Abstract
This chapter analyzes the extent of local participation in the co-management activities of Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary, Bangladesh and the local communities’ attitude towards it. The study showed that there is the participation of local Forest User Groups in different stages of the program, but in varying degrees, mostly dominated by passive way. All the respondents had the knowledge about the goal of the ongoing co-management project. Majority (about 82 %) of them had access on the trainings on livelihood options although they had no contribution on its choice. It resulted in the divergence between the right needs and the trainings received. Although a considerable portion of the community (76.2 %) had the freedom to express their opinion in the monthly meeting with the project authority, only a few (36.1 %) of them thought that their opinions/suggestions were valued properly. However, almost all the respondents (91.7 %) expressed their satisfaction with the activities of the Forest Department, the project implementation authority. Although a varying level of attitude was noticed on various perceptions, overall a favorable attitude of the respondents was explored. Attitudes also varied according to the respondents’ categories based on village position, village stake level, ethnicity and gender. Increase in annual income resulted from the augmented skills by trainings on AIG activities, and getting agricultural lands leased from the Forest Department contributed significantly to the variation in respondents’ conservation attitudes. It is suggested that eliminating inequity and inequality in incentive distribution, discovering and launching training on more need-based livelihood activities, and liberalizing the restriction of resource extraction by fixing the harvesting limit would encourage the community to involve more cordially in the conservation efforts of the sanctuary. For the local participation to really work, it is recommended that long-term relationships, faiths and commitments are required between both parties: the community and outside agents.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Agrawal A (2001) Common property institutions and sustainable governance of resources. World Dev 29(10):1649–1672
Agrawal A, Gibson C (1999) Enchantment and disenchantment: the role of community in natural resource conservation. World Dev 27(4):629–649
Ajzen I, Fishbein M (1980) Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Prentice-Hall, New Jersy
Akama JS, Lant CL, Burnett GW (1995) Conflicting attitudes toward state wildlife conservation programs in Kenya. Soc Nat Res 8:133–144
Allendorf T, Swe KK, Oo T et al. (2006) Community attitudes toward three protected areas in Upper Myanmar (Burma). Environ Conserv 33(4):344–352
Allendorf TD (2007) Residents’ attitudes toward three protected areas in southwestern Nepal. Biodivers conserv 16:2087–2102
Anthony B (2007) The dual nature of parks: attitudes of neighboring communities towards Kruger National Park, South Africa. Environ Conserv 34(3):236–245
Bandara R, Tisdell C (2003) Comparison of rural and urban attitudes to the conservation of Asian elephant in Sri Lanka: empirical evidence. Biol Conserv 110:327–342
Baral N, Heinen JT (2007a) Decentralization and people’s participation in conservation: a comparative study from the western Terai of Nepal. Int J Sustain Dev World Ecol 14:520–531
Baral N, Heinen JT (2007b) Resource use, conservation attitudes, management intervention and park-people relations in the Western Terai landscape of Nepal. Environ Conserv 34(1):64–72
Berkes F (1994) Co-management: bridging the two solitudes. Northern Perspect 22(2–3):17–21
Blay D, Appiah M, Damnyag L et al (2008) Involving local farmers in rehabilitation of degraded tropical forests: some lessons from Ghana. Environ Dev Sustain 10:503–518
Borrini-Feyerabend G (1996) Collaborative management of protected areas: tailoring the approach to the context. IUCN, Gland
Brighton D (2009) Incorporating social equity in conservation programs in the northeastern US. Int Forest Rev 11(2):197–206
Charnley S, Fischer AP, Jones ET (2007) Integrating traditional and local ecological knowledge 820 into forest conservation in the Pacific Northwest. For Ecol Manage 246:14–28
Desnik S (2004) The future of the cultivated landscape in the three-lateral park Goricko-Raab-Orseg. Nature Parks–Prospects for Rural Areas in Europe, Leipzig, 29 Oct 2004
