Establishment of forest plantations in Bangladesh started in 1871 with teak (Tectona grandis) using seeds brought from Myanmar. Since then plantation forestry became a part of the overall clearfelling silvicultural systems. Teak was the main species planted because of its high value. Other species, such as Gmelina arborea, Artocarpus integrifolius, Dipterocarpus turbinatus, Swietenia mahagoni, Lagerstroemia speciosa, Toona ciliata, Artocarpus chaplasha, Xylia kerrii and Syzygium grande were introduced later. Most of the plantations were monocultures established by shifting cultivators through taungya system. Since the plantations were established through clearfelling followed by artificial regeneration, there was a severe loss of native vegetation. Moreover, with the development of mechanized logging for commercial purposes, the shifting cultivators could not cope with the extensive area cleared, which resulted in a rapid loss of FGR. In many cases plantation establishment failed. The above-mentioned species used for plantation establishment were slow-growing and long-rotation species. Plantations with these species were unable to meet the growing needs of the rapidly increasing population.
In 1974, the Forest Department (FD) began to establish plantations with fast growing species such as Gmelina arborea, Paraserianthes falcataria and Anthocephalus chinensis. During this period, plantations of industrial species such as rubber, oil palm, mulberry and cashew were established but the results were disappointing.
Presently, industrial and fuelwood plantations comprise a mixture of species with long rotation (40 years), medium rotation (12-18 years) and short rotation (5-6 years). In addition, agroforestry plantations are being raised in encroached land with the active participation of local people on a benefit-sharing basis. Encroachment is a serious problem both in sal forests and Hill Forests.
Forest plantations cannot be the substitute to natural forests. The most important reason is that plantations are severely degraded in genetic resources compared to natural forests. In fact, the forests of Bangladesh, particularly the plain land sal forests and hill forests, are severely degraded due to indiscriminate exploitation, the sal forest are even on the verge of extinction. Therefore, the GOB has taken initiatives for the conservation of ecosystems and forest gene resources in the remaining natural forests.
Major international efforts to conserve FGR began in the 1960s with the guidance and support of FAO. Conservation efforts of FGR have been implemented with the following strategies.
In situ conservation is carried out in the following areas: nature reserves, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and world heritage sites.
• Nature Reserves
The objectives of a nature reserve are to protect communities and species and to maintain natural processes in order to have ecologically representative examples of the natural environment. However, in Bangladesh there are no nature reserves. There are some wilderness areas in Chittagong Hill Tracts but there are no records of these areas.
• National Parks
There are four national parks in Bangladesh. Details of the national parks are presented in Table 1, next page.
• World Heritage Site
The Sundarbans has been declared a world heritage site.
Table 1. National Parks in Bangladesh
Name & location |
Area (ha) |
Year est. |
Purpose/Flora |
Himchari National Park (Cox’s Bazar) |
1729 |
1980 |
To preserve the fauna and habitats as well as to provide facilities for research, education and recreation. / Semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests. Dipterocarpus spp., Albizia procera, Artocarpus chaplasha, Salmalia malabarca, Sterculia alata, Quercus spp., Castanopsis spp., Eugenia spp., Lannea grandis, undergrowth mixed with canes, palms, orchids and ferns and sometimes as pure stands. |
Bhawal National Park (Gazipur) |
5022 |
1982 |
To preserve and develop the habitats and provide facilities for research, education and recreation. About 90 percent of the forest cover is composed of coppice-origin sal (Shorea robusta) in association with Dillenia pentagyna, Lagerstroemia parviflora, Adina cordifolia, Miliusa velutina, Lannea grandis, Albizia spp., Bauhinia variegata, Spondias mangifera, Butea frondosa, Barringtonia acutangula, etc. Among undergrowth, Eupatorium spp., Pennisetum setosum, Asparagus racemosus and Rauvolfia serpentia are common. |
Madhupur National Park (Tangail) |
8436 |
1982 |
To preserve and develop the habitats and provide facilities for research, education and recreation. Flora is the same as that of the Bhawal National Park. About 40% of the forest flora is composed of sal. |
Ramsagar National Park (Dinajpur) |
52 |
1974 |
To preserve and develop the habitats and provide facilities for research, education and recreation. The park does not contain any type of natural forest of the country but is artificially raised. The species planted consist mostly of fruit and ornamental trees. |
• Wildlife Sanctuaries
There are 14 wildlife sanctuaries and game reserves in Bangladesh and details on these are as given in Table 2 below.
