Land tenurial dynamics and participatory forestry management in Bangladesh
| Author | Niaz Ahmed Khan |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-162X(1998100)18:4<335::AID-PAD21>3.0.CO;2-F |
| Published date | 01 October 1998 |
| Date | 01 October 1998 |
Land tenurial dynamics and participatory forestry
management in Bangladesh
NIAZ AHMED KHAN*
University of Chittagong, Bangladesh and University of Wales, Swansea, UK
SUMMARY
Of late, participatory forestry management, more popularly known as `social forestry' (SF),
has acquired great signi®cance in Bangladesh as a strategy for both forest resource manage-
ment and rural development. However, research on the contextual factors such as social
relations, institutional structures, forest policies and land tenurial arrangements which regulate
SF's performance in the ®eld has been limited. Land ownership and tenurial arrangement is
one crucial factor which has remained virtually unexplored in the context of Bangladesh SF.
This article examines the land use and tenure arrangements in selected SF projects in
Bangladesh. It focuses on the perceptions and choice of the SF farmers regarding land
ownership, tenure and use; implications of central land tenurial policy on farm productivity
and farmers' motivation; and also on the dierence between farmers' land use choice and the
assumptions of the SF planners. It shows that land tenure is a complex issue for SF. Although
tenurial security is a major motivating force for farmers, providing permanent land ownership
alone has little impact on farm productivity or on the growth of collective eort among SF
farmers. Farmers need institutional assurance and support (especially from the government) to
fully utilize the potential rights and bene®ts associated with such ownership. #1998 John
Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
INTRODUCTION
Since the early 1980s there has been an unprecedented enthusiasm for participatory
approaches to forest management, more popularly termed `social forestry' (SF), in
Bangladesh. The government has attached the highest priority to SF, which has
become the most dominant strategy in the country's forestrysector (Task Force, 1987;
FMP, 1992; GOB, 1992). However, beyond the rhetoric and elevated goals, practical
research on the contextual factors (such as social relations, institutional structures,
forest policies and land tenurial arrangements) which condition SF's performance in
the ®eld has been strikingly limited. Land ownership and tenurial arrangement is one
crucial factor which has been very little explored in the context of Bangladesh SF.
1
CCC 0271±2075/98/040335± 13$17.50
#1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT
Public Admin. Dev. 18, 335±347 (1998)
*Correspondence to: N. A. Khan, Centre for Development Studies, Universityof Wales, Singleton Park,
Swansea SA2 8PP, UK.
1Virtually no major text exists on land tenurial dynamics of SF programmes in Bangladesh. Huq (1987)
provides a collection of summaries of some generalissues in land and tree tenure in Bangladesh SF without
going into any signi®cant depth of the issues. Khan et al. (1996) oer some insight into the implications of
land tenurial arrangement for a particular SF project but do not locatetheir ®ndings in the general context
of SF development in the country. Some other studies haveonly cursorily touched the issue of land tenure
while dwelling on SF in general (e.g. Bhuiyan, 1982; Ahmed and Azad, 1987).
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