Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy (2016-2030)

5.5. Research 69 REFERENCES 71 ANNEX Annex 1: Policies and Measures (PAMs) 76 Annex 2: Summary of consultations for developing the BNRS 94 Annex 3: Emission reduction potential calculation and assumptions 97 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Four key elements of REDD+ under the UNFCCC 21 Figure 2: Historical timeline of key REDD+ initiatives in Bangladesh 22 Figure 3: Bangladesh Forest Inventory (BFI) zone map 24 Figure 4: Land cover map 2015 of Bangladesh 26 Figure 5: Theory of change of the national REDD+ strategy 47 Figure 6: Institutional structure for REDD+ implementation 56 Figure 7: Key users and beneficiaries of Bangladesh Forest Information System (BFIS) 59 Figure 8: Land representation system of Bangladesh 60 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Distribution of major forest ecosystem in Bangladesh 25 Table 2: State-owned ‘forest land’ legal categorization 27 Table 3: Emission and removal (t CO2e/year) in the five BFI zones and at national level 29 Table 4: Emissions and removals (t CO2e/year) from REDD+ activities at BFI zones and national level 29 Table 5: Deforestation and forest degradation in the BFI zones between 2000-2015 30 Table 6: Land use after deforestation between 2000 - 2015 in different BFI zones 30 Table 7: Strategic areas, thematic areas and PAMs 43 Table 8: Various types of REDD+ activities in BFI zones 46 Table 9: Summary of REDD+ PAMs 49 EXECUTIVE Bangladesh is committed to achieving a sustainable development pathway that delivers broad based economic growth while also contributing to the global fight against climate change. As part of SUMMARY this approach, and with support from the UN-REDD Programme1 Bangladesh has been working, since 2010, to build capacity for and develop a comprehensive approach to reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from the country’s forests as well as increasing their capacity for GHG absorption. This approach will form part of Bangladesh’s efforts under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement. Specifically it will allow Bangladesh to participate in a results-based financing mechanism under the UNFCCC, which is designed to provide positive incentives for the reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, as well as support to the role of conservation of forests, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in those countries – this mechanism is commonly referred to as REDD+. During the REDD+ readiness phase, the country has formulated the present Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy (BNRS), its Forest Reference Level (FRL) and its National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS). A plan to set-up a Safeguards Information System (SIS) element has been developed and will be implemented in parallel to the BNRS implementation. The BNRS is based on a multi-sectoral approach to reduce deforestation and forest degradation and to enhance forest carbon stock and represents the culmination of this readiness phase. It provides a summary of both the work already achieved in Bangladesh and what actions will be taken in the future. It will act as the central guidance document for the Government of Bangladesh, who will lead its implementation through the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), as well as other stakeholders, as the country moves towards implementing actions on REDD+. 1 The United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries was launched in 2008 and builds on the convening capacity and technical expertise of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment). x Extensive consultations with stakeholders from national capacity for forest management, improve livelihood of forest down to grass root level took place to develop the BNRS, dependent communities, reduce illegal encroachment into supported by recent data and a systematic alignment with natural forests and reduce pressure of fuelwood collection existing national policy framework. and timber harvesting. THE COUNTRY’S VISION FOR REDD+ IS: To realize Bangladesh’s REDD+ vision and goals and to effectively address key drivers of deforestation and forest ‘To facilitate and catalyze transformational change degradation, the BNRS aims to implement 17 policies in the forest sector to lower GHG emissions, enhance and measures (PAMs) under two Strategic Areas – reduce conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems, sustain deforestation and forest degradation and enhance forest community livelihoods, and stronger long-term economic carbon stock – divided into in six Thematic Areas: growth’ 1) Promote supply of alternate energy, energy efficient Based on land use change analysis between 2000 and 2015, technologies and timber substitutes; GHG emission (CO2) at the national level from the forestry 2) Increase fuelwood supply in forested districts; sector is 1,188,971 tCO2-eq/year and removal is -814,718 tCO2-eq/year. This FRL will be monitored, measured, 3) Improve livelihoods of forest dependent reported and verified during the BNRS implementation for communities; potential results-based payments. 4) Resolve forest land tenure issues; 5) Improve institutional capacity; and The duration of the BRNS is from 2016 to 2030. The BNRS 6) Reforest/Afforest, restore and conserve. aligns with the Country’s SDG target of achieving 16% forest cover by 2030. To reach this national goal, the BNRS aims to These thematic areas are by no means mutually protect and conserve 1,269,070 ha of existing forest, reforest independent, and thus effective cross-sectoral coordination 637,259 ha and restore/enrich 173,498 ha of degraded is essential to ensuring and maximizing their collective forests. The BNRS also intends to increase in-country outcomes. Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | xi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY STRATEGIC AREA 1: REDUCE DEFORESTATION AND FOREST DEGRADATION 21,705 Promote supply of alternate energy, energy efficient ha/year technologies and timber substitutes Increase fuelwood supply in forested districts Deforestation and Improve livelihoods of forest dependent communities Forest Degradation Resolve forest land tenure issues Improve institutional capacity 0 ha/year 2016 2030 THEMATIC AREA 1 Promote supply of alternate energy, energy efficient technologies and timber substitutes The targets are to supply 6,500,000 clean cooking stoves and other devices to poor households (of which 2,000,000 in the Hill zone), 10,000 units to institutions i.e., restaurants, mess, hostels (of which 5,000 in CHT) and as well as continuous supply of LPG cookers for all forcibly displaced Myanmar Citizen households in camps (209,225 - as per UNHCR2 January 2020 data); to establish 830 environment friendly (of which 52 is non-fired technology) brick kilns in 35 forested districts; to promote alternative to fuelwood for 5,000 barns for tobacco curing by creating 200 briquette making entrepreneurs and to increase the use of processed timber and laminated wood to decrease the demand for PAM 2 - Continuous supply of LPG cookers for forcibly displaced solid wood. Myanmar citizen camp PAM 3 - Environment friendly technology including non-fired SPECIFIC PAMS brick manufacturing for replacing traditional bricks kilns PAM 1 - Promotion of clean cooking & other devices to PAM 4 - Sustainable supply of alternative fuel for tobacco curing households, small businesses and institutions PAM 5 - Increase the use of processed timber, laminated wood, cane, bamboo and rattan products 2 https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/myanmar_refugees xii THEMATIC AREA 2 INCREASE FUELWOOD SUPPLY IN FORESTED The target is to increase availability and quality (i.e., DISTRICTS fast growing, high calorific value) of fuelwood seedlings (through conventional nurseries and tissue culture), to develop alternative fuelwood sources outside natural forest (10,000 km of stirp plantation) and to develop integrated forestry models (incl. alternative fuelwood sources) at the homestead level (700,000 households). SPECIFIC PAMS PAM 6 - Establish structures (nurseries & tissue culture facilities) for increasing fuelwood seedlings stock PAM 7 - Establish fuelwood plantation on marginal land under the social forestry programme PAM 8 - Promotion of integrated homestead forestry models THEMATIC AREA 3 The targets are to support at least 500,000 IMPROVE LIVELIHOODS OF FOREST DEPENDENT poor households (with emphasis on CHT) with COMMUNITIES Alternative Income Generating Activity (AIGA), and 500,000 households though improved accessibility to government programmes and to support community engagement in forest management through establishment of sustainable integrated NTFPs production in 41,000 ha buffer areas. SPECIFIC PAMS PAM 9 - Scale-up alternative income generating activity for forest dependent communities PAM 10 - Collaborative and sustainable management of NTFPs Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | xiii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THEMATIC AREA 4 RESOLVE FOREST LAND TENURE ISSUES The targets are to survey and demarcate 1,000,000 ha of forest land, to resolve land ownership in encroached settlements, to resolve forest land related cases and writ petitions, to complete 486,750 ha of reservation and to improve the coastal forest land development and transfer mechanism. SPECIFIC PAMS PAM 11 - Modernization of forest land management system PAM 12 - Resolution of forest land related cases PAM 13 – Improvement of forest land management system THEMATIC AREA 5 IMPROVE INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY The targets are to recruit 2,386 officials under the existing organogram, 7,676 officials periodically under the proposed organogram (17,800) and to organize skills development training program for 5,275 officials. SPECIFIC PAMS PAM 14 - Increase capacity of the BFD through recruitment and targeted trainings xiv STRATEGIC AREA 2: ENHANCE FOREST CARBON STOCK 64,020 ha/year Enhance Forest Conservation of existing forests Carbon Stock Enrichment plantation of degraded forest land Reforestation of deforested lands and afforestation of newly accreted coastal lands 18,790 ha/year 2016 2030 THEMATIC AREA 6 REFOREST/AFFOREST, RESTORE AND CONSERVE The target is to bring up the forest cover to 16%, which corresponds to the afforestation/reforestation of 637,259 ha of forest lands. Moreover, 173,498 ha of degraded forest need enrichment planting and 323,047 ha require strengthening of conservation and protection measures to avoid deforestation and forest degradation. SPECIFIC PAMS PAM 15 – Reforestation of deforested lands and afforestation of newly accreted coastal lands PAM 16 – Enrichment plantation of degraded forest land PAM 17 - Conservation of existing forests Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | xv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The priority will be given to the Hill and Coastal zones for afforestation/ reforestation activities and to the Hill zone for restoration activities. The Hill zone alone represents 81.94% of reforestation potential in the country (needed to reach 16% of forest cover), 84.19% of the overall targets for enrichment plantation of degraded forests and 52.14% of the overall target for protection and conservation. Therefore, careful planning and stakeholder engagement in the Hill region are critical for the success of the Strategy. In this context, technical assistance project is recommended for the development of an ‘Integrated REDD+ Sub-national Implementation Plan’ for the important regions like Hill zone (including CHT). Successful implementation of the BNRS will result in emission reduction of about 241 m tCO2-eq. In addition, implementation of the BNRS will have positive socio-economic and environmental benefits, especially to women, from reduced indoor air pollution, reduced time for fuelwood collection, livelihood improvement through employment generation, etc. The total cost of the PAMs is estimated at US$ 2,654 million. National and international funding sources will be accessed for investment of the strategy. The BRNS will be periodically reviewed synchronizing with updating of FRL. The BNRS is structured to provide information on the REDD+ development process and the status of forests in Bangladesh (Part A), the vision of REDD+ in Bangladesh (Part B), what policies and measures will be implemented to achieve emission reductions and removals (Part C), how the BNRS and REDD+ elements will be coordinated (Part D) and cross cutting issues and enabling conditions (Part E). Detailed description of the PAMs is provided in Annex 1. xvi Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | xvii Part A THE CONTEXT Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 19 1 . 1 . I NT R O D UCT I O N THE 1.1.1. International context to REDD+ Forests are one of the largest carbon sinks in the world. CONTEXT Deforestation and forest degradation result in releasing carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. World’s forest area decreased from 31.6% to 30.6% between 1990 and 2015 (FAO 2018), with a majority of these loses occurring in tropical regions (FAO 2010; IPCC 2007). As such forestry sector is found to be responsible for nearly 12% of the anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.3 To address emissions from the forestry sector, a result-based financing mechanism was developed under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and included in the Paris Agreement4. This mechanism aims to support the reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and promote the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries. This is known as REDD+. REDD+ aims to provide result-based payments to developing countries to contribute to mitigate climate change impacts through the following five activities: 1. Reducing carbon emissions from deforestation; 2. Reducing carbon emissions from forest degradation; 3. Conservation of forest carbon stocks; 4. Sustainable management of forests; and 5. Enhancement of forest carbon stocks. 3 Climate Change 2014; Mitigation of Climate Change, IPCC Working Group III 4 Agreement signed at COP 21 of the UNFCCC in Paris 20 The countries willing to implement one or combination of the above five activities to be eligible to obtain results-based payments are requested to develop the following four elements (as per the Cancun Agreements Decision 1/CP.16): How much What can we do to forest/carbon, reduce deforestation where? and forest degradation and to enhance forest What changes carbon stock? over time? REDD+ National National Forest Strategy or Monitoring Action Plan System Safeguard Forest Reference Information Level System How is it likely How do we track/ to evolve in a report and minimize BAU scenario? negative / maximize positive impacts? Figure 1: Four key elements of REDD+ under the UNFCCC

