Forestry Department Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Forestry Department Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Forest Genetic Resources Working Papers State of forest genetic resources conservation and management in Bangladesh by Sk. Sirajul Islam Bangladesh Forest Research Institute 2003 Forest Resources Development Service Working Paper FGR/68E Forest Resources Division FAO, Rome, Italy Disclaimer The Forest Genetic Resources Working Papers report on issues and activities in related to the conservation, sustainable use and management of forest genetic resources. The purpose of these papers is to provide early information on on-going activities and programmes and to stimulate discussion. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Quantitative information regarding the status of forest resources has been compiled according to sources, methodologies and protocols identified and selected by the author, for assessing the diversity and status of genetic resources. For standardized methodologies and assessments on forest resources, please refer to FAO, 2003. State of the World’s Forests 2003; and to FAO, 2001. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 (FRA 2000). FAO Forestry Paper No 140. Official information can also be found at the FAO Internet site (http://www.fao.org/forestry/Forestry.asp). This paper is based on a country report prepared for the Asia Pacific Forest Genetic Resources Programme (APFORGEN) Inception Workshop, held at Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 15-18 July 200. The Workshop was organized by the Asia Pacific Association of Forestry Research Institutions (APAFRI) and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), Regional Office for Asia, the Pacific and Oceania, in technical collaboration with FAO. The proceedings of the workshop, including this paper, will be published in “Proceedings of the Asia Pacific Forest Genetic Resources Programme (APFORGEN) Inception Workshop, Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 15-18 July, 2003” and available on line at: “http://www.apforgen.org/”. Comments and feedback are welcome. For further information please contact: Pierre Sigaud, Forestry Officer (Forest Genetic Sim Heok-Choh, Ph.D. Resources) Executive Director Forestry Department APAFRI Secretariat FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla c/o Forest Research Institute Malaysia 00100 Rome, Italy Kepong, 52109 Kuala Lumpur Fax: + 39 06 570 55 137 Malaysia Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] For quotation: Sirajul Islam, Sk. 2003. State of forest genetic resources conservation and management in Bangladesh. Forest Genetic Resources Working Papers, Working Paper FGR/68E. Forest Resources Development Service, Forest Resources Division. FAO, Rome. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 FOREST RESOURCES ...................................................................................................................................1 1.2. STATUS OF FOREST GENETIC RESOURCES .................................................................................................2 1.3. IDENTIFICATION OF THREATS ..................................................................................................................2 2. LINKS BETWEEN FORESTRY SECTOR AND FGR....................................................... 3 3. LINKS BETWEEN AGRICULTURE AND FGR................................................................ 3 3.1. LINKS BETWEEN AGROFORESTRY AND FGR ............................................................................................4 4. PAST AND PRESENT ACTIVITIES IN CONSERVATION, UTILIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF FGR ............................................................................................................. 4 4.1. CONSERVATION STRATEGIES ...................................................................................................................5 4.1.1. In situ conservation ........................................................................................................................5 4.1.2. Ex situ conservation .......................................................................................................................8 4.1.3. Conservation of provenances within a species ..........................................................................9 5. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK ...................................................................................... 9 5.1. NATIONAL FOREST POLICY ......................................................................................................................9 6. LIST OF NATIONAL PRIORITY SPECIES ..................................................................... 10 7. RESEARCH ON FGR............................................................................................................ 11 8. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS.............................................................. 11 REFERENCES................................................................................................................................. 13 APPENDICES................................................................................................................................. 14 Appendix 1. Value and use of main forest species in Bangladesh ..................................................15 Appendix 2. Conservation and management of important FGR by ecogeographic zone in Bangladesh..............................................................................................................................................19 Appendix 3. Level and nature of threats to the integrity of species/populations of important tree species .............................................................................................................................................23 Appendix 4. List of priority species for conservation, improvement or seed procurement, their uses and conservation activities needed.............................................................................................25 Tables TABLE 1. NATIONAL PARKS IN BANGLADESH ..................................................................................... 6 TABLE 2. WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES IN BANGLADESH........................................................................... 6 1. Introduction Bangladesh is located between latitudes 20°34' to 26°38' north and longitudes 88°01' to 92°41' east. The country consists mostly of flood plains (80%) with some hilly areas (12%), with a sub-tropical monsoon climate. In winter, temperature ranges from a minimum of 70 to 13°C to a maximum of 230 to 32°C. In summer, the temperature varies from 36°C to 41°C. The mean annual rainfall ranges from 143 to 434 cm (BBS 1994). The population stood at 131.6 million in 2001. 1.1 Forest resources Bangladesh has a total area of 14.39 million hectares, of which 9.12 million ha is cultivated, 2.14 million ha public forests, 0.27 million ha village groves, and 1.64 million ha constantly under water. The remaining land area (1.22 million hectares) is occupied by tea gardens, uncultivable areas, rural and urban houses and ponds (Kibria et al. 2000). The area covered by government and village forests is about 16% of the total land area; however only 0.93 million ha (6.5%) is under tree cover, which is about 40% of the forests controlled by the government. The remaining 60% includes denuded lands (grassland, scrubland and encroached areas). About 24 000 ha of forest is lost annually as a result of homestead development, urbanization and deforestation (Anon 1992). The mangrove forests are composed of two major components, viz., the Sundarbans and the Coastal Afforestation. The Sundarbans forest is spread over 0.58 million ha in the south- western region (Ali 1989), with an annual depletion rate of about 1.7%. A large-scale coastal afforestation programme has been undertaken since 1966, covering about 170 000 ha. The hill forests cover an area of 0.67 million ha. The growing stock has been estimated to be about 28 million m3 or 100 m3 ha-1 (Anon 1992). Annual depletion of the growing stock stands at 1.65%. The estimated average annual forest growth is 2.5 m3 ha-1. The forests cover of 0.12 million ha and to a great degree consists of Shorea robusta (sal) located in the central and northern part of the country. The area under tree cover in this region has been estimated to be 32%. A large portion of this forestland has been encroached. About 0.02 million ha of plantations has been established. The unclassified state forests include 0.73 million ha of hilly land located at the southeast corner of the country. The village forest area is 0.27 million ha (TFYP 1985). The growing stock of the woodlots and bamboo resources were estimated to be 54.7 million m3 and 7480 million culms respectively. The contribution of forestry to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at current prices has been estimated to be 3.28% (BBS 1994). The supply of various forest products such as timber, poles, fuelwood, bamboo, etc. cannot meet the present demand. Village forest areas, being one-tenth of the national forest area, supply 70% of sawlogs, 90% of fuelwood and 90% of bamboo