PROGRAM DESIGN:

CO-MANAGEMENT OF TROPICAL FOREST RESOURCES IN BANGLADESH

## 

**Strategic Objective 6 (Environment) Team**

**USAID/Bangladesh**

### TABLE OF CONTENTS

+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| **SE    | # **TITLE**                                       | **     |
| CTION** |                                                   | PAGE** |
+=========+===================================================+========+
| 1       | # INTRODUCTION                                    | 4      |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 1.1     | > USAID Activities and Interests in the           | 4      |
|         | > Environment Sector                              |        |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 1.2     | > Adding a Tropical Forest Resources              | 6      |
|         | > Program\--Potential for Synergy                 |        |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 1.3     | #### Purpose of the Present Document              | 8      |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 2       | BACKGROUND                                        | 8      |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 2.1     | > Overall Status of Tropical Forest Resources and | 8      |
|         | > Biodiversity in Bangladesh                      |        |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 2.2     | #### Re                                           | 9      |
|         | lationship to Government of Bangladesh Priorities |        |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 2.3     | #### Other Donor Programs and Plans               | 10     |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 2.4     | > Relevance/Complementarity with the Mission      | 10     |
|         | > Strategic Plan and Programs                     |        |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 3       | RATIONALE/JUSTIFICATION FOR A FORESTRY PROGRAM    | 12     |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 3.1     | #### Goals and Objectives                         | 12     |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 3.2     | #### Program Concept and Strategy                 | 14     |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 3.3     | #### Understanding the Meaning of Co-Management   | 14     |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 3.4     | #### Overview of the Program                      | 16     |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 4       | PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY                   | 17     |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 4.1     | > Building a Coherent Model and the Capabilities  | 17     |
|         | > to Implement It                                 |        |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 4.2     | #### I                                            | 18     |
|         | nstitutional Framework for Program Implementation |        |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 4.3     | #### Program Implementation Staff                 | 21     |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 4.4     | #### Candidate Sites for Program Activities       | 22     |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 4.5     | #### Illustrative Description of Activities       | 24     |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 4.6     | #### Indicative Implementation Schedule           | 30     |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 4.7     | #### Reporting Requirements                       | 36     |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
| 4.8     | #### Performance Monitoring and Evaluation        | 37     |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
|         | ANNEXES                                           | 41     |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
|         | ##### Annex A                                     | 42     |
|         | - Participatory Forestry Modalities in Bangladesh |        |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
|         | > Annex B- Issues and Opportunities for           | 44     |
|         | > Biodiversity Conservation in the Hills          |        |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+
|         | ##### Annex C- Reference List                     | 48     |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------+--------+

**PROGRAM DESIGN FOR**

**CO-MANAGEMENT OF TROPICAL FOREST RESOURCES IN BANGLADESH**

**1. INTRODUCTION**

**1.1 USAID Activities and Interests in the Environment Sector**

USAID/Bangladesh\'s current plans and investments in the environment
sector are a direct result of decades of assistance to rural
development, family planning, poverty alleviation and food security.
These programs were themselves keys to addressing the crux of
Bangladesh\'s primary environmental dilemma of catering for the needs of
its large population with the limited resources of this small country.
Achievements in these areas, in particular increased agricultural
productivity and a reduction in the population growth rate, have given
rise to an opportunity to refocus the overall program characterized by
the Mission\'s stated goal:

**Poverty Reduced through Sustainable Economic Growth**

As part of its programmatic response for realizing this goal, and in
light of the three \"areas of greatest importance to the sustainability
of economic growth in the country\--population, food and water\",
USAID/Bangladesh has created an explicit environmental strategic
objective-

**Improved Management of Open Water and Tropical Forest Resources**

The predominant paradigm of this Strategic Objective (SO 6) program is
to develop community-based approaches and institutional capabilities for
the wise management, sustainable productivity and conservation of these
critical elements of the natural resource base of Bangladesh.[^1] The
present arrangements and institutional framework for the use of these
open water and tropical forests have led to their de facto treatment as
\"open access\" resources\-- the property of all but the responsibility
of none\-- with a consequent degradation of the resource base and
declining productivity[^2]. The Intermediate Results of this Strategic
Objective are:

1.  Effective Community-based Resource Management Mechanisms
    Implemented;

2.  Select Habitats and Ecosystems Restored;

3.  Selected Policies Implemented that Support the above;

4.  Public Awareness of Key Issues Increased; and

5.  Improved Institutional Capacity

**Figure 1: SO 6 Results Framework**

**1.2 Adding a Tropical Forestry Resources Program\--Potential for
Synergy**

USAID/Bangladesh in planning its strategic approach to the environment
and natural resources sector in the country has long recognized the
basic similarities in the problematic way both open water and tropical
forest resources are being used. These include: over-exploitation beyond
carrying capacity (of the fishery, wetlands and tropical forests);
inappropriate use and conversion reducing the extent of these critical
ecosystems; and the lack of a structured administrative and management
system to counter the problems. The commonality of these issues is
leading to a general degradation and fragmentation of the resource base,
declining productivity eroding their potential contribution to
development of the country and the communities dependent on them, and
significant threats to their long-term sustainability.

By its very nature, occupying the sprawling inter-linked delta of three
great river systems-- the Ganges, Meghna and Brahmaputra, Bangladesh is
highly susceptible to the conditions of its upstream watersheds. Flood
periodicity and volume originating upstream affects a great deal of the
floodplain and its open water fisheries ecosystems. At the moment, there
is little the country can do to mitigate the impacts felt from
inappropriate land-use and declining forest cover in these transnational
upstream watersheds. There are some areas, however, within the country
where the watershed conditions in adjacent hilly areas are directly
linked to the productivity and sustainability of open water bodies and
ecosystems. For example, in the northeastern sections of the country
around the Haor Basin where the on-going activities of the Management of
Aquatic Resources through Community Husbandry Project (MACH)[^3] Project
are concentrated, the forest cover of the surrounding hilly regions have
been severely degraded and often completely deforested. Inappropriate
land-use choices and forest degradation on the hills has both localized
and downstream consequences, as follows:

**Linkages\--Upstream Forest Degradation and Downstream Open Water
Ecosystems**

+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Tropical Forest Ecosystems**    | **Open Water Ecosystems**         |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| \- Deforestation, over-cutting    | \- Off-site consequences in       |
| and over-grazing on sloping       | lower-lying downstream areas,     |
| forest lands causes: degradation  | water bodies and water courses    |
| of the watershed function leading | because of: higher flash floods,  |
| to erosion; greater rainfall      | particularly during early monsoon |
| run-off and less infiltration;    | that affects the boro rice crop;  |
| torrential streamflow, drying of  | siltation and sedimentation of    |
| perennial streams; and loss of    | beels, canals and rivers          |
| habitat and biodiversity assets.  | eliminating fish habitat or       |
|                                   | ecosystem connectivity; lower     |
| \- Poor agricultural land-use     | water levels in remnant wetlands  |
| choices on hilly areas also leads | during the dry season inhibiting  |
| to similar problems and low crop  | reproduction of the open water    |
| productivity due to loss of       | fishery; deposition of unwanted   |
| topsoil and organic matter        | sand and sediment on crop fields; |
| content, stressing crop plants    | stream bank and riparian zone     |
| during the dry season.            | erosion affecting crop lands      |
|                                   | (e.g., tea estates at midstream), |
| \- Impoverishment of the local    | local infrastructure (roads and   |
| population and hardship due to    | bridges) and adjacent villages.   |
| low site productivity, typically  |                                   |
| resulting in increasing pressure  | \- Impoverishment of the local    |
| on the remaining forest cover.    | population, particularly fisher   |
|                                   | folk dependent on the products of |
| \- Loss of perennial forest cover | the wetlands (fish and aquatic    |
| as carbon sinks thus contributing | plants).                          |
| to greenhouse gas production and  |                                   |
| its companion global warming      | \- Loss of floodplain             |
| phenomena.                        | biodiversity assets.              |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+

These unavoidable linkages between the uplands and the lower-lying
wetland areas clearly demonstrate the need and opportunity for an
approach to tropical forest resource management focused on their role in
integrated water resources management. The MACH Project has made
significant progress in developing a community-based response to the
issues affecting the sustainability of open water resources. Their
natural resources management accomplishments include: reductions in
fishing pressure through community-imposed regulations; the
establishment of fish sanctuaries in dry season water bodies; excavation
of silted-up canals and portions of rivers to restore ecosystem
connectivity; re-introduction of important missing fish species through
stocking; and revegetation in both the riparian areas (stream courses)
and swamp forest areas.

While these activities have certainly restored a measure of productivity
and sustainability in the wetlands, their efficacy will continue to be
undermined if proactive measures are not also taken to address the
problems of the local watersheds in the surrounding hilly areas. Herein
lies a significant opportunity for achieving synergy across the elements
of the USAID\'s SO 6 environment program.

This potential for synergy becomes even more compelling in light of the
fact that some of the remaining refuges of tropical forest biodiversity
are "protected areas" and also serve as portions of the watersheds for
MACH wetland sites in the northeast. They represent a special
opportunity as potential pilot areas for the development of the
co-management approach that could also be replicated elsewhere in the
country, for example in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. These areas
constitute the last refuges of terrestrial biodiversity in Bangladesh.
Despite their protected status, all of these areas are under relentless
human pressures from surrounding communities and from occasional illegal
logging activities. It should be noted that not all the protected areas
need be approached from an exclusively watershed management perspective.
In the southeast, the integrated water resources management paradigm
would also play out in that forests such as the Teknaf Game Reserve
protect neighboring communities from the ravages of cyclones in the
nearby Bay of Bengal. What is clear, however, is that all of them are
sites where there is a significant opportunity for applying the
co-management model with local communities.[^4]

**1.3 Purpose of the Present Document**

This document constitutes a detailed program design for the proposed
bilaterally funded program component promoting conservation and improved
management of tropical forest resources that USAID/Bangladesh would like
to launch. The design directly reflects USAID\'s overall approach to
achieving the strategic objective and embodies the intermediate results
(see SO 6 Results Framework graphic above) that will provide the basis
for a Strategic Objective Grant Agreement between USAID and the
Government of Bangladesh. It has been prepared on the basis of extensive
consultations in Bangladesh with representatives of government, the NGO
sector and other specialists familiar with the sector.

The sections which follow include: background information on the status
of tropical forest resources in Bangladesh and the potential fit of a
USAID-funded forestry component with current GOB and USAID plans and
programs (Section 2); a summary explanation of the rationale and
justification and the conceptual basis for such program component
(Section 3); a more detailed explanation of the design and its
implementation strategy (Section 4); and concludes with a series of
supporting annexes.

**2. BACKGROUND**

**2.1 Overall Status of Tropical Forest Resources and Biodiversity in
Bangladesh**

Reliable, up-to-date statistics on the quantity and quality of tropical
forest cover in Bangladesh are hard to come by and contradictory figures
are the norm rather than the exception. Recent order of magnitude data
suggests that there are about 2.6 million hectares (covering 18 % of the
total land surface) in the country. They include: state forest land of
2.2 million hectares composed of 1.3 million hectares of natural forests
and plantations (there are extensive plantation areas on reserved forest
land, particularly in the hilly regions of the country) under the
jurisdiction of the Forest Department and about 0.9 million hectares of
unclassified state forest administered by the Ministry of Lands. The
remainder of the forest cover is in private hands, notably including the
very successful homestead plantations common across the flood plain
areas of the country and small tracts of natural forest and plantations
on estate lands. With the exception of some of the most inaccessible
areas whose actual status is not well known (e.g. in the Hill Tracts),
all of the remaining natural forests are reportedly under constant
pressure, have been significantly degraded and fragmented, thereby
threatening their value as habitat for biodiversity conservation and in
the provision of vital environmental services.

Recognizing the perilous situation of natural forests in the country,
the Forest Department has established a series of protected forest areas
(distinct from gazetted forest reserves). The protected areas of
Bangladesh, established under the aegis of the Forest Department,
include 7 national parks, 8 wildlife sanctuaries and 1 game reserve.
Approximately 84,000 hectares (out of a total protected area of
approximately 250,000 hectares, the rest being in lowland coastal areas
primarily within the Sundarbans) of these relatively intact upland
forests are found in the northeast and along the spine of the eastern
hills. Doubtless, there are other areas of natural forests left in
Bangladesh, both within the Reserved Forest system or as ungazetted
state forest lands where the community-based co-management model being
proposed here might also eventually be promoted.

**2.2 Relationship to Government of Bangladesh Priorities**

Concern for biodiversity assets in the country date back to colonial
times-- the 1879 Elephant Preservation Act and the 1912 Wild Bird and
Animals Protection Act. These regulations were repealed in 1973 when the
Government passed the Wildlife (Preservation) Act. Bangladesh is a
signatory to the 1992 Biodiversity Convention elaborated at the Earth
Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and biodiversity issues have received
some attention in a variety of sector policy and strategy documents
since that time. Bangladesh has also been a participant in earlier
global conservation initiatives before \"biodiversity\" became the
watchword of the day. The country has ratified the 1971 RAMSAR
Convention on wetlands of international importance and waterfowl
habitat, the 1972 Convention concerning the protection of World Cultural
and Natural Heritage and the 1973 Convention of International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES).

Of more recent vintage, the theme of biodiversity conservation is
discussed in the 1995 National Environmental Management Action Plan
(NEMAP), the 1997 draft of the National Conservation Strategy, the 2000
ADB Environmental Operational Strategy, and the 1993 Forestry Master
Plan. Just recently, the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF) with
the collaboration of IUCN/Bangladesh and funding support from UNDP, has
begun the preparation of the Bangladesh Biodiversity Conservation
Strategy and Action Plan. This 18-month initiative is expected to comply
with the requirement for such a plan for each country signatory to the
Convention on Biodiversity. Interestingly, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service is currently working with IUCN/Bangladesh and NACOM, a local
conservation NGO on action research as part of the Asian Elephant
Conservation Fund in Bangladesh; a survey of existing elephant
populations is being carried out.

There has also been another recent development related to Governmental
concern for biodiversity and the sustainability of the natural resources
base with the declaration of ecologically critical areas (ECA). The
Bangladesh Environmental Conservation Act of 1995 includes a provision
whereby if the Government is concerned that the degradation of an
ecosystem has reached \"a critical state\" or is so threatened, it may
declare the area to be an ECA by notification in the official gazette.
In April 1999, this authority was exercised for the first time by the
Secretary, MOEF with the advice of the Director General of the
Department of the Environment in officially notifying the establishment
of seven separate wetland areas covering approximately 40,000 has as
ECA\'s. While the details of the Act suggest that the DOE could identify
forest areas for designation as ECA's, this has not been done to avoid
institutional conflict with the Forest Department.