1.1.2 — REDD+ in Bangladesh

1.1.2. REDD+ in Bangladesh People’s Republic of Bangladesh has been a signatory to UN-REDD National Programme and (2) Strengthening the UNFCCC since 1994. In August 2010, the Government national forest inventory and satellite land monitoring in of Bangladesh (GoB) became a partner country to the support of REDD+ in Bangladesh (referred as NFI project). UN-REDD Programme. Bangladesh took several key steps Both projects were led by the Bangladesh Forest to establish REDD+ (Figure 1) i.e., established the National Department (BFD) under the Ministry of Environment, REDD+ Steering Committee, prepared the REDD+ Readiness Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). Roadmap, etc., and implemented two projects i.e., (1) the Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 21 Bangladesh became Partner Country of 1. PART A: THE CONTEXT the UN-REDD programme in August UNDP and REDD+ Readiness FAO initiated Roadmap R-PP approved assistance to the approved by by the UN-REDD GoB to draft the the National Policy Board REDD+ Roadmap REDD+ Steering • Revision of the R-PP Committee in • Formulation of the UN-REDD National Project December Document (NPD) in June • Formulation of the NFI Project Document in July • UN-REDD National Project Document signed by Figure 2: Historical timeline of participating UN organizations i.e., UNDP and FAO in November key REDD+ initiatives in Bangladesh The UN-REDD Bangladesh National Programme While the BNRS will promote discussions and synergies supported three of the four key elements of REDD+ under among Ministries and with other initiatives and strategic the UNFCCC, with by the end of REDD+ readiness phase, documents addressing issues not yet addressed in i.e. (1) the Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy (BNRS), the BNRS, it follows a stepwise approach where the (2) the National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) and (3) GoB decided to first focus on forest sector drivers of the Forest Reference Level (FRL). deforestation and forest degradation and interventions. The GoB envisages to widen the BNRS further in the The National Forest Inventory (NFI) project contributed future to include other sectors such as agriculture and to the NFMS and the SilvaCarbon programme supported land use planning. the NFI project by providing targeted technical support in formulating the NFMS. National Forest Reference Level: The FRL is an assessment of trends in land use change over time The country progressed on these three elements of the and emissions from land cover change. It represents Warsaw Framework as follows: a baseline against which a country’s performance in Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy: The Bangladesh reducing emissions or increasing removals of GHG will National REDD+ Strategy (BNRS) provides information be assessed. In addition, the FRL may also be used in on what the country will do to achieve REDD+ objectives, the future for the purpose of obtaining results-based and how it will implement REDD+. The BNRS is payments under REDD+, and can serve as a standard for informed by lessons and good practices from several forest monitoring and governance. projects/programmes to facilitate coherence with and • The forest definition used for the construction of FRL responsiveness to efforts undertaken by Bangladesh within is the FAO definition, which is adapted to include the context of the forest sector. It draws on early experiences mangrove forest areas in Sundarban. to present best practices and lessons learned from past initiatives to formulate and implement the PAMs (see • Bangladesh has prepared its FRL focusing on three REDD+ Section 3.1 & Annex – 1). The PAMs showcases Bangladesh’s activities: (i) Reducing emissions from deforestation, (ii) best practices and lessons learned in six strategic areas Reducing emissions from forest degradation and (iii) which are essential for reducing deforestation and forest Enhancement of forest carbon stocks from afforestation/ degradation and for enhancing forest carbon stock. reforestation and forest restoration. 22 2021 Approval of Bangladesh • UN-REDD NPD signed by National REDD+ MoEFCC and ERD in May • NFI Project approved/launched Strategy (BNRS) UN-REDD by the GoB in December Bangladesh • Technical Cooperation support National End of the from SilvaCarbon Programme Programme UN-REDD NP and of USFS on NFMS launched in June NFI project • The carbon pools considered are above-ground and modules/tools for accessing, adding, and updating below-ground biomass, and CO2 is the only GHG information related to forest resource management. included for the construction of FRL. The historical Modules are organised according to four categories reference period is 2000-2015. (1) development activities, (2) management and • The scale is national level, but results are also conservation, (3) forest assessment, and (4) knowledge reported separately for five zones of the country (Hill, management. The ’forest assessment’ category includes Sal, Coastal, Village and Sundarban), that present the ‘BFIS Geoportal’ module to support the Satellite Land very distinct forest dynamics. Emissions and removals Monitoring System (SLMS) and the ‘Bangladesh Forest associated with trees outside forest have been Inventory’ module to support the NFI and the ‘Forest calculated but not accounted for the construction Emission Factor Database’ module to support the GHG of FRL, as trees outside the forests do not meet the estimation for the forestry sector criteria of the definition of forest. Safeguard and Safeguard Information System The GoB submitted its FRL to the UNFCCC in January (SIS): The SIS provides information on how the REDD+ 2019 and revised FRL accepted by the Technical safeguards are understood in the national context, Assessment Team in July 2019. Latest version is available and how they will be addressed and respected during on UNFCCC’s website. implementation of the National REDD+ Strategy. National Forest Monitoring System: The NFMS REDD+ Readiness support received by Bangladesh did supports to monitor land use change, and links with not include technical assistance on safeguards. An initial a national forest inventory to provide information on study on Environmental Safeguard and Information emissions from the forestry sector. This element is System6 has been completed and social safeguards have fulfilled by the ‘Bangladesh Forest Information System been partially analysed under the studies on (i) land (BFIS)’ which was launched in December 2018. The tenure7 and (ii) gender8. Similarly, preliminary evaluation BFIS5 is a web-based platform which includes different of environmental and social risks of the REDD+ PAMs have been evaluated. 5 http://bfis.bforest.gov.bd/bfis/ 6 http://www.bforest.gov.bd/site/page/5d40ef21-5f56-4933-af1d-5972252852f2/- 7 http://www.bforest.gov.bd/site/page/5d40ef21-5f56-4933-af1d-5972252852f2/- 8 http://www.bforest.gov.bd/site/page/5d40ef21-5f56-4933-af1d-5972252852f2/- Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 23 1. PART A: THE CONTEXT 1 . 2 . FOREST GOVE RNANCE A ND LA ND US E

1.2.1 — Ecosystems The forests of Bangladesh are broadly classified into

1.2.1. Ecosystems The forests of Bangladesh are broadly classified into The total forest land area of the country is 2,298,904 ha (Table 1, Figure 3 and 4) which accounts for less than 15.5% (MOEFCC 2018) of the 1) Hill forest, total land area. The BFD manages 1,603,678 ha of forests 2) Sal forest, and the remaining 695,226 ha is managed by Ministry 3) Natural mangrove forest (Sundarbans), of Land represented by the Deputy Commissioners of 4) Coastal afforestation, Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). 5) Freshwater swamp forest. Figure 3: Bangladesh Forest Inventory (BFI) Zone Map 24 Hill Forests: Hill areas form about 12-15% of the country. Coastal afforestation: Coastal forests comprise The forests in this area are tropical evergreen and semi- planted mangrove and shoreline forests. This successful evergreen with several subtypes based on altitude, soil, afforestation program began in 1966 and has continued and rainfall. Tropical mixed evergreen forest is the most since then to protect the population in the coastal areas important type, with the dominant tree species, the from cyclones and storm surges, to stabilize newly Dipterocarps, being highly valued due to their high- accredited soil sediments and to provide wood products, priced timber. Common evergreen species include protection from erosion, and to increase the potential Dipterocarpus spp., Swintonia floribunda, Artocarpus of fishery related activities (Islam and Rahman, 2015, chaplasha, Hopea odorata, and Tetrameles nudiflora. Siddiqi, 2001). Thirty-seven non-mangrove species have been planted on the slopes of embankments and Sal forests: The Sal forests are tropical moist deciduous roadsides under the Green Belt Project in 1995 and forests located in central Bangladesh, north from Dhaka. Coastal Embankment Rehabilitation Project in 1997 86% of the Sal forest is situated in the Districts of Gazipur, (Islam and Rahman, 2015). These species include timber, Mymensingh, Tangail and Comilla (central region), with fuelwood and fruit tree species. the remaining 14% in the districts of Rangpur, Dinajpur and Rajshahi. Sal forests are dominated by Sal (Shorea Fresh Water Swamp Forest: Freshwater swamp forests robusta) and Sal associates namely – Terminalia belerica, consist of flood-tolerant evergreen trees namely Hijal Dillenia pentagyna, Albizzia procera and, Lagerstroemia (Barringtonia acutangula) and Koroch (Pongamia parviflora etc. The forest resources are used by local pinnata). A fully developed stand exhibits a closed people for firewood and the landscape is interspersed canopy with mature trees standing 10 to 12 meters tall. with low-lying agriculture areas. The swamp forests support freshwater fisheries. Mangroves (Sundarbans): Most mangrove forests are In addition, there are tree resources outside forests in the southwest in the Sundarbans region, forming the mostly in settlements, commonly known as homestead largest mangrove forest in the world. The Sundarbans is forest, roadside strips, embankments and other a deltaic swamp formed by silt transported over time by marginal lands. There are 25.53 million homesteads in the Ganges River system. The mangroves are dominated Bangladesh (BBS, 2011) which fulfil basic needs of the by Heritiera fomes, Excoecaria agallocha, Ceriops people providing food, fruits, shelter, cash, etc. Multi- decandra and Sonneratia apetala along with another 24 layered vertical stratification, species diversity, and species of mangrove, and there is a highly diverse fauna diversity of economic plants are characteristic features of (840 species) and flora (334 species) on the area (Rahman Bangladesh homestead forests (Alam, 2008). et al. 2010), many of which are endangered. About 4 million people depend directly on mangroves for their livelihoods (Spalding et al. 2010), with 3.5 million of these relying on the Sundarbans area (Uddin et al. 2013). Table 1: Distribution of major forest ecosystem in Bangladesh Forest Ecosystems Location Area (million hectares) Under Management of Forest Department Hill Forest Eastern part extending over Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, 0.664 (29%) Ragnamati, Bandarban, Khagrachari, Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar Natural Mangrove (Sundarbans) South-west in Khulan, Bagerhat and Satkhira 0.602 (26%) Coastal Afforestation Along the Coastal zone 0.20 (0.09%) Sal Forest Chiefly in the Central region in Gazipur, Tangail, Comilla, Sherpur 0.12 (0.05%) and Mymensingh. Small patches occur in Dinajpur, Rangpur, Thakurgaon, Naogaon and Panchagarh in the north-west region Fresh water Swamp Forest Mainly in Sylhet and Sunamganj district in the north-eastern part 0.023 (0.01%) Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 25 1. PART A: THE CONTEXT Forest Ecosystems Location Area (million hectares) Managed by Ministry of Land (represented by Deputy Commissioner) Hill forest legally termed as Chittagong Hill Tract Districts of Rangamati, Khagrachari and 0.713 (31%) Un-classified State Forest (USF) Bandarban Total 2.32 Source: Adopted from “Thotho Konika: National Tree Plantation Campaign and Fair-2019, RIMS Unit and Management Plan Unit, Forest Department Figure 4: Land Cover Map 2015 of Bangladesh 26

