BANGLADESH JOURNAL OF FOREST SCIENCE
A Half-yearly Peer Reviewed Journal of Bangladesh Forest Research Institute
A Half-yearly Peer Reviewed Journal of Bangladesh Forest Research Institute
The paper reviews information on climate changes, status of forests, biodiversity
and vulnerability of biological resources in Bangladesh particularly in mangrove areas.
Atmospheric concentration of green house gases modifies the global and regional climates
and consequently affects adversely the environment ofBangladesh. There may be increase in
temperature, rainfall and frequency of cyclones, and sea level rise in the coast ofBangladesh.
The country is likely to experience repeated flooding, cyclones, tidal surges, soil erosion,
heavy sedimentation,salinity increase and prolonged drought
The paper reviews information on climate changes, status of forests, biodiversity
and vulnerability of biological resources in Bangladesh particularly in mangrove areas.
The atmospheric concentration of green house gases modifies the global and regional climates
and consequently affects adversely the environment of Bangladesh. There may be an increase in
temperature, rainfall and frequency of cyclones, and sea level rise in the coast ofBangladesh.
The country is likely to experience repeated flooding, cyclones, tidal surges, soil erosion,
heavy sedimentation,salinity increase and prolonged drought.
The forest covers 17% of the total area of Bangladesh but only 7.7% are under
closed tree cover. With regard to biodiversity, the plant kingdom supports about 5,000
angiospermic species including 10% trees, 35% shrubs and woody climbers and 50% herbs.
The mangrovesinclude 70 species of plant. About animals, the mammals comprise 50 species,
birds 275, reptiles 50 and amphibians 8 species compared to 110 species of mammals, 628
birds, 109 reptiles and 22 amphibians in the entire Bangladesh. Considerable number of
plant and animal species is threatened with disappearance due to human pressure, and the
situation will aggravate with changing climate. Extinction or migration ofspecialized plants
and animals will take place with regular flooding, increasing soilsalinity and other ecological
changes. Probable impact of sea level rise in the coastal areas on forests and biodiversity is
unknown. For living organisms, it may be possible to overcome small and gradualsea level
rise but will disappear in case of abrupt change.
Keora (Sonneratia apetala Buch.-Ham.) is a
pioneer species in coastal areas of Bangladesh
(Siddiqi 2001). It alone constitutes 94.4% of the
existing mangrove plantations (Siddiqi and
Shahjalal 1997) because of its high survival and
growth in the newly accreted land. However, the
information on flowering, fruiting and seed
collection are very little. There was no systematic
study in this context. So, for a clear understanding
about the phenology of keora a study over a period
of 12 monthsfrom January to December 1996 was
conducted in the coastal plantation ofKattoli under
Chittagong Coastal Afforestation Division.
The rural people depend largely on homestead forestry for their fuel, energy and house
building materials (Alam et al. 1988). Deforestation of this homestead forstry have been causing
severe environmental degradation and poor yield
of crops, livestock, fisheries, etc. (Haq 1986).
Considering these facts, the present study was
conducted to find out the perception of the
farmers regarding the impact of homestead
afforestation and deforestation on environmental
upgradation and degradation respectively.
The Salna village under Kaultia Union
which is adjacent to the national forest area of
Gazipur district was selected for thisstudy. Out
of 378 farmers 100 were selected randomly as
sample. Data were collected through personal
interview, using a semi-structured interview
schedule during October24 toNovember23,1996.
The trend of plant population was measured by
considering 1975 as the baseline year and then the
change was shown after 10 years (1985), 5 years
(1990), 5 years (1995) and the study year which is
1996. The 5 years gap was used for two times
because it was assumed that the awareness
programme regarding deforestation wasstrengthened from that time. The number of tree during
the past period was measured on the basis of
number mentioned by the farmers depending on
their memory. For this reason, the farmers aged
above 40 years were selected for the study
Welcome to the Bangladesh Journal of Forest Science (BJFS) – a leading platform for advancing the knowledge and understanding of forest science in Bangladesh and beyond. Established with a commitment to excellence, BJFS serves as a cornerstone for researchers, practitioners, and enthusiasts dedicated to the sustainable management and conservation of forest ecosystems.
