Role of non-timber forest products in sustaining forest-based livelihoods and rural households' resilience capacity in and around protected area- a Bangladesh study

摘要

People in developing world derive a significant part of their livelihoodsfrom various forest products, particularly non-timber forest products. Thisarticle attempts to explore the contribution of NTFPs in sustainingforest-based rural livelihood in and around a protected area of Bangladesh, andtheir potential role in enhancing households resilience capacity. Based onempirical investigation our study revealed that, local communities gather asubstantial amount of NTFPs from national park despite the officialrestrictions. 27 percent households of the area received at least some cashbenefit from the collection, processing and selling of NTFPs, and NTFPscontribute as HHs primary, supplementary and emergency sources of income. NTFPsalso constituted an estimated 19 percent of HHs net annual income, and were theprimary occupation for about 18 percent of the HHs. HHs dependency on nearbyforests for various NTFPs varied vis-a-vis their socio-economic condition aswell as with their location from the park. Based on our case study the articlealso offers some clues for improving the situation in PA.