CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Forest areas, vegetation types, ecology and climate in Bangladesh
Bangladesh accounts for 2 230 000 ha of legally declared forest lands. According to FAO (1981), 8.6 % of these consisted of woody vegetation, covering 1 240 000 ha. In 1990, 6 % of the land area had a forest cover accounting for 800 000 ha, (FAO 1993). The percentage of forest cover in relation to total land area is 10.2%; forest plantations were 625,000 ha in 2000 (FAO, 2005). The area of forestland is 2.53 million ha which is 17.5% of the country’s total area (Roy, 2004).Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) manages 1.53 million hectares of forestland (Roy, 2004).However, only 0.93 million ha (6.5%) are under tree cover which is about 40% of the government controlled forests. The remaining 60% includes the denuded grassland, scrub and encroached lands. At least 73 000 ha of forest land has been lost due to encroachment for aquaculture and agriculture. Another 8000 ha are lost due to homesteads and annual deforestation. Village forests composed of woodlots and other multipurpose fast growing trees, bamboos, canes, shrubs, etc. is estimated to be 0.27 million ha. This is about one-tenth of government forest area yet supplying 70-80% of sawnlogs, and 90% of fuelwood and bamboo consumed in the country. (Banik, 1980.)
Bangladesh enjoys generally a sub-tropical monsoon climate. While there are six seasons in a year, three namely, Winter, Summer and Monsoon are prominent. Winter which is quite pleasant begins in November and ends in February. In Winter there is not usually much fluctuation in temperature which ranges from minimum of 7°-13° C to maximum of 24°-31° C. The maximum temperature recorded in Summer months is 37° C although in some places this occasionally rises up to 41° C or more. Monsoon starts in July and stays up to October. This period accounts for 80% of the total rainfall. The average annual rainfall varies from 1429 to 4338 millimeter. The maximum rainfall is recorded in the coastal areas of Chittagong and northern part of Sylhet district, while the minimum is observed in the western and northern parts of the country. (BBS, 2006)
2.2. Classification of forest
The forests of Bangladesh are broadly classified into three categories based on the topographic conditions (a) Hill forests, (b) Plain Sal forests, and (c) Mangrove Littoral forests. The hill forests contain most of the productive forest areas and plain Sal forests the least. In terms of forest land under forestry use, the Hill forests contribute 508, 991 ha (45.4%) followed by the Littoral Mangrove Forests and Coastal Afforestation extending over 489,872 ha (43.7%), and Plain Sal Forest account for the rest 121, 884 ha (10.9%) of the forest area. (FAO, 2000)
2.2.1. Hill forest
The total area of Hill Forests is 6, 70,000 hectares, which is 4.65% of country’s area and 44% of total forestland managed by the Forest Department. Hill Forests are spread over the hilly areas of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Sylhet and Chittagong Hill Tracts. (Khan et al, 2006)
The Hill Forests are ecologically more important and constitute more than half of the forests of the country. Ecologically, these hill forests constitute a transition between the Indian subcontinent floristic region and the Indo-China floristic region. They consist of moist tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, which extend from Teknaf Peninsula, north along Myanmar border to the Chittagong Hills and Hill Tracts and the low hills in Sylhet district. The forests are generally uneven-aged and multistoried. Pure stands of single species do not occur. The majority of smaller understory trees are evergreen and most of the dominant trees are deciduous. . (Milde et al, 1985) categorize these forests into following seven general forest sub-types (Tropical wet evergreen, Tropical mixed evergreen, Tropical moist deciduous, Tropical open deciduous, Bamboo, Lowland fresh water swamp, and Savanna).
2.2.1.1. Tropical Wet Evergreen Forests
This subtype occurs in deep valleys with abundant moisture and shaded aspects. Artocarpus chaplasha (Chaplish), Tetramefes nudiflora (Chundal), Pterygota alata (Narikeli) are common and reach a height of about 30meters. The fern, orchids, climbers, creepers, shrubs form the understory.
2.2.1.2. Tropical Mixed Evergreen
These are tall multistoried forests on hilly and alluvial flats. The dominant trees are about 60-65 meters high and consist of Depterocarpus species (Garjan), Swintonia floribunda (Civit), Chundal and Narikeli. Middle and lowerstory story of trees is present with diverse understory.
