Assessing the Impacts of Co-Management on Protected Area Landscape under Socio-Imagery Lens: Evidence from Bangladesh

Bangladesh Forest Department had undertaken co-management of protected area (PA) initiatives for halting the rapid rate of forest degradation and deforestation in the country. However, only few research has been conducted to assess the effectiveness of co-management. In this study, drawing empirical data from two co-managed PA, namely, Bariyadhala National Park (BDNP) and Hazarikhil Wildlife Sanctuary (HWS), we investigated the impacts of co-management on spatio-temporal patterns of land use and land cover change, forest fragmentation, and local peoples' perception on how co-management approach was underpinning these changes in the studied PA landscape. Results showed that forest cover (4800 ha gain) and forest patches (26 patch gain) had increased in two studied PA while agricultural practices and resources extractions from forest had decreased during the study period. The increase in forest coverage might be attributed to the reforestation program (3253.81 ha) undertaken under the co-management project. More than 90% of respondents admitted that various activities on co-management such as awareness creation, restriction on hunting, and forest products collection have had positive impacts on biodiversity conservation. The findings of this research would be useful to formulate future course of actions regarding forest PA co-management in Bangladesh, and elsewhere.