Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Baraiyadhala National Park, Bangladesh Bulletin 05 Ecosystem Services Valuation Forest Economics Division Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Bangladesh Forest Research Institute Chattogram December 2020 Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Baraiyadhala National Park, Bangladesh Bulletin 05 Ecosystem Services Valuation Forest Economics Division Md. Abul Hasnat Shah Jalal Dr. Rafiqul Haider Md. Melon Md. Motiar Rahman Syedul Alam S.M. Rabiul Alam Dr. Mohammed Kamal Hossain Md. Akhter Hossain Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Bangladesh Forest Research Institute Chattogram December 2020 i Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Baraiyadhala National Park, Bangladesh The report is based on the findings of a study titled “Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Baraiyadhala National Park, Bangladesh” funded by Bangladesh Forest Research Institute and conducted by the Forest Economics Division of BFRI Copyright © 2020 Bangladesh Forest Research Institute, Chattogram, Bangladesh Citation: Jalal, M.A.H.S., Haider, M.R., Melon, M., Rahman, M.M., Alam, S., Alam, S.M.R., Hossain, M.K. and Hossain, M.A. 2020. Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Baraiyadhala National Park, Bangladesh, Bangladesh Forest Research Institute, Chattogram. Bulletin 05, Forest Economics Division, xii+90 pp. Front cover photograph Ecosystem services from trees adapted from “Biodiversity and human health diagram developed by World Health Organization and Conservation of Biological Diversity. Printed by Rimini Internatinol 291/B, Fokerapool, Dhaka-1000 Mob: 01882 400087, 01819 201658 E-mail: [email protected] ii Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Baraiyadhala National Park, Bangladesh Foreword Now-a-days, the scientists and policy makers are making the increasing use of the concept of ecosystem services to describe the mix of productive and non-productive benefits that society obtains directly or indirectly from our environment. The key messages is that holding on to all of these benefits depends very much on how well we look after our unique native plants and animals and the ecological systems that support them. After all, these ecosystem services support us. The concept of ecosystem services has become part of our approach to effectively manage the Protected Areas by intervening the biodiversity, water, primary industries, human settlements, regional planning and climate change. It is also reshaping thinking around sustainable environmental management and stimulating new ideas for managing landscape resilience. The idea of ecosystem services has been well developed scientifically, but we have scarce information in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Forestry Master Plan 2017–2036 underlined the importance of conducting ecosystem services valuation to inform decision making. Despite a growing attention to ecosystem services in policy documents in recent years, scientific literature on ecosystem services valuation remains limited in Bangladesh. The importance of forest-based ecosystem services was also highlighted in many other policies and plans such as the draft National Forest Policy, the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan, the National Adaptation Plan, the Coastal Zone Policy, the Nationally Appropriate Plan of Action, and the Land Use Policy. The importance of ecosystem services valuation for monitoring the progress and the impacts of such programmatic decisions on ecosystems is likely to grow in the future Bangladesh. Baraiyadhala National Park is a familiar Protected Area and biodiversity hotspots of Bangladesh because of the species richness, beautiful landscape crisscrossed by attractive streams and water falls. Baraiyadhala National park is the abode of Cycas pectinata an endangered gymnosperm found in Bangladesh. People living surrounding the national park are directly and indirectly benefitted from it’s numerous ecosystem services. Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Baraiyadhala National Park, Bangladesh is the first of it’s kind in the valuation of services from a prominent Protected Area. This valuation study is conducted by Bangladesh Forest Research Institute (BFRI) will broaden the stakeholders understanding on the economic value of the services received from a Protected Area. It is intended to reach the policy makers, researchers and practitioners for better management of the protected areas of Bangladesh. BFRI is appropriately pioneering the valuation of Baraiyadhala National Park (BDNP) and I hope it reaches far and wide. This report makes an important contribution to the forestry sector of Bangladesh. Dr.M. Masudur Rahman Director Bangladesh Forest Research Institute Chattogram Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Baraiyadhala