2.2.1.3. Tropical Moist Deciduous
Such forests occur on the edge of rivers and in low lying areas. Trees are interspersed with large open patches of grasses, reeds and bananas. The main tree species are deciduous like Anthocephalus chinensis (Kadam), Trewia nudiflora (Pitali) and Duabanga grandiflora (Bandarhola).
2.2.1.4. Tropical Open Deciduous
The dry exposed slopes with a southern aspect sustain such type of forests. Large trees occur as scattered individuals and main species are Albizzia species (Karoi), pitali, bandarhola and Michelia champaca (Champa). The understory consists of dense undergrowth of stunted evergreen tree species and impenetrable tangle of stems of Eupatorium odoratum (Assam).
2.2.1.5. Bamboo
Bamboo is a very important non-wood forest resource in Bangladesh. About 70% of bamboo resources are on private lands in the villages. The rest of the bamboo is in forest areas but it accounts for only about 20% of annual national supply of bamboo. Forests in Chittagong Hill Districts are the richest in bamboo, followed by Sylhet district. The bamboo in forest areas of Bangladesh is managed on a 3 to 4 year cutting cycle. Bamboo is present either as single or mixture of different bamboo species in almost all the forests in the Chittagong Hill Tracts or in Sylhet Division. Eight species are indigenous and four (Muli, Mitenga, Daloo and Orah) of them are commercially important. The Melocanna baccifera (Muli) bamboo is most predominant and occurs either as a pure stand or in association with other species over extensive areas. Muli prefers well drained sites while the other species prefer shaded moist sites. Bamboo also occurs as understory specie in many of the other forest types.
2.2.1.6. Lowland Fresh water Swamp
The characteristic tree species is Barringtonia acutangula (Hijal), and the characteristic grasses and reed are Phragmites karka (which predominates near water), Erianthus revenea (Ekhra) and Saccharum spontaneum. (Khagra). A variety of grassland and wetland ecosystems are found in such areas like wetland areas of Sylhet District. The tree cover is greatly reduced but the grassland and wetlands remain very important for many species of birds and fish. Some small patches of freshwater swamp forest can also be seen in Sunamganj district and at Pasua Haor in Gurmar Beel. Although the fresh water swamp forests described above have nearly disappeared, a vast area of fresh water wetlands exists in the country. The wetlands include lakes, the Ganges-Brahmaputra flood plain, river estuaries and at least 47 major haors and 6,300 beels. They occupy about half the land area of the country in the monsoon season. These fresh water wetlands support a wide variety of species of fauna and flora, both terrestrial and aquatic. For example, Haor Basin of Sylhet and eastern Mymensingh have special biological significance. This area is described as "a wetland ecosystem of outstanding international significance" especially as waterfowl habitats. These wetlands provide habitat for about 125 species of resident and migratory water birds as well as a diversity of aquatic and terrestrial plants, aquatic invertebrates, fish, mammals, amphibians and reptiles. In the winter they support 100,000-150,000 ducks and provide refuge for many species rare elsewhere in the country. At present, no fresh water wetlands are protected and there is no management plan for such wetlands.
2.2.1.7.Savanna
Many ecologists do not consider the Savanna as a natural ecosystem. It is dominated by thick Impretta species (Sungrass). It is more common in Unclassified State Forest (USF) areas in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. (Milde et al, 1985)
2.3. Management Approach in Hill Forests
The management approach is traditional, i.e., clear felling followed by artifi cial regeneration of valuable species with a rotation of 40 years (long rotation), 18 years (short rotation) and very short rotation of 6 years. The bamboos appear either as pure stand or as understorey, and are managed under the culm selection system with a felling cycle of 3 to 4 years (Zabala, 1990). The forest reserves shrank dramatically over time. To overcome this situation a new approach, named participatory management, was introduced in 1981 at northern part of Bangladesh (Ahmed, 2003). At present, the forest management in different Hill Forest Divisions is totally based on participatory approach (Chowdhury, 2006)
2.4. Forest management and loss of forest cover
2.4.1. The role of the government’s forest management policies