Table 2. Wildlife Sanctuaries in Bangladesh (Sarker 1989; Rahman 1996)
Name & location |
Area (ha) |
Year est. |
Purpose/Flora |
Sundarbans World Heritage Site (Khulna) |
16 065 |
1998 |
To preserve breeding habitats. The Sundarbans mangrove forest is fairly evergreen with low floristic diversity. The two main dominant species are Heritiera fomes and Excoecaria agallocha. Both species are gregarious in nature but the latter is more saline tolerant and therefore, predominates in the saline zones. Other species are Rhizophora spp., Ceriops spp., Kandelia candel, Sonneratia apetala, Avicennia spp., Aegiceras corniculatum, Bruguiera gymnorhiza, Phoenix paludosa, Nipa fruticans, etc. and among grasses Imperata cylindrica, Typha elephantina and Phragmites karka are prominent. |
Sundarbans East (Khulna) |
5439 |
1977 |
To preserve the Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris) and its habitats. Flora is same as in the Sundarbans World Heritage Site. |
Sundarbans South (Khulna) |
17 878 |
1977 |
To preserve the Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris) and its habitats. Flora is same as in the Sundarbans World Heritage Site. |
Sundarbans West (Khulna) |
9069 |
1977 |
To preserve the Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris) and its habitats. Flora is same as in the Sundarbans World Heritage Site. |
Rema-Kalenga (Sylhet) |
1095 |
1981 |
To preserve the existing fauna and flora in the area. Flora is same as in tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forests. |
Char Kukri-Mukri (Bhola) |
40 |
1981 |
To preserve the existing habitat used by local and migratory birds. The sanctuary area is covered very thickly by a small spiny plant locally called tambulkanta that grows up to 2.5 metres in height. There are patches of hogla (Typha elephantina), hargoja (Acanthus illicifolius) and keora (Sonneratia apetala) scatteredly present throughout the sanctuary area. Khalisha (Aegiceras malus) is also seen. |
Pablakhali WS (Chittagong Hill Tracts) |
42 087 |
1983 |
To preserve fauna and habitat for white-winged wood duck (Cairina scutulata). The following types of forest cover are recognized in the sanctuary area: a) Tropical evergreen; important species are Pterygota alata and Quercus spp. b) Tropical semi-evergreen; important trees are Dipterocarpus spp., Mangifera, Amoora, Cinnamomum, Syzygium, Tetrameles, Artocarpus, Salmalia, Albizia, etc. c) Tropical moist deciduous; the characteristic tree species are Albizia, Salmalia, Terminalia, Ficus spp., etc. Bamboos grow in all the types as undergrowth. |
Hail Haor (Sylhet) |
1427 |
1983 |
To preserve habitats for migratory ducks. At present all the wetland areas are under management control of Haor Development Board. Their activities probably place more emphasis on paddy production and other agricultural crops. It is the most threatened habitat in the country. |
Hazarikhil (Chittagong) |
2909 |
1970 |
To preserve local fauna and habitats. The forest cover of the sanctuary is of evergreen/semi-evergreen type. Main species of trees are Dipterocarpus spp., Artocarpus chaplasha, Tetrameles nudiflora, Cedrela toona, Mesua ferrea, Eugenia spp., Ficus spp., Albizia procera, etc. Undergrowth consists mostly of bamboo and Eupatorium odoratum. |
Rampahar-Sitapahar (Rangamati) |
3026 |
1973 |
To preserve local fauna and habitats. Same as Hazarikhil except bamboos occur as prominent undergrowth. |
Chunati (Chittagong) |
7764 |
1986 |
To preserve habitats. As in the case of mixed evergreen forests, the upper storey of the sanctuary forest consists of deciduous trees such as Dipterocarpus turbinatus with fewer D. pilosus and D. costatus, A. Chaplasha, Salmalia insigne and S. malabarica, Ficus spp., Swintonia floribunda, Bandarholla, etc. The second storey consists of evergreen species, such as Quercus spp., Eugenia spp., Lannea spp., Lagerstroemia spp., Aphanomixis spp., Hargaza, etc. The undergrowth consists mostly of smaller evergreen trees with bamboo and assamlata (Eupatorium odoratum). |
Dulhazara Safari Park(Cox’s Bazar) |
1600 |
1995 |
To preserve habitats. Flora is same as in tropical semi-evergreen forests. |
Khagrachari (Chittagong Hill Tracts) |
n.a. |
n.a. |
To preserve elephants. Flora is same as in tropical wet evergreen forests. |
Teknaf (Cox’s Bazar) |
11 615 |
1983 |
To preserve the Asian elephant (Elphas maximus) and its habitats. Semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests. Dipterocarpus spp., Albizia procera, Artocarpus chaplasha, Salmalia malabarica, Sterculia alata, Quercus spp., Castanopsis spp. Eugenia spp., Lannea grandis, Lagerstroemia spp., Amoora spp. etc. Bamboo occurs as undergrowth mixed with canes, palms, orchids and ferns and sometimes as pure stands. This category does not fall in any of the ten categories described by the IUCN. |
In contrast to in situ conservation, ex situ conservation includes any practices that conserve genetic materials outside the natural habitat of the parent population. Ex situ conservation methods and materials include genebanks for seed or pollen as well as clone banks, arboreta, preservation plots, sample plots, etc:
• Preservation plots
The BFRI has established five preservation plots at different hill forest areas and 27 at the Sundarbans (mangrove) forest.
