IPSI Collaborative Activity Proposal Form
The following form is for use when submitting proposed IPSI Collaborative Activities for consideration by the IPSISteering Committee. See the Collaborative Activity Guidelines on p. 3 for more information.
Please return the completed form to the IPSI Secretariat (isi@unu.edu).
IPSI Collaborative Activities are the activities that shall be undertaken by more than one IPSI member
and constitute an important part of IPSI activities with the purpose of fostering collaboration within theIPSI membership and implementing the IPSI Strategy and Plan of Action. The IPSI CollaborativeActivities shall be developed and implemented with the endorsement of the Steering Committee inaccordance with the Collaborative Activity Guidelines. Resource mobilization for IPSI collaborative
activities shall be the responsibility of the implementing members in principle. – IPSI Operational
Guidelines, Chapter 5.4
Date of Application:

16 April, 2020

Project title:
Enhancing Community Capacity for Livelihood Diversification through Mangrove Forest-based Products
Collaborating organizations (IPSI members):（*Please underline the leading organization)
Unnayan Onneshan, Forest Peoples Programme
Other contributing organization(s) (including IPSI non-members):
Regional Centre of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development (RCE) Cha Am, with Secretariat at theSirindhorn International Environmental Park (SIEP) Thailand
Expected term (e.g. 1 January 2014 – 31 December 2015):
1 January 2021-31 December 2022
IPSI strategic objective(s) addressed (tick all that apply; see p. 3 for more details):
1. Increase knowledge and understanding of SEPLS
2. Address direct and underlying causes responsible for the decline or loss of SEPLS/

3. Enhance benefits from SEPLS/

4. Enhance human, institutional and sustainable financial capacities

Continued on next page.

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Description of the activity:
Please provide as much information as possible on:• Background• Activities (including site locations if applicable)• Expected outcomes• Actors and task sharing• How the activity relates to the IPSI Strategy and IPSI Plan of Action• Resources, funding• Monitoring and reporting2

The Sundarbans spans the regions of Bangladesh and India, with 62% located in Bangladesh, constituting 39.5%of the total forest area of the country. It is made up of forest and swamp and contains valuable biologicalresources. Flora and fauna in the Sundarbans support the livelihoods of 3-5 million people of different
occupational groups. Over the last few decades, the Sundarbans has, however, been experiencing major
ecological and physiographical changes and losing its resources due to both human interventions and climaticchanges. Those changes and forest degradation directly affect the livelihoods of the Indigenous Peoples and LocalCommunities (IPLCs) in the area. In response to these critical issues, the IPLCs have continuously been trying tocope with changed conditions. However, due to a limited livelihood diversification, the IPLCs still vulnerable dueto the depleted natural resources.
This project aims to enhance capacity of IPLCs for livelihood diversification through mangrove forest utilization by
producing natural products, for instance, soap, shampoo from Acanthus ebracteaus, Pluchea indica andVolkamerai inermis and natural dyed cloths from Rhizophora mucronata and Ceriops tagal and create a value
chain for the products. Thus, the project is expected to enhance livelihood diversification based on biodiversity
conservation as well as to the adaptation to climate change for the disadvantaged IPLCs.
Activities
The project will be implemented in the areas of three co-operatives in the Sundarbans, namely, Harinagar Bonojibi
Bohumukhi Unnayan Samity, Koyra Bonojibi Bohumukhi Unnayan Samity and Munda Adivasi Bonojibi Bohumukhi
Unnayan Samity. In order to achieve the objectives mentioned above, the following activities will be implemented:
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Organize and mobilize the three cooperatives for group consultations to identify the available resources
Specify the suitable products such as soap, shampoo, and natural dyed fabric to be produced in eachcooperative based on their context
Training on producing the products in the second and third quarters of the Year1 of the project
Undertake Cost-Benefit analysis
Post-production consultations with the community to identify the most potential products
Identifying marketing channels for the products
Document, develop, publish, disseminate, and advocate with the relevant organizations and government

Expected Outcomes• The three cooperatives gain knowledge to make natural based products from the mangrove forest• The products produced by the cooperatives have commercial value• The members of the three cooperatives gain additional income from the products• The members of the three cooperatives maintain low-impact lifestyle within the vulnerable ecosystem
Actors and task sharing
Three Cooperatives
Gain the capacity building trainings and act as producers of natural based products, giving comments andsuggestions to improve the production and marketing of the final products.

Unnayan Onneshan, Bangladesh
The UO plays a key role as an implementer by convening the consultation, training, meeting and projectmonitoring and evaluation with the project partners. The UO is also currently Chair of IUCN-Bangladesh and Vicechair of IUCN-Asia.
FPP, the UK
The FPP will share its vast experience of mangrove related activities from its huge network of partners across theworld in general and countries having mangrove forests and will help internationalizes the issues and experiences,3

having access to different platforms, including CBD etc. The FPP is in long-term partnership with the UO and thethree cooperatives, spanning over more than a decade.
RCE Cha Am in the Srindhorn International Environmental ParkThe Regional Centre of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development (RCE) Cha Am, located in Sirindhorn
International Environmental Park, Cha Am, Thailand, has long experience in conducting training for communities
around mangrove forest to utilize and produce natural based products, such as soap, liquid soap, balm, shampoo
and natural dyed fabric as the alternative livelihood. The RCE Cha Am provides training and technical advices
regarding the products and documenting.
Recently, the UO as a Secretariat of Regional Centre of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development (RCE)on the Sundarbans signed an MoU with the RCE Cha Am for collaborations.
Relationship with IPSI Strategy
The project falls in line with all of the four strategic objectives of the IPSI strategy but is significantly relevant tothe objectives 3 and 4. Firstly, the project is expected to enhance benefits from socio-ecological production
landscapes and seascapes for human well-being in the Sundarbans region through supporting indigenous peoples
and local communities to govern and manage their resources, and sustain social cohesion and local economies.
The project also explores opportunities for branding of products derived from SEPLS, through potential
partnerships with the private sector and the further development of market linkages (Objective 2). Secondly, theproject aims to enhance human, institutional and sustainable financial capacities for the implementation of theSatoyama Initiative (Objective 4). it is expected that it will be considered in future in policy formulation processes
relevant to the nature and environment.
Funding
The community part will be spent from the existing FPP partnership, which is cash and kind equivalent to
USD6,000. The initiative requests the IPSI to provide a grant of USD 10,000 US$ for this Collaborative project tocover the capacity building activities related to the RCE Cha Am.
Monitoring and reporting
The project monitoring and reporting will be implemented every quarter by UO together with IPLC
representatives. The details of indicators in monitoring and evaluation framework are presented in the figure
below. Ongoing project progress will be discussed regularly based on the project schedules.

InputsActivities

Outputs

Results

Impact-Fund-Participants-Equipment-Facilities-Consultation
meeting-Training-Processing-Producing
production
guideline-Number oftraining-Number ofbeneficiary
gained knowledge-Type of products-Number ofproducts-Amount of
product sold
-Percentage ofincome gained
from products-The beneficiaryhas alternative
livelihood-Communities livewith low impact
in vulnerable
environment

Please attach additional pages as necessary.

IPSI Secretariat use only4