The Forest Department endorsed the practice of clearfelling followed by artificial regeneration in the Chittagong, Chittagong Hill Tracts, and Cox’s Bazar Forest Divisions in 1923 and in the Sylhet Forest Division in 1959. Clearfellingcum- plantation model is based on the plantation of a single dominant teak (Tectona grandis) species and accounts for approximately 70%of the plantations raised following clearfelling (Siddique, 1986). This practice has endured as the principal method managing Hill Forests because the Forest Department has regarded artificial teak plantation as providing a more valuable and a higher volume of trees than the natural forest species. However, Rithaler (1992) noted that clearfelling is a very wasteful practice in Bangladesh. Both the quality and quantity of the forests have deteriorated significantly under this policy. Forestal (1961) estimated a recoverable volume of 109.5m3 per ha in 1961–1963, but recently, the Bangladesh Forest Industries Development Corporation (BFIDC) has been recovering only 35–45 m3per ha (FMP, 1992c). Moreover, it is impossible to achieve the desired results from the planted forests due to a variety of reasons, including:
(i) A lack of scientific management and proper maintenance of the planted forests, both of which are basic requirements for a management policy based on the prescription of clearfelling-cum-plantations;
(ii) A failure to maintain those plantations that have been performed in clearfelled areas. The practice of clearfelling has steadily destroyed forests composed of more than 100 tree species of various ages (FMP, 1992a), and has replaced this diversity principally with a single teak species of uniform age and height. Inevitably, this process has had an adverse impact on both ecosystems and climate. The losses due to extinction are irreversible and present serious biological, economic, and environmental consequences (Quedraogo, 1997). Siddique (1986) has noted that, in clearfelling areas, soil erosion has been disastrous, soil fertility has been depleted, and the dryseason water levels of stream channels have been greatly reduced.
2.4.2. Facilities of the forest department for protecting forest resources
Because none of the forest stations had an adequate number of vehicles, motorbikes were reserved for the use of the forest officers, while forest guards were obliged to perform their duties in the forests. Moreover, forest stations were not equipped with communication systems, making immediate action against tree-poaching activities impossible. The forest guards had no means of confronting the organized and often well-armed illegal loggers. Sometimes, the forest officers and guards were impelled to ignore the illicit felling activities of organized gangs in order to safeguard their lives. The situation has deteriorated over time as a fixed number of forest guards confront an increasingly larger number of tree-poaching gangs.
2.5. Forest Land and Cover
The public forest land (classified and unclassified forest land) merely represents an administrative or legal landuse category of government-owned land, once covered by forests, and currently it may not have tree cover. During, 1999, the forest department has reported about 2213,600 ha of legal public forest land (Fig 2.1) and about 270,000 ha of private land (village forest/homesteads) having varying degree of tree cover, bringing total forest land in Bangladesh to about 2,483,600 ha.(FAO, 2000)
Source: FAO, 2000.
Fig.2.1. Constituents of public forest land in 1999
There is no complete and detailed forest landuse information of the entire country for any particular year or period because the landuse within "forest land" has been assessed for parts of the forests at different time periods. FMP, 1992 compiled such earlier assessments and updated some of them for the period 1985 to 1988 with local information and presented forest landuse for the reference year 1986. During 1999, the FRA, 2000 program of FAO has similarly compiled the latest information available for 1996 for national land use in Bangladesh.
2.6. Factors Affecting Forest Resources
The forest mosaic over the landscape is defined by nature and modified by mankind and its associates. The forest pattern dynamics is, therefore, outcome of the use regime and contextual conditions in which forests reside. This chapter describes human population, agriculture, livestock, economic development and inter-linkages etc. to provide an idea of direction and intensity with which these factors affect the forest resources in Bangladesh.
2.6.1. Human Population
Last census in 1991 recorded 111.4 million people in Bangladesh growing at about 2.1% per annum with about 80% of them living in rural areas in 59, 990 villages having average household size of 5.3 persons. A majority (88.3%) of population is muslim and the balance belongs to other religions. The overall literacy rate is 32.4% but the literacy rate of women is very low (about 50% of men). Average population density is about 750/km2, reaching some 1,300/km2 near Dhaka, Chittagong and other population centers. The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) has the least population reflecting the lower carrying capacity of the land and lack of infrastructure and its social (tribal) nature (BBS, 1997).
Source: BBS, 1997.