1.2.2

1.2.2. Current Forest Management Practices Protected Areas for conservation of tiger population & other wildlife. Protection is mainly ensured through traditional Management of forests in Bangladesh was once dominated patrolling, and in recent years, SMART9 (Spatial Monitoring by sustainable timber harvesting and has now transformed And Reporting Tool) patrolling was adopted in Sundarbans. mainly into conservation, protection and plantation i.e., Parts of Reserved Forests throughout the country declared afforestation, reforestation and enrichment plantation, as Protected Areas (national park, wildlife sanctuary, etc.) respectively in newly accreted land, deforested and are c onserved to protec t wildlife and biodiversity within. degraded forests. To conserve the existing natural forest, Co-management is also practiced in some Protected Areas. the government has imposed a moratorium on tree felling The Social Forestry Program is practiced for increasing the in natural forests since 1990 and has since then focused tree cover in forested and non-forested landscape with the its forestry activities on conservation, protection and participation of the local poor people. plantation. This moratorium has been considered as a strategy to protect and conserve forests. However, a study (Sarker et. al., 2011) on existing logging bans in Bangladesh 1.2.3. Institutional Setup concludes that logging ban has not been able to contribute The BFD manages ‘forest lands’10 under different legal effectively in forest conservation. The study highlights five arrangements. According to the legal categorization, future directives which are also echoed in the BNRS: (i) ‘forest lands’ are declared as reserved, protected, continuation of bans in critical natural forests, (ii) reinitiating acquired, vested, and unclassified forests. The total of management practices in the plantations, (iii) introducing area of ‘forest lands’ and its administrative/legal forest multipurpose forestry in the protected area co-management land’s categories are shown in Table 2. However, this systems, (iv) adoption of adaptive community-based forest legal categorization does not consider land use/cover management, and (v) ensure good forest governance. characteristics and, therefore, may include areas with no Small-scale harvesting of NTFPs is permitted in Sundarbans tree cover. Reserved Forest. About 53% of the total area (including The BFD has a significant organisational network waterways) of Sundarbans has been designated as consisting of 9 circles, 41 divisions, 255 ranges and Table 2: State-owned ‘forest land’ legal categorization ‘Forest lands’ by Area in hectares Remarks Definition legal categories (ha) Everything is strictly prohibited unless otherwise Reserved forests 1,818,219 permitted Protected forests Everything is permitted except otherwise prohibited. 37,009 Managed by Bangladesh Prohibition of certain activities within privately owned Forest Department (BFD) Acquired and lands or other lands for the protection of publicly 11,579 Vested forests owned forest, or for the protection of property and the environment. Unclassified State Depleted and denuded state-owned forests subject 17,353 Managed by Ministry Forest (USF) to various disturbances, particularly through shifting of Land represented by 695,226 cultivation by tribal people. Deputy Commissioners of Chittagong Hill Tract Districts Total 2,579,387* Note: this area includes all coastal land not yet fully accreted. Therefore there will be difference in area figures between Table 2 and Table 3. Source: RIMS Unit and Management Plan Unit, Forest Department. 9 The SMART approach combines a cutting-edge biodiversity conservation management tool with capacity building and a set of best practices. The SMART software makes it possible to collect, store, communicate and analyse ranger-collected data on illegal activities, biodiversity, patrol routes, and management actions to understand where efforts should focus, and evaluate ranger performance. For more information, please refer to the official SMART website: http://smartconservationtools.org/ 10 In Bangladesh, ‘forest land’ is defined as a government-owned land. Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 27 1. PART A: THE CONTEXT 672 beats offices. It has four wings namely - Planning, • Environmental Conservation Rules 1997 (amended up Forest Management, Education & Training and Social to 2017) Forestry. Further, there are specialized units namely - • Environmental Conservation Act 1995 (amended up to Resource Information Management System (RIMS) Unit, 2002) Development Planning Unit, Monitoring Unit and Legal • Wildlife (Conservation and Preservation) Act 2012 Unit. Up to March 2019, the total manpower strength of • Biodiversity Act 2017 the BFD was 7,200 against an approved organogram of • Protected Area Rules 2017 10,499. The BFD has proposed a new organogram with a capacity of 17,500 which includes two additional units • Brick Burning Act 2013 - NFI and Climate Change which will look after REDD+ • The Forestry Sector Master Plan 2017-2031 (draft 2016) activities in the department.

1.2.5 — Economic importance of the Forestry

1.2.5. Economic importance of the Forestry Apart from the state-owned forests, Bangladesh also has Sector few private forests in hill regions. There are also lands with trees owned by different government agencies Bangladesh has made progress in reducing poverty, such as land located adjacent to railways (owned supported by sustained economic growth. The country by the Bangladesh Railway), roadsides (Roads and aspires to become a middle-income country by 2024. In Highways Department) and embankments (owned by order to maintain the progress, the country is undergoing the Bangladesh Water Development Board), that are not huge infrastructure, industrial investments and designated as ‘forest lands.’ Social forestry is generally institutional transformations. practiced in these lands involving poor people. The forestry sector has been showing a constant growth rate of an average 5.4% in between 2009-2018

1.2.4 — REDD+ relevant acts, ordinances, (Bangladesh Bank, 2019). The gross domestic product of

1.2.4. REDD+ relevant acts, ordinances, (Bangladesh Bank, 2019). The gross domestic product of regulations and policies forestry and related services at current prices in 2016- 2017 was US$ 3,055 million representing 1.23% of the The legal entity and governance of ‘forest lands’ is GDP (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics 2018). However, established through gazette notifications under the the GDP contribution from forests (and forestry) could Forest Act of 1927 (amended up to 2000) and other be underestimated, as some benefits from forests are forest related acts, ordinances, regulations and policies. accounted in other sectors (e.g. agriculture sector). Some of the prevailing acts, ordinances, regulations and policies are: Majority of the rural population is directly or indirectly dependent on free access to natural resources for • Forest Acts 1927 (amended in 2000) subsistence. For example, about 90% of rural people • Forest Transit (control) Rules 2011 cook with solid11 fuel (NIPORT, M&A and IFC International • Atia Forest Ordinance 1982 2016). The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS • State Acquisition and Tenancy Act 1950 2014) reported that 7,426,369 people were directly • Private Forest Ordinance 1959 employed in the forestry sector in 2011-2012 of which • Assam Forest Regulations 1891 19% were women. The actual dependency in forests is underestimated due to the fact that this figure doesn’t • National Forest Policy 1994 consider economic activities such as tourism and • Moratorium on tree felling from natural forests (up to employment generated from extraction of fuelwood, 2023) wood products, thatching, medicinal herbs, and foods. • Social Forestry Rules 2004 (amended up to 2010) 11 wood, agricultural crops, animal dung, straw, shrubs, grass, and charcoal 28 1 . 3 . DEFO RE STATION, FO R EST D EGRA DAT I O N A ND E NHA N CEMENT OF FOREST C A R B O N STO C K

1.3.1 — Provision of the forest reference level Coastal zone (4%). Majority of removal is occurring in the