Dimitrakopoulos PG, Jones N, Iosifides T et al (2010) Local attitudes on protected areas: evidence from three natura 2000 wetland sites in Greece. J Environ Manage 91:1847–1854
Dolisca F, McDaniel JM, Teeter LD (2007) Farmers’ perceptions towards forests: a case study from Haiti. Forest Policy Econ 9:704–712
Ericson JA (2006) A participatory approach to conservation in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, Campeche, Mexico. Landscape Urban Planning 74:242–266
Fiallo EA, Jacobson SK (1995) Local communities and protected areas: attitudes of rural residents towards conservation and Machalilla National Park, Ecuador. Environ Conserv 22(3):241–249
Fisher RJ (1995) Collaborative management of forest for conservation and development issues in forest conservation. IUCN, Gland
Geoghegan T, Renard Y (2002) Beyond community involvement: lessons from the insular Caribbean. Parks 12(2):16–27
Gillingham S, Lee PC (1999) The impact of wildlife related benefits on the conservation attitudes of local people around the Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania. Environ Conserv 26(3):218–228
Gobeze T, Bekele M, Lemenih M et al (2009) Participatory forest management and its impacts on livelihoods and forest status: the case of Bonga forest in Ethiopia. Int Forest Rev 11(3):346–358
Gonzalez AM, Gonzalez E, Deya AM (2006) Bosque del Pueblo, Puerto Rico: how a fight to stop a mine ended up changing forest policy from the bottom up. Policy that works for forests and people, no. 12, International Institute for Environment and Development, London
Grimble R, Wellard K (1997) Stakeholder methodologies in natural resource management: a review of principles, contexts, experience and opportunities. Agric Syst 55:173–193
Jim CY, Steve SW, Xu (2002) Stifled stakeholders and subdued participation: interpreting local responses toward Shimentai Nature Reserve in South China. Environ Manage 30(3):327–341
Khan MS, Bhagwat SA (2010) Protected areas: a resource or constraint for local people? A study at Chitral Gol National Park, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. Mt Res Dev 30(1):14–24
Krishna A (2003) Partnerships between local governments and community-based organizations: exploring the scope for synergy. Public Adm Dev 23:361–371
Lachapelle PR, McCool SF, Watson A (2004) Developing an understanding of landscape interactions, experiences and meanings: Auyuittuq and Quttinirpaaq National Parks of Canada. The University of Montana and USDA Forest Service, Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Missoula
Lilltle PD (1994) The link between local participation and improved conservation: a review of issues and experiences. In: Little PD (ed) Natural connections: perspectives in community-based conservation. Island Press, Washington D.C., pp 347–372
Matta JR, Alavalapati JRR (2006) Perceptions of collective action and its success in community-based natural resource management: an empirical analysis. For Policy Econ 9:274–284
McDermott MH, Schreckenberg K (2009) Equity in community forestry: insights from North and South. Int Forest Rev 11(2):157–170
McNeely JA (1990) The future of national parks. Environment 32(1):16–20
Mehta JN, Kellert SR (1998) Local attitudes toward community-based conservation policy and programs in Nepal: a case study of the Makalu-Barun Conservation Area. Environ Conserv 25(5):320–333
Mehta JN, Heinen JT (2001) Does community-based conservation shape favorable attitudes among locals? An empirical study from Nepal. Environ Manage 28(2):165–177
Mulder MB, Schacht R, Caro T et al (2009) Knowledge and attitudes of children of the Rupununi: Implications for conservation in Guyana. Biol Conserv 142:879–887
Muhammed N, Koike M, Haque F (2008) Forest policy and sustainable forest management in Bangladesh: an analysis from national and international perspectives. New For 36:201–216
Newman WD, Leonard NL, Sariko HI, Gamassa DM (1993) Conservation attitudes of local people living adjacent to five protected areas in Tanzania. Biol Cons 63:177–183
OECD- Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (1985) Management of water projects: decision-making and investment appraisal. OECD, Paris
Ostrom E (1990) Governing the commons: the evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Ostrom E (2005) Understanding institutional diversity. Princeton University Press, New Jersey