Fig.2.2. Population Growth in Bangladesh during last century
High population base and its exponential growth (Fig. 2.2) present very serious problem to Bangladesh. This is inhibiting its economic growth and sustained resource management and use. Very high ratio of "man to available land area" has accelerated the competition for using limited land resources for different purposes. Lower and slower improvements in agriculture productivity have further intensified the competition for the arable land. The demographic pattern (54% of population below 15 years of age residing in agricultural dependent rural areas) is likely to worsen this scenario in the near future. The poverty in rural Bangladesh is widespread and increasing. About 50 million people residing in about half of the total households consume less than the minimum diet level of 2,122 calories. Further, half of the above (25 million) people are hard core poor who consume even less than 1,805 calories. About 90% of the above poor reside in rural areas. Various studies indicate continual rise in poverty in rural areas of Bangladesh (BBS 1996, CSO 1995, Woden 1997 and WFP 1997, WFP 1998). Among the rural poor, condition of women is precarious in respect of income and fuelwood security. Income and fuelwood insecurity, coupled with social – cultural factors, makes the poor, especially women and children, most vulnerable in rural Bangladesh. Women headed households are few and their income are about 40% less than male headed households.
2.6.2. Agriculture
Bangladesh has very fertile lands but the agricultural system is inhibited with poor level and growth of productivity (Fig 2.3). Increase in productivity is minimal. About 8.84 million hectare is the net cropped area and most (49%) of it is cropped once, and only about 42% is cropped twice. The area "cropped thrice" in a year is limited to only 9%.
Source: FAO, 2000.
Fig.2.3. Per capita agriculture crop production index
The almost static agricultural productivity, rapid growth of population, and increasing dependence of rural people on farmlands may continue to dampen the economic growth. Small group of affluent landowners holds large areas of fertile land leaving about 40% of rural population as landless. The fragmentation of land holdings of small and medium farmers increasing and this is adversely affecting investment in agriculture and adoption of modern technologies to improve production.
2.6.3. Livestock
Most of the farm households keep livestock but normally their quality is poor. However, the total population of such livestock is exponentially increasing. The last (1983-84) agricultural census (Table 2.1) counted about 22 million cattle and buffaloes, and about 14 million sheep and goats. The number of goats has risen very fast in comparison with other types of livestock. The grazing facilities for livestock are very limited and poor in rural Bangladesh due to heavy pressure on culturable land. (FAO, 2000)
Table 2.1. Growth trends of livestock population
(Source:BBS, 1997)
Number of cattle and buffalo is less with small and marginal farmers (0 to 0.4 ha farm size) and more with medium (0.4 ha to 3ha farm size) and large (more than 3 ha farm size) farmers. The distribution of goats and sheep among farmers is in the reverse order with small and marginal farmers possessing more than the medium and the large farmers.
2.6.4. Human Development
Lower income, poor level of education, subsistence needs, fewer employment alternatives outside agriculture, proximity and forest dependency of local poor people jointly create such conditions that adversely affect forests of Bangladesh. During past many years, human development in Bangladesh has lagged behind its economic progress and has not equitably benefited the poor, rural, and women of Bangladesh. The human development index indicates declining trend in development of human resources in Bangladesh. Further, this index for poor, rural and women is lower than that for rich, urban, and men because the country has significant class, area, and gender disparities in income, education and development opportunities. For example,
about 85 percent of the population is rural and their per capita income is about 13% lower than of urbanites. The gross primary enrollment ratio for extreme poor is about 40 percent and for others it is 75 percent. The case for higher education and women is still worse. The wage rates for women are reported to be about half those of men even when women’s participation in the labor force is a continually increasing. The rate of growth of total employment during last decade is very low (less than 10%). The total employment in agriculture has increased while its percentage share in total employment is going down. Declining share of employment of manufacturing sector makes the situation worse. The contribution of "forestry" sub-sector to employment within agricultural sector is lowest (0.34% in 1996). The "agricultural crop" and "livestock" sub-sectors together make provide maximum (98.13 % in 1996) employment within agriculture sector. Even the contribution of "fisheries" (1.53% in 1996) to employment is more than the forestry.
2.7. Major threats to forests
The following agents and reasons are the major threats to the natural forest resource, protected area as well as biodiversity of Bangladesh. (Roy, 2004)
Ø Destruction of habitat
Ø Overexploitation
Ø Indiscriminate use of agro-chemicals
Ø Oil spills
Ø Encroachment into the natural forests
Ø Change in land use pattern and land use
Ø Conflict
Ø Indiscriminate hunting
Ø Poaching of animals
Ø Habitat destruction
Ø Lack of people’s awareness
Ø Poor management of protected areas
Ø Lack of a plan for compatible forest and
Ø wildlife management
Ø Inefficient implementation of law for wildlife
Ø Conservation
Ø Natural calamities (flooding, storm surge).
