Homestead forests contribute substantially to the rural econ- omy of Bangladesh. Rural people depend on trees and plants for their energy usage, housing, food and other forms of subsistence livelihood. In order to ide...Homestead forests contribute substantially to the rural econ- omy of Bangladesh. Rural people depend on trees and plants for their energy usage, housing, food and other forms of subsistence livelihood. In order to identify the potential role of forests on homestead dwellers, an empirical field investigation was conducted in the four Upazilas of My- mensingh district of Bangladesh. It was found that land holdings of the respondents within the four sites are the highest in Mymensingh. The study made an important observation that among all homestead vegeta- tion between 5-6 years old, tree species are generally preferred over plants. This is perhaps due to the efforts of the social forestry extension service to demonstrate that planting trees is an important long-term in- vestment. In all four Upazilas, there was a significant correlation between household annual income and homestead forestry, agriculture and fisher- ies practice, suggesting that higher income families tend to have larger holdings of homesteads, farms and pond areas. Three Upazilas displayed a strong positive relationship （nearly 45%） between homestead forest areas and annual family income; however, the Fulbaria Upazila showed a very poor relationship （0.2%） in this regard. The results of this study suggest that homestead forests play a positive role in the rural economy, in addition to helping mitigate the increasing problem of deforestation in Bangladesh.展开更多
基金financially supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany
文摘Homestead forests contribute substantially to the rural econ- omy of Bangladesh. Rural people depend on trees and plants for their energy usage, housing, food and other forms of subsistence livelihood. In order to identify the potential role of forests on homestead dwellers, an empirical field investigation was conducted in the four Upazilas of My- mensingh district of Bangladesh. It was found that land holdings of the respondents within the four sites are the highest in Mymensingh. The study made an important observation that among all homestead vegeta- tion between 5-6 years old, tree species are generally preferred over plants. This is perhaps due to the efforts of the social forestry extension service to demonstrate that planting trees is an important long-term in- vestment. In all four Upazilas, there was a significant correlation between household annual income and homestead forestry, agriculture and fisher- ies practice, suggesting that higher income families tend to have larger holdings of homesteads, farms and pond areas. Three Upazilas displayed a strong positive relationship （nearly 45%） between homestead forest areas and annual family income; however, the Fulbaria Upazila showed a very poor relationship （0.2%） in this regard. The results of this study suggest that homestead forests play a positive role in the rural economy, in addition to helping mitigate the increasing problem of deforestation in Bangladesh.
