Community managed Village Common Forest (VCF) in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) in Bangladesh is an example of sustainable forest management under non-governmental customary rules and regulations. This study explored the diversity of medicinal plants and their therapeutic uses by ethnic communities at two VCFs in Rangamati hill district. A total of 30 square plots of $10m\times 10m$size was selected by stratified random sampling from the two VCFs. All medicinal plants of different habits were recorded to calculate phytosociological attributes and diversity indices. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to survey the community and local herbalists to list the ethno-medicinal uses of available plant species. A total 204 species belonging to 160 genera and 76 families used by the communities in CHTs for treating about 197 diseases/ailments were recorded. Leaves were the most used part (145 species) followed by roots (119 species) and stem (53 species). In terms of habit form, herbs were the highest percentage (44%) followed by trees (26%) and shrubs (16%). The diversity indices indicated the presence of diverse medicinal plants.

Natural forest in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) of Bangladesh is degrading due to various reasons. Village common forest (VCF) in CHTs is one of the successful forest management schemes without government intervention. This research was conducted in the Komolchori VCF, Khagrachari, Bangladesh to delineate its tree diversity status . A total of 921 individuals belonging to 55 species were found from 25 randomly studied plots. The highest basal area and relative dominance were recorded for Terminalia bellirica which were 1.23 m²/ha and 6.07%, respectively, whereas the lowest basal area and relative dominance were 0.47 m²/ha and 2.30%, respectively, for Protium serratum. In addition, the highest relative density, relative frequency, and importance value index was occupied by Aglaia cucullata which were 20.41%, 7.54%, and 29.65%, respectively. Aglaia cucullata and Schima wallichii were found as the most dominant species based on hierarchical cluster membership. The Shannon’s index, Simpson’s index, species diversity index, Margalef’s (richness) index, species evenness index and dominance of Simpson index for the Komolchori VCF were found as 3.22, 0.07, 66.03, 7.91, 0.47, and 0.93, respectively. This study will progress the further study to ensure proper action on biodiversity conservation in the CHTs of Bangladesh.

This study evaluates land-use/cover change (LULCC) and urban expansion in Hathazari Upazila, Chittagong, between 1977 and 2017 using satellite images. Spatial and temporal dynamics of LULCC was quantified using three Landsat images, a supervised classification algorithm, and the post-classification change detection technique through geographic information system. The overall supervised classification accuracy of the Landsat-derived land-use/cover maps ranged from 74% to 91%. The analysis revealed substantial growth of settlement (146%) and agricultural land (124%) in Hathazari Upazila, Chittagong, over the study period which resulted in significant decrease in the area of water bodies (68.9%), homestead (54.4%), and hill forest (43.3%). The research quantified the patterns of LULCC for the last 40 years for Hathazari Upazila, Chittagong, that might contribute to both development of sustainable urban land-use planning decisions and probable growth patterns.

Bangladesh Forest Department had undertaken co-management of protected area (PA) initiatives for halting the rapid rate of forest degradation and deforestation in the country. However, only few research has been conducted to assess the effectiveness of co-management. In this study, drawing empirical data from two co-managed PA, namely, Bariyadhala National Park (BDNP) and Hazarikhil Wildlife Sanctuary (HWS), we investigated the impacts of co-management on spatio-temporal patterns of land use and land cover change, forest fragmentation, and local peoples’ perception on how co-management approach was underpinning these changes in the studied PA landscape. Results showed that forest cover (4800 ha gain) and forest patches (26 patch gain) had increased in two studied PA while agricultural practices and resources extractions from forest had decreased during the study period. The increase in forest coverage might be attributed to the reforestation program (3253.81 ha) undertaken under the co-management project. More than 90% of respondents admitted that various activities on co-management such as awareness creation, restriction on hunting, and forest products collection have had positive impacts on biodiversity conservation. The findings of this research would be useful to formulate future course of actions regarding forest PA co-management in Bangladesh, and elsewhere.