**2.3 Other Donor Programs and Plans**

Specific biodiversity conservation components have been included in some
of the major multilateral bank funded loan projects, including the World
Bank-funded Forest Resources Management Project (FRMP), the Asian
Development Bank-funded Forestry Sector Project (FSP), and most
recently, in the Asian Development Bank-funded Sundarbans Biodiversity
Conservation Project. A recent project approved by UNDP and GEF\-- the
Coastal and Wetland Biodiversity Management Project (BGD/99/G31)\-- will
be the first effort to make the ECA concept operational at four sites:
Cox\'s Bazaar Beach and adjacent islands and Hakaluki Haor (UNDP 2001).

Under the Ministry of Environment and Forest-implemented and
UNDP-supported Sustainable Environmental Management Program (SEMP), a
number of sub-components actively pursue participatory wetland
ecosystems management and biodiversity conservation in Haor, Floodplain
and Charlands. All these sub-components have significant activities in
participatory forestry. SEMP is in the fourth year of implementation of
a five-year program.

Under the FSP, a series of management plans were prepared for various
protected areas and the importance of biodiversity conservation in each
of the country's Forest Divisions was also synthesized to guide the
efforts of the Forest Department to engage in this new mandate for
biodiversity conservation. These plans, however, have as yet to be acted
upon and they have been used in part, with the blessing of the Forest
Department, in the elaboration of the present programming document for
USAID.

4.  **Relevance/Complementarity with the Mission Strategic Plan and
    Programs**

The current Strategic Plan of USAID/Bangladesh is focused on a "more
proactive approach toward broad-based economic development" to help
reduce poverty in the country. The floodplains of Bangladesh are already
noted for the intensification of the management of the agricultural
land-use base that helps to accommodate the very high population
densities and has lead to notable positive impacts on both food security
and poverty alleviation. To maintain this momentum, the country will
also be challenged to extend the sustainable use and management to all
corners of the Nation so as to ensure that the rural landscape fully
contributes to the goal of poverty alleviation. Because of mounting
demographic pressure, many of the marginal areas, especially in the
hilly zones of the country are unfortunately now being treated as "open
access resources" despite some official efforts to designate them as
"protection areas".

Without early and affirmative action, the natural resource base of the
hill lands, now being inexorably degraded, will result in a declining
spiral of production and productivity irreversibly linked to the destiny
of both the people who now make increased use of them and downstream
communities on the floodplains. As has been demonstrated elsewhere in a
number of Asian countries, appropriate land-use on the steeper hilly
areas can be rationally improved and intensified through a co-management
approach. By brokering the stewardship of these lands and their
resources among the communities who are increasingly dependent on them,
sustainable and diversified production alternatives will ensure a
greater chance for a more optimum contribution to poverty mitigation and
local development. Finally, although these activities will be designed
to have a tangible result for both the people and the lands involved,
their real contribution will be in fostering the model of
community-based, co-management that can be replicated elsewhere in
Bangladesh.

USAID's investment in co-management of tropical forest resources and
biodiversity conservation will also provide important cross-sector
relationships and opportunities for synergy with other programs of the
portfolio. On the one hand, local level, forest related land-use
planning and management skills, as foreseen with both community-based
resources management committees and at the Upazila level Development
Committees, will by definition, constitute a *prima facie* case of
decentralization- a goal of USAID's Democracy and Governance Program. By
vesting greater understanding and authority for land-use planning at the
more local level, communities and the authorities which represent them
will enhance their capacities for "drawing down" the development
resources they justly need, thereby overcoming the perennial issue of
the "top-down" approach to development that now troubles local
development in the country.

Furthermore, the fragile nature of the resource base in the hills
demands alternatives that compensate local communities for accepting the
production trade-offs implicit in a sustainable land-use pattern.
Helping local communities to analyze their impacts on and understand the
inherent limitations of these sites will inevitably lead to an improved
capacity for "self-help" that breaks the mold of uncontrolled
subsistence use. This program of activities in the forestry sector will
include building entrepreneurial capabilities under an alternative
income generation component promoting micro-enterprise at the village
level highly compatible with the Mission's Enterprise Development
Program.

**3. RATIONALE AND JUSTIFICATION FOR A FORESTRY PROGRAM**

**3.1 Goals and Objectives**

In Bangladesh, as in few other countries of the world, the mix of
program interests of the current USAID environment SO\-- Improved
Management of Open Water and Tropical Forest Resources\--is more than a
fortuitous combination of interests; it is an obligation. USAID is
convinced that its support for the management of both aquatic and
terrestrial ecosystems will show the real benefit of the \"integrated
approach\", in that the results of the whole will be significantly more
important than the simple sum of its component parts. Accordingly, the
goal of a full-fledged, bilaterally-funded program on conservation and
co-management of tropical forest resources and biodiversity is to
complement the on-going wetland/open water conservation and management
activity of MACH and to be responsive to the intermediate results and
indicators seen as essential to reaching the Strategic Objective.

The first SO level indicator\-- \"Extent to which best practices from
USAID-funded projects are used elsewhere\"\-- underscores the importance
of innovation in developing a model that can be understood and
replicated elsewhere. With the modest resources available for this
component, the goal goes beyond simple physical impact on the targeted
sites. The clear focus on the development of a model suggests that
technological, institutional and policy realizations will also result,
leading to an improved enabling environment for co-management approaches
to natural resources management in Bangladesh. Having said that,
however, it is also logical that the proof of the effectiveness and
efficiency of the model can only be corroborated by measuring its
outcome in realistic terms. For this reason, the application of this
model is expected to lead to two important results: (as defined by the
indicators): \"Increased production of natural resources (forests and
wetland products) in targeted areas\" and \"Increased biodiversity in
targeted areas\".

In order to contribute to the realization of the SO and meet its
indicators, the activities of the forestry program will be organized
along lines that reflect the Intermediate Results identified in the SO 6
Results Framework. In effect, these intermediate results constitute the
more specific objectives of the forestry program. As a gauge to guide
the measurement of performance of the activities in reaching the IR\'s,
a series of proposed indicators have been further identified. **Figure
No. 2** below presents these indicators aligned with their respective
IR\'s and will serve as a basis for the overall detailed design of the
forestry program and its activities.

**Figure 2: Proposed Forestry Program Indicators**

+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| **Strategic |             |             |             |             |
| Objective   |             |             |             |             |
| 6-**        |             |             |             |             |
|             |             |             |             |             |
| **Improved  |             |             |             |             |
| Management  |             |             |             |             |
| of Open     |             |             |             |             |
| Water and   |             |             |             |             |
| Tropical    |             |             |             |             |
| Forest      |             |             |             |             |
| Resources** |             |             |             |             |
|             |             |             |             |             |
| **SO        |             |             |             |             |
| In          |             |             |             |             |
| dicators**: |             |             |             |             |
|             |             |             |             |             |
| **Indicator |             |             |             |             |
| 6.a**-      |             |             |             |             |
| Extent to   |             |             |             |             |
| which best  |             |             |             |             |
| practices   |             |             |             |             |
| from        |             |             |             |             |
| U           |             |             |             |             |
| SAID-funded |             |             |             |             |
| projects    |             |             |             |             |
| are used    |             |             |             |             |
| elsewhere   |             |             |             |             |
|             |             |             |             |             |
| **Indicator |             |             |             |             |
| 6.b**-      |             |             |             |             |
| Increased   |             |             |             |             |
| production  |             |             |             |             |
| of natural  |             |             |             |             |
| resources   |             |             |             |             |
| in targeted |             |             |             |             |
| areas       |             |             |             |             |
| (forest &   |             |             |             |             |
| wetland     |             |             |             |             |
| products)   |             |             |             |             |
|             |             |             |             |             |
| **Indicator |             |             |             |             |
| 6.c**-      |             |             |             |             |
| Increased   |             |             |             |             |
| b           |             |             |             |             |
| iodiversity |             |             |             |             |
| in targeted |             |             |             |             |
| areas       |             |             |             |             |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| **I         |             |             |             |             |
| ntermediate |             |             |             |             |
| Results for |             |             |             |             |
| SO 6-**     |             |             |             |             |
|             |             |             |             |             |
| **Improved  |             |             |             |             |
| Management  |             |             |             |             |
| of Open     |             |             |             |             |
| Water and   |             |             |             |             |
| Tropical    |             |             |             |             |
| Forest      |             |             |             |             |
| Resources** |             |             |             |             |
|             |             |             |             |             |
| (as per the |             |             |             |             |
| existing    |             |             |             |             |
| PMP)        |             |             |             |             |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| **IR 6.1**- | **IR 6.2**- | **IR 6.3**- | **IR 6.4**- | **IR 6.5**- |
| Effective   | Select      | Select      | Public      | Improved    |
| Community   | Habitats    | Policies    | Awareness   | In          |
| Based       | and         | Implemented | of Key      | stitutional |
| Resource    | Ecosystems  | that        | Issues      | Capacity    |
| Management  | Improved    | Support     | Increased   |             |
| Mechanisms  |             | IR's 1 & 2  |             |             |
| Implemented | -- **IR     |             |             |             |
|             | 6.2.1**-    |             |             |             |
|             | Innovations |             |             |             |
|             | and Best    |             |             |             |
|             | Practices   |             |             |             |
|             | Adopted     |             |             |             |
|             |             |             |             |             |
|             | -- **IR     |             |             |             |
|             | 6.2.2**-    |             |             |             |
|             | Alternative |             |             |             |
|             | Incomes     |             |             |             |
|             | Realized    |             |             |             |
|             | for Target  |             |             |             |
|             | Groups      |             |             |             |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| **Proposed  |             |             |             |             |
| Forestry    |             |             |             |             |
| Program     |             |             |             |             |
| I           |             |             |             |             |
| ndicators** |             |             |             |             |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| **Indicator | **Indicator | **Indicator | **Indicator | **Indicator |
| 6.1b** -    | 6.2b**-     | 6.3c**-     | 6.4b**-     | 6.5b**-     |
| Number of   | Upland      | Number of   | Number of   | Forest      |
| protected   | forest      | formalized  | communities | Department  |
| areas and   | habitat     | co          | and         | skills and  |
| overall     | improved in | -management | be          | experience  |
| total area  | targeted    | agreements  | neficiaries | to promote  |
| in which    | areas (ha)  | in place    | that        | co          |
| sustainable |             | with        | participate | -management |
| co          | **Indicator | communities | in training | of          |
| -management | 6.2.1c**-   | surrounding | cum         | protected   |
| plans are   | Area of     | targeted    | planning    | area        |
| being       | degraded    | protected   | sessions    | improved    |
| implemented | forest      | areas       | resulting   |             |
|             | habitat     |             | in          | **Indicator |
| **Indicator | restored    | **Indicator | co          | 6.5c**-     |
| 6.1c**- GOB | (percent of | 6.3d**-     | -management | Enhanced    |
| agreements  | total       | I           | agreements  | GOB Agency  |
| to expand   | targeted    | nter-Agency | for         | c           |
| protected   | area)       | agreements  | protected   | apabilities |
| areas as    |             | in place    | areas       | for working |
| appropriate | **Indicator | allocating  |             | together on |
|             | 6.2.1d**-   | usage       | **Indicator | integrated  |
| **Indicator | Watershed   | rights to   | 6.4c**-     | NRM         |
| 6.1d-**     | management  | local       | Growing     | programs    |
| Declining   | and/or      | communities | public      |             |
| incidences  | buffer zone |             | awareness   | **Indicator |
| of          | plans and   | **Indicator | and         | 6.5d**-     |
| un          | practices   | 6.3e**-     | un          | Local Govt. |
| sustainable | oper        | Co          | derstanding | w/ improved |
| and illegal | ationalized | -management | of the      | land-use    |
| use of      |             | policy      | importance  | and NRM     |
| protected   | **Indicator | agenda      | of          | planning &  |
| areas       | 6.2.2b**-   | established | b           | governance  |
|             | Increased   | and being   | iodiversity | c           |
|             | income of   | acted upon  | c           | apabilities |
|             | targeted    | by GOB      | onservation |             |
|             | be          |             | and         | **Indicator |
|             | neficiaries |             | en          | 6.5e**-     |
|             |             |             | vironmental | Improved    |
|             |             |             | services    | local NGO   |
|             |             |             |             | c           |
|             |             |             |             | apabilities |
|             |             |             |             | to support  |
|             |             |             |             | ICDP        |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+

**3.2 Program Concept and Strategy**

The efforts to develop the co-management of protected forest areas
approach under this program are expected to be an innovative approach to
the relationship between local communities and adjacent forest lands and
the governmental authorities responsible for them. It is important to
note, however, that although the typical modus operandi of the Forest
Department in Bangladesh is that of principal steward of the officially
reserved forests identified and used to meet national production goals
for forest products, there are a number of existing precedents wherein
the Department (and indeed the local NGO community) provides
participatory and social forestry program services for the direct
benefit of the rural public. These may generally be categorized as
follows: forest village agreements, social forestry programs,
participatory forest management, and homestead forestry (see Annex A).

Before moving forward with a discussion of co-management, it is also
necessary to set the record straight about national efforts to deal with
deforestation in Bangladesh. Despite serious concerns about the
deforestation rate in this densely populated country (something very
difficult to quantify with accuracy), the success of massive efforts at
reforestation should also be noted. On the floodplains of the country,
virtually every tree (bush, shrub, and bamboo clump) that can be seen,
has been planted by the hands of men and women. Homestead plantations,
tree-planting campaigns and days, linear plantations, mangrove
reforestation along the coastal zone and extensive replanting in many
reserve forests readily attests to the local capacity for reforestation.
It would probably not be an exaggeration to say that Bangladesh is among
the leading countries of the world where the government, civil society
and the people all embrace tree planting. Therefore, this program is not
about tree planting. It is about saving the remaining scattered patches
of natural forest as a living legacy for future generations, as habitat
for the increasingly threatened biodiversity assets of the nation and
ensuring their role as watershed areas critical to the viability of
adjacent wetland ecosystems.

**3.3 Understanding the Meaning of Co-Management**

Experience world-wide has now corroborated the fact that the
\"Co-Management Approach\" must be based on the simple reality that
conservation, no matter how compelling from a societal or even global
perspective, can rarely be achieved on the backs of those local people
least able to afford it. Attempting to rigorously enforce unilateral
protection of valuable conservation areas is almost impossible to
achieve. Such an approach flies in the face of the simple economic
realities of supply and demand. Rigorous protection of forest resources
has the effect of curtailing supply or at a minimum creating the
perception of curtailed supply. As demand is likely to remain constant,
given the subsistence nature of much of the usage patterns in de facto
\"open access\" forest areas, prices will rise. This stimulates more
pressure on the forest resource base, something that becomes especially
acute in a densely populated country like Bangladesh.