1.3.1. Provision of the forest reference level Coastal zone (4%). Majority of removal is occurring in the Hill zone (52%), followed by the Coastal zone (35%) and The Bangladesh FRL13 (MOEFCC 2018) provides a detailed the Sal zone (6%). analysis of forest and tree cover change between 2000 and 2015 to estimate emission from deforestation, forest Only the Hill and Sal zones present net annual emissions degradation and enhancement of forest carbon stock during the FRL reference period, while the Coastal, from afforestation/reforestation and forest restoration. Sundarbans and Village zones present net removals The scale of the proposed FRL is national level but results (Table 3). The Hill zone, with the highest emissions (85% are also reported separately for the five zones (Hill, Sal, of the total) but also by the highest removals 52% of the Coastal, Village and Sundarban) of the country. total), presents all characteristics to be the prime focus of the present BNRS, as reflected in the PAMs. Estimated emission from the forestry sector of Bangladesh is 1,188,971 tCO2e/year, and the removal Emissions from deforestation and forest degradation from the atmosphere is -814,718 tCO2e/year (Table 4). The account for 69% (819,814 tCO2e/year) and 31% (369,117 net FRL is 374,253 tCO2e/year. Emission mainly occurs in tCO2e/year) respectively of total emissions (Table 4). the Hill zone (85%), followed by the Sal zone (9%) and the Removals of forest carbon stocks from forest restoration Table 3: Emission and Removal (t CO2e/year) in the five BFI zones and at national level Emission Removal Net Emission Ratio Emission/ BFI zones tCO2e/year tCO2e/year tCO2e/year Removal Hill 1,007,738 -427,688 580,050 2.36/1 Sal 112,710 -45,783 66,927 2.46/1 Coastal 44,547 -286,590 -242,043 1/6.43 Sundarbans 12,066 -23,499 -11,433 1/1.95 Village 11,957 -31,153 -19,196 1/2.61 National 1,188,971 -814,718 374,253 1.46/1 Source: MOEFCC 2018 Table 4: Emissions and removals (t CO2e/year) from REDD+ activities at BFI zones and national level Emissions and removals (tCO2e/year) REDD+ activity BFI zones Non- Enhancement Degradation Degradation forest Deforestation Afforestation/ Restoration Restoration stable* High Low Reforestation High Low Hill 750,878 136,134 120,726 -340,993 -62,742 -23,953 31,118 Sal 13,286 86,012 13,412 -10,121 -28,693 -6,969 23,658 Coastal 40,173 1,724 2,650 -38,841 -207,371 - 40,378 -75,216 Sundarbans 11,862 20 184 -4,844 -13,453 -5,202 -2,749 Village 3,697 7,284 976 -16,821 -12,131 -2,201 -449,336 National 819,854 231,175 137,942 -411,623 -324,390 -78,705 -476,084 *Emissions/Removals from non-forest stable (trees outside the forest) were not accounted for FRL Source: MOEFCC 2018 Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 29 1. PART A: THE CONTEXT Table 5: Deforestation and forest degradation in the BFI zones between 2000-2015 Inventory Zones in Ha Total Hill Sal Coastal Sundarbans Village Deforestation 134,447 2,080 11,715 2,363 1,306 151,912 Degradation 131,776 22,457 2,902 172 1,929 173,671 Total 280,657 24,537 14,617 2,536 3,235 325,583 Source: MOEFCC 2018 and afforestation/reforestation account for 49% (-403,095 the Hill zone, respectively 89% and 84%. While forest tCO2e/year) and 51% (-411,623 tCO2e/year) respectively degradation is prominent in the Sal zone, deforestation is of total removals (Table 5). Removals from trees outside the major threat in the Coastal zone. In Sundarbans and forest (non-forest stable) estimated at -476,084 tCO2e/ Village zones, both deforestation and degradation are year for the reference period 2000-2015 but was not very low. This analysis will guide the geographical focus considered for the construction of the FRL (Table 4). of the Policies and Measures (PAMs) identified ‘Themes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5’ of the present national REDD+ strategy, with The Hill zone alone represent 92% of total emission due a priority given to the Hill, Sal and Coastal zones. to deforestation and 70% of total emission due to forest degradation in the reference period. The land use change analysis provided in the Bangladesh FRL (Table 7) indicates that, in the Hill zone, most of These emissions correspond to a total deforested area of the deforestation result in a conversion to shrubs with 151,912 ha (or 10,127.39 ha/year) and a total degraded scattered trees (96.51%). This is the result of intensive area of 173,671 ha (or 11,578.06 ha/year) (Table 5). and unsustainable fuelwood collection and timber Majority of the deforestation and forest degradation harvesting, as described in the section below. In the combined occurred in the Hill zone (86%), followed Coastal and Sal zones, most of the conversion result into by the Sal zone (8%), the Coastal zone (4%) and the herbaceous crops, respectively 42.99% and 75.47%. This Sundarban (0.8%) and Village zone (1%) (Table 5). is the result of encroachment for agriculture, as described Both deforestation and forest degradation are high in in the section below. Table 6: Land use after deforestation between 2000 - 2015 in different BFI zones Deforestation in Ha (figure in bracket is % of column total) Land use category Hill Coastal Sal Sundarbans Village Total Orchards and Other 170 (0.13) 1 (0.01) 163 (7.85) - 19 (1.45) 354 (0.23) Plantations (Trees) Herb Dominated Area - - - - - - Herbaceous Crops 2767 (2.06) 5036 (42.99) 1570 (75.47) - 484 (37.06) 9,856 (6.49) Mud Flats or Intertidal Area - 911 (7.78) - 146 (6,17) 16 (1.25) 1,073 (0.71) Non vegetated 106 (0.08) 797 (6.80) 10 (0.47) 47 (1.97) 58 (4.43) 1,018 (0.67) Rivers and Khals 687 (0.51) 3271 (27.92) 2,058 (87.07) 15 (1.14) 6,030 (3.97) Rural Settlement 956 (0.71) 1666 (14.22) 131 (6.28) - 57 (4.38) 2,810 (1.85) Swamp Reed Land - - - - 141 (10.80) 141 (0.09) Shrubs with scattered trees 129,761 (96.51) 3 (0.03) 131 (6.29) - 513 (39.28) 130,407 (85.84) Total 134,447 11,715 2,080 2,363 1,306 151,911 Source: MOEFCC 2018 Note: Herbaceous Crops denotes – single or multiple crops or crop land; Herb dominated area denotes – grassland; Non-vegetated area includes – aquaculture, baor, lake, beels, ponds, saltpan, sand, built-up non-linear area, artificial surfaces, brickfields, sand; Shrubs with scattered trees: shrubs with scattered trees, orchard and other plantations (shrubs), shifting cultivation. 30 The analysis of removal (Table 4) indicates that degradation and the barriers to enhancement of the afforestation/reforestation accounted for 51% of the forest carbon stock. total removals at the national scale, with higher historical A brief description of the direct and underlying drivers results in the Hill zone (83% of total removals from and barriers is given below: afforestation/reforestation). Removals from restoration accounted for 49% of total removals at the national scale, with higher historical results in the Coastal zone (61% Direct drivers of deforestation of total removals from restoration). Of total removals and forest degradation (afforestation/reforestation and restoration), the Hill Illegal fuelwood collection and timber harvesting zone contributed to 52%, followed by the Coastal zone (Forest degradation leading to deforestation) (35%), the Sal zone (6%), the Village zone (4%) and the Sundarban zone (3%). As per the Sample Vital Statistic Survey 2016 (BBS 2017), wood, bamboo and khari continues to be the major This analysis of historical trends combined with the source of fuel at the household level in Bangladesh (more analysis of opportunities for selected REDD+ activities than 40%) with higher proportion in rural and forested in BFI Zones (Table 8) will guide the geographical areas. For example, above 50% of households in Barisal, prioritization of the PAMs under the ‘Theme 6’ of the Khulna and Sylhet division use fuelwood for cooking, present national REDD+ strategy, with a priority given to respectively 41%, 32%, 32%, and 46% in Chattagram, the Hill and Coastal zones for afforestation/reforestation Dhaka, Rajshahi and Rangpur. activities and to the Hill zone for restoration activities. While the demand for fuelwood has been constant At the national level, trees outside forest (‘non-forest in the past decade, there is currently a gap between stable’ column in Table 4) played a significant role in GHG demand and supply which has been increasing with removal between 2000-2015, with higher removal than the population growth and subsequent households, afforestation/reforestation or restoration activities for the small businesses (bricks kilns and tobacco barns) and same period. The Village zone alone represents 91.54% restaurants consumption (FAO 2015, Choudhury and of the removals from trees outside forests. Likewise, Hossain 2011, FAO 2008). In villages, the supply trend is results indicate emissions from trees outside forests in increasing for fuelwood and timber, but the high demand the Hill and the Sal zones, depicting severe demand for has created a situation of shortage (FAO 2008). Recently, fuelwood/timber. fuelwood consumption in the displaced people camps This analysis will also guide the geographical focus of the has also created an additional source of demand. PAMs under the ‘Theme 1, 2 and 3’ of the BNRS, with a There is also growing global demand for tropical wood priority given to the Hill, Sal and Village zones. products and the Bangladesh furniture industry exports about $50 million/year (Quamruzzaman 2014). The

1.3.2 — Drivers of deforestation and forest moratorium on tree felling in natural forests has not

