93.5% are Muslims and 6.5% are Hindus. There are also some (111 nos.) ethnic people called Mandi. Main occupations of this population are: agriculture 67.56%, agricultural labor 15.11%, wage labor 2.17%, business 5.84%, service 2.68%, and others 6.64% (Anon, 2004).

Data collection and preparation: A field survey was conducted with a semi-structured questionnaire which was prepared on basis of a reconnaissance survey. The total number of participants in SF program in the area is 4772 (i.e., 2.17% of the total population of the study area). Two hundred of them (i.e., 4.19% of the total participants) were selected randomly for interview by drawing random numbers (by collecting the total information of the participants from FD) from a random number table. The field survey was conducted in January, 2005. Secondary information was collected from libraries, reports, journals, newspapers, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and internet sources. The collected data from the both sources were carefully reviewed and sorted according to the sequence of information. Then data were analyzed for explaining it easily by constructing different tables and graphs with the help of MS Excel computer package. Finally the sorted and analyzed data were compiled sequentially and systematically to present the paper.

Source of Information: Khulna University Studies, 8(1): 87-92, 2007

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Local people are very important, in making any decision about common property, like land utilization. The success and failure of any SF program depends on the level and magnitude of people participation. The attitude of the local people of the study area on SF program is positive. People are motivated towards SF activities as they are getting reward from the program. We should encourage the people’s active participation.

Knowledge Management: Journal