The composite elements of the co-management approach, all of which will
be necessary for its successful implementation, may be characterized as
follows:

**The Value of Conservation for Local Communities**: A central theme
therefore of the co-management approach is to demonstrate the value of
natural resources management (matching land-use to land capability) to
local people, i.e., that they themselves will be better off over the
long-run by participating in the sustainable use and management of the
resource base (whether aquatic or terrestrial).

**Brokering Genuine Community Participation**: Achieving the community
consensus for sustainable natural resources management requires
concerted dialogue and a real partnership between the communities and
those governmental agencies charged with the goal of protecting these
resources for society at large. Turning the present usage patterns
around necessitates understanding and commitment from both sides. In the
case of protected forest areas, communities will agree to relinquish
unsustainable usage patterns in return for compensatory measures (and
including alternative income generation activities) which help them meet
the demands for wood and forest products and income on which they may
have become dependent.

**Sharing the Full Benefits Stream\--Products and Services**: It is also
worth noting that securing community compliance with the conservation
imperatives within the protected areas will be more challenging than the
situation experienced under the MACH Project. Although MACH uses
sanctuaries and fishing regulations to achieve conservation, community
participants benefit in the near-term as the annual brood results from
the beel sanctuaries spread out during the flood, grow and are
harvested. The core areas within the protected terrestrial forest areas
will not be harvested and therefore they require an off-site source of
benefits to compensate local people with either recognized user rights
or traditional user rights for the production trade-offs they willingly
accept to meet the conservation goals of the program. There are several
ways in which the resources formerly harvested by local users will be
compensated under the forestry program. Social forestry, homestead
forestry, participatory forestry plantation programs on adjacent
reserved forest land, sustainable use zoning and *khas* land-based
community forestry schemes (a potential innovation) opportunities will
be explored and where appropriate promoted in the buffer zones around
the protected area.

The forest areas benefitting from this enhanced community stewardship
will in turn yield other values in the form of environmental services
(watershed and biodiversity conservation, disaster prevention from storm
protection). These services will have positive impacts as well on the
productivity of downstream wetland ecosystems, on floodplain
agriculture, on safe-guarding home and community infrastructure from
flash floods, and on recharging vital groundwater aquifers. They may
also provide interesting opportunities to diversify the local economy
through the provision of outdoor recreation and ecotourism based
enterprises.

**Local Organizational Development\--An End unto Itself**: The other
fundamental part of the co-management approach is localized
organizational development. These efforts bring together the user
community and different interest groups within them (women, woodcutters,
collectors of non-wood forest products, livestock owners, etc) and makes
it possible for them to express a degree of community consensus about
their needs and expectations related to the adjacent forest areas,
thereby empowering them as co-managers of the resource. Furthermore,
such an approach is the epitome of enhanced local governance systems
whereby local people learn to analyze their local problems and
participate in deciding how they may be resolved. Such an approach,
anchored in the actions to meet natural resources management and
conservation goals will also spin-off a build-up of self-esteem and
self-reliance within the communities. Creating this capacity to
\"draw-down\" the well-justified governmental assistance they need to
meet locally identified development goals will go a long way to
overcoming the present \"top-down\" approach to development.

**3.4 Overview of the Program**

The proposed forestry program will in many ways mirror the effective
approach being utilized under the MACH Project--working with local
communities and local authorities to develop co-management models around
a series of targeted protected areas. The overall objective is to take
the pressure off of these areas so as to safeguard and restore their
role as important habitat for tropical forest biodiversity and ensure
that they continue to provide critical environmental services, in
particular watershed protection. This will be achieved through a program
of coordinated activity streams:

1.  creating **local organizational mechanisms** for community awareness
    and as a means to broker co-management of the natural resources in
    and around these protected areas;

2.  development and demonstration of locally adapted **natural resources
    management investments and interventions** leading to sustainable
    use of these protected areas and their buffer zones;

3.  building and strengthening **institutional skills and capabilities**
    to facilitate community-oriented conservation and management on a
    local government and inter-ministerial basis;

4.  intra and inter-ministerial policy dialogue and reform aimed at
    ensuring **an enabling environment of policies, plans, rules and
    regulations** conducive to the widespread replication of the
    co-management approach;

5.  developing, field testing and promoting **alternative income
    generation and employment activities** for local communities to
    counter the production trade-offs necessary for wise use and
    conservation of the protected areas; and

6.  providing **program implementation and support** capacities
    providing technical guidance and assistance to other program
    partners (GOB agencies, local government, NGO's and CBO's).

This program component will be authorized for a period of five years,
starting in FY 2003 with a total budget of approximately U.S. \$ 7.4
million. On-the-ground implementation will be phased in over the first
three years, working initially in one or two protected areas and
extending to another two or more areas by year three. Illustrative
targeted protected areas include: start-up year activities in the
northeast selected from among Lawachara National Park, Rema-Kalenga Game
Sanctuary and Satchuri Reserved Forest with out-year activities in the
southeast of the country, for example, in Teknaf Game Reserve, or Sangu
or Matamuhuri Headwaters Reserve or other areas in the Chittagong Hill
Tracts. There are also likely to be additional candidate areas, some
already suggested by the Forest Department, found outside the list of
protected areas, mainly in reserved forests. The choice of where to
target the program will be made on the basis of agreed site selection
criteria (see additional discussion below)[^5]. Implementation will be
carried out under the aegis of an inter-ministerial agreement and will
utilize local NGO services for community-oriented organizational
development and alternative income generation activities. The services
of a technical assistance contractor with a small resident team and
short-term consultants to guide and further develop this approach will
be procured through an RFP.

This is clearly a pioneer initiative in co-management of forest
resources in this country and will not be a follow on from other
projects. However, indigenous knowledge, lessons learned from and the
best practices developed under all previous community-based natural
resources management initiatives will be adapted.

**4. PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY**

**4.1 Building a Coherent Model and the Capabilities to Implement it**

Before launching into a detailed discussion of the forestry program
component, a number of special features of this design are worth noting.
This design represents the best efforts of a team of experienced
consultants and wide-ranging consultations with those knowledgeable
about forest resources and conservation in the country to develop a plan
for promoting co-management of natural resources, including
particularly, the Forest Department and its parent Ministry of
Environment and Forest.

Much of what follows here is both typical and rational for a
co-management of natural resources program focused around protected
areas, watershed management, and biodiversity conservation. However,
what is set out below deliberately seeks to avoid *a priori* and perhaps
even *ad hoc* decision-making about some of the critical choices and
steps essential to ensuring that the full implications of the
co-management model are widely understood and can be effectively
internalized. It seeks to overcome the unavoidable limitations of a
restricted design effort in which although the different key parties
have agreed to take part, they may not have had sufficient time or
inputs to fully realize exactly what they are getting into. Furthermore,
it is a premise of this design that this \"process orientation\" will
greatly facilitate the important learning process and institutional
strengthening that will lead to and facilitate the eventual replication
of the model elsewhere in Bangladesh.

**4.2 Institutional Framework for Program Implementation**

Although it may not readily appear so, what is most different about this
design must be the institutional framework for its implementation. Among
the most salient of these differences is the agreement to work in an
integrated format for resolving the problems of unsustainable use of
protected areas that provide important environmental services and
shelter the remaining terrestrial biodiversity assets of the country and
whose contribution to local development could be enhanced.

For example, the watershed management premise immediately suggests the
need for working both within the protected areas that are found
typically in the headwaters of the catchments and in other areas within
the watershed that may not be under the tutelage of the Forest
Department. These could include Khas lands managed by the Ministry of
Land, areas within the Tea Estates adjacent to some of the protected
areas, and on private and community lands also found within the
watershed.

Similarly, many of the solutions for the present unsustainable use
patterns within the protected areas may require actions in these other
areas as well in order to ensure that local people are not disadvantaged
by conservation imperatives. Working with local communities may
necessitate different skills typically embodied by NGO programs in the
rural countryside such as community organization and the development of
alternative income generation activities. In essence then, the
integrated approach embodies cross-sectoral efforts involving various
governmental agencies, multi-disciplinary solutions for land-use
problems, and the involvement of civil society in the transformation of
local governance arrangements for natural resources management.

The following is the proposed institutional framework for the
implementation of a co-management of tropical forest resources program
funded by USAID/Bangladesh.

**Program Steering Committee**: This program is authorized under the
Strategic Objective Grant Agreement (SOAG) between USAID and the
Economic Relations Division (ERD) of the Ministry of Finance for
*Improved Management of Open Water and Tropical Forest Resources*.[^6]
It will be overseen by a Program Steering Committee chaired by the
Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF). USAID and ERD will
also be represented on the committee. Given the wide-ranging scope of
the integrated program, representation from other key ministries such as
the Ministry of Lands, the Ministry of Local Government, Rural
Development and Cooperatives and the Ministry of Water Resources is also
anticipated. It is suggested that because of the profound implications
of this program for the activities of the Forest Department, they must
also be represented on the committee, ideally by the Chief Conservator
of Forests.

Because of the innovative nature of the co-management model that this
program seeks to develop and promote, it is the hope of USAID that the
Program Steering Committee will meet regularly and take on a proactive
advisory, decision-making and policy role as the program gets started
and evolves. It is at this first level of oversight that some of the key
choices regarding program implementation mentioned above can hopefully
be scrutinized and decided. It will be incumbent on the Committee to
address the practical realities of institutional mandates for joint
implementation. Leadership and decision-making at this level will
doubtless reinforce the internal learning and institutional capacity
building goals of the program.

The committee will meet every six months or more frequently at their own
discretion or as required for decision-making. The venue for these
Program Steering Committee meetings will be in Dhaka although it is
hoped that on several occasions over the life of the program that they
might meet in a venue near the field activities and invite local
government representatives to take part.

Because of the high level participation in the Program Steering
Committee, it will be incumbent on the program to ensure that they are
provided with the information and documentation they require for
effective and efficient decision-making. Accordingly, the next tier of
the organizational structure, described immediately below, is foreseen.

**Technical Working Group**: The fundamental reasons for the suggested
formulation of the Technical Working Group are several. On the one hand,
it is this group that will provide a type of secretariat services for
the Program Steering Committee, preparing the agenda and supporting
documentation essential to their deliberations. This will include
routine reporting (annual reports and work plans) and action-type notes.
The latter are specifically intended to facilitate the decision-making
mentioned above and would typically present an issue for consideration,
outline the options for addressing it and analyze the advantages and
disadvantages of each option. These presentations are intended to
facilitate informed decision-making among the members of the Program
Steering Committee. Early and likely examples of the type of
action-memos to be prepared might include: ratifying the methodology of
site selection and choice of targeted areas; development of a policy
agenda and issues papers related to it; a consideration of the
institutional development strategy for co-management.

The Technical Working Group would be formed by those directly leading
field implementation of the forestry program component and thus, the
other key role of the Technical Working Group would be on-the-ground
coordination. The Group would be co-chaired by the National Project
Coordinator, designated by the Forest Department, and the Team Leader of
the Technical Assistance contractor. Their role would also be to ensure
the timely preparation and technical validity of the documentation
required by the Steering Committee, including annual work plans and
reports and the action memoranda. Other members of the Technical Working
Group would include: the DFO(s) in the Division(s) where the program is
operational; field-based representatives (one each) of other concerned
ministries; and the program leader of the NGO(s) involved in the
program. The USAID Cognizant Technical Officer would be encouraged to
attend as possible.

In all likelihood, this Group would also serve as the forum for
discussing and debating other issues and deliverables of a technical
nature (e.g., vetting consultant reports) prepared under the aegis of
the program. Finally, their role includes responsibility for ensuring
that the monitoring and evaluation requirements are being met. The venue
and timing of these meetings would be at the discretion of the joint
chairpersons although it is anticipated that they would meet at a
minimum on a quarterly basis.

**Local Government Committees**: Building directly on the effective MACH
experience, the forestry program component will also seek to interact
with and engage the Upazila Technical Development Committee by means of
a Local Government Committee. This committee will serve as the link
between the Resource Management Organizations, the concerned Union
Parishad Chairpersons and the officials of appropriate governmental
departments posted in the area. The role of the Local Government
Committee will center on public consultation and oversight of program
planning and implementation, advisory services, support for brokering
community consensus at higher levels and policy advice.

**Community-Based Resource Management Organizations**: It is intended
that the Resource Management Organizations (RMO\'s) will be the
organizational personification of the empowerment of the local
communities to be engaged in co-management. Here again, as in the MACH
Project, these RMO\'s will represent the interests of those community
members living in and around and currently using the resources of the
protected areas. Their primary role will be to: broker the agreements
necessary for actively participating in the preparation and ratification
of the co-management plans for each area; express the consensus view of
the communities regarding their needs and expectations; and working with
their members and the general public to fulfill the conservation
imperatives critical to safeguarding the sustainability of the natural
forest and its biodiversity assets. RMO members will be elected in the
process of organizational development at the grass roots level with the
communities residents in and around the protected areas.

**4.3 Program Implementation Staff**

The remainder of this section discusses the roles and responsibilities
of those who will actually serve under the aegis of the different
partners on the Program Team and be responsible for its implementation.
The overall design foresees two clusters (discussed in further detail
below under the heading of Indicative Implementation Plan) of activity
centers\--one in the northeast and the other in the southeast. Sharing
of staff roles within the clusters for specialized services will lead to
greater effectiveness and efficiency.

**Forest Department- Roles and Responsibilities for Program
Implementation**: Because they are the present stewards of the protected
areas, the Forest Department will play a crucial role in the
implementation of co-management development activities (described
further below). It is hoped that building a co-management agreement,
within the framework of existing acts, with the concerned communities
will lessen the incursions into the forest. This will release staff and
staff time to undertake other duties identified in the management plan,
for example, receiving the public, nature interpretation and
environmental education, monitoring biodiversity assets and forest
ecology, limited efforts at silvicultural interventions designed to
enhance the quality of the natural environment, and the provision of
extension services off-site for forestry related development activities
among the participating communities.

The Forest Department will provide many of the core staff members, as
part of the GOB contribution in-kind, for the implementation of the
forestry program component.

**NGO Services- Roles and Responsibilities**: From the outset, the
responsibilities of the NGO Service providers will center on being the
interface with the local communities, primarily through their roles in
promoting community level resource management organizations and a
program of alternative income generation activities. The ideal local NGO
to participate in this program would be one with both natural resources
management and community organization/alternative income generation
skills and experience. In addition, as mentioned above, the program will
look to the local staff of the Forest Department to provide training and
guidance for forestry development related activities among the
communities but there will still be a need for NGO staff capable of
promoting sustainable agriculture, soil and water conservation, and the
provision of outdoor recreation and ecotourism services.