2.8. Non wood forest products
Non-wood forest resources as a group, apart from their economic value, represent the bulk of diversity in natural forests. The situation with regard to the management of non-wood forest products in the natural forests is far from satisfactory. Hundreds of items are exploited daily from the forests by local inhabitants. Of the thatching and weaving resources, sungrass is used extensively in rural areas. The production of sungrass is about 2 million bundles. It grows abundantly in the denuded and Savannah forests, mostly those in the eastern hilly forests. Leaf of golpata (Nypa fruticans) of the Sundarbans is an important thatching material in the southern districts. The annual production is about 70,000 m tons. Rattan, an important resource of hill forests, is also cultivated as a homestead plant, and is used for making furniture, baskets, and a number of fancy articles; the harvest rate being 1,00,000 running metres.
Bamboo is the most important non-wood forest resource in Bangladesh. Some 10 species occur naturally in forest, which account for about 20% of the national stock. Muli (Melocanna baccifera) is the most prominent. Forests of Chittagong and the Chittagong Hill Tracts are the richest sources of bamboo, followed by the Sylhet hill forests. The rest come from village groves distributed throughout the country.
Murta, a reed plant, is used for making sleeping mats, bags, baskets and many utility items. It grows in both natural and homestead forests. Nowadays, inflorescence of a grass, named phuljharu (Thesalonaena maxima) used to make brooms is an economic material of hill forests. About 500 species of plants having medicinal properties occur in the forests of Bangladesh. Depending on the phytochemical contents, different parts are collected and used in preparations of indigenous and folk medical formulations. There are about 500 Unani and Aurvedic medicine preparing units in Bangladesh. Current supply of plant materials for indigenous medicine is about 800 m tons. (FAO, 2000)
2.9. Overview of Sylhet Forest Division
In Sylhet Division the forests were started to be reserved after the report submitted by Mr. G.C. Sankey, Settlement officer in the year 1914. Raghunandan Hill was the first to be declared reserved forest in 1914. From the time of first reservation in 1914 until the year 1937, there was no regular working plan for the forests of the present Sylhet Forest Division. The first working plan was prepared in 1938 by N.N. Das to cover the period of 1938-1947. Under the Ahmed’s Working Scheme, a system was introduced in 1950 for conservation of selected natural forest areas for artificial regeneration. In the working plan for 1963-1982, conversion accelerated from about 220 ha per year to around 800 ha per year by 1984. In 1973-74, short rotation plantations of Malakana (Paraserianthes falcataria) were started for the purpose of producing logs for peeler and pulpwood on a 15-year rotation. This continued until 1986. (Chowdhuri, 2006)
FAP project (FAO/BGD/85/085) completed the inventory of the Sylhet forests in 1988. FMP (1992) team reviewed the figures in 1990s and the forest division was inventoried in 1997. A comparison with the 1988 inventory indicates that closed forest have roughly remained the same at about 2,749 ha in 1988 and 2,782 ha in 1996. However, area under scattered trees has decreased from 23, 239 in 1988 to 20,911ha in 1996 and the total volume has gone down to 1.26 million m3 in 1996. In Sylhet the bamboo (muli) resources have decreased from about 17,000 stems to 11,000 stems per hectare over the last eight to ten years. (FAO, 2000)
The Sylhet Forest Division is extended over four districts, namely Sylhet, Sunamgonj, Moulovibazar, and Hobiganj under the central circle of the Forest Department. The area of the Sylhet Forest Division is between 23055’ and 25002’ North latitude and between 90055’ and 92030’ East longitude
The division is bounded by the Khasia and Jainta Hills of India on the North; Patharia Hills, Tripura and Assam in the East; the international boundary with Tripura State of India and Brahmanbaria District in the West. (Chowdhuri, 2006)
There are about 13, 647 sq. km. of total area in the greater Sylhet District. Out of this, the Forest Department administers 784.2 km2 (about 5.5%) of area which are distributed as follows
Source: (Chowdhuri, 2006).
Fig: 2.4. Area of different forest of Sylhet Forest Division
The Proposed Reserved Forests are formerly Un-classed State Forests now under the process of reservation. There are 47 Beats dividing the reserved area for the purpose of forest management and administration. These Beats were previously administered under 9 Ranges. In recent years, the numbers of ranges have been increased to 13. (Chowdhuri, 2006)
2.9.1. Forest Management System
For the purpose of managements, the forest areas of Sylhet will be divided into the following six working circles (Chowdhuri, 2006) namely long rotation working circle, short rotation working circle, bamboo working circle, preservation and recreation working circle, reedlands working circle and miscellaneaous working circle.
