From 1966 up to 1990 the Forest Department has raised a massive plantation of 125,000 hectares with Sonneratia apetala and Avicennia officinalis. However, due to rapid rise in ground level some areas in the coastal belt are now unsuitable for mangrove plantations. The Forest Department, therefore, tried some mcsophytic species in such areas. Seven non­ mangrove namely, Acacia nilotica, Albizia procera, Albizia lebbek, Pongatnia pinnata, Casuarina equisetifolia, Samanea saman and Hibiscus populanaeous were observed to exist in the mangrove areas.

A study on chemical analysis and water repellency property of ten village wood species was conducted to find out the percentages of their chemical components. It was found that raintrec (Samanea saman) possessed the highest amount of water soluble extractives. It was followed by babla (Acacia nilotica sub. indica), mango (tnangifera indica) and painya mandar (Erythrina ovalifolia). Nccm (Azadirachta indica) and jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) contained the least amount of this kind of extractives. Alcohol-bcnzcne soluble extractives of the species fell in the range of 1.38- 6.60%. The holocellulose content was the highest in tentul (Tamarindus indica). Chora nccm (Melia azadarach) ranked the next in this respect, in consideration to the cellulose content, tentul, ghora nccm, sissoo (Dalbergia sissoo), mango and babla may be suitable for chemical pulping and conversion products.

The gross features and minute anatomy of rubber wood (.Hevea brasiliensis (HBK.) Mucll. Arg.) have been studied in details. The probable uses of the wood have been described on the basis of the anatomical features.

The physical and mechanical properties of golla cane (Daemonorops Jenkinsiana) have been studied at three height positions. The variation of the properties due to node and internode has also been determined. The moisture content increases gradually from the bottom to the top. The specific gravity, compressive strength and bending strength decrease along the culm height. It is found that the node and internode have no effect on most of the properties. The inverse correlation is found for physical properties with compressive strength.

Vegetative propagation of silkoroi (Albizia procera), lohakath (Xylia kerrii) and sal (Shorea robusta) from root cuttings was tried. The results on the propagating environment with silkoroi root cuttings showed that a mixture of sawdust-sand medium in open bed was found more suitable than the sand medium in open bed and gravel medium in the mist bed. The age of the stock plant from which lohakath root cuttings were collected appears to have an important influence on their success rate and sucker production. Rooted cuttings taken from the three years old transplants regenerated more successfully than the cuttings taken from the mature trees. Sucker production is higher in longer and thicker cuttings, but when a thin (4-5 mm) and longer (10 or 15 cm) cuttings or thick (5.1-10 mm or 10.1-15 mm) and small (5 cm) cuttings were used poor regenerative capacity was observed. All successful cuttings of silkoroi and lohakath produced both roots and shoots. Regeneration of sal from root cuttings was not successful.

Seedlings of silkoroi (Albizia procera), chapalish (Artocarpus chaplasha), gam ar (Gmelina arborea), champa (Michelia champaca), and teak (Tectona grandis) were raised in 3 different sizes of polybags to study their growth performances at the nursery as well as in the field for the selection of an optimum size of polybag for large scale propagation. The results showed that the height and diameter growth of these species increased with the increase of polybag size, and maintained a good correlation with the seasonal variations (semi-dry, dry and wet season). In the field, seedlings raised in small and medium sizes of polybags (15 x 10 cm and 23 x 15 cm) showed higher percentage of survivality as their root/shoot ratio was higher. The small size (15 x 10 cm) polybags arc, however, recommended for the propagation of silkoroi, champa and gamar and the medium size (23 x 15 cm) polybags for teak and chapalish.

The outdoor recreation potentials of the Foy’s lake area have been investigated. Participant’s observation and informal pcrsonal/group interview techniques were applied to assess the intensity of visits, monthly income from visitors, monthly expenses for park management, natural and artificial facilities of tourists, outdoor recreation problems and constraints, and the recreation activities participated by the visitors. Picnicking is the highest rccrcaton activity (487c) and walking in the nature is the lowest (5%). The highest number of visitors by occupation, age group, and nature of visits are student (58%), 15-30 years (527c) and friends (327c) respectively. The male-female ratio is 67 : 33. The most serious problems for the visitors is safety and for the management authority is water pollution. The study identifies that the Foy’s lake area has all the components of a recreation park and it identifies some recommendations for development of the lake area to cater the outdoor recreation demand of the dwellers of metropolitan Chittagong.

Acacia mangium Willd. (mangium) is a promising fast growing multipurpose tree species of the family Leguminosae. The species has been successfully introduced to Bangladesh and is being planted since 1983. An attempt was made to prepare the volume tables for the species. Diameter at breast height (D)-volumc and D-hcight-volume relationships were determined to estimate the total volumes overbark and underbark. It was observed that the logarithmic function to the base e gives a good fit model for the same.

Change of morphological character of bamboo culms in relation to the age have been described. Presence or absence of culm sheath and nodal root rings, branching pattern and colour was found to be diagnostic characters for determining the age of culms ranging from 1 to 4 years in the clumps of five major bamboo species of Bangladesh.

Drying defects were quantitatively assessed from the identical timbers of solar, air and steam kiln drying. The stresses in the form of moisture gradients developed in these drying methods were determined. Drying defects were found dependent on the stresses. The quality of the solar dried timber was superior due to reduction of drying stresses because of rehumidification inside the solar kiln during the night.