**Technical Assistance Contractor**: This design envisages the need for
a Technical Assistance Contractor procured by means of a Request for
Proposals (RFP) among the qualified U.S. based development consulting
firms. The technical proposals will be evaluated by a Technical
Evaluation Committee comprised of USAID staff and an appropriate
representative of the Ministry of Environment and Forest, preferably the
Forest Department. It is suggested, furthermore, that the successful
contractor will establish a consortium of corporate skills and
capabilities that will include sub-contracting relationships with the
local NGO whose services are described above, and because of the
conservation focus of this program, with an experienced international
conservation organization.

The roles and responsibilities of the T.A. Contractor will include:
provision of technical assistance services (both long-term and
short-term) and guidance on the development and promotion of the
co-management model for USAID, the GOB agencies involved; overall
leadership of the other implementation partners; liaison with the GOB
agencies, in particular, the Forest Department; overall control of
administrative and management support services including financial
management, commodity procurement, arranging and supporting all program
related training; close collaboration with USAID/Bangladesh in the
development and execution of an effective monitoring and evaluation
system; administration of credit and grant facilities; and the timely
production of all reporting and documentary deliverables.

**4.4 Candidate Sites for Program Activities**

USAID believes that is both essential and logical to begin this program
in areas where the GOB has already demonstrated its conviction and
commitment to biodiversity conservation. The aim is to continue to
develop this vital commitment, helping to take the pressure off of
declared protected areas by identifying and implementing usage solutions
based on a full measure of community participation known as
co-management. In the main, the sixteen (16) existing Protected Areas
have been created by official notification of their status as such and
involve areas that were once part of officially gazetted Reserve
Forests. These areas are the last refuges of biodiversity in the country
although many of the larger mammalian species (leopards, wild dogs,
sambar, bear, rhinos, Indian bison, and wild buffalo) have been
extirpated. Doubtless, there have also been serious inroads into the
floristic biodiversity assets as well although the picture there offers
more hope. Many of these areas are found in hilly zones and as such also
provide important watershed related environmental services.

The present list of protected areas includes national parks, game
sanctuaries and game reserves, each with a slightly different set of
conservation and management rules established under the Wildlife
(Preservation) Act. All of these protected areas were established after
1980 and like the Reserve Forests from which they were carved, sometimes
include forest villages within their boundaries or usage rights for
neighboring villages. During design consultations, the Forest Department
has also pointed out that there are other areas of significant natural
beauty and biodiversity outside the existing P.A. list, mainly in
Reserve Forests.[^7]

Although the question of which areas might be considered is important,
the matter of how to make the choice is even more fundamental because it
serves to reinforce the strategic approach to the development of
co-management and to the likelihood of ease of understanding and
eventual replication. The intent of the present program is to promote
the formulation of a readily implementable and replicable co-management
model and the relatively modest resources available from USAID suggest
that this should take precedence over attempts to achieve wider physical
impact.

Therefore, one of the starting premises of the program is the need for
**site selection criteria** to identify targeted sites for program
investments. The following table provides suggested site selection
criteria as something that could be further discussed and decided among
the partners and perhaps even tabled in an early meeting of the Program
Steering Committee.

**Figure 3: Site Selection Criteria**

  ----------------------------------- -----------------------------------
  Proposed Criteria                   Discussion

  **Management Status**\--Part of the At least at the outset, and in
  existing Forest Department system   order to facilitate a rapid
  of Protected Areas.                 start-up, the P.A.\'s should be
                                      given higher priority for
                                      selection. However, this does not
                                      preclude choosing sites proposed
                                      for notification, reserve forest
                                      areas and even ungazetted state
                                      forest areas.

  **Conservation Value**---Unique     Measuring this value could be a
  examples of tropical forest         matter of percentage area remaining
  ecosystems or habitat for important in natural forest vegetation or the
  biodiversity assets.                presence of keystone biodiversity
                                      species.

  **Watershed Role and Environmental  There would be a preference for
  Services**---Related to the overall hilly areas that are at the top of
  integrated water resources          the watersheds of important
  management theme.                   wetlands. Other water related
                                      values could include as catchments
                                      for reservoirs or as forests
                                      sheltering adjacent communities
                                      from storm surges and cyclone
                                      impacts.

  **Public Awareness Value**\--Sites  Accessibility must be such that the
  likely to attract visitors who      general public (and possibly even
  would benefit from nature           foreign tourists) can visit the
  conservation and environmental      areas for outdoor recreation and
  education.                          nature viewing.

  **Efficiency                        A minimum size of 1000 hectares is
  Considerations**\--Areas need to be proposed as the cut-off. Each of
  of sufficient size.                 the sites will have certain
                                      development overhead requirements
                                      and costs and this minimum would be
                                      sufficient to warrant an effective
                                      and efficient investment.

  **Effectiveness                     The intention is to develop two
  Considerations**\--Neighboring      clustered areas of co-management
  areas to sites already chosen by    sites, one in the northeast and one
  the program                         in the southeast. This will make
                                      for more effective implementation,
                                      as it will be easier to share staff
                                      and program resources.

  **Relative Potential for            Avoiding areas of entrenched social
  Success**\--The \"win-win\"         conflict, either among communities
  situations, especially at the       themselves or with the Forest
  outset where there are some         Department, sites likely to be
  assurances of implementation        targeted for other development
  success.                            initiatives, and areas where local
                                      communities and authorities express
                                      an early willingness to
                                      participate.
  ----------------------------------- -----------------------------------

**4.5 Illustrative Description of Activities**

As might be expected, the investments and interventions of the program
will be organized in five principal and complementary components
congruent with the five intermediate results and their indicators for
the SO. The illustrative description of the activities which follows has
also been developed based on an in-depth analysis of the issues and
opportunities for co-management of protected areas in Bangladesh which
was prepared as part of a working document for this design effort (see
**Annex C** for a tabulation of the Issues and Opportunities). It was
also based on a thorough review of the most pertinent literature from
the environment sector in Bangladesh (see **Annex D** for the list of
references used in this design). Although first generally comes first,
the list of activities is not intended to convey absolute priorities or
sequencing.

**Component No. 1- Development of a Co-Management Planning and
Implementation Model**

The activities under this component will be directly responsive to
**Intermediate Result 6.1**\-- **Effective Community Based Resource
Management Mechanisms Implemented** and its Indicators. Anticipated
illustrative activities include:

1.  The Forest Department and its counterparts in the Program Team
    (Technical Assistance Team and Partners) agree on a select list of
    Protected Areas as priority options for a phased approach and obtain
    the concurrence of the Program Steering Committee and USAID based on
    an agreed site selection criteria.

2.  Program Team (F.D. and Technical Assistance staff) carry out
    reconnaissance surveys on status of forest and its biodiversity
    assets and identify zones of influence (buffer zones) for each
    protected area (P.A.). This will involve the development of certain
    planning tools including a forest biodiversity survey instrument and
    the definition of a potential zoning code (e.g., ecosystem
    management zone or core zone, village use/sustainable use zone,
    resource rehabilitation zones, adjacent critical watershed areas,
    buffer zones, etc.) Updated maps of each targeted protected area
    with important topographical features, infrastructure and present
    land-use will be prepared.

3.  Establishment of a GIS/GPS based mapping and monitoring facility as
    a key planning and performance tracking tool. These services could
    be subcontracted to a local private sector institution.

4.  Identify adjacent areas that are parts of the watershed between the
    protected area (usually at the top of the watershed) and the lower
    riparian/wetlands areas they serve to ensure comprehensive watershed
    management planning and actions.

5.  Program Team led by the NGO specialists begins a Participatory Rural
    Appraisal (PRA) process with the local communities living in or
    adjacent to the Protected Area to identify their needs and
    opportunities. These PRA\'s will use tools such as community mapping
    and needs assessment.

6.  Program Team led by the NGO specialists begins community
    organization process identifying resource management committees and
    potential interest groups. The RMO\'s will adopt the methodology
    used by the MACH Project for this purpose although it may have to be
    adapted for terrestrial applications.

7.  Work with neighboring stakeholders (e.g., Tea Estates, private land
    owners, the Ministry of Land) to identify their constraints and
    opportunities for protecting natural forest areas within their
    boundaries. Ensure that Tea Estate workers are informed of the goals
    of the co-management approach and its requirements if they are not
    part of the communities involved in co-management.

8.  Develop and apply the rules and methodology of sustainable use
    zoning within the protected areas where necessary to accommodate
    established and recognized forest villages and their inhabitants.
    Give particular emphasis to garnering traditional knowledge about
    forest-based farmacopia.

9.  A Draft Co-Management Plan will be prepared with annual operational
    targets discussed and agreed with the communities through the
    intervention of the RMO\'s for each of the targeted protected areas
    under the program.

10. Study the opportunities for the possible expansion of the protected
    areas into adjacent contiguous areas of reserve forests and work
    with the Forest Department to secure their official notification as
    such.

11. Communities and RMO\'s assess their achievements in light of the
    annual work plan (monitoring and evaluation) with the Program Team
    and perhaps adjust expectations in the out-years.

**Component No. 2\-- Interventions and Investments for Improved
Ecosystem Management**

The activities under this component will be directly responsive to
**Intermediate Result 6.2**\-- **Select Habitats and Ecosystems
Restored, and the Sub-IR\'s 6.2.1\--Innovations and Best Practices
Adopted and 6.2.2\--Alternative Incomes Realized for Target Groups** and
their Indicators. Anticipated illustrative activities include:

1.  Ensure that the recognized boundaries of each targeted P.A. are
    clearly and permanently marked and that suitable and prominent
    signage regarding their special status is placed at key access
    points. In cases where the limits may be in dispute, work with the
    local authorities and community leaders to re-establish the limits,
    registering them in the field with a GPS and later plotting them on
    official maps.

2.  Program Team prepares habitat restoration manual as a guide to the
    rehabilitation of areas within the Protected Area in need of
    improvement.

3.  Restoration and watershed management activities get underway with
    community assistance in designated forest compartments where they
    are required for watershed management and biodiversity conservation
    purposes.

4.  Determine the potable water supply circumstances of forest villages
    and consider development of safe, piped water in return for their
    agreement to protect watersheds.

5.  Forest resource development, agricultural improvement, soil and
    water conservation activities get underway in buffer zones,
    including with private sector interests (Tea Estates) in order to
    begin to ensure the sustainability of the watershed.

6.  Develop a methodology for transparently quantifying human impact on
    the protected areas as a key to gauging the compensatory measures
    that may be required to achieve conservation imperatives.

7.  NGO personnel, perhaps with technical assistance, undertakes
    feasibility studies for alternative income and employment generation
    activities. Companion studies on the micro-economics or business
    planning and market access elements are carried out to ensure that
    participants are fully likely to benefit from their participation in
    these activities.

8.  Program Team develops an annotated action-reseach oriented issues
    agenda as the basis for a modest program of research grants to be
    contracted with institutions like the BFRI and others, focused on
    forest ecology, natural forest management, biodiversity assessment,
    watershed management, co-management and other germaine topics.

9.  Alternative income and employment activities get underway among the
    target communities. Lead participants in each of the categories of
    AIG activities are chosen and their efforts monitored carefully as
    an indicator of successful performance for monitoring and evaluation
    purposes.

10. Possible community support and working credit program elements are
    operationalized (e.g. water supply, seed supply, etc.).

11. Identify keystone forest tree and plant species that might be
    re-introduced or whose populations need enhancement within the P.A.
    Study the methods for their regeneration including the possibility
    of direct seeding and the feasibility of planting seedlings.

12. Develop a response to possible issues of crop-raiding by animal
    inhabitants of the protected areas.

**Component No. 3\-- The Enabling Policy Environment for Co-Management
Enhanced**

The activities under this component will be directly responsive to
**Intermediate Result 6.3\-- Select Policies Implemented that Support
IR\'s 1 & 2** and its Indicators. Anticipated illustrative activities
include:

1.  Regular twice yearly inter-ministerial Program Steering Committee
    meetings with the Technical Working Group providing secretariat
    services (meeting agenda, issues papers and follow-up actions).

2.  Program Team assists in the organization of the Local Government
    Committee and uses this mechanism to present and explain the
    co-management approach, its activities and implications to the local
    government level decision-makers (Union Parishads and the Upazila
    Development Committees).

3.  Program Team prepares a "white paper" on the local and national
    policy agenda for co-management for submission to Steering Committee
    and as the basis for continuing policy dialogue about the enabling
    environment for the promotion of co-management of natural resources.

4.  As a result of the decisions of the Program Steering Committee, the
    Team commissions policy studies to enhance the quality of the
    informed debate among the program decision-makers. For example, one
    such study might address the macro-economics of biodiversity
    conservation and co-management of protected areas. Another might
    address the institutional strategy for integrated natural resources
    management and its implications for the ministries concerned.

5.  Develop a policy and process for a permit and fee structure for day
    visitors to the P.A.\'s. In selected P.A.\'s, there may be future
    opportunities for limited, low impact camping facilities but this
    needs further study and a sound policy established.

6.  Co-management of tropical forest resources operations manual
    prepared and vetted by the Program Steering Committee and all of the
    participating GOB departments. This draft manual provides the
    substance for a national workshop on the topic.

7.  Mid-term evaluation carried out; lessons learned identified and any
    reformulation of program objectives and indicators along with
    necessary reprogramming of activities, staffing needs or financial
    resources considered.

**Component No. 4- Laying the Foundation for a Conservation Constituency
in Bangladesh**

The activities under this component will be directly responsive to
**Intermediate Result 6.4**\-- **Public Awareness of Key Issues Raised**
and its Indicators. Anticipated illustrative activities include:

1.  Public Awareness Strategy developed by the Program Team perhaps with
    short-term technical assistance.

2.  Invite local authorities on one day visits to the P.A.\'s in their
    areas to explain and demonstrate program actions and the
    co-management approach\--to include district, upazila and union
    parishad authorities and the officers of the security forces (e.g.,
    the BDR detachments) stationed in the area.

3.  Co-Management Plans presented at national workshop along with
    approach and specifics of community involvement.

4.  Inter-Community study visits encouraged and facilitated, including
    between upstream communities and downstream (wetland) communities
    and local authorities with the cooperation of the MACH Project.

5.  Prepare a brief illustrated brochure for each targeted P.A.,
    explaining the forest, its natural components, biodiversity assets
    and the co-management approach for sale to visitors (in Bangla and
    English).

6.  A limited number of community members selected and trained as nature
    guides for protected area visitors. Nature guides successfully
    completing the training course would be authorized by the Forest
    Department to escort visitors. A certificate and perhaps a shirt and
    cap with suitable insignia could be provided to them. A fee
    structure established for these services and a brochure in Bangla
    and English prepared for circulation among travel agencies in
    Bangladesh.