1.3.2. Drivers of deforestation and forest moratorium on tree felling in natural forests has not degradation been effective to secure forest conservation. Weak law enforcement and the absence of alternative sustainable The study on drivers of deforestation and forest source of supply for good quality timber have inflated degradation in Bangladesh (Thompson et al 2017) prices and indirectly encouraging illicit harvesting of indicates that at the national level, the major direct timber species from natural forests. drivers of forest cover change are - illegal fuelwood collection and timber harvesting, encroachment for Encroachment for agriculture and settlement agriculture and settlement and incomplete forest (deforestation and barriers to enhancement) management capacity. Low success rate of afforestation / restoration programmes is the main barrier to enhance Between 2000-2015, about 6% of total deforestation forest carbon stock. was due to encroachment for agriculture (subsistence and commercial agriculture), industry and settlement The PAMs identified in the BNRS are targeted to address (see Table - 7) – which resulted from a combination of the forest sector drivers of deforestation and forest underlying causes such as undefined land ownership Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 31 1. PART A: THE CONTEXT records (Jashimuddin and Suratuzzaman 2017), on paper (i.e. khatian), forest lands have not been population growth, poverty and land shortage, reliance physically demarcated and specified; on agriculture commodities and growing market demand iii. as a result, the BFD legal authority over the land is for agricultural commodities. Agriculture includes single difficult to establish, and there are reported cases or multiple crop agriculture, shrimp farming, commercial of lands being reassigned to other parties through agriculture, banana plantation, betel nut cultivation, the ‘settlement’ process; tobacco and root crops and shifting cultivation (in CHT). iv. dissatisfaction over Reserved Forest declaration process in CHT after 1947 have also resulted in Indirect drivers of deforestation disputes over forest land; and forest degradation v. the BFD lacks skilled manpower to fight encroachment and resolve complex land tenure Poverty (barrier to enhancement) cases. Poverty is the main indirect driver, common to all forest Limited capacity of the BFD – Inadequate staffing, types, and underlying all direct drivers. A recent study skill and capacity, absence of human resources / (CREL - BFD 2014) indicates an average yearly income per capacity development plan and funding to implement household in Sylhet, Khulna, Chattagram and CHT of BDT the Government programs have also been identified 76,941, BDT 44,730, BDT 81,000, BDT 65,852 respectively. as indirect drivers (Khan 2018) and has resulted in These figures are even lower than the rural averages of ineffective M&E mechanisms and enforcement on the these respective areas (BBS 2010). ground (especially field inspection). The BFD has not Over population (barrier to enhancement) undergone significant institutional reforms to tackle changing socio-economic context and major forestry Over population is the main underlying cause which operations are project driven rather than long-term catalyses this direct driver. As the population is likely to programmatic approach. continue to grow, so will the demand for fuelwood and timber. In addition, the increasing demand of industry, Weak interdepartmental cooperation/consultation – lack of penetration of alternative fuel in rural areas, There are frequent examples and cases of inadequate an increasingly global trade market and the desire for and ineffective functional (intra and inter ministries) foreign capital contribute to increase illegal fuelwood coordination among relevant government agencies collection and timber harvesting. indirectly resulting in deforestation and forest degradation (Khan 2018). Inadequate forest management capacity and ineffective governance (barrier to enhancement) Low engagement of communities – The level of engagement of the beneficiaries of the Social Inadequate forest management capacity and ineffective Forestry programme and of the member of the co- governance results from a combination of land tenure management committees in the decision-making issues related to forest lands, limited capacity of the process and interaction with the BFD has been BFD in terms of manpower resulting in weak monitoring limited and needs further improvement. Members and evaluation (M&E) and enforcement on the ground, of communities, especially women, currently play weak interdepartmental cooperation/consultation, low a little role in the formulation of projects and in the engagement of communities. key operational decisions and their engagement Land tenure issues – The legal instruments designed has mainly been in the forms of labour inputs to the to put the relevant policies into action remain vague plantation and associated physical activities (Khan and disjointed, leading to complications such as: 2018). i. the legal process and procedure of the declaration of Reserved Forest lands remain incomplete; ii. although lands have been assigned to the BFD 32 Drivers of deforestation and available land (apart from forest land), corruption, and forest degradation in the Hill lack of education have catalyzed encroachments. zone Aside from illegal fuelwood collection and timber Drivers of deforestation and harvesting, which is common across Bangladesh, drivers forest degradation in the of deforestation and forest degradation in the Hill zone Sundarbans include shifting agriculture, commercial agriculture such Forest degradation in the Sundarbans include pollution as fruit, tobacco and root crops, anthropogenic fire to (from upstream industry, ship traffic, as well as from clear and fertilise lands and cattle grazing. shrimp farms and agriculture), increased salinity (related to canopy thinning due to disease), reduced freshwater While shifting agriculture was not a major issue in the flows (as result of water diversions), and natural past, ineffective governance, poverty, overpopulation disturbances (cyclones). (referred to as the common indirect drivers) and unclear land tenure have catalyzed clearing large areas and reducing the rotation age. At the same time, tobacco Drivers of deforestation and farming is spreading rapidly with an increased demand forest degradation in the Coastal for fuelwood for leaf curing. zone Aside from illegal fuelwood collection (for commercial Drivers of deforestation and use) and timber harvesting, which is common across forest degradation in the Sal Bangladesh, drivers of deforestation and forest zone degradation in the Coastal zone include shrimp farming, agriculture, infrastructure development and natural Aside from illegal fuelwood collection (for commercial disturbances (cyclones). In addition to the common use) and timber harvesting, which is common across indirect drivers, demand for seafood, lack of education Bangladesh, drivers of deforestation and forest on the importance of forests and unclear land tenure degradation in the Sal zone include encroachment for have catalyzed the direct drivers. settlements, industries and agriculture. In addition to the common indirect drivers, unclear land tenure, lack of Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 33 34 Part B REDD+ VISION AND POLICY SYNERGIES Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 35 REDD+ VISION 2 . 1 R ED D + V I S I O N A ND GOALS AND The REDD+ Vision for Bangladesh draws on the analysis of the historical land use changes and the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and on the alignment of REDD+ POLICY with key national development policies and international commitments. REDD+ is not meant to be a stand-alone strategy; but a vehicle to drive part of the country’s overall SYNERGIES developmental vision and pursuits. The vision is in line with Articles 2 and 3 of the UNFCCC, which underscores the importance of taking mitigation actions in ways that respect developing countries’ priorities for poverty alleviation and social and economic development. These elements are brought forward in the Bangladesh’s REDD+ vision: ‘To facilitate and catalyze transformational change in the forest sector to lower GHG emissions, enhance conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems, sustain community livelihoods, and stronger long-term economic growth’ This vision will be realized by (i) creating the enabling conditions for implementing PAMs by key stakeholders – notably the government, civil society, academia, and the private sector; and (ii) mainstreaming the goals and approaches of the BNRS into the annual plans of all relevant sectors. This will drive actions at all levels towards reducing emissions and enhancing the country’s forest cover. The BNRS is not a new additional strategy but rather an overarching strategy that builds on, connects and create synergies across existing strategies and plans. In following this approach, the BNRS is expected to mainstream forest/ REDD+ objectives into cross-sectoral and sectoral strategies and plans to support the various sectors achieve their development targets in a way that reduces their impact on forests (i.e. reducing their ‘forest footprint’) and help deliver a transformational change for the country on the path towards a low emission green development regime. 36 REDD+ in Bangladesh will be implemented as a - Provide support to scale up afforestation and mechanism to induce transformational changes through reforestation (Thematic Area 6); increased support, collaboration and coordination - Maximize the use of renewable energy sources to lower among stakeholders by creating stakeholder platforms, GHG emission and ensuring energy security (Thematic through increased institutional capacity building Area 2); across stakeholders and through ensuring increased - Ensure energy secure and low-carbon development of transparency by accessibility to information on forests. the economy (Thematic Area 1); Through this, implementation of the BNRS will not only - Continuation of coastal mangrove plantation have a positive outcome in the forestry sector, but also (Thematic Area 6); help in achieving other sectoral/institutional goals with a - Continuation of Social and Homestead forestry lesser footprint on forests. (Thematic Area 2 and 3). Overall goals of the strategy: Under the overarching Tree resource development: Trees outside forests play vision that situates REDD+ within the broader context of a significant role in meeting fuelwood/timber demand Bangladesh’s national development process, the goals of as well as in GHG removal. The BNRS (Thematic Area the BNRS to be achieved within 2030 are: 2 and 3) will support efforts to reach the Government commitment to increase tree cover from 22% to 24% by - Increased capacity for forest management; 2022 and therefore reduce pressure on natural forests. - Improved livelihood of forest dependent communities; - Increased forest cover to 16%; Action Plan for Clean Cook Stove: The BNRS (Thematic - Reduced illegal encroachment in natural forests; Area 1) will contribute towards achievement of targets of - Reduced pressure of fuelwood collection and timber the action plan undertaken by the SREDA and IDCOL. harvesting in natural forests. Phase out of fired bricks in government constructio: Contribution towards SDG Targets: The Government Government has decided to phase out use of fired of Bangladesh wishes to increase its forest cover to 16%, bricks by non-fired bricks by 2025 in all government from the current 14.5%. The BNRS (Thematic Area 6) will construction (except for brick chips used in road contribute towards achievement of this target, mainly construction). In addition, the Government will set through afforestation/reforestation activities in the financial incentive mechanisms in order to encourage Hill, Coastal and Sal zones, at the same time mitigating private sectors to use non-fired bricks. climate change. The BNRS contributes to SDG 13 (climate Digital land management: Government has already action) and SDG 15 (life on land). taken initiatives to remove complexities in land registration, Contribution towards NDC: Bangladesh’s INDC (MOEF transfer and other land-related issues. The BNRS (Thematic 2015) indicates specific mitigation objectives aligned Area 4) will contribute to one priority sector and update with the BNRS. Specifically, the BNRS will support the land records through collaboration with the Ministry of following NDC objectives: Land (MoL). This will reduce land related disputes and encroachment and support achievement of the MoL targets. Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 37 2. PART B: REDD+ VISION AND POLICY SYNERGIES 2 .2. SY N ERGIE S WITH NAT I O NA L P O LI CY FRAME WORK AND PA ST E XPERI ENCE S The BNRS is aligned with key policies and long-term strategic documents especially the Seventh (7th) Five Year Plan (GOB 2015), the Bangladesh Country Investment Plan (for Forestry, Environment and Climate Change (MOEFCC 2017), the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2009 (MOEF 2009), and the drafted National Forest Policy, Forestry Master Plan, and the National Conservation Strategy (NCS). All key policy documents include common actions that support the reduction of deforestation and forest degradation – such as the moratorium on felling in the natural forests (till 2022), the meaningful involvement of the local population in resource management, the creation of livelihood opportunities, the horizontal expansion of tree cover by promotion of social forestry activities, the completion of forest land survey and records, the protected area management, the development of a monitoring, reporting and verification system, etc. with regard to enhancement of forest carbon stock, the same policy documents supports afforestation/reforestation and enrichment (restoration) of degraded forests. The Bangladesh Country Investment Plan for Forestry, Environment and Climate Change (MOEFCC 2017) also supports small and medium forest enterprise and value chain development and enhancement of the BFD’s planting capacity. All the upcoming revision of key national documents such as the National Forest Policy and National Conservation Strategy further supports to develop a monitoring, reporting and verification system and engaging NGOs for awareness building, training and stakeholder group formation, to meet the widening gap between demand and supply of forest produce and to support law enforcement to reduce encroachments. Similarly, the BNRS draws on early experiences and presents best practices and lessons learned from past/ongoing projects/programmes. For example, the stakeholder engagement mechanism that was developed under the Social Forestry programme will be used to manage tree resource generation outside the forested areas. The co-management experiences based on Nishorgo Supported Project (2004-2008), Integrated Co-management Protected Area project (2008-2012), Climate Resilient Ecosystem and Livelihood Project (2012-2018) pave the way for further stakeholder engagement in natural forest management. The Climate Resilient Participatory Afforestation and Reforestation Project (2013-2016) have had successful resilient plantation programs, and CHT Watershed Co-Management Activity has supported 1,445 ha of plantation in reserved forests. Key lessons of the GIZ supported Management of the Sundarbans Mangrove Forests were also purposeful in developing the BNRS. Finally, the on-going Sustainable Environment and Livelihood Project (2018-2023) is largely supporting REDD+ activities - reducing deforestation and forest degradation and enhancement of forest carbon stock through its afforestation, reforestation, and enrichment programme and strong collaborative management mechanism. 38 Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 39 40 Part C REDD+ POLICIES AND MEASURES AND EXPECTED RESULTS Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 41 REDD+ POLICIES 3 . 1 R ED D + PA M s AND MEASURES To realize Bangladesh’s REDD+ vision and goals and AND EXPECTED to effectively address key drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, the BNRS aims to implement 17 RESULTS PAMs under two Strategic Areas – reduce deforestation and forest degradation and enhance forest carbon stock – divided into in six Thematic Areas (Table 9): 1) Promote supply of alternatives energy, energy efficient technologies and timber substitutes; 2) Increase fuelwood supply in forested Districts; 3) Improve livelihoods of forest dependent communities; 4) Resolve forest land tenure issues; 5) Improve institutional capacity; and 6) Reforest/Afforest, restore and conserve. These thematic areas are by no means mutually independent, and thus effective cross-sectoral coordination is essential to ensuring and maximizing their collective outcomes. The PAMs, which are described in Annex - 1: PAMs, have been identified through extensive consultations from grass root to national level between 2015-2018 (Annex – 2: Summary of consultations for developing the BNRS). During the readiness phase, a series of baseline and feasibility studies were conducted through consultative and inclusive processes. Such studies and stakeholder consultation input have informed the policy objectives, measures, and actions and provided the necessary contexts for establishing the key REDD+ design elements. 