Dutta S, Hossain MK. 2020. Bringing back the Chakaria Sundarbans mangrove forest of South-east Bangladesh through sustainable management approach. Asian J For 4: 65-75. The oldest mangrove forest of Indian sub-continent namely Chakaria Sundarbans (CS) is currently in a critical situation. Destructive anthropogenic and natural impacts coupled with shrimp farming and excessive grazing has caused severe damage to this oldest mangrove ecosystem. A study was carried out based on the extensive literature survey and tried to explore the overall situation and conservation practices for CS of Bangladesh. This paper analyzed, reviewed, and identified the impacts of natural and man-made effects on CS mangroves. Finally, we recommended the sustainable management approach (SMA) including policy and participation of the local people for bringing back this potential natural mangrove forest resource of CS along with rich forest diversity.

Purpose: This study/paper aims to evaluate the floral richness of the central part of Chattogram city, Bangladesh. Chattogram is recognized as the largest port city and the commercial capital of Bangladesh, which confronts faster urbanization and swift infrastructure development. Green spaces in and around Chattogram city are shrinking sharply, which resulted in rapid loss of floral and faunal resources in this area. The present study was carried out from February 2018 to January 2019 to enumerate the vascular plant species of the Sulakbahar ward located in the central part of Chattogram City, Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach: The study area was categorized into 10 habitats to assess the variation of floral composition. The extensive whole area survey method was applied to record the flora from all sorts of plant habitats of the research area. Findings: The study enumerated 418 vascular plant species under 315 genera and 120 families including natural, planted and cultivated from the study area. The habit form of the recorded plant composition indicated that herbs (35%) constitute the major plant category followed by trees (34%), shrubs (17%), climbers (12%), ferns (1%) and orchids (1%). The study also indicated that exotic species (50.3%) became dominant than native species (49.7%) in Chattogram city because of their scenic beauty, easy propagation and ornamental value to the city planners and inhabitants. Originality/value: It appeared that floral resources of the Chattogram city area are in great threat due to aggressive and unplanned infrastructure development for housing, offices and institutions by replacing the green spaces. The study recommended that urgent protection measures should be taken to conserve and protect the existing floral resources for the well-being of the urban people.

The only freshwater swamp forest of Bangladesh namely Ratargul Freshwater Swamp Forest (RFWSF) has a great contribution to the livelihoods of the surrounding local communities. Local communities or residents of the area depend heavily on this biodiversity-rich swamp forest for income, employment, fuelwood, and non-wood forest resources. An exploratory study was carried out in the swamp forest to explore the availability and consumption pattern of various forest resources, and dependency levels of residents on the RFWSF. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire from 301 respondents (randomly selected from the residents) of the surrounding nine villages. The study revealed that respondents were dependent largely on the RFWSF for fuelwood, bamboo, cane, murta, ornamental resource, and other raw materials for cottage industries. Among the respondents 27% were involved in the harvesting of fish resources, followed by fuelwood (23%), grass (11%), and fodder (6%) collection. Bamboo was the main source of fuel for 41 % of the respondents and 40% depended on twigs and branches of trees. The findings of the study revealed that residents were highly dependent on the non-wood forest resources of the RFWSF for their livelihoods. Besides, a substantial amount of wood resources was consumed by the residents as fuelwood. Excessive unscientific exploitation of the forest resources disturbed the ecological functions and threatened the wildlife habitats of the RFWSF tremendously. The study recommended raising awareness and capacity building among the forest-dependent residents, proper implementations of forest law, and sustainable management could be the effective pathway for the upliftment of the resident’s condition with ecological rehabilitation in the RFWSF.

Ray TK, Dutta S, Das S, Chakma K. 2024. Ethno-botanical study on medicinal plant species utilized by Marma community of Wagga Union in Rangamati Hill District, Bangladesh. Asian J Ethnobiol 7: 105-114. The utilization of medicinal plant species to cure various health-related ailments is a common practice among the ethnic communities of Bangladesh. This study, conducted in Wagga union of Kaptai upazila, Rangamati hill district, Bangladesh, aimed to document indigenous traditional knowledge (ITK) regarding using ethnomedicinal plants to cure various diseases. The extensive field data collection and various established ethnobotanical survey methods revealed significant findings. The results recorded a total of 53 medicinal plant species belonging to 53 genera and 38 families from the study area, generally used to treat 51 diseases. The family most widely used in the context of the number of medicinal plant species is Asteraceae (9%), followed by Apocynaceae (7%), Amaranthaceae (6%), and Rubiaceae (6%). The research results revealed that leaves are the most widely used plant part (40%) utilized by the local Marma community to make herbal medicine, followed by the whole plant (17%) and roots (14%). The results showed that ethnomedical plants were most widely utilized to treat fever (13.21%) and jaundice (11.32%). This study emphasizes the significance of documenting the indigenous traditional knowledge (ITK) of sustainable natural resource management in biodiversity-rich forest areas, fostering a sense of responsibility and commitment.

Very limited information is available on the drought tolerance of European beech and silver fir in mixed cultivation, both for mature forests and natural regeneration. Particularly, little information is available regarding the significance on memory effects of drought exposure. Therefore, drought memory was analyzed in seedlings of these species grown in mixed cultivation in the present study. The results showed that previous-year drought hardening mediated enhanced biomass accumulation of beech leaves and root in the subsequent year, but did not impact fir growth. Total carbon (C) content was decreased by drought hardening in both the leaves and roots of beech and previous-year needles and roots of fir, in beech probably as a consequence of increased growth. Previous-year drought hardening had no significant effect on relative water contents, total nitrogen (N), or soluble protein contents in leaves and roots of beech and fir, but resulted in decreased total amino acid contents of beech leaves and fir needles. It further reduced structural N in current-year fir needles and decreased C/N ratios in roots of both beech and silver fir seedlings. Generally, the number of interspecific neighbors had no considerable effect on biomass or total C or N contents, as well as N partitioning in leaves and roots of beech and fir seedlings. The present study highlights that drought hardening induces memory effects in European beech and silver fir seedlings in their mixture in the subsequent year of growth, but these memory effects are stronger in beech than in fir.