7.  Environmental education activities identified and promoted to serve
    recreation and tourism users. This will include signage in each of
    the areas as well as the development of a nature walk through the
    forest led by trained members of the participating communities.
    Nature trails may include limited and rustic structures to
    accommodate visitors (benches for resting along the way, foot
    bridges over wet areas and chharas, a latrine).

8.  Develop a conservation-oriented training package for local
    elementary schools and provide teacher training in its use. Sponsor
    visits by school children from adjacent areas to the protected
    areas. Seek private sector (corporate) support for modest funding to
    finance these visits.

9.  Work with avid local birdwatching groups to develop an illustrated
    guide to the birds of the Protected Areas of Bangladesh. Seek
    private sector sponsorship for its publication with the proceeds
    going to investments within the P.A.\'s.

10. Regular program of media messages promoted and prepared with Team
    assistance. One or two high level governmental study tours to
    working co-management areas and media coverage of these events
    facilitated.

**Component No. 5\-- Towards an Exit Strategy\--Ensuring
Institutionalization of Co-Management**

The activities under this component will be directly responsive to
**Intermediate Result 6.5**\-- **Improved Institutional Capacity** and
its Indicators. Anticipated illustrative activities include:

1.  Training needs assessment carried out for Forest Department, other
    Ministries and NGO staff involved in the Program and a comprehensive
    training plan developed.

2.  Team develops model and methodology for training Local Government
    staff under a co-management of tropical forest training program.

3.  Establish a re-invigorated regime of beat patrols by Forest
    Department staff (consider the provision of radio communications)
    with special reference to monitoring biodiversity assets.

4.  Assist the Forest Department to develop a rapid response policy and
    protocol (disaster prevention) for addressing problem issues like
    forest fire, illegal logging, flash floods, land invasions, etc.

5.  Assist the Forest Department authorities in the preparation of
    staffing position descriptions related to protected areas and
    co-management.

6.  Program assists the local environmental and forestry schools (such
    as the Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, University
    of Chittagong) to develop curriculum elements for training in the
    Co-Management Approach to Biodiversity Conservation and Natural
    Resources Management.

7.  Strengthening of the Wildlife and Nature Conservation Circle, aiming
    at establishing a Protected Area Management System as part of its
    organizational structure.

8.  Program Team makes a presentation about their achievements to the
    multi-lateral development banks (ADB, World Bank) with a view to
    attracting investment level resources for wide scale replication of
    co-management in Bangladesh.

**4.6 Indicative Implementation Schedule**

The program leadership will be charged early on with preparing a
detailed work plan for the program and thus many of its details must be
omitted until that time, however, several premises of the design should
be taken into account in the implementation planning exercise; they
include:

**Careful Adherence to the Biological Calendar**: For one thing, any
natural resources management related implementation plan must take into
account the biological calendar which dictates when certain activities,
related to both forest management interventions or the agricultural
production year, must take place. Thus the overall planning is directly
linked to when during the year that the program is approved and becomes
operational.

**Allowing Sufficient Time for Mobilization**: Implementation will get
underway when the Team Leader and the National Project Coordinator are
appointed and take their posts. However, it is likely that a 3 month
period will be required to allow all elements of the program to be put
in place and start operations. At the end of this mobilization phase,
the Program Team should be ready to share a program work plan cum
inception report with the Program Steering Committee and
USAID/Bangladesh. This plan will also include a detailed work plan for
the first full year of implementation.

**Cluster Approach to Implementation**: As was mentioned above, the
design foresees a cluster approach to implementation in order to achieve
greater effectiveness and be able to use program resources, especially
staffing, in an efficient manner. Two clusters are suggested, one in the
northeast centered on Sylhet Forest Division and another in southeast,
centered on Chittagong. In each cluster, it is probable that 1 to 3
protected areas could be targeted for program interventions and
investments.

**Incremental Build-Up to Program Activities**: The design consultants
believe that a phased approach to implementation is essential so as to
ensure that capabilities can be incrementally improved as the program
moves forward. Accordingly, the proposed activities and their targets
(performance indicators) will be structured in phases:
mobilization/inception phase; development phase; expansion phase;
consolidation/exit strategy phase. The latter assumes that this program
duration of five years will not be extended although further insight
into this matter is unlikely until at least after the mid-term
evaluation scheduled for month 30.

1.  The **mobilization/inception phase** has been briefly described
    above. During the **development phase**, it is likely that
    activities will be limited to 1 to 3 protected areas in one
    region\--the northeast\--of the country (although reconnaissance
    activities in anticipation of expansion to a second region\--the
    southeast\--may begin during this period). More importantly, during
    the development phase (months 4 to 30), every effort will be made to
    ensure a comprehensive understanding and implementation of the
    co-management model is addressed and that human resources
    development and training as well as institution-building
    requirements are well underway so as to facilitate effective
    operations.

2.  During the **expansion phase** (months 31 to 48), it should be
    possible to increase the pace of implementation given the
    understandings of the model. Several important caveats, however,
    must be borne in mind, namely that in the southeast, protected areas
    are likely to be larger, that the social and economic situation of
    the communities is quite distinct from the rest of the country, and
    access to protected areas is generally more difficult.

3.  During the final **consolidation/exit strategy phase** (months 49 to
    60), barring any significant programming decisions between USAID and
    the GOB, the focus will logically be on consolidation of the model
    and handover of the responsibilities under the institutional
    strategy mapped out for its replication.

Figure No. 4, which follows, provides a graphic indication of the likely
implementation plan for the program as a whole. An optimistic start date
for the forestry program component would be January 2003 and the
implementation calendar in this graphic has been prepared with that in
mind, i.e., beginning implementation as a whole year.

**Figure 4: Indicative Implementation Plan**

  -------------------------- ------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- -------- ---- ------------------------------------------------------- --- ------------------------------------------------------- --- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- ------------------------------------------------------- --- ---- --- ----------------------------------------------------------- --- ---- ----
  **Overall Implementation   **Year One**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            **Year                                                                    **Year Three**                                                                                                                                               **Year Four**                                                        **Year Five**                                                        
  Calendar---Years**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Two**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

  **Quarters**               1             2                                                                                                                                         3                                                       4                                                       1        2    3                                                       4   1                                                       2   3                                                                                           4    1                                                       2   3    4   1                                                           2   3    4

  **Mobilization/Inception   **\-\-\--**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
  Phase**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

  Program Team Assembles\--  \-\-\--                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
  T.A. Contract in place &                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  National Project                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
  Coordinator Appointed                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

  Program Work Plan Prepared \-\-\--                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
  & Presented to First                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
  Meeting of Steering                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
  Committee                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

  Commodity Procurement                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
  Commences                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

  First Protected Area       \-\-\--                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
  chosen and reconnaisance                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  survey begins                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

  **Development Phase**                    **\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\--**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

  Co-Management Plan                       \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\--\*                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
  Development begins around                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
  the first protected area                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  (\* = draft plan ready)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

  Co-Management Plan                                                                                                                                                                                                                         \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\--\*                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
  Development begins around                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
  the second protected area                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
  (\*= draft plan ready)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

  Both resource management                                                                                                                                                           \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\--                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  and AIG interventions                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
  begin within co-management                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
  areas                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

  Next Steering Committee                                                                                                                                                            sc                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
  Meeting                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

  Established RMO\'s (2)                                                                                                                                                                                                                     xx                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
  assess program                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
  achievements/Team prepares                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
  a report on findings                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

  **Quarters**               1             2                                                                                                                                         3                                                       4                                                       1        2    3                                                       4   1                                                       2   3                                                                                           4    1                                                       2   3    4   1                                                           2   3    4

  Draft habitat restoration                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   xx                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
  manual prepared                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

  First Annual Report due                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            ar            sc                                                          sc                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
  and next Steering                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
  Committee Meetings                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

  Training Needs Assessment                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   xx                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
  carried out/preliminary                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
  training plan drafted                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

  Planning efforts get                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\--                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
  underway to establish                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
  second cluster of sites in                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
  southeast                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

  Preliminary policy agenda                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    xx                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
  formulated/commission                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
  first analytical study                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

  Second Annual Report due-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    ar                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

  Outdoor recreation/tourism                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\--                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
  promotion efforts get                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
  underway                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

  Mid-term Evaluation takes                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                xx                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
  place                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

  **Expansion Phase**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      **\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\--**                                                                                                                                                  

  Co-Management Plan                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\--\*                                                                                                                                                                                      
  Development begins around                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
  the third protected                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
  area/second cluster (\*=                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  draft plan ready)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

  Action-Research agenda                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               xx                                                                                                                                             
  prepared/Grants program                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
  begins                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

  Draft institutional                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  xx                                                                                                                                             
  development strategy paper                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

  National Workshop on                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      xx                                                                                                                                        
  Co-Management held                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

  Co-Management Plan                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\--\*                                                                                     
  Development begins around                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
  the fourth protected                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
  area/second cluster (\*=                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  draft plan ready)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

  **Quarters**               1             2                                                                                                                                         3                                                       4                                                       1        2    3                                                       4   1                                                       2   3                                                                                           4    1                                                       2   3    4   1                                                           2   3    4

  Third Annual Report                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      sc                                                                                               ar                                                          sc                                                                            
  due/Steering Committee                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
  Meetings-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

  **Exit                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         **\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\--**            
  Strategy/Consolidation                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
  Phase**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

  Fourth Annual Report due-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      xx                                                                   

  Co-Management Plan                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\--                
  implementation continues                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  in all sites                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

  Final two Steering                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             sc                                                              sc   
  Committee Meetings                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

  Study on economics of                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          xx                                                                   
  co-management prepared                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

  Efforts to establish                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\--                                                
  Protected Area System                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
  within Forest Department                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

  Exit/Handover Strategy                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              xx
  document prepared as Final                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
  Annual Report presented to                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
  Steering Committee, Forest                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
  Department & USAID                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
  -------------------------- ------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- -------- ---- ------------------------------------------------------- --- ------------------------------------------------------- --- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- ------------------------------------------------------- --- ---- --- ----------------------------------------------------------- --- ---- ----

**4.7 Reporting Requirements**

The Program Team will be expected to produce a series of regular reports
and technical documents (deliverables) over the life of the program.
These will include:

1.  **Annual Work Plans and Annual Performance Reports**: This will be
    initiated by the end of the first quarter of implementation with the
    preparation of proposed overall implementation plan for the program,
    including a detailed Annual Work Plan for year 1 and more indicative
    work plans for subsequent years of the program. At the end of each
    calendar year, the Program Team will present an Annual Performance
    Report along with a revised Detailed Work Plan for the coming year.
    If possible, these plans and reports should coincide with the
    calendar year rather than the fiscal year to facilitate annual
    planning and implementation. These plans and reports will be
    submitted in ten copies, to be circulated to USAID/Bangladesh and to
    the Program Steering Committee members.

2.  **Quarterly Progress Reports**: Not later than two weeks following
    the close of each quarter, the Program Team will prepare and submit
    quarterly progress reports to USAID. This report will summarize
    progress in relation to agreed upon milestones contained in the
    Annual Work Plan and will specify any problems encountered and
    indicate how these were resolved through corrective actions. For
    each such action, the Team will specify which of the responsible
    partners is taking charge and the proposed timetable for their
    completion. The Quarterly Report will also succinctly note key
    activities being proposed for the next quarter and specify if they
    deviate from the agreed Annual Work Plan. Until all program procured
    commodities are received and put into use, the Quarterly Progress
    Report will include an update on the procurement plan. The update
    should provide information on tenders in preparation, tenders out
    for bid, awards, shipments, carrier name and expected arrival date
    where pertinent. The last quarterly progress report of each year
    will be part of the Annual Report and hence only three Quarterly
    Reports will be due each year.

3.  **Minutes of Steering Committee Meetings**: The Program Team in the
    role of Technical Working Group will also be responsible for
    maintaining and reporting on the workings of the Program Steering
    Committee. These minutes will record the agenda for the meeting,
    identify the participants and their affiliation, register the action
    responsibilities and who was designated to follow them up and the
    time frame for that action; report on completion of these follow-up
    actions from the previous meetings; briefly summarize the discussion
    of each of the meeting\'s agenda items; and indicate the date,
    timing and venue for the next meeting. Copies will be furnished no
    later than two weeks after the Program Steering Committee meeting on
    which they are reporting and ten copies will be made available for
    USAID and the Steering Committee members.

4.  **Technical Documentation (Anticipated Deliverables)**: Because this
    program is designed to develop a model for co-management, a series
    of working documents and technical reports will be prepared. The
    likely preparation of these deliverables will be identified in each
    of the Annual Detailed Work Plans, including an indication of the
    number of copies that will be required. Similarly, all short-term
    consultants, both expatriate and locally hired will be required to
    present five copies of a report of their activities and
    recommendations; these consultant reports will be presented in draft
    form to the Program Team Leaders and reviewed in-house before the
    departure of the consultant. The final version of these reports will
    be prepared and submitted in ten copies to the Program Team no later
    than 30 days after completion of the assignment. They will be
    submitted to the USAID CTO and to other parties as deemed
    appropriate.

**4.8 Performance Monitoring and Evaluation**

USAID\'s re-engineered approach to development programming presupposes a
business-like arrangement between the Mission and its partners. This is
especially manifest in the performance monitoring agreements between
them. Partners, led by the lead contractor are asked to achieve
identified intermediate results but the basis for measuring their
performance against indicators is ideally negotiated and agreed with
them. Accordingly, the Technical Assistance contractor will collaborate
with the Mission to define/refine Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP)
indicators as appropriate and to assure that the indicators are
adequately defined, including suitable disaggregation by gender, age,
region and ethnic group as appropriate. The contractor will also carry
out a rapid appraisal or similar type of assessment as necessary to
establish baselines and targets for IR level indicators defined in the
PMP based on the program timeline.

In light of the above, the table that follows constitutes only a first
approximation of likely indicators that might be applied in measuring
the performance under the forestry program component.

