sustainable use of biological diversity.pdf - India Environment Portal

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Agroforestry homegardens in rural landscapes of Bangladesh especially in the northern and northwestern part of the country (BBS, 1994). The total area of Bangladesh is approximately 14.40 million hectares, of which 12.46 million hectares are land surface and 0.94 million hectares are rivers and other inland water bodies. Among the landuse categories, agriculture accounts for about 64 per cent of the total land area and forest area, which includes classified and unclassified village woodlots and rubber gardens, accounts for 17.8 per cent of the country’s land area (GOB, 1992). One of the peculiarities of forest resources distribution of Bangladesh is that the resources are very eccentrically distributed. It will be surprising to learn that 28 out of 64 districts have no public forests at all (GOB, 1992) and more than 90 per cent of the government forests are concentrated within 12 districts in the east and southeastern region of the country. On the basis of geographical location, climate, topography and management principles, the forests of Bangladesh can broadly be classified into: hill forests, mangrove forests, plain land Sal forests, unclassified state forests, coastal forests and homestead forests (homegardens). 3. System description Homegardens exhibit remarkable variation in structure, species composition, area allocated for production and level of dependency on this farming system. The structural characteristics vary from region to region depending on the local and regional physical environment, ecological characteristics, degree of commercialization, local socioeconomy and socio-cultural variations. Homegarden vegetation at maturity can be vertically stratified into two distinct layers: ground layer and tree layer. Both can further be classified into two sub-layers; ground layer into grasses and shrubs and tree layer into top storey and lower storey. The plants of the ground layer include grasses, herbs, small shrubs and climbers. The lower storey of tree layer constitutes small to medium size (3 to 8 metres in height) species, such as papaya, lemon, jujube and banana, while the top storey, usually greater than 8 meters in height, constitutes of species such as betel nut, palmyra palm, fan palm, coconut, mango and jackfruit. Of course any of the species mentioned above may belong to either the top or lower storey, depending on their growth rate at any stage of maturity. It is difficult to identify a pattern of spatial distribution of trees and other components. The psychology of the farmers, while deciding the planting site, depends on function of the species, planting space available, crown coverage at maturity and required intensity of management. The vegetable crops and shrubby fruit species (e.g. lemon) are grown immediately beside the kitchen. Small fruit trees are grown very near to the living quarter. The inner yard and the outer yard are both kept vacant for easy movement and to facilitate drying of agricultural crops and residues collected for animal feed. The timber species are grown along the boundaries of the outer yard. Ornamental species, although rare, are found to be planted along the entrance of the outer yard. Bamboo clumps are always kept far from the living quarter, mostly outside the outer yard. Cattle sheds are built at one end of outer yard. Ponds are situated in a place that can be easily accessed by neighboring people as well. Agriculture land starts from the edge of homestead boundary and vegetables are grown in the nearest plots of cropland so that females may have frequent access for harvesting for immediate cooking. 4. biodiversity and its conservation The homegardens of Bangladesh are the greatest reservoir of biodiversity and thus frequently referred to as ‘biodiversity islands’ of the country. The various habitat and vegetation types produce an abundance of plants, animals, birds and insect biodiversity. These ‘manipulated’ ecosystems support diversity at species and genetic levels in different habitat types. Das (1990) recorded a total of 149 tree species in the homegardens. In a recent study, Kabir and Webb (2008) recorded 419 plant species in 109 families, 146 of which were trees. However, Khan and Alam (1996) provided a detailed taxonomic enumeration of 148 trees and 45 shrubs available in Bangladesh homegardens (table 1). Drought-prone northern Bangladesh, our study area, holds 56 species of trees of various use categories (figure 1). Mango (Mangifera indica) is the most common fruit bearing species utilized for timber and fuelwood. Others of the same use category include Artocarpus heterophyllus, Cocos nucifera, Averrhoa carambola, Lychi chinensis, Syzygium cumini and Ziziphus mauritiana. Timber species, mostly exotics, are also popular among the farmholders. Commonly available timber species are Acacia auriculiformes, Albizia procera, Dalberzia sisoo, Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Switenia macrophylla. Species popular for having medicinal value are Azadirachta indica, Emblica officinalis, Terminalia arjuna and Ter minalia belerica. Various parts of these medicinal plants are used in traditional health care and healing of rural people. 121