42 Table 7: Strategic areas, thematic areas and PAMs Strategic Areas Thematic Areas PAMs PAM1 - Promotion of clean cooking & other devices to households, small businesses and institutions PAM2 - Emergency supply of LPG cooker to forcibly displaced Myanmar citizen camp Promote supply of alternate energy, energy PAM3 - Sustainable supply of alternative fuel and environment friendly efficient technologies technology including non-fired brick manufacturing for replacing traditional and timber substitutes bricks kilns PAM4 - Sustainable supply of alternative fuel for tobacco curing PAM5 - Increase the use of processed timber, laminated wood, cane, bamboo and rattan products PAM6 - Establish structures (nurseries & tissue culture facilities) for increasing Reduce fuelwood seedlings stock deforestation and Increase fuelwood forest degradation supply in forested PAM7 - Establish fuelwood plantation on marginal land under the social forestry Districts programme PAM8 - Promotion of integrated homestead forestry models Improve livelihoods PAM9 - Scale-up alternative income generating activity for forest dependent of forest dependent communities communities PAM10 - Collaborative and sustainable management of NTFPs PAM11 - Modernization of forest land management system Resolve forest land PAM12 - Resolution of forest land related cases tenure issues PAM13 – Improvement of forest land management system Improve institutional PAM14 - Increase capacity of the BFD through recruitment and targeted trainings capacity PAM15 - Reforestation of deforested lands and afforestation of newly accreted coastal lands Enhance forest Reforest/Afforest, carbon stock restore and conserve PAM16 - Enrichment plantation of degraded forest land PAM17 - Conservation of existing forests Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 43 3. PART C: REDD+ POLICIES AND MEASURES AND EXPECTED RESULTS Strategic Area 1 REDUCE DEFORESTATION AND FOREST DEGRADATION THEMATIC AREA 1: will impact on natural forests and THEMATIC AREA 2: Promote supply of alternatives homestead vegetation if alternatives Increase fuelwood supply in energy, energy efficient are not promoted. There are forested Districts technologies and timber about 5,000 tobacco barns in the substitutes Chattagram Division. The total As explained above, fuelwood fuelwood consumed per year is demand is historically the main Fuelwood demand for cooking around 35,000 tons. The target is driver of deforestation and forest is historically the main driver of to promote 200 briquette making degradation. While the demand for deforestation and forest degradation. enterprises to meet fuel demand for fuelwood has been constant, there is Adding to the sudden surge of 5,000 barns for tobacco curing. a gap between demand and supply fuelwood demand for refugee camps, which has been increasing with the it is critical to provide clean cooking The moratorium on felling in the increase of population, resulting stoves and alternative cooking natural forests combined with the in intensive and unsustainable fuels at large scale. The targets are absence of a sustainable source fuelwood collection. to support adoption of LPGs to of supply and high prices have increased illicit timber harvesting. The target is to increase availability 6,500,000 units to poor households The target is to increase the use of and quality (i.e., fast growing, (of which 2,000,000 in the Hill zone), processed timber and laminated high calorific value) of fuelwood 10,000 units to institutions i.e., wood to decrease the demand for seedlings (through conventional restaurants, mess, hostels (of which solid wood. nurseries and tissue culture), to 5,000 in CHT) and as well as LPG develop alternative fuelwood cookers for all forcibly displaced SPECIFIC PAMS: sources outside natural forest Myanmar Citizen households in PAM 1: Promotion of clean (10,000 km of strips) and to develop camps (209,225 - as per UNHCR12 cooking stoves & other devices to integrated forestry models (incl. January data). households, small businesses and alternative fuelwood sources) In Bangladesh, almost all brickfields institutions at the homestead level (700,000 in rural areas also use fuelwood and PAM 2: Emergency supply of households). are mostly situated near forested LPG cooker to Forcibly displaced SPECIFIC PAMS: areas. The country produces over Myanmar citizens camp PAM 6: Establish structures 8.66 billion bricks a year and the PAM 3: Sustainable supply of (nurseries & tissue culture facilities) sector has grown at 5.3% over the last alternative fuel and environment for increasing fuelwood seedlings decade. The target is to promote 830 friendly technology including stock brick kilns (778 VSBK and 52 non-fired non-fired brick manufacturing for brick kilns) with environment friendly PAM 7: Establish fuelwood replacing traditional bricks kilns technology to supply bricks produced plantation on marginal land under by 1,25213 brickfields currently (out of PAM 4: Sustainable supply of the social forestry programme a total 4,520 in forested areas). alternative fuel for tobacco curing PAM 8: Promotion of integrated PAM 5: Increase the use of homestead forestry models Similarly, wood is the main fuel for processed timber, laminated wood, tobacco leaves curing. Tobacco cane, bamboo and rattan products Expected emission reduction under plantations are spreading in the ‘Thematic area 2’ = 4.64 MtCO2eq Hill areas of Chattagram and in Expected emission reduction under the Chittagong Hill Districts and ‘Thematic area 1’ = 94.75 MtCO2eq. 12 https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/myanmar_refugees 13 These are non-environment friendly brick kilns as per database (accessed July 2019) available with Air Quality Management Unit, Department of Environment. 44 THEMATIC AREA 3: PAM 10: Collaborative and Similarly, existing mechanism for Improve livelihoods of forest sustainable management of NTFPs coastal forests land development dependent communities and transfer of newly accreted Expected emission reduction under lands favours deforestation and Communities living around forested ‘Thematic area 3’ = 4.82 MtCO2eq forest degradation. Improved areas are generally poor, resulting coordination and joint assessment in pressure on natural resources are necessary before transferring the THEMATIC AREA 4: like forests to meet basic needs (e.g. land ownership from the FD to the Resolve forest land tenure fuelwood, NTFPs, etc.). Ministry of Land. issues Many government programmes The targets are to survey and In the 1950s when forest labour and projects are targeting poverty demarcate 1,000,000 ha of forest was in serious shortage, the BFD reduction and improvement land, to resolve land ownership established “Forest Villages” in of livelihood of poor rural within ‘Forest Villages’, to resolve reserved forest areas, whereby communities. Through enhanced forest land related cases and writ each family was given land for coordination among government petitions, to complete 486,750 ha homesteads and agriculture. Over agencies, additional resources can of reservation and to improve the the years, the population increased be streamlined towards forested coastal forest land development and and so did the area of villages. Districts and leading to enhanced transfer mechanism. Inheritance of land ownership needs socio-economic impacts on forest to be resolved and village areas SPECIFIC PAMS: dependent communities and need to be demarcated to reduce PAM 11: Modernization of forest achievement of sectoral targets. risks of encroachments. land management system It is acknowledged that livelihood activities are unlikely to have a Similarly, absence of documents PAM 12: Resolution of forest land positive impact on forests alone if and conspicuous demarcation related cases other PAMs are not implemented of forest lands and lengthy PAM 13: Improved forest land simultaneously. procedure of disposing up of management system land related cases in the courts The targets are to support at least Expected emission reduction under encourage unauthorized and illegal 500,000 poor households (with ‘Thematic area 4’ = 2.05 MtCO2eq (to encroachment into forest lands. To emphasis on CHT) with Alternative avoid double counting with PAM-17, date, reservation of about 486,750 Income Generating Activity (AIGA), this figure has not been used in total ha of forest is incomplete i.e., have e.g. through improved accessibility emission reduction). not been declared under section 4 to government programmes and to and 6 of the Forest Act 1927. support community engagement in forest management through There are about 2,900 forest land THEMATIC AREA 5: establishment of sustainable related cases and 232 land related Improve institutional capacity integrated NTFPs production in writ petitions (up to March 2019). buffer areas. Unless coordinated actions are Over 50% of the senior positions in taken to accelerate the reservation the BFD are vacant. With large-scale SPECIFIC PAMS: retirements taking place in the next process and resolve these cases, PAM 9: Scale-up alternative income 2/3 years there won’t be enough forest management activities cannot generating activity for forest trained professionals to carry out the be implemented in these areas. dependent communities job. Above reason and existing limited Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 45 3. PART C: REDD+ POLICIES AND MEASURES AND EXPECTED RESULTS budget lead to ineffective activities in by building institutional capacities periodically under the proposed the field. Similarly, the BFD has not for the management of the BNRS and organogram (17,800) and to organize undergone significant institutional by strengthening communication skills development training programs reforms to tackle changing socio- and advocacy towards behavioural for 5,275 officials. economic and environmental changes and adoption of technology SPECIFIC PAMS: conditions in the country and major (see Part E). PAM 14: Increase capacity of the FD forestry operations are project-based The targets are to recruit 2,386 through recruitment and targeted rather than long-term programmes. officials under the existing trainings This thematic area will be supported organogram, 7,676 officials Strategic Area 2 ENHANCE FOREST CARBON STOCK THEMATIC AREA 6: reforestation activities and to the Hill sub-national implementation plan for Reforest/Afforest, restore and zone for restoration activities. The the Hill Region’ (including CHT) and is conserve Hill zone alone represents 81.94% described in Annex – 1. Such projects of reforestation and/or restoration can be replicated for other areas like Bringing up the forest cover to 16% potential in the country (needed to Sal and Coastal zones as well. corresponds to the afforestation/ reach 16% of forest cover) of which reforestation of 637,259 ha of forest lands. SPECIFIC PAMS: CHT is a major part (Table 9). Similarly, Moreover, 173,671 ha of degraded forest PAM 15: Reforestation and/or the Hill zone represents 84.19% of need enrichment planting and 323,047 ha restoration of deforested lands and the overall targets for enrichment out of 1269,070 ha require strengthened afforestation of newly accreted plantation of degraded forests and conservation and protection measures to coastal lands 52.14% of the overall target for avoid deforestation and degradation from PAM 16: Enrichment plantation of protection and conservation. business-as-usual scenarios. Afforestation, degraded forest land reforestation and restoration activities Therefore, careful planning and PAM 17: Conservation of existing forests often lack quality seedlings, decreasing stakeholder engagement in the Hill Expected emission reduction under impacts of such activities. The targets are region and other areas are critical for the ‘Thematic area 6’ = 135.79 MtCO2eq. provided in table 9: success of the Strategy. In this context, Total expected emission reduction as an example, a technical assistance The priority will be given to the Hill under all thematic areas = 241 project is recommended for the and Coastal zones for afforestation/ MtCO2eq development of an ‘Integrated REDD+ Table 9: Various types of REDD+ activities in BFI Zones Total Total Requires protection & Forest remaining as Forest land under Restoration & enrichment conservation to avoid BFI Zones Forest under regular various REDD+ Reforestation plantation deforestation and forest management activities (ha) (ha) (ha) degradation (ha) Hill 522,158 146,210 280,657 381,046 1,330,070 Coastal 111,715 2,902 14,617 111,046 240,281 Sal 2,080 22,457 24,537 3,631 52,706 Sundarban - 172 - 438,834 439,006 Village 1,306 1,929 3,235 11,467 17,936 Total 637,259 173,671 323,047 946,024 2,080,000 46 3 . 2 . THEORY OF CHANGE Figure 4 shows how the above-described PAMs will work to address the drivers and underlying causes of forest change Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord signed in 1997 has paved the way for development in the area. However, more stability to achieve Bangladesh’s REDD+ vision and goal. The implementation of the BNRS will build on existing best practices is necessary. Such favorable conditions are necessary to increase confidence of the investor, government or international and baseline investment activities in relevant areas by public, private and international development partners (see entities. ‘REDD+ finance’). It is to be noted that for the PAMs to be successful, political conditions in CHT need to be favorable. The Table 5: Theory of change of the national REDD+ strategy Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 47 3. PART C: REDD+ POLICIES AND MEASURES AND EXPECTED RESULTS 3 . 3 . F I N A NCE FOR RE D D + I M P LEM ENTAT I O N Government in the past has funded activities like that of The government will also consider non-market-based the PAMs. However, under BNRS, financing will take a more approaches such as fiscal instruments, levies, fees focused approach. The total cost of the PAMs is estimated suitable for REDD+. The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry at US$ 2,654 million (Table 10): of Planning, the National Board of Revenue and other institutions will play key roles in this regard. - Strategic area 1 = US$ 1,020 million (38%) - Strategic area 2 = US$ 1,634 million (62%) International sources of funding will also be targeted such as the Green Climate Fund, the Least Developed Country A mix of national and international sources will be targeted Fund, the Special Climate Change Fund and Adaptation to reach the estimated cost. For example, national Fund, the Norwegian Climate and Forest Initiative and institutions already supporting the Strategic Areas and other multi- and bilateral sources. The National REDD+ those identified as PAMs’ implementers will refocus their Steering Committee along with the MoEFCC, the BFD operations on the 35 forested Districts. For example, (planning unit), the Economic Relations Division (ERD) IDCOL and SREDA supported by the Power Division, and the Ministry of Planning in association with relevant under Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources institutions like PKSF and IDCOL will play a key role in this will prioritize the 3 hill districts of CHT, Chattagram and regard. Cox’s Bazaar and the Bangladesh Bank will continue its support to the brickfields located in the forested Districts. Ministries with implementation responsibilities will Similarly, the BNRS provides opportunities to align existing develop projects related to the REDD+ PAMs to access or upcoming Initiatives/Programmes/Projects that are external funds. Moreover, ministers and departments relevant to REDD+ (i.e. that could either support REDD+ will take programmatic approach as opposed to project objectives or go against them) for them to support (or approach, accessing revenue budget to ensure continuous hinder less) REDD+ objectives. funding for key activities (plantation programme, ICS programme, land record updating programme). Where Such reallocation/alignment of resources will help to reach applicable, ministries and departments will jointly develop the target . projects for external and/or internal funding. On the other hand, the national budget for the forest The National REDD+ Steering Committee, the REDD+ Cell, sector will be increased through: the REDD+ Stakeholder Forum and the TWGs along with i. Increase in the budget of the MoEFCC, the BFD and the the MoEFCC and implementing Ministries will ensure that Bangladesh Forest Research Institute (BFRI) especially while developing such detailed programmes/projects, for forestry operations; sufficient consultations are held at the District and local ii Increase in the budget of MoL & MOEFCC for updating level, such that stakeholders are properly engaged, land records of Forest Department; understand clearly about the project being formulated, benefits and risks mitigation measures and roles and iii. Funds from the Climate Change Trust; and responsibilities. iv. Leveraging from or reallocation of funds of existing programmes to the 35 forested districts (i.e., One House One farm Project, social safety net programmes). 48 Table 9: Summary of REDD+ PAMs Cost in ER in M Strategy Policies and Measures Enabling Responsibility million US$ tCO2eq category Strategic Area 1 - Reduce deforestation and forest degradation Thematic area 1 - Promote supply of alternatives energy, energy efficient technologies and timber substitutes PAM 1 - Promotion of clean cooking stoves & other devices to households, small businesses 102 REDD SREDA, IDCOL and institutions Energy and PAM 2 - Emergency supply of clean cooking Environment TWG stoves & other devices to Forcibly displaced 163 REDD of Cox’s Bazar Myanmar citizens camp District PAM 3 - Sustainable supply of alternative fuel and environment friendly technology including 95.65 DOE, SREDA, 272 REDD non-fired brick manufacturing for replacing MOHPW traditional bricks kilns PAM 4 - Sustainable supply of alternative fuel for Tobacco Industries,