**Figure 5: Summary Performance Data Tables (Proposed)**

+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| Indicator                 | Ta   | B   |   | 03 | 04  | 05  | 06  | 07  |
|                           | rget | ase |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Indicator 6.1b** -      | 4    | 0   |   | 1  | 2   | 3   | 4   | 4   |
| Number of protected areas |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| and overall total area in |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| which sustainable         |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| management plans are      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| being implemented         |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|                           | tbd  |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Performance Data        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Specifications:** The     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| unit of measure will be   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| both number of protected  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| areas as well as their    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| cumulative total area in  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| hectares. The indicator   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| will be a measure of      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| physical impact as well   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| as proof that the         |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| co-management approach    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| can be successfully used  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| to improve tropical       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| forest resources.         |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Innovative presentation   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| of this data in the       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| format of a user-friendly |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| GIS applications should   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| be employed for this      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| indicator.                |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Indicator 6.1c**- GOB   | tbd  | 0   | \ |    | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
| agreements to expand      |      |     | - |    | \-- | \-- | \-- | \-- |
| protected areas as        |      |     | \ |    |     |     |     |     |
| appropriate               |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
|                           |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Performance Data        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Specifications:** The     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| details of this unit of   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| measure could be either   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| physical achievement in   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| terms of hectares added   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| to existing protected     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| areas through             |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| notification and/or       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| percentage increase in    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| the size of the area      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| under protection. Here    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| again, GIS applications   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| could facilitate          |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| measurement. This         |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| indicator can only be     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| calibrated once a more    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| reasonable list of        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| targeted protected areas  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| has been chosen by the    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Mission and its partners, |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| including the Forest      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Department.               |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Indicator 6.1d-**       | 80%  | 0   | X |    | X-  | X-  | X-  | X-  |
| Declining incidences of   | ove  |     | - |    | 30% | 50% | 70% | 80% |
| illegal use of protected  | rall |     | 2 |    |     |     |     |     |
| areas                     |      |     | 0 |    |     |     |     |     |
|                           |      |     | % |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Performance Data        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Specifications:** While   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| the baseline is zero,     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| meaning no reduction so   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| far in incidences of      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| unsustainable use of      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| protected areas, the      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| approach mentioned in the |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| design foresees           |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| calibrating in realistic  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| terms the incidence and   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| impact of unsustainable   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| use due to traditional    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| use of core sanctuary     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| areas and/or cases of     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| timber theft by illegal   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| loggers. Calibrating the  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| baseline (X) will have to |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| await greater efforts at  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| management planning for   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| individual targeted       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| areas.                    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Indicator 6.2b/c**-     | 100% | 0   | 1 |    | 30% | 40% | 60% | 1   |
| Upland forest habitat     |      |     | 0 |    |     |     |     | 00% |
| improved in targeted      |      |     | % |    |     |     |     |     |
| areas (%/ha)              |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|                           | tbd  | Tbd | \ |    | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
|                           |      |     | - |    | \-- | \-- | \-- | \-- |
|                           |      |     | \ |    |     |     |     |     |
|                           |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
|                           |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Performance Data        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Specifications:** Certain |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| portions of the likely    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| protected areas will      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| benefit from proactive    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| attempts to enhance       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| vegetative cover as a     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| result of past use. This  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| indicator will measure    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| impact in achieving this  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| improvement, measured in  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| terms of the percent      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| realized of the area      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| requiring such treatment. |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| While total hectares so   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| treated will be tracked,  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| the percentage of total   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| area requiring treatment  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| is a better measure of    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| the effectiveness of the  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| program. Here again,      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| calibrating the baseline  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| in actual area terms will |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| have to await greater     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| efforts at management     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| planning for individual   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| targeted areas.           |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Indicator 6.2.1d**-     | tbd  | Tbd | \ |    | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
| Watershed management      |      |     | - |    | \-- | \-- | \-- | \-- |
| and/or buffer zone plans  |      |     | \ |    |     |     |     |     |
| and practices             |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
| operationalized           |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Performance Data        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Specifications:** At a    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| minimum, each targeted    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| protected area is likely  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| to have watershed and/or  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| buffer zone management    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| plans and practices       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| associated with the       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| overall co-management     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| plan. This indicator will |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| measure the number of     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| them that can be          |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| successfully              |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| operationalized out of    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| the total identified. In  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| some cases, because of    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| geographical spread of    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| areas to be managed and   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| communities involved in   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| co-management, there      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| could be more than one    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| such plan per P.A.        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Further refinement of     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| this indicator must       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| therefore await detailed  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| management planning to    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| get underway.             |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Indicator 6.2.2b**-     | tbd  | 0   | \ |    | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
| Increased income of       |      |     | - |    | \-- | \-- | \-- | \-- |
| targeted beneficiaries    |      |     | \ |    |     |     |     |     |
| (number of beneficiaries  |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
| achieving satisfactory    |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
| IRR)                      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Performance Data        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Specifications:** The     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| unit of measurement of    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| this indicator will be    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| the number of selected    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| participants in the       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| alternative income        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| generating activities who |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| actually achieve a        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| positive internal rate of |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| return, suggested as 22%, |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| for their investments and |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| activities. As mentioned  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| in the program design,    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| the team will identify a  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| select group of           |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| participants for each     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| different type of         |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| alternative income        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| generating activity and   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| track their financial     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| progress using a simple   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| format directly related   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| to the idealized business |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| plan for that activity.   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Indicator 6.3c**-       | tbd  | 0   | \ |    | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
| Number of formalized      |      |     | - |    | \-- | \-- | \-- | \-- |
| co-management agreements  |      |     | \ |    |     |     |     |     |
| in place with communities |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
| surrounding targeted      |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
| protected areas (no. and  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| %)                        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|                           | tbd  | 75% | 7 |    | 75% | 75% | 75% | 75% |
|                           |      |     | 5 |    |     |     |     |     |
|                           |      |     | % |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Performance Data        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Specifications:**         |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Co-management plans may   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| require separate          |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| simplified co-management  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| agreements with villages, |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| groups of communities     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| living close to one       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| another and/or individual |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| communities in order to   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| realistically desegregate |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| roles and                 |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| responsibilities in       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| achieving co-management   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| objectives for a given    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| P.A. Some attempts at     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| co-management may fail    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| initially or even over    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| the life of the program   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| for a variety of reasons. |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| It will, nevertheless, be |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| critical to reach a       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| majority of the concerned |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| communities if the        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| co-management objectives  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| are to make sufficient    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| progress, and potentially |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| attract non-cooperative   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| communities once the      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| benefits become apparent. |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Indicator 6.3d**-       | tbd  | 0   | \ |    | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
| Inter-Agency agreements   |      |     | - |    | \-- | \-- | \-- | \-- |
| in place allocating usage |      |     | \ |    |     |     |     |     |
| rights to local           |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
| communities               |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Performance Data        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Specifications:** In many |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| cases, achieving the      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| conservation goals within |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| the P.A. or their core    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| sanctuary areas may only  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| be realized with          |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| arrangements that make it |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| possible to replace       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| traditional needs once    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| satisfied there with      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| other sources of forest   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| products. Neighboring     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| khas lands and perhaps    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| even tea estates could    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| provide the sites for     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| these                     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| interventions/investments |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| but will likely require a |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| formal inter-agency       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| agreement between the     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Forest Department/MOEF    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| and the Ministry of Lands |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| and others. Achieving     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| such agreements is        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| considered a critical     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| indicator of achievement  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| in reaching the           |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| integrated approach that  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| may be necessary to allow |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| co-management to flourish |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| around P.A.\'s. This will |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| likely be a mid-term      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| indicator that can only   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| be calibrated once the    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| co-management planning    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| begins.                   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Indicator 6.3e**-       | Agen | 0   | 1 |    | 1   | 2   | 3   | 4   |
| Co-management policy      | da + |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| agenda established and    | act  |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| being acted upon by GOB   | ions |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Performance Data        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Specifications:** This    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| indicator is designed to  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| measure the degree of     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| success in ensuring that  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| the appropriate enabling  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| environment of policies,  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| rules and regulations for |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| co-management have been   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| put in place. The         |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| indicator is cumulative   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| but calibrating it will   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| first require the study   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| on potential policy       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| reform topics be          |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| established based on the  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| working experience in     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| attempting to apply the   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| co-management model.      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Policy reform             |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| achievements could be     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| either local or national  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| in nature.                |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Indicator 6.4b**-       | T    | 0   | \ |    | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
| Number of communities and | otal |     | - |    | \-- | \-- | \-- | \-- |
| beneficiaries that        |      |     | \ |    |     |     |     |     |
| participate in training   | No.  |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
| cum planning sessions     |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
| resulting in              |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| co-management agreements  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| for protected areas       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|                           | Per  | 0   | \ |    | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
|                           | cent |     | - |    | \-- | \-- | \-- | \-- |
|                           |      |     | \ |    |     |     |     |     |
|                           | pa   |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
|                           | rtic |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
|                           | ipa- |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
|                           | ting |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Performance Data        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Specifications:** This    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| indicator is expected to  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| measure the effectiveness |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| of the public awareness,  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| training and              |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| organizational promotion  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| efforts among the user    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| communities. A large      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| number of communities     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| (and beneficiaries) may   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| participate in the        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| programs but the measure  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| of performance success    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| will be gauged by the     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| percent of those          |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| participating in these    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| programs who go on to     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| establish RMO\'s and      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| viable intervention       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| programs.                 |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Indicator 6.4c**-       | No.  | 0   | \ |    | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
| Growing public awareness  | of   |     | - |    | \-- | \-- | \-- | \-- |
| and understanding of the  | arti |     | \ |    |     |     |     |     |
| importance of             | cles |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
| biodiversity conservation |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
| and environmental         |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| services                  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|                           | Qua  | 0   | \ |    | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
|                           | lity |     | - |    | \-- | \-- | \-- | \-- |
|                           |      |     | \ |    |     |     |     |     |
|                           |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
|                           |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Performance Data        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Specifications:** The     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| number and quality of the |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| articles appearing in the |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| media discussing          |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| co-management and/or      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| biodiversity conservation |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| or similar themes related |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| to the goals of the       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| program will be tracked   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| as a proxy measure of the |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| success in raising public |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| awareness.                |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Indicator 6.5b**-       | tbd  | 0   | \ |    | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
| Forest Department skills  |      |     | - |    | \-- | \-- | \-- | \-- |
| and experience to promote |      |     | \ |    |     |     |     |     |
| co-management of          |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
| protected area improved   |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Performance Data        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Specifications:** Once    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| the program gets          |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| established, and as part  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| of the institution        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| building efforts of the   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| program, the Team will    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| work with the Forest      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Department to develop     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| position descriptions for |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| participating             |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| staffmembers. The         |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| performance of these      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| staffmembers will be      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| analyzed annually by      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| means of staff evaluation |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| reports aimed at          |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| institutionalizing        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| accountability as an      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| important element of real |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| acceptance of             |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| co-management.            |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Indicator 6.5c**-       | tbd  | 0   | \ |    | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
| Enhanced GOB Agency       |      |     | - |    | \-- | \-- | \-- | \-- |
| capabilities for working  |      |     | \ |    |     |     |     |     |
| together on integrated    |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
| NRM programs              |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Performance Data        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Specifications:** This    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| indicator will monitor    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| cases where outside the   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| program the ministries    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| concerned replicate the   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| principles of integrated  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| approaches to natural     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| resources management.     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Indicator 6.5d**- Local | tbd  | 0   | \ |    | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
| Govt. w/ improved         |      |     | - |    | \-- | \-- | \-- | \-- |
| land-use and NRM planning |      |     | \ |    |     |     |     |     |
| & governance capabilities |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
|                           |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Performance Data        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Specifications:** As part |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| of their efforts, the     |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| program team assisting    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| the Local Government      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Committees will work with |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| them to define            |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| co-management,            |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| biodiversity              |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| conservation, land-use    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| planning and similar      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| natural resources         |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| management discussion and |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| issues agendas. This      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| indicator will measure    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| their success in          |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| addressing these issues   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| among themselves.         |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Indicator 6.5e**-       | tbd  | 0   | \ |    | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
| Improved local NGO        |      |     | - |    | \-- | \-- | \-- | \-- |
| capabilities to support   |      |     | \ |    |     |     |     |     |
| ICDP                      |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
|                           |      |     | - |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| **Performance Data        |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Specifications:** Similar |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| to the staff evaluations  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| discussed above for       |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| Forest Department staff,  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| NGO personnel performance |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| will also be analyzed. In |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| this case, the emphasis   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| will be on both           |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| accountability and the    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| likelihood that they      |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| could carry on with the   |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| program once technical    |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
| assistance is withdrawn.  |      |     |   |    |     |     |     |     |
+---------------------------+------+-----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+

USAID/Bangladesh will reserve the right, and has set aside separate
funding, to commission **an independent mid-term evaluation** of the
program.

**Annexes:**

Annex A- Participatory Forestry Modalities in Bangladesh

Annex B- Issues and Opportunities for Biodiversity Conservation in the
Hills

Annex C- Reference List

**Annex A- Participatory Forestry Modalities in Bangladesh**

**Forest Villages**: In a number of cases in Bangladesh when a forest
area was gazetted as a reserved forest by the Government, there were
already people living there. Explicit agreements between these villages
within the reserve forests and the Forest Department were drawn up
recognizing their rights as traditional users of the lands in the area
and identifying their responsibilities as forest villagers. Typically,
they were allowed to cultivate a certain amount of flat lands suitable
for paddy within the area around their villages and may also have been
given rights to raise certain crops (e.g., bidi leaf) under the canopy
of the standing forest. They are also supposed to assist the Forest
Department staff by protecting the forest and also participating as paid
labor in plantation programs.

**Social Forestry**: This is a somewhat generic name for the wide
variety of very common plantation efforts seen in Bangladesh involving a
number of parties and local people. Typically, the scenario involves the
Forest Department promoting a scheme for planting trees on so-called
\"waste lands\", such as embankments, railroad right-of-ways, or along
roads. The Department may supply seedlings and fencing materials. Local
people provide the labor and particular stretches or patches of the
plantation are identified to be protected by chosen individuals. These
are usually quick growing tree species and the intention is to harvest
them for sale at the end of a short rotation. The money obtained from
the sale of these wood products will be distributed according to a
predetermined benefits scheme (percentages) established among the local
people and organizations involved. Shares may go to the land owner, be
they private people or government organizations, to the Forest
Department to cover the costs it invested, and to the person who has
guarded the trees in question. Occasionally, NGO\'s promote similar
programs and are involved in the benefits scheme as well. Permission and
guidance from the Forest Department must be obtained before this type of
plantation can be cut.

**Homestead Forestry**: Truly participatory forestry in Bangladesh at
its best, this simple formula is observed by local people all over the
country. It is that situation where men and women plant trees around
their homes and house plots. They typically buy the seedlings although
in some cases these could be provided by the Forest Department, an NGO
or a development project on a concessional basis. Often, these tree
gardens around the home include many different species and many species
with multiple uses, including food, fruit, fodder, wood, fiber,
medicines and fuel. Those who have planted them are free to cut them at
their own discretion and they need not share the benefits of them.
Homestead forestry is flourishing around the country and the floodplains
are covered with a green patchwork of these plantings almost everywhere.
Additionally, as the trees mature, many of them become small logs highly
sort after by local sawmills and carpentry shops; for example, Jackfruit
trees are often converted to timber once they become big enough.