• Clone banks
The BFRI has established two clonal banks, one at Hayko, Chittagong (4 ha) and another at Ukhia, Cox's Bazar (4 ha). Seven tree species (Tectona grandis, Gmelina arborea, Bombax ceiba, Dipterocarpus turbinatus, Syzygium grande, Swietenia mahagoni and Paraserianthes falcataria) are preserved in these two locations.
• Botanical gardens
o Mirpur Botanical Garden: area 85 ha, with 255 tree species (total 28 200 plants), 310 shrub species (8400 plants), 385 herb species (10 400 plants). The total number of families of trees, herbs and shrubs is 114 (Ranjit 1997).
o Baldha garden: area 1.15 ha with 18 000 trees, herbs and shrubs from 820 species and 92 families (Ranjit 1997).
• BFRI Bamboo Arboretum
The BFRI Bambusetum (1.5 ha) has been established at the BFRI campus. This arboretum contains 27 bamboo species (Bambusa balcooa, B. bambos var. spinosa, B. burmanica, B. cacharensis, B. comillensis, B. jaintiana, B. multiplex, B. nutans, B. polymorpha, B. salarkhanii, B. tulda, B. vulgaris, B. ventricosa, Dendrocalamus giganteus, D. hamiltonii, D. longispathus, D. strictus, D. brandisii, Gigantochloa andamanica, G. atroviolacea, G. apus, Melocalamus compactiflorus, Melocanna baccifera, Schizostachyum dullooa, Thyrsostachys oliveri, T. regis and T. siamensis), including six exotic species. One arboretum of medicinal plants (1 ha) has been established at the BFRI campus with a collection of 40 species. One cane arboretum (0.5 ha) of seven species has also been established (Banik 1997). Three arboreta of tree species have been established at the BFRI HQ with 56 species, Keochia Forest Research Station with 56 species and Charaljani Silviculture Research Station with 52 species.
• Seed storage
There is a National Forest Seed Center (NFSC) at the BFRI; however, the centre does not have any facility for long time storage of seeds.
• Tissue culture
Tissue culture on forest tree species has been done only at the BFRI tissue culture laboratory. The BFRI has so far developed tissue culture techniques for six tree species and seven bamboo species.
Appendices 2-4 provide information on the conservation of important tree species in Bangladesh, their use and threats.
The BFRI has established provenance trials of Acacia mangium, A. auriculiformis, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, E. brassiana, E. tereticornis, E. urophylla, Tectona grandis, Gmelina arborea, Pinus caribaea, P. oocarpa, Paraserianthes falcataria, Leucaena leucocephala, Melaleuca leucadendra, Gliricidia sepium and Populus deltoides from 68 provenances.
Roles of different institutions are crucial in guiding the course of events and ensuring the successful achievement of aims and objectives. The Forestry Master Plan considered five interrelated institutions, i.e. policy, legislation, organizational structure, human resource development, research and extension.
Today the forestry and forest institutions in Bangladesh are judged in much wider context than before. The interrelated and multiple roles of forests are vital for human welfare and sustained socioeconomic development.
Bangladesh signed the convention on the Earth Summit on 5 June 1992 in Rio and subsequently ratified it on 20 March 1994. As a result, the country has certain obligations under the convention.
