Khaled Misbahuzzaman CIFOR, Bogor, 26 March 2009 PEN Study in Rangamati and Banderban Districts of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh Khaled Misbahuzzaman CIFOR, Bogor, 26 March 2009

Context Village | Population The study was conducted in the south-eastern Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh The mean annual total rainfall: 2400-3800 mm; the mean annual temperature: approx. 260C and the mean temperature: 22-300C; the mean humidity is approx. 76%. The region covers an area of about 13.181 sq. km and occupies about 76% of the total upland areas of the country The Village Common Forest Communities were contacted for survey, the number of villages surveyed were 7 where approximately 2230 people were living 70 households were surveyed, where average number of people per household were 4.3 Village | Population |--------------+-------- | Empupara | 200 |--------------+--------- Kurongpara | 150 | Chaiggachari | 400 | Changrachari | 450 | Hajachari | 380 | Headmanpara | 300 | Madhyapara | 350

Household Income Sources How large are household incomes ? Source Total Cash Share Subsist Direct Forest 6202.47 3723.84 60 2478.63 40 Forest Derived 645.65 100 Fish 478.26 Non-forest environment Crop 15444.2 6673.06 43 8768.0 57 Livestock 853.32 759.05 89 94.27 11 Other 296.76 Wage 4738.86 Business 1448

Income sources and seasonality Income Distribution- all QTRS Quarterly Income Distribution end summer end winter end rain end autumn For some households, environmental income may be considered as ‘seasonal gap filler’ in that wild tubers and other root crops are harvested particularly to supplement vegetables requirement

Key forest and environmental products Products that provide at least 10% of income * Direct Forest Income, total net income is 500505.00 fup_pdt fup_nety share cash_inc cash_percent sub_inc sub_percent timber 241307 41.94 171274.1 70.98 70032.95 29.02 bamboo 177548 30.86 148674.1 83.74 28873.88 16.26 * Forest Derived Income, total net income is 135820.00 fpr_pdt fpr_nety share cash_inc cash_percent sub_inc sub_percent Bera 41350 30.44 0 0.00 41350 100.00 Thurong 37300 27.46 0 0.00 37300 100.00 Jhumghor 33600 24.74 0 0.00 33600 100.00 Jurga 15700 11.56 0 0.00 15700 100.00

Key forest and environmental products cont’d * Fish Income, total net income is 3150.00 fish_type fish_nety share cash_inc cash_percent sub_inc sub_percent stream fish 3150 100.00 3150 100.00 0 0.00 No aqua income * Non-forest environmental Income, total net income is 45490.00 env_pdt env_nety share cash_inc cash_percent sub_inc sub_percent anim fodd 28680 63.05 28680 100.00 0 0.00 thatch grass 11550 25.39 11550 100.00 0 0.00 tubers 5010 11.01 5010 100.00 0 0.00 The main method of valuation was respondent-reported values. Most products (vegetables) are traded locally and some (bamboos and timber) regionally. However, estimating value for fodder for animals was not straightforward. Here, the respondent was asked firstly how much the product would be worth in the market, and if this was difficult to obtain, the respondent was then asked how much they would be willing to sell the product for. For fuelwood and thatching grass district markets were visited for price estimation

Income composition and poverty Averages in quintiles . * All For. Inc. - All Forest Income (dfi fdi and pfs) . * Tot. Inc. - Total Income quintile All For. Inc. (avg.) Tot. Inc. (avg.) As % of Tot. Inc. 1 3223.17 18094.69 17.81 2 4891.96 23907.93 20.46 3 7510.98 28703.05 26.17 4 7040.36 33382.51 21.09 5 11574.14 46608.19 24.83

Other patterns There is no evidence that currently forest income is a stepping stone out of poverty, though there is potential to enhance income from selling processed products of bamboo and medicinal plants However, environmental income from ecotourism services and PES schemes could be ensured provided that a proper government land use policy that offers tenurial security to the communities is in place (currently under consideration by the newly formed government in the country) Households using forests to cope with crisis Freq. Percent Cum. ------------+----------------------------------- No | 83 51.55 51.55 Yes | 78 48.45 100.00 Total | 161 100.00 Most common coping mechanisms How did you cope? | Freq. Percent Cum. ----------------------------------------+----------------------------------- Assistance from friends and relatives | 91 18.84 18.84 Harvest more wild products not in forest | 84 17.39 36.23 Harvest more forest products | 78 16.15 52.38 Harvest more agricultural products | 62 12.84 65.22 Did nothing in particular | 59 12.22 77.43 Tried to reduce household spending | 47 9.73 87.16 Get loan from money lender, credit asso | 27 5.59 92.75 Do extra casual labour work | 23 4.76 97.52 Spend cash savings | 11 2.28 99.79 Assistance from NGO, community org.| 1 0.21 100.00 Total | 483 100.00

Policies and overall findings The government policy to stop traditional farming (shifting cultivation) has had impacts on community livelihood strategies in that rice was (is being) cultivated in many forms, in traditional shifting cultivation (locally termed as jhum chash), in hill terraces and slopes, in valleys and in plain land The above policy resulted in crop diversification (including crop combinations of horticultural and vegetable crops, and root crops such as turmeric and ginger) in hills which though improved livelihood has contributed to environmental degradation The most exciting finding from the study is that the communities still adheres to age old principles of resource conservation and management particularly water and forest resources which are vital for community survival in the fragile landscape