Keora (Sonneratia apetala, Ham) is a
moderate sized tree growing in the mangrove
forests, especially in the Sunderbans
and similar other localities of Bangladesh.
The wood is moderately hard with grey
sapwood and light reddish-brown heartwood,
suitable for making boat, packing
case and rough furniture (Pearson and
Brown 1932). Because of its rapid growth,
it is regarded as an important mangrove
species for coastal afforestation. In order
to explore its new applications in woodbased
industries of the country, a
preliminary study was made in the Forest
Research Institute to investigate into its
suitability for hardboard making

Micrococca mercurialis ( Linn. ) Benth.
(Euphorbiaceae) cited as Cal oxy Ion mercurialis
Thwaites by Hooker ( 1887) was reported
by the same author as occurring at Mongir
of Behar, the Deccan Peninsula, Burma
and Ceylon. It is distributed in Arabia
and tropical Africa. Prain ( 1903) reported
it from Behar. This species has recently
been collected from Chittagong district.
In the various floristic works by Heining
( 1925 ), Raizada ( 1941 ), Datta and Mitra
( 1953), Sinclair ( 1955) and Khan and
Banu ( 1972) the species has not been
recorded from the region now under
Bangladesh.

Cultivation of oilpalm in Bangladesh
started in 1979. Six hundred hectares of
plantations have already been raised in
Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Sylhet forest
divisions on hilly land.
Oilpalms are best grown in many
countries located between 0° to 10° latitudes
(Hartley 1977). Bangladesh lies between
21°25′ to 26°38′ N latitudes. Therefore,
before undertaking ventures of large scale
plantation of oilpalm in Bangladesh, due consideration should be given on her climatic
and soil suitability aspects.

Gamar is a fast growing hardwood
species native to Bangladesh, India, Burma
and other parts of South East Asia. It
grows in a variety of sites but is at its
best in well drained soil. Gamar is already
a potentially important plantation species
in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Malaysia and
Brazil (Gibson 1975). It produces white
durable timber with good working properties
and has good pulping characteristics. In Bangladesh, since 1974, Gamar has
been planted on a 14 years’ rotation in
about 1.4 thousand hectares in the Pulp
Wood Plantation Division, Kaptai. The
future plan is to increase the plantation
over a larger area. Its primary object is

It has been shown that conventional
water repellent when applied to wood
lose their bond strength on weathering
(Voulgaridis 1980). It suggests that the
bond formed between wood and conventional
water repellents may lead to easy
detachment of the deposit from the cell
wall during exposure to weather If the
loss of effectiveness associated with the
above effect is significant, the use of water
repellent substances, able to form stronger
bonds (e. g. H-bonds or covalent bonds)
with the cell wall, may lead to enhanced
long term performance.

An experiment was designed to observe
the effect of tending treatments on the
growth and development of Teak (Tec tana,
grandis L.) saplings in Andermanik forest,
Chittagong, in 1978. It was noticed that
great variations existed among the plants
after five months of planting. Close
examinations suggested that the variability was
related to the size of Teak stumps planted.
This variability had a marked effect on
survival and early development of the
plants.

Coconut palm ( Cocos nucifera) is one
of the most important economic trees in
the tropica] countries. Coconut is planted
on a large scale along the coastal belt of
Bangladesh, particularly, in the districts of
Noakhali, Patuakhali, Barisal and Khulna.
According to the national survey of 1980-81,
there are about 23.4 million mature and
immature Coconut trees in the village
groves ( Anon. J 982 ), Many of these trees
will be overmature in the next few years
and will cross the prime age for the profitable
production of nuts. These trees will need
replacement by newer and more productive
varieties. This necessitates proper
utilization of overmature Coconut stems in
order to make the felling and replanting
operations economically viable. This will

The Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera
tigris tigris Linn.) is an endemic subspecies
in the Indian Sub-continent. Only a
few decades ago it had a wider range of
distribution throughout this region. But
due to steady reduction of the forest area
and ruthless killing, this animal is steadily
disappearing from its previous range. Now
it is confined to the Sundarbans only, where
a good population of tiger is still available.
The tiger plays an important role in
the ecosystem of the mangrove forests. It
occupies the top stratum in the food chain.
It mainly feeds on deer population which
in turn have a great influence on the
regeneration of different plant species.
Moreover, the tiger acts as a guard to protect
the forests from illicit felling and has the
potentiality of attracting local and foreign
tourists.

Among pole species in Bangladesh
Sundri is the most favoured one because
of its very good strength properties and
abundant availability. These facts have
prompted the Bangladesh Power
Development Board and the Bangladesh
Rural Electrification Board to show a keen
interest in using Sundri poles in power
transmission line in Bangladesh.
Sundri pole comes of a stem of Sundri
which occurs as a small to medium sized
evergreen tree with a grooved and buttressed
stem and
It grows
region
characteristic pneumatophores,
gregariously in the deltaic
of Bangladesh where it occurs
throughout the tidal forests. It is estimated
that the Sundarban forests could provide
more than 50,000 Sundri poles annually in
perpetual yield. (Latif 1965 ).

Teak has always been the principal
species in the plantation programmes of
Bangladesh. More than 70% of total plantation in the hill forests is composed
of Teak (Andersen 1969, Slavicky 1978,
White 1979).