In accordance with the National Forest Policy promulgated in October 1994, the following policy objectives are set in order to eliminate any uncertainty regarding the aims of the Government:
• To meet the basic needs of the present and future generations and also to ensure greater contribution of the forestry sector in economic development.
• To create employment opportunities, strengthening the rural and national economy; the scope for poverty alleviation and trees and forest-based rural development sectors will be extended and consolidated.
• Biodiversity of the existing degraded forests will be enriched by conserving the remaining natural habitats of birds and animals.
• Agricultural sector will be strengthened by conserving the land and water resources.
• National responsibilities and commitments will be fulfilled by implementing various international efforts and agreements ratified by the government relating to global warming, desertification and control of trade and commerce of wild birds and animals.
• Through the participation of the local people, illegal occupation of the forestlands, illegal tree felling and hunting of wild animals will be prevented.
• Effective use and utilization of the forest goods at various stages of processing will be encouraged.
• Implementation of afforestation programmes on both public and private lands will be provided with encouragement and assistance.
The following species are the priority species in the Forest Department plantation programme:
Long rotation plantation species
Tectona grandis, Dipterocarpus turbinatus, Syzygium grande, Swietenia macrophylla, Chukrasia tabularis, Michelia champaca, Hopea odorata, Xylia kerrii, Lagerstroemia flos-reginae, Shorea robusta and Toona ciliata
Medium rotation species
In addition to the long rotation plantation species Pinus caribaea, Albizia flacatana, Bombax ceiba, Gmelina arborea, Anthocephalus chinensis and Eucalyptus camaldulensis, E. tereticornis, Dalbergia sissoo, Azadirachta indica, Samanea saman, Bombax ceiba, Acacia nilotica and A. catechu
Short rotation species
Acacia auriculiformis, Acacia mangium, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Melia azadirachta, Albizia chinensis, Leucaena leucocephala, Trewia nudiflora and Casuarina equisetifolia
Village groves
Artocarpus heterophyllus, Mangifera indica, Aegle mermelos, Litchi chinensis, Psidium guajava, Ziziphus spp., Syzygium, Albizia, Barringtonia, Eucalyptus, Erythea, Ficus, Albizia fuman, Anthocephalus, Tamarindus indica, Bombax ceiba, Swietenia macrophylla, Alstonia scholaris, Cocos nucifera, palmyra palm and bamboo
On marginal lands such as roadsides
Tectona grandis, Mangifera indices, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Dalbergia sissoo, Butea frondosa, Polyanthina longifolia, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Acacia auriculiformis, Swietenia, Albizia, Samanea, Syzygium and Casuarina equisetifolia
Multipurpose tree species for different zones:
Hillzones
Albizia lebbeck, A. procera, Phyllanthus emblica, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Elaeocarpus robusta, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Acacia auriculiformis and rattans
Coastal zone
Casuarina equisetifolia, Albizia lebbeck, Acacia procera, S. grandiflora, Cocos nucifera, Phonek sylvestria and Erythrina indica
Mangrove
Heritiera fomes, Avicennia sp., Bruguiera gymnorhiza, Ceriops decandra, Rhizophora mucronata and Sonneratia apetala
The BFRI conducts research under 12 programme areas. Each year the Institute undertakes a number of priority research studies following the suggestions of the Bangladesh Forest Department, Bangladesh Forest Industrial Development Corporation, Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation, Bangladesh Tea Board, Rural Electrification Board, other wood-based industries, private owners and non-government organizations. The suggested studies are scrutinized by a Technical Committee. The selected studies are approved by an Advisory Committee.
The BFRI conducts a number studies on FGR conservation and management under the following programme areas: (i) Biodiversity and its conservation, (ii) Production of quality planting materials, (iii) Plantation techniques and forest management, (iv) Breeding and improvement, (v) Social and non-timber forest products, (v) Social forestry and farming system research and (vi) Pest and diseases. Seed Orchard Division, Silviculture Research Division, Silviculture Genetics Division, Mangrove Silviculture Division, Plantation Trial Unit Division, Minor Forest Products Division, Soil Science Division, Forest Protection Division and Farming System Research Component are involved in conducting these studies.
A total of 44 technologies have been developed and out of these, 28 technologies have been transferred to end-users. A total of 16 technologies on conservation and management of FGR have been developed and transferred to different end-users. Training programmes based on these new technologies are arranged as and when required.
