An Investigation into the Adequacy of Existing and Alternative Property Rights Regimes to Achieve Sustainable Management of the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest in Bangladesh A Dissertation submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy Anjan Kumer Dev Roy B.Com (Hons) and M.Com in Marketing (University of Dhaka) MSc in Project Planning and Management (University of Bradford) School of Accounting, Economics and Finance Faculty of Business and Law University of Southern Queensland Toowoomba, Qld, 4350, Australia November 2012 Dedicated to The Lotus Feet of Param Doyal Sri Sri Thakur Anukulchandra i Abstract This thesis identifies theoretical gaps regarding the adequacy of property rights in achieving sustainable management in the world’s largest Sundarbans Mangrove Forest (SMF) in Bangladesh. This will be achieved through an examination of existing and alternative property rights regimes. Gaps are also pinpointed regarding non-compliance with existing policy in conservation practices and the absence of clear quantitative and qualitative methodical approaches for identifying sustained conservation determinants of the forest. This research aims to fill these gaps by addressing the questions of the adequacy of the existing property rights regime to achieve sustainability. It examines the interaction between property rights and conservation and the necessity for an alternative property rights regime of co-management. It focuses on state property rights regimes within mangrove conservation practices. The subject of this thesis is regarded as one of the oldest mangrove management systems in history, originating in 1875. The thesis adopts a mixed methods research approach involving household survey, content analysis and focus group discussions. Multiple actors, scales and techniques—with a focus on Forest Dependent Communities (FDCs) and conservation practices by the Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD)—are involved in the study. This study considers FDC households as a unit of analysis. Field work was conducted in six villages of the Koyra sub-district and various government offices over a period of four months between November 2010 and February 2011. The field research moves from the household level to the national, division, district, sub- district and international levels. It undertakes a combination of process analysis to establish how mangrove forest conservation is enhanced, the role of FDCs in conservation and why policy fails to advance sustained conservation. Following a review of descriptive statistics, logit model and content analysis, the study finds the state property regime to be inadequate due to the specific and changing socio-cultural, economic, political and ecological contexts of the SMF and its FDCs. Currently, there is a high prevalence of institutionalised corruption and elite dominance. Existing regime embeddedness obstructs FDCs in their attempt to play a role in management and policy-making processes. Without understanding the emergence of the common property regime, FDCs’ positive motivation and collective action cannot be incorporated into sustained conservation policy directives. Along with supply-side property rights interventions in line with Schlager and Ostrom’s (1992) theory, this study justifies some key demand-side interventions to achieve sustainable management. This is expected to overcome state property-related hurdles in achieving sustainability of the SMF. Thereby, it highlights property rights embeddedness to improve FDCs’ socio- economic context through a ‘co-management-alternative livelihood mix’. ii Acknowledgements Although a PhD thesis is meant to be primarily a solo effort, in fact, many other persons contribute both directly and indirectly. Although it is impossible to acknowledge my debt and gratitude to the many people involved, I must acknowledge special thanks to some of them. At the outset, I convey my gratitude to the Ministry of Planning, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh for granting me study leave to undergo this PhD programme. I gratefully recognise the Government of Australia for granting an Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarship to pursue this research. I am thankful to the University of Southern Queensland’s Higher Degree Research Office for offering the USQ/ANU summer research scholarship to undertake my research at the Australian National University, Canberra. It was really an honour to experience such a good combination in my supervisory team, comprising Dr. Khorshed Alam, Senior Lecturer in Economics; and Professor Jeff Gow, Head of Economics. I am tremendously grateful to them for their deepest insights, constructive comments, tireless help and, above all, their concern for my life during data collection because of the prevalence of tigers and the unexplainable harassment by pirates in the study area. The thesis could not have been finished without their untiring labour, critical evaluation, challenging ideas and valuable guidance. I am grateful to Dr. Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt, Convenor, Higher Degree Research, Crawford School of Economics and Governance for supervising and providing suggestions at the time of working at the Australian National University. I must acknowledge the marginalised and disadvantaged FDCs in the most vulnerable and remotest adjacent villages of Koyra Upazila for their participation in the study. The help, generosity, hospitality, company and guidance they extended to undertake my data collection and to ensure my security during my long stay are indescribable. I thank Messrs Ramesh Sarker, Manuranjan Sarker, Abu Bakkar, Usman Goni, and Nazrul Islam for their help and goodwill during data collection. I acknowledge thanks to officials from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Bangladesh Forest Department and other local and central administration. I must also thank Dr. Mihir Kanti Majumder, Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests for giving official permission to conduct the study. Special thanks are due to Mr. Abul Bashar, UNO, Koyra; Mr. Akbar Hossain, Conservator of Forests, Khulna Circle; Mr. Jahir Uddin Ahmed, DFO, Khulna; Mr. Mihir Kumar Doe, DFO, Bagerhat; Mr. Abu Naser Md. Yasin Newaz, DFO, Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation; Officer-in-Charge, Forest Guards, Boatmen of Bojbaja Forest Office for providing access to their documents and participating in the study. Thanks are due to Mr. Touhid, Mr. Nazrul and others from IPAC; Mr. Jahid from Pradipon; Mr. Baten and Mr. Mamun from Unnayan Onneshan; Mr. Dilip Saha from BRAC; Principal, Koyra College and officials of IUCN, Dhaka Office for providing necessary documents and guidance. I thank all of my data collectors. Among them, a Masters student of statistics from the University of Dhaka, Jagannath Das, who remains as my younger brother for his untiring cooperation and understanding. I thank Professor Raj Guru Rajan, Associate Dean, Research and Ms. Liz Whatson, senior administrator, for providing all necessary help during my PhD study at USQ. iii I could not have completed this research without the support of my family in Bangladesh and here in Australia. Sincere thanks and gratitude to my parents Mr. Akinchan Bandhu Deb Roy and Mrs. Namita Deb Roy, brother Bijon, sisters Nibedita, Nandita Deb Roy and brothers-in-law Swapon Kumer Sarker, Tushar Bose and Sudip Das Gupta. I always miss my sister-in-law, Ms. Seema Das Gupta. Part of the thesis is therefore theirs. How can I address the help of my mashi Mrs. Namita Dutta, who gave me her all deposited money she had saved for her retirement to bring my family here and to commence my study? Your portrait always remains in my heart mashi. Wordless thanks go to my family members here in Australia. My son, Anish Kumar Dev Roy, has grown up with this thesis and has become a constant spirit of my hard work by motivating me with his frequent questions as to why I always talk about my chapters, why I remain at the office from morning to midnight, why I never spend even a single weekend with him, and whether my study is more important than he. Limitless thanks and gratitude goes to my beloved wife, Mrs. Kabari Das Gupta, the mother of my son, my companion in life. Her unfaltering love and encouragement have been my principal support and sustenance during this long endeavour. Without her hard work, generosity and persistence in my life’s extraordinary adventures, I would not be here. Without her, it would not be. All credits for this thesis, therefore, go to her. Finally, my wife lost her father, my respected father-in-law, at the end of my PhD study period. She enchants his last words said at the time of our departure three years ago and drops tears, leaving me forever indebted to her unpaid sacrifice. I am sorry he could not hear of my achievement, but I do believe he is in the front row seats to greet me with his, as usual, unforgettable smiles and blessings. I convey my thanks and gratitude to my mother-in-law, Mrs. Bijoya Rani Dutta Gupta for her perpetual blessings and guidance, even in days of hardship. After all your efforts and blessings, I am the only one who is receiving this degree. I promise I will make all efforts to put it to good use. Heart-felt thanks to all. Anjan Kumer Dev Roy Monday, this 5th day of November 2012 iv Certification of Dissertation This is to certify that the ideas, analyses, results and conclusions contained in this dissertation are entirely my own effort, except where otherwise acknowledged. It is also certified that the work is original and has not been previously