**Participatory Forestry Plantations**: This is a newer modality which
the Forest Department has been introducing of late which seeks to
involve communities and villages adjacent to reserved forests in
replanting them. The land and the trees remain under the control of the
Forest Department but the community members work as labor to plant and
maintain the trees for several years. Typically, the species used are
longer rotation species (although there may be some short-term ones as
well). The plan is that the proceeds of the eventual timber sale will be
shared with the participating communities according to a predetermined
formula and after allowing for costs to be repaid to the Department.
What makes this modality novel is that it takes place within the
reserved forests. Communities are expected to be vigilant about the need
to protect the young plantations from livestock and other threats.

**Annex B- Issues and Opportunities for Biodiversity Conservation in the
Hills**

+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Identification and Discussion   | **Opportunities for Addressing    |
| of Issues**                       | the Issues**                      |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Macro-Economic Issues**         |                                   |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **The Economic Implications of    | \- Using program-based learning   |
| the Culture of \"Command and      | to improve the understanding of   |
| Control\" Approaches to           | policy and decision makers about  |
| Conservation:** A preference for  | the realities of the              |
| using a regulatory approach for   | macro-economics of supply and     |
| protection and conservation of    | demand for natural resources.     |
| biodiversity by creating rules    |                                   |
| and/or enforcing existing rules   | \- Participatory forest           |
| can lead to a perverse reaction   | management program can and should |
| on the part of those seeking to   | reduce the costs of public        |
| use them. As demand for the       | administration of the protected   |
| products of these forests is      | areas and reserved forests        |
| likely to remain constant, an     | because the local people perceive |
| attempt to apply regulations will | tangible values for themselves in |
| limit supply and/or be perceived  | these forests. This in turn would |
| as curtailing supply and thus     | reduce the unit costs of land     |
| causing prices to rise or a       | management that a department like |
| willingness to take the risks to  | the Forest Department would       |
| obtain an increasingly scarcer    | require for their programs and    |
| but needed commodity.             | allow for further program         |
|                                   | expansion.                        |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Funding for Biodiversity        | \- Host governments must          |
| Conservation:** Although the      | recognize that the conservation   |
| larger world has recognized the   | of biodiversity at home has value |
| global significance of            | for the country and is a          |
| biodiversity and has begun to     | worthwhile investment option. NRM |
| provide considerable funding for  | accounting procedures should be   |
| programs of this nature, the      | instituted that begin to build a  |
| donor community is rarely         | case for valuing biodiversity, in |
| responsive in situations where    | terms of its real value to the    |
| the host government appears       | nation (e.g., as a present and    |
| unwilling or unable to provide at | future source of needed natural   |
| least part of the financing       | products or in terms of national  |
| required (at a minimum, the       | heritage and pride) and also take |
| establishment budget              | account of the environmental      |
| requirements) because it suggests | services associated with          |
| that once their funding ceases,   | protected areas (the watershed    |
| the programs will not be          | function, storm protection).      |
| sustainable.                      |                                   |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Illegal Activities within       | \- If there is demand for scarce  |
| Protected Areas:** If local       | supply, the ingredients are there |
| communities are to be convinced   | for an investment program. Why    |
| to relinquish their use rights    | not stimulate communities to make |
| (legal or otherwise) on protected | preparations to supply industry   |
| areas, government must ensure     | with the raw materials it needs?  |
| that outsiders (illegal loggers,  | For example, would brick-field    |
| those harvesting fuel for         | owners be willing to pay for      |
| brickfields, those seeking to     | fuelwood from plantations,        |
| take over such lands) also do so. | particularly if supply is very    |
|                                   | short in the area of operations?  |
|                                   | Ibid for sawmills or carpentry    |
|                                   | shops which already buy many logs |
|                                   | from planted trees. This won\'t   |
|                                   | work, however, if there is a      |
|                                   | continuing perception that supply |
|                                   | from natural areas or through     |
|                                   | illegal activities is available.  |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Socio-Economic Issues**         |                                   |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Unrelenting Demographic         | \- Engaging the communities in a  |
| Pressure on Hill Forest Areas:**  | discussion not just about the     |
| Farmers and rural people are as   | problems (awareness raising) but  |
| aware as anybody of the           | about the alternatives and the    |
| limitations of the natural        | benefits they might derive from   |
| resources base because they live  | improved stewardship of the       |
| the dilemma day in and day out.   | natural resource base. Similarly, |
| However, in the absence of        | demographic pressures on a        |
| choices or plans to the contrary, | protected area are too anecdotal  |
| they chose the only course of     | in nature. There is also a real   |
| action open to them\--trying to   | need to quantify the actual usage |
| meet their basic needs wherever   | and value of how local people use |
| they can. All concerned,          | the forests in order to determine |
| including the GOB agencies and    | how to proceed in alleviating the |
| the communities need to           | pressure. E.g., how many steres   |
| understand that the costs of NRM  | of fuelwood are being removed for |
| rehabilitation and socio-economic | subsistence use or for local sale |
| development in the face of        | and can these removals be met     |
| widespread degradation are orders | with other strategies?            |
| of magnitude higher than a        |                                   |
| proactive program of prevention   |                                   |
| and wise management.              |                                   |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Poverty and a Lack of           | \- Local communities and local    |
| Alternative Sources for Basic     | people often have priorities such |
| Needs and Employment              | as the need for basic social      |
| Opportunities:** Subsistence      | services and rural infrastructure |
| collection of fuelwood and poles  | that could stimulate local        |
| is an economic deadend. Where     | development far more than access  |
| there is demand for these         | to natural resources on fragile   |
| products, however, there is scope | or protected areas.               |
| for action as has been repeatedly |                                   |
| demonstrated by the very          | \- production trade-offs,         |
| successful homestead plantations  | particularly for forest           |
| so common to the flood plains.    | harvesters (both legal and        |
|                                   | illicit) will need to be offset   |
|                                   | by introducing alternative        |
|                                   | production and/or employment      |
|                                   | activities                        |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Land Tenure Constraints:** Two  | \- Can tensions with existing     |
| issues are prominent in this      | villages be mitigated and if so,  |
| regard: in some cases, villages   | how? What potential is there for  |
| have been established before      | relocation of villages, on        |
| protected areas or even reserve   | adjacent reserve forest areas or  |
| forests were gazetted, often      | khas lands and what would be      |
| involving indigenous peoples. How | required to get people to move?   |
| can they be accommodated? Second, | Or can resident villages be       |
| if neighboring khas lands are     | convinced to stay within their    |
| available, do they not represent  | defined boundaries and if so, in  |
| an opportunity to find solutions  | return for what? Such             |
| for the landless or for those who | arrangements already exist        |
| must degrade the forests to       | between the communities and FD    |
| survive?                          | which employs villagers for       |
|                                   | management operations. Can        |
|                                   | protected areas provide similar   |
|                                   | opportunities?                    |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Lack of Local Organizational    | \- Local resource management      |
| Capacity to Broker Community NRM  | organizations can fill the need   |
| Conflicts:** Villages are rarely  | for community understanding,      |
| egalitarian social structures but | conviction and consensus that it  |
| there is a certain amount of      | is possible to reverse these      |
| social justice required to avoid  | trends and acceptance of use      |
| conflict. Conservation programs   | restrictions in protected areas;  |
| have best succeeded where they    | and for promoting/allowing and    |
| can create local organizations to | organizing communities to         |
| ensure that the needs of all      | participate in the                |
| segments of society (including    | decision-making about             |
| landless, women, indigenous       | conservation/management measures. |
| peoples) are increasingly taken   |                                   |
| into account in designing natural |                                   |
| resources management\-- an        |                                   |
| inherently social (rather than    |                                   |
| technical) act involving          |                                   |
| decision-making about how to use, |                                   |
| reserve and share resources.      |                                   |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Institutional Issues**          |                                   |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Conventional Single             | \- An integrated approach to      |
| Sector/Single Agency Approach:**  | dealing with the pressures on     |
| Protected areas cannot be dealt   | protected areas is needed but the |
| with in isolation of their        | key is planning and prioritizing. |
| surroundings, particularly in a   | There are too many things that    |
| densely populated country. To     | can be done but the challenge is  |
| maintain the integrity of an      | to know what should be done.      |
| ecosystem often requires off-site | Departmental policies, plans,     |
| solutions. Sharing the            | programs and budgets are made in  |
| responsibilities for addressing   | advance so planning is the key. A |
| the challenges among different    | much more dynamic use of the      |
| concerned govt. partners makes    | conventional Project Steering     |
| better sense and lowers program   | Committee approach is required,   |
| costs. This requires an           | based on a secretariat type       |
| appropriate institutional         | function that prepares the        |
| development strategy.             | members of the committee to take  |
|                                   | informed decisions and track      |
|                                   | progress in achieving them.       |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Institutional Set-up and        | \- The principal paradigm of the  |
| Capacity including Skills and     | Forest Department is production   |
| Understanding:** At present, all  | and staff have not had the        |
| protected areas are under the     | training required to understand   |
| mandate of the territorial staff  | the value of protected areas and  |
| of the concerned Forest           | the environmental services they   |
| Department Circle, Division,      | offer (biodiversity conservation, |
| Range and Beat. Staff is          | watershed protection, recreation  |
| routinely and regularly           | and ecotourism). The recent       |
| transferred among these sites and | decision to create a Wildlife and |
| may not even be fully aware of    | Protected Areas Division within   |
| the rationale, importance, limits | the FD represents an opportunity  |
| or management requirements of     | to build skills important for     |
| protected areas.                  | conservation.                     |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **The Need for a Protected Area   | \- A protected area system works  |
| System:** Experience worldwide    | better than isolated P.A.\'s      |
| has demonstrated that a genuine   | under territorial mandate,        |
| system of protected areas         | especially in terms of enhanced   |
| provides a center around which to | institutional capabilities        |
| organize and strengthen           | (increased opportunities for      |
| institutional capacity for        | staff specialization, learning    |
| conservation. Furthermore,        | and experience; the development   |
| because a protected area system   | of internal organizational        |
| targets values appreciated by     | capabilities specific to          |
| society in general and not just   | protected areas; & career         |
| those who consume forest          | development options for staff).   |
| products, it reaches a wider      |                                   |
| audience and can improve the      | \- There is also an opportunity   |
| image of the department           | to distinguish between different  |
| responsible for providing these   | types of protected areas and      |
| services. It also helps to create | their functions including         |
| a national understanding and      | biodiversity conservation but     |
| growing constituency for          | also outdoor recreation and       |
| environmental conservation.       | environmental services (watershed |
|                                   | functions).                       |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Technological Issues**          |                                   |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Inappropriate Land-Use Choices  | \- The key to addressing          |
| and Practices:** The essence of   | inappropriate land-use lies in    |
| natural resources management is   | knowing more about the land and   |
| matching land-use to land         | not just the technology. Land     |
| capability. The protected areas   | capability studies must be        |
| of Bangladesh are for the most    | prepared but these are relatively |
| part in hilly areas where the     | simple, involving slope and soil  |
| options for use are more limited  | depth measurements and soil       |
| because of the fragile nature of  | typing. There are a wide variety  |
| these areas. Even if the          | of improved management methods    |
| protected area can be             | for hilly areas that have not     |
| safeguarded, actions are needed   | been much applied in Bangladesh.  |
| to ensure that surrounding areas  | They include: soil and water      |
| of similar conditions are not     | conservation engineering measures |
| degraded and depleted as this     | for agriculture; cut and carry    |
| will only lead to greater         | fodder systems; agro-forestry;    |
| pressures on remaining forest     | composting; green manures for     |
| areas.                            | soil fertility improvement; etc.  |
|                                   |                                   |
|                                   | \- Similarly, collateral          |
|                                   | development activities around     |
|                                   | existing protected areas take     |
|                                   | pressure off national             |
|                                   | biodiversity assets.              |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Need for Watershed Management   | \- A lack of watershed management |
| :** There is very little mention  | programs is not surprising        |
| of the needs for watershed        | although the country is very      |
| management in sector programs and | aware of the issue because of the |
| even fewer program efforts (if    | damages wrought by conditions in  |
| any) to address it. Yet each      | the extra-territorial watersheds  |
| year, flash floods during the     | of the Bramaputra and Ganges      |
| early monsoon damage the boro     | Rivers. There are opportunities   |
| rice crops in the Haor areas.     | to address similar issues, albeit |
| Siltation running off of          | on a smaller scale, in the        |
| neighboring hills is causing      | northeast and southeastern hilly  |
| blockages of watercourses         | regions that could mitigate the   |
| damaging embankments and filling  | adverse impacts felt downstream.  |
| in fish habitat. Similarly, low   | Many of the protected areas are   |
| season flows into the beels limit | by definition watersheds for      |
| their utility as brood areas for  | neighboring wetlands and need     |
| fish.                             | attention to guarantee the        |
|                                   | sustainability of proactive,      |
|                                   | ongoing wetlands programs (MACH   |
|                                   | and others).                      |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Knowledge Gaps about            | \- A good set of baseline data    |
| Biodiversity Assets:** Good data  | and information on the condition  |
| and information about the status  | of protected areas, habitat       |
| of biodiversity in the country is | integrity and the species found   |
| lacking, contradictory or not     | on these areas will be            |
| up-to-date which hampers sound    | fundamental to sound program      |
| planning for its protection.      | planning and subsequent           |
|                                   | monitoring of program             |
|                                   | performance..                     |
|                                   |                                   |
|                                   | \- There are any number of        |
|                                   | competent professionals who could |
|                                   | be engaged in basic survey and    |
|                                   | studies to develop targeted       |
|                                   | information on the status of      |
|                                   | biodiversity which will serve for |
|                                   | M&E purposes but also provide the |
|                                   | substance for awareness raising,  |
|                                   | additional program planning       |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Biodiversity Sensitive Choices  | \- Encouraging natural            |
| of Forest Management              | regeneration of degraded          |
| Technology:** Because many of the | protected areas should be a       |
| protected areas were once part of | preferred methodology for         |
| Reserved Forests, their natural   | restoration.                      |
| stand structure has been altered  |                                   |
| by the Forest Department through  | \- There may be occasional need   |
| production plantation programs.   | for modest enrichment planting of |
|                                   | keynote species important to      |
|                                   | forest ecosystems and/or wildlife |
|                                   | that can be accomplished with     |
|                                   | minimum site disturbance.         |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Need for Connectivity with      | \- There is some potential for    |
| other Natural Areas:** The        | promoting proactive management    |
| long-term sustainability of       | choices within Reserved Forest    |
| certain premier animal species    | areas, particularly in the        |
| (e.g. elephants) may depend on    | southeast of the country (CHT)    |
| their ability to move over larger | that could accommodate elephant   |
| areas than available under the    | migration routes. This might      |
| protected area system. In some    | reduce the present problem of     |
| cases, it is possible to conceive | crop raiding and conflicts with   |
| of program plans that view        | local villages if the animals had |
| Reserved Forest areas or even     | a forest corridor extending       |
| unclassified state forest as      | beyond the boundaries of the      |
| potential corridors for animal    | P.A.\'s.                          |
| migration.                        |                                   |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+

**Annex C**\--**REFERENCE LIST**

MOEF 1995. *National Environmental Management Action Plan (NEMAP),
Volume II: Main Report*. Published by the NEMAP Secretariat, Ministry of
Environment and Forest, Dhaka, 1995, pp.- 153 + appendices.