2.9.1.1. Long Rotation Working Circle
This working circle consist of 15,798 hectare of Teak and other Long Rotation plantations currently established ,and an additional 2,480 hectares of proposed new planting areas of ST type ,recovered encroached areas ,and other ,.Long rotation plantation are managed under a 40 year rotation .
2.9.1.2. Short Rotation Working Circle
This working circle consists of 2,074 hectares of existing short rotation plantations of various species and species mix and additional new planting areas of 1,580 hectares of recovered areas, open, and failed plantations. Short rotation plantation is managed under an 18-year rotation
2.9.1.3. Bamboo Working Circle
This circle consists of 23,000 hectares of existing bamboo forests. Bamboo forests are managed on a 4 year rotation
2.9.1.4. Preservation and Recreation Working Circle
This working circle consists of the notified areas of the Lawachara National Park, Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary and the Companyganj Wetland Nature Reserve .It will also included areas that will be identified and earmarked for preservation as recreational and tourism areas.
2.9.1.5. Reedland Working Circle
This working circle consists of Reedland reserved forest in Sunamganj and North Sylhet, except the area covered by the Companyganj Wetland Nature Reserve.
2.9.1.6. Miscellaneous Working Circle
This working circle consists of Sunkhola areas managed for grass production, stone, sand, and other miscellaneous forest produce. Some areas may overlap with other working circle .Sun grass in managed on an annual cycle, and stones /sand extraction permits are also assigned on an annual basis.
2.9.2. Felling series
Each Range constitutes a complete felling series of rotational sub blocks for each working circle. Cutting section can be assigned to specified Beats, or blocks within the beats. This is done to distribute the supply of wood resource s allocate work in the establishment and cultural treatment of plantations, and as a basis for long-term regulations of forest plantations.
2.9.3. Resource Outlook
2.9.3.1. Natural forest
The moratorium on natural forest conservation in 1990 was intended to put an end to the practice started in 1950 of replacing natural forest with more productive forest plantations. While this practice had its good economic intentions, it resulted practically in the disappearance of the natural hill forests. Today there are less than 3000 hectares of this type of forest left in the Sylhet Forest Division. Based on the results of the forest inventory of 1996 , the productive natural forest consisting of high forest (HF) and low forest (LF) , still hold some 114 m3 /ha of timber for all trees 20 cm and above in diameter. The degraded type of natural forests of which there are 871 hectares left, hold only 17 m3 /ha. (Canonizado, 1998)
2.9.3.2. Plantation forest
The conservation of natural forests from 19950-1990 into long rotation and short rotation plantation has resulted in the massive accumulation of timber wealth in various stages of maturity. For a wood hungry nation like Bangladesh, these plantations are great assets that must be managed well. The land available for plantations is already limited as it is with less than 20% of the country’s land area devoted to forestry. The only remaining option to increase wood production is through intensive forest management. To this end, a plan is set forth to pave the foundations for this intensive form of management to take place. This is the grid system of demarcating and characterizing every 25 hectares of forest land. This system when fully installed will permit the Forest Department to more effectively plan and monitor the status of development of forest plantations and the remaining natural forest. (Canonizado, 1998)
2.9.3.3. Bamboo Resources
There are currently some 23,600 hectares of bamboo resources both natural and plantations in the division. On a 3 year cutting cycle, yields an annual cutting area of 7,800 hectares. Based on FRMP Inventory figures, the average number mature stems per hectares is 5, 090 of Muli and 3,372 for other species. The sustained of bamboo is thus, 40 million stems of Muli and 26 million of other species per year. Bamboo production during last 5 years had been averaging at 16 million indicating that the resource is not being fully utilized. (Canonizado, 1998)
The area covered with bamboo has apparently increased from 14,000 hectares in 1984 (FAO, 1992) to the current 23,600 hectares. The FRMP Inventory also indicates a decline in area productivity for bamboo forests. In Juri, where bamboo enumeration was conducted, FRMP found that the number of mature stems per hectare of Muli was 5090 compared to the 18,104 stems /ha by the FAO Inventory in 1984. The disparity between the two figures can not be adequately explained as annual production is much lower than the calculated sustained yield. This difference should be the subject of a more detailed inquiry at the field level. (Canonizado, 1998)
2.9.3.4. Other Resources
The FRMP forest inventory did not include resource data for resources other than timber and bamboo. Sungrass, cane, murta, fish, and limestone production levels are erratically distributed over the period 1991-1997 and there is no valid basis for making any future projections. Suffice it to say, that these resources will be managed on an area control basis, and further studies need to be conducted to determine the optimum and sustainable levels of their extraction. (Canonizado, 1998)
2.10. Rema-Kalenga Wild life Sanctuary (RKWS)
2.10.1. History of establishment
The Taraphil Reserved Forest was established under a declaration of the forest Act 1927, covering a total area of 6232 ha. Considering its biodiversity values and conservation needs, later the government declared a part of the Reserved Forest (RF) as the Rema- Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary in 1982 and further expanded the sanctuary area through another declaration in 1996. The sanctuary comprises southern eastern parts of Taraphil Reserved Forest incorporating parts of Kalenga, Chonbari and Rema beats (Chemonics 2002).
