Forestry

Resource Dependency in the Sundarban Ecologically Critical Area

a man travels by boat on a wide river canal in Bangladesh. trees on both river banks.
map showing Bangladesh highlighted

Overview

This project aims to identify and measure the extent and importance of ecosystem dependency upon the Sundarban Reserve Forest (SRF) of communities living in the Sundarban Ecologically Critical Area.

The study will inform the parent ACIAR project Bangladesh Sundarbans Ecosystem Management and SRF management agencies about the type and extent of resources significant to communities surrounding the SRF.

This small research activity has these objectives: 1) identifying natural resource utilisation from the SRF, including who, what, where, and what part they consume or sell; 2) learning about resource availability changes over the last decade, drivers of change, and livelihood changes in ecologically critical areas; 3) estimating the portion of total household income, food supply, and livelihood inputs coming from the SRF and total resource utilisation. 4) identifying avenues for stakeholders' participation in SRF management and recommending routes to increase equity in access to resources.

Activities and expected outcomes

  • Reviewing relevant literature.
  • Drawing a sample of communities and households across three salinity zones of the SRF.
  • Conducting a household survey to identify who, in what categories and amounts of resources, harvests, sells or consumes, overall household income, and the fraction of income and food supply derived from the SRF.

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