1.5 — X

1.5 X tobacco curing BFD PAM 5 - Increase the use of processed timber, laminated wood, cane, bamboo and rattan 1.5 X BFIDC, Pvt Sector products Sub-total 540 Thematic area 2 - Increase fuelwood supply in forested Districts PAM 6 - Establish structures (nurseries & tissue BFD, BFRI, culture facilities) for increasing fuelwood 2 X Research Institutes seedlings stock PAM 7 - Establish fuelwood plantation on marginal land under the social forestry 19 4.64 REDD BFD, LGED, RTHD programme PAM 8 - Promotion of integrated homestead 50 REDD BFD forestry models Sub-total 71 Thematic area 3 - Improve livelihoods of forest dependent communities BFD, MOA, MOFL, PAM 9 – Scale-up alternative income generating 321 X RDCD, MOCHTA & activity for forest dependent communities NGOs 4.82 PAM 10 – Collaborative and sustainable 46 Enhancement BFD, MOCHTA management of NTFPs Sub-total 367 Thematic area 4 - Resolve forest land tenure issues PAM 11 – Modernization of forest land 20 X BFD & MOL management system PAM 12 – Resolution of forest land related cases 9 RED BFD & MOL 2.0514 PAM 13 – Improvement of forest land 7 X BFD & MOL management system Sub-total 36 14 To avoid double counting (under PAM-17), this figure is only shown but not used in total ER calculation. Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 49 3. PART C: REDD+ POLICIES AND MEASURES AND EXPECTED RESULTS Cost in ER in M Strategy Policies and Measures Enabling Responsibility million US$ tCO2eq category Thematic area 5 - Improve institutional capacity PAM 14 - Increase capacity of the FD through 5 X BFD recruitment and targeted trainings Sub-total 5 Strategic Area 2 - Enhance forest carbon stock Thematic area 6 - Reforest/Afforest, restore and conserve PAM 15 – Reforestation of deforested lands and 1,179 Enhancement BFD, BFRI, MOCHTA afforestation of newly accreted coastal lands PAM 16 - Enrichment plantation of degraded 253 Enhancement BFD, BFRI, MOCHTA forest land 135.79 PAM 17 - Conservation of existing forests (149,548 ha avoided deforestation and 173,498 202 Enhancement BFD, BFRI, MOCHTA ha to avoid degradation; total 323,047 ha) Sub-total 1,634 Grand total 2,654 241 Technical Assistant Support Development of the national Safeguards approach and the Safeguard Information 1.00 X BFD System (SIS) Integrated REDD+ sub-national implementation

1.00 — X BFD, MOCHTA

1.00 X BFD, MOCHTA plan for the Hill Region Capacity building for REDD+ management (incl.

7.00 — X BFD

7.00 X BFD NFMS, FRL, etc.) Communication 2.50 X MOEFCC Research 2.50 X MOEFCC 50 Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 51 52 Part D INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT FOR REDD+ COORDINATION; MONITORING AND REPORTING Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 53 INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT FOR REDD+ 4 . 1 . CO O R D I NAT I O N O F COORDINATION, R ED D + I M P LEM ENTAT IO N MONITORING For successful coordination and implementation of national REDD+ strategy, the government has AND REPORTING established the following institutional structures (Figure 6).

4.1.1 — National REDD+ Steering

4.1.1. National REDD+ Steering Committee Established in 2011, the National REDD+ Steering Committee is the apex body for REDD+ in Bangladesh. Currently, with a total of 42 members, it is represented by a comprehensive range of governmental and non-governmental stakeholders which includes 11 ministries, 15 agenciesy or departments, one member from CSO/ NGO, one member from indigenous community, three representatives from public universities representing forestry faculty and two experts. It is chaired by the Secretary of the MoEFCC and the Deputy Chief Conservator of Forest/Convener of the REDD+ Cell of the BFD is designated as the Member Secretary. Its primary function is to provide strategic leadership, guidance and facilitation support the BNRS implementation through playing overall management role, facilitating smooth coordination, data sharing and assigning key roles in financing REDD+ activities. Further, reports on the BNRS implementation, FRL, Summary of Information (SoI) on Safeguards and Biennial 54 Update Report (BUR) on GHG-I for the LULUCF sector will the Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) TWG. be periodically reviewed, updated and approved by the The main role of the Strategy and Safeguard TWG is to Steering Committee. The REDD+ Steering Committee provide decision support for proposals and options for is supported by the REDD+ Cell in the BFD and by two technical choices related to the BNRS and safeguards- Technical Working Groups (TWG) on matters relating to related issues. The TWG is composed of 14 members National Strategy/Safeguards and forest monitoring and representing 4 Ministries, 4 agencies / departments, 3 Measurement, Reporting & Verification (MRV). Meetings universities, 1 NGO, 1 representative from indigenous will be held once a year or more regularly if needed at group and 1 representative from media. The TWG will which REDD+ implementation and other pertinent issues be directly accountable to the REDD+ Cell but will also will be discussed. provide reports and feedback to the REDD+ Steering Committee and the REDD+ Stakeholder Forum on

4.1.2 — REDD+ Cell request. In addition, the TWG will provide information

4.1.2. REDD+ Cell request. In addition, the TWG will provide information The REDD+ Cell, established in 2011, is located within to consultants and advisors essential for the adequate the BFD. It is mandated to lead and coordinate REDD+ establishment of the structural elements for a functional related activities in Bangladesh by spearheading the REDD+ mechanism in the country. implementation, coordination and monitoring of all REDD+ The primary function of the MRV TWG is to provide activities. It includes 8 members represented by the Heads of technical support to the BFD in matters relating to the specialized units of Forest Department – Planning Wing, monitoring, measurement, reporting and verification for Administration & Finance, Wildlife and Nature Conservation land use change and GHG-I. The TWG is composed of Circle, Legal Unit, Management Plan Unit, RIMS Unit, 16 members representing of 7 technical departments, 3 Monitoring Unit and Development & Planning Unit. universities, 2 government autonomous agencies. The The REDD+ Cell is convened/supervised by the Deputy TWG will contribute through regular meetings (every two Chief Conservator of Forests and the Assistant Chief months) and information exchange events (workshop, Conservator of Forests is designated as the Member trainings etc.); compilation of information related to MRV Secretary. Meetings of the REDD+ Cell will be held for REDD+; contribution to reports, newsletter and other quarterly. It will assign technical responsibilities, as dissemination materials related to MRV for REDD+. required, to two TWGs. The REDD+ Cell will provide secretarial support to all other committees. 4.1.4. REDD+ Stakeholder Forum The main role of the REDD+ Stakeholder Forum (RSF)

4.1.3 — Technical Working Groups is to act as the principal outreach and communication

4.1.3. Technical Working Groups is to act as the principal outreach and communication Two TWGs have been established to support REDD+ platform for issues relating to the forestry sector. implementation, the Strategy and Safeguard TWG and It is a multi-stakeholder platform represented by 2 Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 55 government agencies, 6 representatives from NGOs/CSO, 6 representatives from private sectors, 3 representatives from forest resource user groups, 3 members from indigenous community, 2 members representing youth and scouts and 1 member from media. This is the key body for ensuring that the opinions and priorities of all stakeholders are represented during implementation of the BNRS and will act as a supportive body to the REDD+ Steering Committee, the REDD+ Cell and the TWGs. Implementation Entities National REDD+ Steering Committee All concerned Ministry of Grievance ministries and national Environment, Forest Mechanism stakeholders & Climate Change (MoEFCC) Forest Monitoring Other Departments Forest Department REDD+ Stakeholder Forum and MRV Technical Working Group (TWG) Technical Advisory Group + others Coordination and Ensure Inclusive guidance to all implementation REDD+ Strategy entities recommendation REDD+ Cell implementation Strategy and Safeguard Technical Working Group (TWG) Technical Support Figure 6: Institutional Structure for REDD+ Implementation 56 4 . 2 . I M PLEMENTING ENTIT I ES The MoEFCC, the BFD, the Ministry of CHT Affairs, the significant area. In addition to the MoEFCC, the MOCHTA Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority along with the Regional and three District Councils will (SREDA), Power Division, the Infrastructure Development play lead role for implementing the BNRS. In this context, Company Limited (IDCOL), the Palli Karma Sahayak a technical assistance project is recommended for the Foundation (PKSF), the Ministry of Land, the Chittagong development of an ‘Integrated REDD+ sub-national Hill Tract Regional Council and the Chittagong Hill District implementation plan for the Hill Region’ (including CHT) Councils are the key implementing entities. All implementing and is described in Annex – 1. and coordination entities have been identified in Table 10 and in the respective PAMs sheet in Annex 1. Ministry of Land (MoL) Implementing entities are responsible to operationalize The MoL will actively support the MoEFCC for and implement their respective PAMs in coordination implementing PAMs under the Thematic Area ‘resolve with the REDD+ Cell and to provide regular update as forest land tenure issues.’ E.g. the Government will per the indicators identified and suggested by the TWGs. consider appointing officials for the position of Implementing entities may exercise joint operationalization Deputy Secretaries as Forest Settlement Officers on an and implementation where applicable, especially in the emergency basis under the Deputy Commissioner in the Chattagram and Chittagong Hill Tract area. major forest zones (especially in Hill, Sal and Coastal forest zones) dedicated only for settling the forest land Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate reservation processes and therefore complete forest Change (MoEFCC) settlement processes, demarcate the forest and khas lands and update records accurately. The MoEFCC will take overall lead in implementing the BNRS and will coordinate with the BFD on the progress and results of REDD+ implementation and on the review Sustainable & Renewable Energy Development of reports and submission to the UNFCCC (see 4.4. Authority (SREDA) Reporting to the UNFCCC). As its Chair, the MoEFCC will SREDA supported by Power Division, under Ministry of facilitate adherence to the decision taken by the REDD+ Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, will mainly support Steering Committee. The MoEFCC will support joint implementation of PAMs under the Thematic Area operationalization and implementation of the BNRS with ‘promote alternative supply (fuelwood and timber) and key ministries i.e., Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tract Affairs, devices.’ SREDA will continue working to achieve target Ministry of Land, SREDA or IDCOL. set under the Bangladesh Country Action Plan for Clean The MoEFCC will use the Local Consultative Groups Cook Stoves 2013 i.e., by 2030 dissemination of cook and the Environment and Climate Change Subgroup to stoves to over 30 million households in Bangladesh. Till facilitate coordinated implementation. date, SREDA has reached 6.5 million households. SREDA will scale up existing activities in the 35 forested Districts. Under the guidance of MoEFCC, the BFD will continue to operationalize the REDD+ Steering Committee, the REDD+ Cell, the TWGs and the REDD+ Stakeholder Forum, and Infrastructure Development Company Limited formulate projects. The BRNS will be periodically reviewed, (IDCOL) synchronizing with the updating of FRL. IDCOL will mainly support implementation of PAMs under the Thematic Area ‘promote alternative supply (fuelwood Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tract Affairs (MOCHTA) and timber) and devices.’ IDCOL is the implementing partner for the Global Clean Cooking Program in As stated above, priority will be given to the Hill zone Bangladesh15, funded by Green Climate Fund and the during the BNRS implementation, of which the CHT is a International Development Association, World Bank. 15 https://www.greenclimate.fund/projects/fp070 Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 57 The total project investment is USD 82.2 million. Till from brick fields in the country. Out of total US$ 50 date, 1.62 million Improved Cook Stoves (ICS) have been million allocation, the scheme has provision of US$ 30 disseminated of which 710,979 has been distributed million for conversion of traditional Fixed Chemistry Kiln in the 35 forested Districts16. IDCOL has set a target of to Improved Zigzag Kiln and US$ 20 million allocation disseminating 5 million ICS by 2021. for establishment of new Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln, Hybrid Hoffman Kiln and Tunnel Kiln. A total of USD 22.75 m has been disbursed to 11 sub-projects up to June 2018. Bangladesh Bank Bangladesh Bank will mainly support implementation National Board of Revenue (NBR) of PAMS under the Thematic Area ‘promote alternative supply (fuelwood and timber) and devices.’ It has recently NBR will determine financial benefits (e.g. tax rebate or adopted a relending scheme - “Financing Brick Kiln easy loan) to encourage promotion of non-fired bricks Efficiency Improvement Project” - with support from the use in the private sector. Asian Development Bank for reducing GHG emissions 4 . 3 . COORDINATION OF R ED D + T EC H NI C A L ELEM ENTS

