Conservation Benefits of Tropical Multifunctional Land-Uses in and Around a Forest Protected Area of Bangladesh

Abstract

Abstract:Competing interests in land for agriculture and commodity production in tropical human-dominated landscapes make forests and biodiversity conservation particularly challenging. Establishment of protected areas in this regard is not functioning as expected due to exclusive ecological focus and poor recognition of local people's traditional forest use and dependence. In recent years, multifunctional land-use systems such as agroforestry have widely been promoted as an efficient land-use in such circumstances, although their conservation effectiveness remains poorly investigated. We undertake a rapid biodiversity survey to understand the conservation value of four contrasting forms of local land-use, namely: betel leaf (Piper betle) agroforestry; lemon (Citrus limon) agroforestry; pineapple (Ananas comosus) agroforestry; and, shifting cultivation-fallow managed largely by the indigenous communities in and around a highly diverse forest protected area of Bangladesh. We measure the alpha and beta diversity of plants, birds, and mammals in these multifunctional land-uses, as well as in the old-growth secondary forest in the area. Our study finds local land-use critical in conserving biodiversity in the area, with comparable biodiversity benefits as those of the old-growth secondary forest. In Bangladesh, where population pressure and rural people's dependence on forests are common, multifunctional land-uses in areas of high conservation priority could potentially be used to bridge the gap between conservation and commodity production, ensuring that the ecological integrity of such landscapes will be altered as little as possible.

Biodiversity in Locally Managed Lands

“…Mukul et al [11] measured the conservation value of four local agroforestry land uses and the forest itself, in and around a protected forest in Bangladesh. They found that agroforestry can complement the protected area.…”

The Critical Nexus and Implications of Smallholder Tobacco Production as a Livelihood Strategy to Forest Landscapes in Zimbabwe

“…For example, a win-lose link ensues when deforestation cost borne by a society for its development as forest resources are turned in to satisfy agricultural requirements [25]. The increase in agricultural production has driven the change and deterioration of tropical forests [15,17,29]. An ideal win-win relationship is when forests are allowed to regenerate to ensure adequate ground cover to achieve an appropriate landscape without compromising ecosystem integrity [25].…”

“…The selective cutting down of indigenous trees for tobacco production is a case in point here. This is characterized by an alteration of the species composition, even leading to biodiversity loss which is seen as a pervasive global environmental threat [15,16,45]. This difficult situation also results from the inherent changes of the ecosystems and the shifting human relations driven by the prevailing socioeconomic fundamentals and systems of rules [42].…”

“…Thus farmers selectively cut down for example, huge indigenous trees some of which would have taken 75-150 years to mature [11]. The rising need for land to cater for the economy in a way that allows conservation, ecosystem service functions and supporting the livelihoods of rural communities pose a daunting task in the governance of land resources [15]. Ongoing deforestation, deterioration of forest resources in conjunction with loss of biodiversity and habitat fragmentation in the tropics have been a worldwide concern [16][17][18][19].…”

Agroforestry: A Supplementary Tool for Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

“…The impact of climate change greatly threat agriculture productions and food security more in many developing countries (Cotter and Tirado, 2008). Moreover, conflicts of interests between conservationist and agriculture sectors on biodiversity reserve area were intensified in tropical human-dominated landscapes (Mukul and Saha, 2017). The above all indicated that conservation of biodiversity (both flora and fauna) merely in natural reserve is proved to be difficult.…”