Patwary MKH (2008) Assessing stakeholder participation in co-management activities at Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary. In: Fox J, Bushley BR, Dutt S et al (eds) Connecting communities and conservation: collaborative management of protected areas in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Forest Department, Dhaka, pp 157–189
Potter C, Klooster S, Myneni R, Genovese V et al. (2003) Continental-scale comparison of terrestrial carbon sinks estimated from satellite data and ecosystem modeling 1982–1998. Global Planet Change 39:201–213
Rao KS, Maikhuri RK, Saxena KG (2003) Local people’s knowledge, aptitude and perceptions of planning and management issues in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, India. Environ Manage 31(2):168–181
Rodela R, Udovo A (2008) Participation in nature protection: does it benefit the local community? A Triglav National Park case study. Int J Biodivers Sci Manage 4:209–218
Sah JP, Heinen JT (2001) Wetland resource use and conservation attitudes among indigenous and migrant peoples in Ghodaghodi Lake area, Nepal. Environ Conserv 28(4):345–356
Schreckenberg K, Luttrell C (2009) Participatory forest management: a route to poverty reduction? Int Forest Rev 11(2):221–238
Schusler TM, Decker DJ, Pfeffer MJ (2003) Social learning for collaborative natural resource management. Soc Nat Res 15:309–326
Sewell WRD (1973) Broadening the approach to evaluation in resource management decision-making. J Environ Manage 1:33–60
Sharma UR (1990) An overview of park-people interactions in Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal. Landscape Urban Plan 19:133–144
Suckall N, Fraser EDG, Cooper T et al (2009) Visitor perceptions of rural landscapes: a case study in the Peak District National Park, England. J Environ Manage 90:1195–1203
Trakolis D (2001) Local people’s perceptions of planning and management issues in Prespes Lakes National Park, Greece. J EnvironManage 61(3):227–241
Van den Hove S (2000) Participatory approaches to environmental policy-making: the European Commission climate policy process as a case study. Ecol Econ 33:457–472
Vodouhe FG, Coulibaly O, Adegbidi A et al (2010) Community perception of biodiversity conservation within protected areas in Benin. For Policy Econ. doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2010.06.008
Warner M (2000) Conflict management in community-based natural resource projects: Experiences from Fiji and Papua New Guinea. Working Paper No. 135, Overseas Development Institute, London
Warner K (2003) Moving forward: developing pathways for sustainable livelihoods through forestry. In: Iddi S, Sarrazin K, Reeb D (eds) Second international workshop on participatory forestry in Africa: defining the way forward: sustainable livelihoods and sustainable forest management through participatory forestry, Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, 18–22 Feb 2002
Weeks P, Packard JM (1997) Acceptance of scientific management by natural resource dependent communities. Conserv Biol 11(1):236–245
Weladji R, Moe S, Vedeld P (2003) Stakeholder attitudes wildlife policy and Benoue Wildlife Conservation Area, North Cameroon. Environ Conserv 30:334–343
West P, Igoe J, Brockington D (2006) Parks and peoples: the social impact of protected areas. Annu Rev Anthropol 35:251–277
White GF (1966) Formation and role of public attitudes. In: Jarrett H (ed) Environmental quality in a growing economy. John Hopkins Press, Baltimore
Xu J, Chen L, Lu Y et al (2006) Local people’s perceptions as decision support for protected area management in Wolong Biosphere Reserve, China. J Environ Manage 78:362–372
Ziadat AH (2009) Major factors contributing to environmental awareness among people in a third world country/Jordan. Environ Dev Sustain. doi:10.1007/s10668-009-9185-4
Zube EH, Busch ML (1990) Park-people relationships: an international review. Landscape Urban Plan 19:117–131
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Chowdhury, M.S.H., Izumiyama, S., Koike, M. (2014). Assessment of the Community Participation in and Attitudes Towards Co-management Programs in Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary. In: Chowdhury, M. (eds) Forest conservation in protected areas of Bangladesh. World Forests, vol 20. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08147-2_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08147-2_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-08146-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08147-2
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)