Forestry Department Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations GLOBAL FOREST RESOURCES ASSESSMENT 2010 COUNTRY REPORTS ANGLADESH B FRA2010/017 Rome, 2010 The Forest Resources Assessment Programme Sustainably managed forests have multiple environmental and socio-economic functions important at the global, national and local scales, and play a vital part in sustainable development. Reliable and up- to-date information on the state of forest resources - not only on area and area change, but also on such variables as growing stock, wood and non-wood products, carbon, protected areas, use of forests for recreation and other services, biological diversity and forests’ contribution to national economies - is crucial to support decision-making for policies and programmes in forestry and sustainable development at all levels. FAO, at the request of its member countries, regularly monitors the world’s forests and their management and uses through the Forest Resources Assessment Programme. This country report forms part of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 (FRA 2010). The reporting framework for FRA 2010 is based on the thematic elements of sustainable forest management acknowledged in intergovernmental forest-related fora and includes variables related to the extent, condition, uses and values of forest resources, as well as the policy, legal and institutional framework related to forests. More information on the FRA 2010 process and the results - including all the country reports - is available on the FRA Web site (www.fao.org/forestry/fra ). The Global Forest Resources Assessment process is coordinated by the Forestry Department at FAO headquarters in Rome. The contact person for matters related to FRA 2010 is: Mette Løyche Wilkie Senior Forestry Officer FAO Forestry Department Viale delle Terme di Caracalla Rome 00153, Italy E-mail: [email protected] Readers can also use the following e-mail address: [email protected] DISCLAIMER The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product 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. The Global Forest Resources Assessment Country Report Series is designed to document and make available the information forming the basis for the FRA reports. The Country Reports have been compiled by officially nominated country correspondents in collaboration with FAO staff. Prior to finalisation, these reports were subject to validation by forestry authorities in the respective countries. 2 FRA 2010 – Country Report, Bangladesh Contents INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................................. 5 TABLE T1 – EXTENT OF FOREST AND OTHER WOODED LAND ......................................................... 6 2 TABLE T2 – FOREST OWNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT RIGHTS............................................ 21 3 TABLE T3 – FOREST DESIGNATION AND MANAGEMENT......................................................... 25 4 TABLE T4 – FOREST CHARACTERISTICS ...................................................................................... 30 5 TABLE T5 – FOREST ESTABLISHMENT AND REGENERATION................................................ 34 6 TABLE T6 – GROWING STOCK.......................................................................................................... 36 7 TABLE T7 – BIOMASS STOCK........................................................................................................... 39 8 TABLE T8 – CARBON STOCK ............................................................................................................. 41 9 TABLE T9 – FOREST FIRES ............................................................................................................... 43 10 TABLE T10 – OTHER DISTURBANCES AFFECTING FOREST HEALTH AND VITALITY ...... 45 11 TABLE T11 – WOOD REMOVALS AND VALUE OF REMOVALS ................................................ 48 12 TABLE T12 – NON-WOOD FOREST PRODUCTS REMOVALS AND VALUE OF REMOVALS............ 50 13 TABLE T13 – EMPLOYMENT ............................................................................................................... 52 14 TABLE T14 – POLICY AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................ 54 15 TABLE T15 – INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................. 56 16 TABLE T16 – EDUCATION AND RESEARCH................................................................................... 58 17 TABLE T17 – PUBLIC REVENUE COLLECTION AND EXPENDITURE ...................................... 60 3 FRA 2010 – Country Report, Bangladesh Report preparation and contact persons The present report was prepared by the following person(s): Name (FAMILY NAME, Institution / address E-mail Fax Tables First name) Chief Conservator of Forests, Shamsuddin, A K M Forest Department, Bana [email protected] 8802 8118671 Bhaban, Agargaon, Dhaka- 1207, Bangladesh Deputy Chief Conservator dccf-plan@ Motaleb, Md. Abdul of Forests, Planning Wing, bforest.gov.bd Forest Department Conservator of Forests, Ahmad, Ishtiaq Uddin Administration and Finance [email protected] Forest Department Conservator of Forests, Ali, Md. Yunus Central Circle Forest Department Conservator of Forests, Banik, Haradhan Social Forest Circle [email protected] Forest Department Chief Research Officer, Bangladesh Forest Research Latif, Md. Abdul [email protected] Institute, Solashahar, Chittagong. Assistant Chief Conservator of Forests Islam, Md. Mozaharul [email protected] Development Planning Unit, Forest Department Assistant Conservator of Chowdhury, Ruhul Forests, Development [email protected] Mohaiman Planning Unit, Forest Department 4 FRA 2010 – Country Report, Bangladesh Introduction Bangladesh lies in the north-eastern part of the South Asia between 2034 and 2638 north latitude and 8801 and 9241 east longitude. The area of the country is 14.757 million hectares (ha). Here tropical climate prevails throughout the year with distinct rainfall and dry period. Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries of the world. According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS 2004) population is 135.0 million of which 77% live in the rural areas. Overall per capita availability of land and forest are about 0.12 ha and 0.02 ha respectively. The total forest area in Bangladesh, according to Forest Department, is estimated to be 2.52 million ha corresponding to 17.4% of the surface area of the country. This includes 1.52 million ha Forest Department controlled land, 0.73 million ha Unclassified State Forests (USF) under the control of District Administration and 0.27 million ha village forest land (mostly homesteads). However, National forest and tree resources assessment 2005-2007 found forest cover of the country as 9.8% as per definition of FAO. Under the auspices of Global Forest Resources Assessment (GFRA), recently Bangladesh Forest Department has implemented a technical cooperation project namely "Strengthening Capacity to Generate Quality Information on Forest Resources (TCP/BGD/3001)" during 2005-2007 with the technical and financial assistance from FAO of the UN. Under this project, the first National Forest Assessment (NFA) was conducted both in forests and TOF areas whereby earlier management inventories were confined within the designated forest reserves only. The NFA was guided by remote sensing analysis as well as ground inventory with 296 sampling plots all over the country. Results show that almost 50% of the country has some kind of tree cover. Further, the inventory enumerated national landuse area, growing stock, biodiversity and regeneration, social and economical aspects of forests and trees and biomass and carbon as per guidelines of FAO. The FRA2010 of Bangladesh is developed based primarily on the 'National Forest and Tree Resources Assessment 2005-2007' and supplemented with national data generated by the Forest Department. 5 FRA 2010 – Country Report, Bangladesh Table T1 – Extent of Forest and Other wooded land 1.1 FRA 2010 Categories and definitions Category Definition Forest Land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban land use. Other wooded land Land not classified as “Forest”, spanning more than 0.5 hectares; with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of 5-10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ; or with a combined cover of shrubs, bushes and trees above 10 percent. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban land use. Other land All land that is not classified as “Forest” or “Other wooded land”. Other land with tree cover Land classified as “Other land”, spanning more than 0.5 hectares with a (Subordinated to “Other canopy cover of more than 10 percent of trees able to reach a height of 5 land”) meters at maturity. Inland water bodies Inland water bodies generally include major rivers, lakes and water reservoirs. 1.2 National data 1.2.1 Data sources References to sources of Quality Variable(s) Year(s) Additional comments