Mangroves account for nearly half of the total forest cover. Women use the forest products for food, fuel as well as for handicrafts. Women in rural Bangladesh are responsible for obtaining the household fuel supply. They collect firewood from the forests. A traditional role of Bangladeshi women is collecting dung for fuel from the forests where cattle grazes.
Women also have a major role in homestead forestry.
Fisheries Fishing is predominantly artisanal although there is an industrialized processing sector geared to export. Rice and fish constitute principal elements in an average person's daily diet. Innumerable rivers, canals, tanks and paddy fields and other low-lying and depressed areas are the sources of fish of hundreds of varieties. Bangladesh has an extensive marine fisheries potential mainly in the Bay of Bengal South of the country. Women in Bangladesh have diversified roles in fisheries, with substantial participation in small-scale fisheries.