Sustainable use of biological diversity in socio-ecological production landscapes table 1. Vegetation of various life forms available in the homegardens Source: Khan and Alam (1996); Rahman et al. (2005) life form Species Hedge plants Duranta repens, Pithecellobium dulce, euphorbia antiquorum, Opuntia dillenii Vegetation of ponds Eichhornia crassipes, Pistia stratiotes, Lemna perpusilla, Trapa bispinosa Woody plants trees Epiphytes and parasites Climbers and twiners Vegetable crops Ornamental plants Timber produces Edible fruit bearers Medicinals Fuelwood producers Fodder Vanda tessellata, Rhyncostylis retusa, Hoya parasitica, Dischidia nummularia Lablab purpureus, Basella rubra, Tinospora cordifolia, Stephania japonica, Piper betel Colocasia spp., Alocacia indica, Curcuma domestica, Zingiber officinalis, Amaranthus gangeticus, Cucumis sativus, Vigna sinensis Canna indica, Cestrum nocturnam, Clitoria ternatea, Codieum vagiegatum, Jasminum sambac, Lagerstroemia indica Albizia procera, Calophyllum inophyllum, Carallia brachiata, Cassia fistula, Acacia auriculiformes Mangifera indica, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Cocos nucifera, Anacardium occidentale, Annona squamosa Melia azadarachta, Aphanamixis polystachya, Cicca acida, Crataeva magna, Feronia limonia Aphania danura, Areca catechu, Bamboos, Casuarina equisetifolia, Delonix regia, Eucalyptus camaldulensis Erythrina fusca, Cajanas cajan, Fucus hispida 5. benefits of the system Homegardens with a number of components such as fruits, vegetables, bamboos, spices, poultry and fishery products ensure a year round supply of a wide spectrum of food and construction materials. Besides ensuring household food and nutritional security, this large variety of homegarden products also contributes to income security when sold in the nearby market during economically hard times. A number of products and services derived from homegarden system are utilized on a shared basis within the rural society. For example, homestead vegetation provides firewood to its owner as well as to the neighboring families who can rarely afford to buy from market. After harvesting agricultural crops the bare croplands become a community land for cattle grazing. Backyards of homegardens serve as a social meeting ground for elders, playgrounds for children and resting spaces for tired passersby. Not all families have their own pond and thus available ponds are shared to take baths and wash clothes and household articles among those who have no alternative. Sharing of fruits, vegetables and seedlings within and outside community people is a common phenomenon. Other common pool resources within the village landscape include canals, streams and natural water bodies that are used by community members for fishing, irrigation and so on. Beside the above-mentioned tangible benefits, the homegarden systems also provide a range of ecosystem services, such as soil erosion control, amelioration of microclimate, influencing local water table, provision of habitat for wild and domesticated flora and fauna, and the like (figure 2). Recent research Misc. Medicinals Fuel Fruit Timber 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Number of species figure 1. number of tree species in various use categories in the homegardens 122
Page 1 and 2:
Secretariat of the Convention on Bi
Page 3 and 4:
Sustainable use of biological diver
Page 5 and 6:
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Page 54 and 55:
Case studies from Africa © D. Lebr
Page 56 and 57:
The communal forest, wetland, range
Page 58 and 59:
Page 60 and 61:
Page 62 and 63:
Page 64 and 65:
The Maasai’s shifting modes of su
Page 66 and 67:
The Maasai’s shifting modes of su
Page 68 and 69:
How farmers in Kitui use wild and a
Page 70 and 71:
How farmers in Kitui use wild and a
Page 72 and 73: How farmers in Kitui use wild and a
Page 74 and 75: Changing land-use in the fragile La
Page 84 and 85: Case studies from the Americas © B
Page 86 and 87: The ayllu system of the Potato Park
Page 92 and 93: Land use and biodiversity patterns
Page 94 and 95: Land use and biodiversity patterns
Page 96 and 97: The sustainable use of biodiversity
Page 98 and 99: The sustainable use of biodiversity
Page 100 and 101: Forest management through community
Page 102 and 103: Case studies from Asia © K. Ichika
Page 104 and 105: Kandyan homegardens: A promising la
Page 110 and 111: Village small tank system: An integ
Page 112 and 113: Village small tank system: An integ
Page 114 and 115: The owita agroecosystem A. Wijeseka
Page 116 and 117: The owita agroecosystem serve the t
Page 118 and 119: Land use and natural resource utili
Page 120 and 121: Land use and natural resource utili
Page 124 and 125: Agroforestry homegardens in rural l
Page 126 and 127: Homegardens: Sustainable land use s
Page 128 and 129: Homegardens: Sustainable land use s
Page 130 and 131: Regional circulation that combines
Page 132 and 133: Regional circulation that combines
Page 134 and 135: Reintroduction of traditional agric
Page 136 and 137: Reintroduction of traditional agric
Page 138 and 139: Town revitalization through the pro
Page 140: Town revitalization through the pro
Page 143 and 144: Sustainable use of biological diver
Page 168 and 169: Case studies from Oceania © T. Fur
Page 170 and 171: Living by utilizing various modifie
Page 172 and 173:
Living by utilizing various modifie
Page 174 and 175:
Nature-friendly agriculture in the
Page 176:
Nature-friendly agriculture in the
Page 179 and 180:
Page 181 and 182:
Page 183 and 184:
Page 185:
show all

sustainable use of biological diversity.pdf - India Environment Portal

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?