Lawachhara National Park to be a model forest
Sunday, 24 June 2007
Felling of trees of Doluchhara forest reduced to a satisfactory level with the introduction of 24-hour public-private co-management patrolling system from this month where local women are participating actively, reports BSS.
The forest department sources told the news agency that felling of trees in the areas was the highest, especially, in the Lawachhara National Park but it came down drastically when 55-member team including 18 women started patrolling the park located at 166-kilometres to the northwest of the capital.
Eight kilometres east from Srimongal town under Kamalganj Upazila of Moulavibazar district, the 1,250-hectare national park is the country's most beautiful tropical forest, as the habitation of 155 kinds of plant, 260 species of birds and 30 types of animal.
Nishorgo Support Project (NSP) under the Ministry of Environment and Forest is implementing the pilot project with the financial support of the USAID.
The NSP is also implementing as many as four projects including Rema Kaenga Wild-life Sanctuary in Habiganj, Sanctuary National Park in Habiganj, Chuntai Wild-life Sanctuary in Chittagong and Teknaf Game Reserve in Cox's Bazar.
NSP Communications Coordinator Mehrin A Mahbub told the news agency that the main objective of the NSP is to develop a model for synchronising public-private management of protected areas and to create income-generating endeavours for the rural poor people of the forest.
Recently the Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed inaugurated the countrywide three-month afforestation campaign in Tangail asking the authorities concerned to take programme by involving people, particularly the neighbouring poor people of forests.
Mehrin Mahbub said, "Taking into consideration the Chief Adviser's directives, we gave special emphasis in this regard."
To develop the livelihood of the distressed people of the forest, a proposal of launching ticket system for entering into the national park aimed at collecting entry fee, was made to the government.
Of the total entry fee, 50 per cent would be given to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and remaining 50 per cent to the co-management committee for their capacity building. The proposal is now waiting for the approval of the Ministry of Finance.
The forest department sources told the news agency that felling of trees in the areas was the highest, especially, in the Lawachhara National Park but it came down drastically when 55-member team including 18 women started patrolling the park located at 166-kilometres to the northwest of the capital.
Eight kilometres east from Srimongal town under Kamalganj Upazila of Moulavibazar district, the 1,250-hectare national park is the country's most beautiful tropical forest, as the habitation of 155 kinds of plant, 260 species of birds and 30 types of animal.
Nishorgo Support Project (NSP) under the Ministry of Environment and Forest is implementing the pilot project with the financial support of the USAID.
The NSP is also implementing as many as four projects including Rema Kaenga Wild-life Sanctuary in Habiganj, Sanctuary National Park in Habiganj, Chuntai Wild-life Sanctuary in Chittagong and Teknaf Game Reserve in Cox's Bazar.
NSP Communications Coordinator Mehrin A Mahbub told the news agency that the main objective of the NSP is to develop a model for synchronising public-private management of protected areas and to create income-generating endeavours for the rural poor people of the forest.
Recently the Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed inaugurated the countrywide three-month afforestation campaign in Tangail asking the authorities concerned to take programme by involving people, particularly the neighbouring poor people of forests.
Mehrin Mahbub said, "Taking into consideration the Chief Adviser's directives, we gave special emphasis in this regard."
To develop the livelihood of the distressed people of the forest, a proposal of launching ticket system for entering into the national park aimed at collecting entry fee, was made to the government.
Of the total entry fee, 50 per cent would be given to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and remaining 50 per cent to the co-management committee for their capacity building. The proposal is now waiting for the approval of the Ministry of Finance.