SUSTAINABLE FOREST AND LIVELIHOOD PROJECT




                                                                                                                           IMPROVING
                                                                                                                               FOREST
                                                                                                                         COVERAGE FOR
                                                                                                                      BETTER RESILIENCE

                                                    APPROVAL DATE:           END DATE:              TOTAL COMMITMENT:               IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES:
         BASIC
         INFORMATION
                                                    October 5                September 30           $175 million                    Bangladesh Forest Department
                                                    2018                     2023

     OVERVIEW
     Healthy forests are critical for reducing poverty. About 19 million Bangladeshis depend on forests for their livelihoods and
     almost 60 percent of domestic energy comes from fuelwood. Yet, the forest cover is decreasing: the proportion to land
     under forests is only 11 percent in Bangladesh which is significantly lower than the Asian average of 26 percent. Forest
     degradation is primarily caused by: clearing for agriculture and infrastructure development, unmanaged fuelwood
     and timber extraction and fires for shifting cultivation in hills.

     The Sustainable Forest and Livelihood (SUFAL) project will help improve forest cover through a
     collaborative forest management approach involving local communities and sustainable management
     of forest resources. The project will also support forest dependent communities with alternative
     livelihood to reduce poverty vis-à-vis their dependency on forest resources.


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CHALLENGE                                                                                                               TOWARDS THE FUTURE
In the last several decades, Bangladesh witnessed a steady decline in forest cover. Largely driven by                   The project will generate significant economic
unsustainable logging, conversion of forest areas into settlements, pastures, croplands, wastelands, or land            returns. AIGAs will have a long-term impact as
used for recreational or industrial purposes. The forest cover has been declining by 2.1 percent annually in            they will provide the communities an option
the last three decades alone. At present, only 13.20 percent of land in Bangladesh has tree cover with density          of using them as revolving funds to re-finance
of 30 percent and above. Further, the sudden influx of over 725,000 Rohingya to Cox’s Bazar caused the loss             income generating activities. The government
of nearly 13,000 hectares of forest.                                                                                    is committed to scaling up forest sector
The Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) faces challenge to effectively manage the remaining natural forests              investments. The recently closed World Bank
and prevent degradation due to high population density and incidences of encroachment. BFD also faces                   projects- the Climate Resilient Participatory
institutional constraints of budget and short staff.                                                                    Afforestation and Reforestation Project and the
                                                                                                                        Strengthening Regional Cooperation for Wildlife
                                                                                                                        Protection in Asia demonstrated the MOEFCC and
                                                                                                                        BFD’s implementation capacity.
APPROACH
The project supports an important shift in BFD’s approach to managing forests: (i) from a purely law enforcement
approach towards collaborative forest management; and, (ii) from a regulatory approach to service delivery to
enhance private sector engagement. The project will support alternative income generating activities (AIGAs) for
the forest-dependent communities in the coastal, hill and central districts, including Cox’s Bazar where displaced
Rohingya population took shelter. The project will help the host communities by providing alternative income
generation activities, improving the availability of wood for fuel in a sustainable way and reducing human-wild
elephant conflict.

BFD, for the first time, will empower communities by transferring funds to their accounts to build trust and
improve the partnership. The project will be implemented in selected sites in 147 Upazilas (sub-districts )
  of 27 districts. These areas include most natural forests and Protected Areas outside Sundarbans and
        Chittagong Hill Tracts.




                          EXPECTED RESULTS
                                    The project will and establish                   Increased access to Alternative      Increased incomes and
                                    collaborative forest management                  Income Generating Activities         resilience of the communities
                                    and plant trees in about 79,000                  for forest dependent communities     and reduce dependencies on
                                    hectares of forest land                          in targeted sites                    the forest harvest

                                                                                                                              THE WORLD BANK IN BANGLADESH         |      45