1st Gazette Notification: No. 11/ FR-68/81/882, dated 7-1- 1982.
2nd Gazette Notification for extension: No. PBM (Sec-3) 7/96/371, dated 7-7 1996
2.10.2. Area
Area under 1st gazette Notification = 1095 ha approx. (2705 acres)
Area under 2nd gazette notification = 700 ha approx (1730 acres)
Total area = 1995 ha approx (4435 acres)
2.10.3. Boundary
The Sanctuary is generally bounded on the North by the northern limit of Kalenga Beat area, on the East by the international boundary of India following the lines between boundary monuments Nos. 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, and 1960 in a general south to southwesterly directions, and on the west by the limits of Forest Compartments 2 and 4 of Rema Beat (Rosario, 1997a). FSP (2000a) mentioned that the Sanctuary is bordered along most of its northern and western boundaries by FD lands, along part of its southwestern boundary Tea Estate lands, along its southern and eastern boundaries by India, and along a small portion of its northern boundary by Khas lands.
2.10.4. Legal Status and Special Regulatory Provisions
The Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary was established under the provisions of Article 23(1) of the Bangladesh Wildlife (Preservation) Order of 1973 (Presidents Order No. 23 of 1973), as amended by The Bangladesh Wildlife (Preservation) (Amendment) Act, 1974. Specifically, the Order prohibits any kind of killing, hunting or trapping of any wildlife (within and around 1 mile radius from the outer boundary of the sanctuary), agricultural activities, living or entering into the sanctuary of any persons or destruction to the sanctuary habitat. The Order also prohibits introduction of any exotic or release of any domesticated animals in the sanctuary. However, under special circumstances, such activities could be allowed by the government only when it is deemed necessary for its development, its beautification or for any other scientific reasons (Bangladesh Wildlfe (Preservation) (Amendment) Act, 1974).
2.10.5. Topography/Physiography
The sanctuary encompasses several hills of different elevations and the low-laying valleys. The highest peak of the hills is about 67 m from the sea level (Rizvi, 1970). There are a series of ridges of the hills running in different directions, and valleys locally kown as “Lunga” with flowing water during monsoon but dry in winter season. Three main channels viz. Karangi chara, Lokhkhia chara, Rema chara with many tributaries criss-cross the sanctuary and constitute the major drainage system in the area. All the three channels flow towards west and fall in the Khuai River (Uddin and Hasan 2002a). The hills of Rema-Kalenga are composed of Upper Tertiary rocks in which sandstone largely predominates (Ahmad 1970) along with siltstones and mudstones, locally altered to slates and shales. Limestones are also found in hills on the northeast border of Khasia and Jainta Hills. Soil of the sanctuary varies from clay to sandy loam exceedingly fertile and show low pH. In some cases, soils texture consists of yellowish red sandy clay mixed with granules of magniferous iron ore (Ahmed 1970). The sanctuary enjoys a most tropical climate characterized by a period of high precipitation from April to September and five months of relatively dry period from November to March. FRR and DU (1996) reported two important and valuable habitats: jheels - low-laying areas of forest with an upper canopy 25-30 m high, and in some areas phumdi, found on the forest floor – a mat of soft decomposing organic matter with some grass and herbs overlying water. One artificial lake has been recently created on the edge of the present sanctuary by excavating and damming a natural drainage course (<5>