FPCO 1995. *Specialist Study- Wetland Resources- Final Report*. Flood
Action Plan\--Northeast Regional Water Management Project (FAP 6). Flood
Plan Coordination Organization, Bangladesh Water Development Board,
prepared by SNC, Lavalin International, Northwest Hydraulic Consultants
and Associates with funding from CIDA, Dhaka, October 1995, pp.- 114 +
figures.

FPCO 1995a. *Specialist Study- Wetland Resources- Annexes- Final
Report*. Flood Action Plan\--Northeast Regional Water Management Project
(FAP 6). Flood Plan Coordination Organization, Bangladesh Water
Development Board, prepared by SNC, Lavalin International, Northwest
Hydraulic Consultants and Associates with funding from CIDA, Dhaka,
October 1995, pp.- various.

Forest Department 1996. *Forestry Sector Study: Final Report (Vol. 2,
Appendices)*. Prepared for the Forest Department, Ministry of
Environment and Forest by Fountain Renewable Resources Ltd. & Desh
Upodesh Ltd., Dhaka, March 1996, pp.- various + maps.

Farooque, M. 1997. *Law and Custom on Forests in Bangladesh: Issues &
Remedies*. Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), with
support from the Ford Foundation, Dhaka, April 1997, pp.- 308.

MOEF 1997. *Towards Sustainable Development: The Bangladesh National
Conservation Strategy*. Ministry of Environment and Forest with
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) and support from IUCN,
Dhaka, August 1997, pp.- 205 + appendices.

Gain, P. (ed.) 1998. *Bangladesh Environment: Facing the 21st. Century*.
Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD), Dhaka, pp- 306.

Gain, P. 1998b. *The Last Forests of Bangladesh*. Society for
Environment and Human Development (SEHD), Dhaka, pp- 176.

Md. Kamal Hossain 1998. *The Potential Role of Plantations on the
Rehabilitation of Native Forest Biodiversity in Degraded Hilly Areas of
Bangladesh*. Proceedings of the 20th. Bangladesh Science Conference,
Bangladesh Association for the Advancement of Science, Dhaka, 1998,
Part- 2, pp. 99-104.

Arcadis Euroconsult 1999. *Sundarbans Biodiversity Conservation
Project*. Technical proposal to Asian Development Bank and Government of
Bangladesh, Arnhem, The Netherlands, May 1999, pp.- various.

USAID/Bangladesh 2000. *USAID/Bangladesh Strategic Plan FY 2000- FY
2005: A Focus on Sustainable Economic Growth*. Dhaka, June 2000, pp.-
47 + appendices.

Forest Department 2000. *Compendium of Conservation Area and
Biodiversity Conservation Inputs to Feasibility Studies*. Forestry
Sector Project (ADB Project BAN No. 1486), prepared for Forest
Department, Ministry of Environment and Forest, by TECSULT International
Ltd. in association with SODEV, NRP, HCL & EPC, Dhaka, November 2000,
pp.- various.

Forest Department 2000a. *First Five Year Management Plan for Lawachara
National Park; Volume 1: Management Plan & Volume 2: Background and
Support Material*. Forestry Sector Project (ADB Project BAN No. 1486),
prepared for Forest Department, Ministry of Environment and Forest, by
TECSULT International Ltd. in association with SODEV, NRP, HCL & EPC,
Dhaka, June 2000, pp.- various.

Forest Department 2000b. *First Five Year Management Plan for
Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary; Volume 1: Management Plan & Volume 2:
Background and Support Material*. Forestry Sector Project (ADB Project
BAN No. 1486), prepared for Forest Department, Ministry of Environment
and Forest, by TECSULT International Ltd. in association with SODEV,
NRP, HCL & EPC, Dhaka, November 2000, pp.- various.

ADB 2000. *Bangladesh: Environment Operational Strategy* (revised
draft). Asian Development Bank (ADB TA 3269-BAN), Dhaka, February 2000,
pp.- 84 + appendix.

WARPO 2000. *Annex O. Regional Environmental Profiles (Volume No. 11-
Draft Development Strategy)*. National Water Management Plan Project,
Water Resources Planning Organization, Ministry of Water Resources, with
Halcrow/Mott MacDonald and Associates, Dhaka, August 2000, pp.- 128.

WARPO 2000a. *Annex F: Social Analysis & Annex G: Environment (Volume
No. 6- Draft Development Strategy)*. National Water Management Plan
Project, Water Resources Planning Organization, Ministry of Water
Resources, with Halcrow/Mott MacDonald and Associates, Dhaka, August
2000, pp.- various.

Gain, P. (ed.) 2001. *Critique: The Forest (Amendment) Act, 2000 and the
(draft) Social Forestry Rules, 2000*. Society for Environment and Human
Development (SEHD), Dhaka, pp- 58 + annexures.

Tod, I., Chowdhury, A., Zahirul Islam, Md., & Mahmood, A.S. 2001.
*Report of Mid-Term Review: Management of Aquatic Ecosystems through
Community Husbandry (MACH) Program*. Project of the GOB sponsored by
USAID. Winrock International, BCAS, CNRS and Caritas Bangladesh. Dhaka,
December 2001, pp.- 20 + appendices.

Chemonics 2001. *The Bangladesh Tropical Forest Conservation Fund:
Preventing and Arresting Accelerating Species Loss in Bangladesh*.
Prepared for USAID/Bangladesh under a task order (No. 806) for the
Biodiversity & Sustainable Forestry (BIOFOR) IQC, by Chemonics
International Inc., Washington, April 2001, pp.- various + appendices.

Forest Department 2001. *Participatory Conservation Management Planning
for Chittagong Forest Division\--Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary*. Forestry
Sector Project (ADB Project BAN No. 1486), prepared for Forest
Department, Ministry of Environment and Forest, by TECSULT International
Ltd. in association with SODEV, NRP, HCL & EPC, Dhaka, June 2001, pp.-
39.

Forest Department 2001. *Participatory Conservation Management Planning
for Chittagong Forest Division\--Teknaf Game Reserve*. Forestry Sector
Project (ADB Project BAN No. 1486), prepared for Forest Department,
Ministry of Environment and Forest, by TECSULT International Ltd. in
association with SODEV, NRP, HCL & EPC, Dhaka, June 2001, pp.- 19 +
appendices.

WARPO 2001. *Guidelines for Environmental Assessments of Flood Control,
Drainage and Irrigation Projects*. Water Resources Planning
Organization, Ministry of Water Resources, prepared by Halcrow/Mott
MacDonald & Associates, Dhaka, November 2001, pp.- 31 + appendices.

Giesen, W. Choudhury, J.H., Wahab, M.A., Khanum, S.M. & Jamir, J.A.
2001. *Biodiversity Management Plan for South Chittagong Forest Areas
including Chunati, with Special Emphasis on Management of Teknaf Game
Reserve*. National Conservation Strategy (NCS) Implementation Project-
1, Ministry of Environment and Forest, funded by NORAD, February 2001,
Dhaka, pp.- 87 + appendices.

UNEP 2001. *State of the Environment Bangladesh 2001*. prepared by UNEP
with collaboration of MOEF, DOE, BCAS, SACEP & NORAD, distributed by the
UNEP Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific, Pathumthani,
Thailand, pp.- 121 + appendices.

Shamsul Huda, ATM 2001. *Institutional Review of Selected Ministries and
Agencies*. Report (PDO-ICZM Paper No. 08) prepared for the Program
Development Office, Integrated Coastal Zone Management, Dhaka, November
2001, pp.- 130.

Chowdhury, Q.I. (ed.) 2001. *Bangladesh: State of Environment Report
2000*. Forum of Environmental Journalists of Bangladesh (FEJB), Dhaka,
June 2001, pp- 341.

WARPO 2001. *National Water Management Plan: Volume No. 1\-- Executive
Summary*. Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO) under National
Water Management Plan Project, with assistance of Halcrow/Mott MacDonald
& Associates, Dhaka, July 2001, pp.- 35.

UNDP 2001. *Coastal and Wetland Biodiversity Management Project
(BGD/99/G31)\--Management of Cox\'s Bazaar and Hakaluki Haor*. Project
Document United Nations Development Programme, Dhaka, 2001, pp.- 38 +
annexes.

MACH 2001. *Management of Aquatic Ecosystems through Community
Husbandry\-- Second Annual Report*. A project of the Government of
Bangladesh sponsored by USAID, prepared by Winrock International, BCAS,
CNRS & Caritas/Bangladesh, Dhaka, February 2001, pp.- 57 + appendices.

MACH 2001a. *Management of Aquatic Ecosystems through Community
Husbandry\-- Semi-Annual Report 2001*. A project of the Government of
Bangladesh sponsored by USAID, prepared by Winrock International, BCAS,
CNRS & Caritas/Bangladesh, Dhaka, August 2001, pp.- 79 + appendices.

MACH 2001b. *Management of Aquatic Ecosystems through Community
Husbandry\-- Project Profile*. A project of the Government of Bangladesh
sponsored by USAID, prepared by Winrock International, BCAS, CNRS &
Caritas/Bangladesh, Dhaka, August 2001, pp.- 19 (with Bangla
translation).

USAID/Bangladesh 2001. *USAID/Bangladesh\'s Strategic Plan for Improved
Management of Open Water and Tropical Forest Resources*. Dhaka, pp.- 21.

Chowdhury, Q.I. (ed.) 2001. *State of Sundarbans*. Forum of
Environmental Journalists of Bangladesh (FEJB), Dhaka, September 2001,
pp- 143.

Seyler, J.R. 2002. *Strengthening the Arannayk Foundation: Draft Site
Selection, Inventory and Monitoring Report*. Prepared for
USAID/Bangladesh by Chemonics International Inc., Washington, April
2002, pp.- 53 + annexes.

King, D. 2002. *Proposed Long-Term Implementation Strategy for the
Arannayk Foundation(draft copy for comment only)*. Chemonics
International under the Biodiversity and Sustainable Forestry IQC
contract for USAID/Bangladesh, Washington, April 2002, pp.- 73 +
annexes.

TECSULT 2002. *Forestry Sector Project\-- Quarterly Progress Report:
January - March 2002*. Prepared for the ADB Project BAN No. 1486, by
Tecsult International Ltd., April 2002, Dhaka, pp.- 12 + appendices.

MACH 2002. *Management of Aquatic Ecosystems through Community
Husbandry\-- Third Annual Report*. A project of the Government of
Bangladesh sponsored by USAID, prepared by Winrock International, BCAS,
CNRS & Caritas/Bangladesh, Dhaka, April 2002, pp.- 79 + appendices.

**Miscellaneous Unpublished/Informal Background Documentation**

\- Memorandum of Association of the Arannayk Foundation, also known as
the Bangladesh Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation, Final 1-11-02,
pp.- 11.

\- Articles of Association of the Arannayk Foundation, also known as the
Bangladesh Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation, Final 1-11-02, pp.-
13.

\- Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and
the Government of the People\'s Republic of Bangladesh Concerning the
Establishment of a Tropical Forest Fund and a Tropical Forest
Conservation Board, downloaded from the US Department of State website,
September 12, 2000, pp.- 9.

\- Brochure: National Water Resources Database. Water Resources Planning
Organization with the assistance of Environment and GIS Support Project
for Water Sector Planning (EGIS), no date, pp.- 16.

\- Brochure: Bangladesh Environmental Management Project, a Department
of Environment Project funded by a CIDA grant.

\- Brochure: SEMP- A NEMAP Follow-Up. Sustainable Environmental
Management Programme, Ministry of Environment and Forest with funding
from UNDP.

\- Brochures & various flyers of the EGIS.

\- Unpublished tables from DFID regarding Environmental activities
supported by GoB and donors (1998- onwards).

\- Bangladesh Forest Research Institute\-- An Information Brochure,
1999.

\- Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Chittagong
University (IFESCU) brochure, December 2001.

[^1]: The other elements of the USAID/Bangladesh Strategic Plan include
    strategic objectives for: SO 1- Fertility Reduced and Family Health
    Improved; SO 5- Growth of Agribusiness and Small Businesses; SO 7-
    Improved Performance of Energy Sector; SO 8- Improved Food Security
    for Vulnerable Groups; and SO 9- Strengthened Institutions of
    Democracy.

[^2]: "Open access" is strictly *de facto* in case of forests, where FD
    has clear jurisdictions. In case of open water, it is combined *de
    facto* and *de jure*.

[^3]: The MACH activity is currently being implemented under SO6. In
    collaboration with the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MOFL),
    Winrock International in conjunction with three local partners is
    implementing the program at three representative aquatic ecosystems
    of the country.

[^4]: The matter of watershed concerns when it is discussed in
    Bangladesh almost always centers on the dilemma of these mega
    transnational watersheds which extend into India, Nepal, China and
    Bhutan. There is some middle ground, however, wherein smaller
    watersheds overlap the border with India. The activities being
    proposed here could serve as a precursor to possible transnational
    programs of watershed management between India and Bangladesh in
    areas such as Sylhet/Tripura and Sherpur/Meghalhaya.

[^5]:
    #  The sites mentioned here are potential sites and actual sites will be selected based on the "Site Selection Criteria". The term 'site' has been taken as an ecological concept and not as a purposefully demarcated geographical landscape. To maximize the chance of success of this pilot co-management initiative, the site selection process must take serious cognizance of the importance of taking an ecosystems approach. In order to develop a successful protected area co-management model, the program must intervene in a geographical (or topographical) area far beyond the geographic limit of a defined protected area. Interventions will, therefore, also include a buffer zone as well as the surrounding communities.

    An ideal site will represent a "mini-watershed" where interventions
    with an integrated approach can be made proportionately to create an
    ecosystem-level effect. Since the intention of the program is to
    treat ecosystems as holistic entities, a multiplier effect can be
    realized by integrating both the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems'
    aspects. It makes the most programmatic sense since the program will
    operate in the face of limited natural resources.

[^6]: The Strategic Objective Grant Agreement (SOAG) to implement the
    Strategic Objective, Improved Management of Open Water and Tropical
    Forest Resources provides for a SOAG Steering Committee. By
    definition, the SOAG Steering Committee should include
    secretary-level representatives from the MOEF and the MOFL, as well
    as senior USAID representation.

[^7]: Among the areas suggested by the Forest Department for
    consideration are Madhobkunda-Muraichhara Waterfall area in
    Moulvibazar District and Ratargul Wetland Wildlife Sanctuary
    (proposed) in Sylhet.