National Park, Bangladesh iii Acknowledgement All praises and gratitude goes to Almighty Allah, the most gracious, benevolent and merciful, who gave us energy and sound health to endure the rigor of this tedious job of assessing the economic value of the ecosystem services of Baraiyadhala National Park, Chittagong North Forest Division, Bangladesh. The study team highly acknowledges the support of officials and field stuffs of Bangladesh Forest Department especially the Divisional Forest Officer Mr. Baktiar Nur Siddiqui in the field during data collection as well as providing valuable information. We are thankful to the Baraiyadhala, Khoiyachora and Wahedpur union parishad for providing demographic information of the respective unions. We express our pleasure to the officials of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Department of Agricultural Extension and Assistant Commissioner of Land from Mirsharai upazila for providing important information for successful completion of the study. The study team is also grateful to the members of Co-management Committee of Baraiyadhala National Park for providing information during the study. We are highly grateful to Dr. Sepul Kanti Barua for reviewing the report and providing valuable comments and suggestions which significantly improved the robustness and completeness of the report. We would like to express our profound sense of gratitude to Dr. Masudur Rahman, Director, Bangladesh Forest research Institute and officials from MoEFCC for funding the Research program as well as extending necessary logistic support to conduct the research. We believe, this study is made possible with help of all your supports and the findings of the study will significantly contribute to the scientific communities as well as policy makers. Md. Abul Hasnat Shah Jalal Dr. Rafiqul Haider Md. Melon Md. Motiar Rahman Syedul Alam S.M. Rabiul Alam Dr. Mohammed Kamal Hossain Md. Akhter Hossain October 2020 iv Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Baraiyadhala National Park, Bangladesh List of acronyms and abbreviations AGB Above Ground Biomass FAO Food and Agriculture Organization BBS Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics of the United Nations GBH Girth at Breast Height BDT Bangladeshi Taka GFV Gross Financial Value BFD Bangladesh Forest Department ha Hectare BFRI Bangladesh Forest Research Institute HH Households BDNP Baraiyadhala National Park MEA Millennium Ecosystem Assessment BGB Below Ground Biomass MoEFCC Ministry of Environment, Forest and CBD Convention on Biological Diversity Climate Change CI Cash Income NFV Net Financial Value CICES The Common International PAs Protected Areas Classificaiton of Ecosystem Services PES Payment of Ecosystem Services CST Total Cost of Production SOC Soil Organic Carbon DBH Diameter at Breast Height TCM Travel Cost Method ECTS EU Carbon Trading Scheme TGF Trip Generating Function EPHH Expected Number of Households TQE Total Quantity Extracted ES Ecosystem Service ZTCM Zonal Travel Cost Method Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Baraiyadhala National Park, Bangladesh v vi Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Baraiyadhala National Park, Bangladesh Executive Summary Eliciting the economic benefits provided by Protected Areas (PAs) is important in order to ensure that they are properly considered in policy and decision making. There are relatively few studies that provide a comprehensive overview of the economic benefits provided by the forest ecosystems of Bangladesh, in spite of the large share of forest resources in the protected area system. An economic valuation of the selected ecosystem services supplied by the Baraiyadhala National Park (BDNP) located in the Chattogram district of Bangladesh is the outcome of the study. The National Park forest is one of the well-known protected areas in the country. The study estimated the economic values of 11 ecosystem services under four ecosystem service categories (i.e. provisioning, cultural, regulating and supporting), and examines the policy implications for financing protected area management. The services are fuelwood, bamboo, broom grass, sungrass, medicinal plants, potential timber harvests, groundwater recharge, carbon sequestration, air filtration, tourism, and biodiversity. Data collection was conducted through forest survey, household and tourist interview, and key informant interview during the period of July 2019 to June 2020. The methods of valuing the ecosystem services varied with the nature of the services. Direct market valuation method is used for valuing the provisioning services; zonal travel cost method is applied for tourism; and value transfer method was applied for the other services. A conservative estimate of the total economic benefits generated by the National Park is around 2,43,113 BDT/ha/yr (USD 2,860 per ha/yr; 1 USD = 85 BDT), whereas the