4.3.1 — National Forest Monitoring System The ‘Forest Assessment’ category includes the ‘BFIS

4.3.1. National Forest Monitoring System The ‘Forest Assessment’ category includes the ‘BFIS Geoportal’ module to support the Satellite Land Monitoring The Bangladesh Forest Information System (BFIS)17 plays System (SLMS) and the ‘Bangladesh Forest Inventory’ a significant role for forest monitoring in Bangladesh. module to support the national forest inventory and the It contributes to data transparency, consistency and ‘Forest Emission Factor Database’ module to support reduce data redundancy for quality outputs. It is a the GHG estimation for the forestry sector. Module ‘BFIS modern technology-based information management e-Library’ archived the meta data documents, reports, R system to manage, collect, share, and update spatial and scripts for data analysis, training materials, manuals etc. non-spatial data and information on forest and forestry necessary for forest management and conservation. related activities. All data, reports, maps, documents are available in one integrated platform. The system works as The “land record” and the “plantation” modules are a web application and includes different modules/tools currently under development to provide site specific for assessing and monitoring the forest area changes, information for forest management and planning. estimating GHG emission and removal by REDD+ Additional updated spatial and non-spatial data, activities and for finding, generating and collecting information, documents, reports etc. will be integrated data to support decision-making and planning of forest in the BFIS and new modules will be added based on the management and conservation. needs, to support the collection, storing and monitoring. BFIS modules are organised according to four categories (1) The BFIS is managed by the BFD under the MoEFCC development activities, (2) management and conservation, (figure 6). It provides direct and easy access to the BFD (3) forest assessment, and (4) knowledge management. personnel to the central repository of database for 16 http://www.idcol.org/old/bd-map_ics/bangladesh_map/ 17 http://geoportal.bforest.gov.bd/ 58 Bangladesh Forest Department Responsible for overall maintenance, access control National Data and update contents center of Bangladesh Computer Council Hosting, server maintenance, future upgradation Targeted Users Review, edit, input, update and query depending on level of accessibility Targeted beneficiaries Collect forst related data and information Bangladesh Forest Information System Figure 7: Key users and beneficiaries of Bangladesh Forest Information System planning and decision making. Through Service Level for the maintenance and hosting of new data and Agreement, the system is hosted in the National Data information modules in the BFIS. Center of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) under the To institutionalize data sharing among GoB and other Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information institutions, the MOEFCC has endorsed “Data Sharing Technology. Coordination with BCC will be strengthened Guideline”. Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 59 Building the Satellite Forest Monitoring System The country developed the SLMS at the national level through harmonizing the land cover classes of existing maps. The capacities of 11 government and non-government organization (BFD, SPARRSO, SoB, BARI, BBS, BSGI, BUET, CEGIS, FAO, MoL and SRDI) were strengthened for the development of the SLMS through trainings, workshops, data collection and processing, reporting, technical support. The organizations worked together to develop a national land representation system (Figure 7) to produce consistent and comparable data for monitoring the forests and land cover change (GoB 2017). During the readiness phase, the capacity of 11 government and non-government organization (BFD, SPARRSO, SoB, BARI, BBS, BSGI, BUET, CEGIS, FAO, MoL and SRDI) was built for the development of the SLMS through trainings, Figure 8: Land representation system of Bangladesh workshops, data collection and processing, reporting, the FRL. The land cover maps are available through web technical support. The organizations worked together based BFIS Geoportal. to develop a land representation system (Figure 8) to In the future, the current methodologies used to produce produce consistent and comparable data for monitoring land cover maps using high and mid resolution satellite the forests and land covers change (GoB 2017). imagery will be followed to produce temporal land and By using the land representation system, the land cover tree cover maps for assessing land cover/use change or maps for the year 2000 and 2015 (MOEFCC 2018) were activity data and its related impact on GHG balance. High produced. Likewise, a tree cover change map of 2000- resolution satellite imagery or free resource imageries 2014 was developed (Potapov et al 2017) and integrated will be used depending on the resource availability. with the land cover information to provide additional Capacities and coordination among stakeholder information to monitor REDD+ activities as reflected in organizations will be strengthened to update the data and information on the BFIS Geoportal. 60 Implementation of Bangladesh Forest Inventory 4.3.2. Forest Reference Level The Bangladesh Forest Inventory (BFI) was designed based The BFD constituted an FRL working group inside the on available data from more than 10,000 field inventory organization for supporting the FRL development plots of past inventories (Costello, et al. 2016) and five BFI and the GHG-I for the forestry sector. The MRV TWG zones (Hill, Sundarbans, Coastal, Sal and Village zones) provided suggestions and guidance throughout the and the inventory was carried out in between 2016- FRL development process. TWG meetings will continue 2019 . It provides information on forest status, timber for discussion on the consistent and comparable volume, biomass, carbon etc. The BFI consists of 1,856 activity data development and improvement of the FRL plots for biophysical survey and 6,400 households for estimation. socioeconomic survey. Results are integrated with the land cover change information and are made available Plot level data from the previous inventories was under the BFIS module ‘Bangladesh Forest Inventory18 for harmonized to develop emission factors for the transparency, sharing and future monitoring. calculation of emission and removal for the FRL (Costello, et al. 2016). A ‘Forest Emission Factor Database’19 was Technical support was provided to the BFD for developed for supporting biomass calculation and was developing the BFI design and preparing digital forms integrated in the BFIS (BFD, 2016). BFI data will be used to to collect biophysical and socioeconomic data. The BFI update the ‘Forest Emission Factor Database’ for future biophysical design was finalized with support from three improvement of the FRL. universities (SUST, CU and KU). Five pools (AGB, BGB, DWM, Litter and soil) were considered for data collection BFD will support the Department of Environment to and will be used for updating the emission factors for report the GHG of LULUCF for the upcoming BUR and estimating GHG-I from forestry sector. National Communication. BFRI and KU coordinated the development of species 4.3.3. Safeguards and Safeguard Information specific and common allometric equation for biomass System calculation for the BFI zones and BNH supported the identification of tree species in the field during BFI Preliminary activities have been carried out during the implementation by providing trainings and developing readiness phase, such as a review of policy, law and the BGD tree app. BBS, DU, Arannyak Foundation regulations from safeguard perspective. Likewise, an and CU supported the design for preparation of the initial study on Environmental Safeguard and Information socioeconomic survey and the CNRS its implementation. System has been completed and social safeguards have SRDI and DU supported the development of the been partially analysed under the studies on (i) land methodology for soil sample collection. tenure and (ii) gender. Similarly, preliminary evaluation of environmental and social risks of the REDD+ PAMs have Coordination with all stakeholders will continue been evaluated. to conduct the periodical BFI which will produce consistent and comparable data for reporting the Further actions are needed to develop the national emissions and removals for REDD+ activities, GHG-I for safeguards approach and a fully functional SIS. This National Communication as well as other national and includes (i) assessing benefits & risks of REDD+ PAMs, (ii) international purposes. identifying, assessing & strengthening safeguards-related policies, laws & regulations (PLRs) and institutional Institutionalization of the BFI process has been capacity to implement PLRs and (iii) identifying, initiated through a proposal to the MoEFCC for assessing & strengthening systems and sources of establishing a NFI unit in the BFD. The NFI unit will be information to develop Bangladesh SIS and preparing responsible to conduct periodical NFI and maintain the first SoI. A plan to develop the SIS element has been overall coordination. This unit will be strengthened developed and will be implemented in parallel to the with adequate officials, training and equipment for BNRS implementation. (Annex – 1: TA Project – 2). conducting the NFI and sub-national inventories. 18 http://bfis.bforest.gov.bd/bfi/ 19 http://bfis.bforest.gov.bd/nef/ Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 61 Grievance Redress System grievance, contact person, relevant forms are available To avoid grievance during implementation of the BNRS, on all government websites including that of the BFD’s, social and environmental safeguard procedures will be which include a link to the GRS system. Any citizen can developed. The FPIC guidelines (UN-REDD 2013) will submit his/her dissatisfaction or grievance against every also be an integral part during BNRS implementation. department included within the GRS system. The GRS Such prior engagement of stakeholders will ensure that system is already operational and GRS focal points in the concerns are addressed, and that environmental and BFD and MoEFCC have been identified. social risks are minimized. Grievances that allege corruption, coercion, or major and In instances, where concerns could not be addressed, systematic violations of rights and/or policies, will be then, depending on the concern/grievance, the referred to organizational accountability mechanisms or complaint can either be raised through the REDD+ administrative or judicial bodies for formal investigation, Stakeholder Forum or through the government’s rather than to the REDD+ Stakeholder Forum and/or the Grievance Redress System (GRS). Procedure for lodging GRS. 4 . 4 . R EPO RTING TO UNFCCC The national focal point to the UNFCCC is the Secretary, The BFD in close collaboration with the DoE will prepare MoEFCC. Thus, the MoEFCC is responsible for liaising with the BUR technical annex and the MRV TWG, followed other institutions in the development of and provision by the National REDD+ Steering Committee will be of reports related to REDD+. The MoEFCC will play a responsible for the quality control before submission. central role in bringing together information on REDD+ FRL implementation, providing information to the bodies under the Convention and disseminating information Bangladesh’s first FRL was approved by the UNFCCC from the international level to domestic actors. on July 2019. Country-specific emission factors for soil, deadwood and litter were identified through the Information on how specific requirements will be met BFI and will be used in the future improvements of the is provided below and it is recognised that the MoEFCC FRL. Technical support will be provided to the BFD to will seek approval of all stakeholders involved in REDD+ improve existing capacity allowing further improvement implementation before submission of any report to the of the FRL. It is expected that Bangladesh will submit an UNFCCC. Specifically, the BFD, supported by the REDD+ improved FRL by 2024. Cell for coordinating with relevant institutions, will collect data and produce technical reports. Reports will Summary of Information on REDD+ Safeguards be reviewed by the TWGs and approved by the National REDD+ Steering Committee for subsequent submission The MOEFCC is expected to submit the first Summary of by the MoEFCC. Information (SoI) on REDD+ Safeguards to the UNFCCC as soon as ready. Subsequent SoIs will be provided every 4 BUR technical annex on Greenhouse Gas Inventory years according to the timetable set by the UNFCCC. (GHG-I) for the LULUCF sector Considerable capacity has been gained in the BFD and other institutions to support GHG-I for the forestry sector. 62 Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 63 64 Part E CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND ENABLING CONDITIONS Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 65 CROSS-CUTTING 5 . 1 . GOV ER NI NG ISSUES AND P R I NC I P LES ENABLING The implementation of the BNRS will follow international good governance principles, namely: CONDITIONS Rule of Law As far as possible, the implementation of the BNRS will catalyze discussions among Ministries regarding conflicting Policies, Laws and Regulations. The success of the BNRS and its impact on the forest cover in Bangladesh will require fair legal frameworks that are enforced by an impartial regulatory body, for the full protection of stakeholders. Transparency Information related to the implementation of the BNRS should be provided in easily understandable forms and media; that it should be freely available and directly accessible to stakeholders; and that any decisions taken and their enforcement are in compliance with established rules and regulations. The BFIS will play a central role for this principle. Responsiveness The implementation of the BNRS will require that institutions identified for its management and for implementing the PAMs, and their processes, serve the best interests of stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe. 66 Consensus Oriented Participation The implementation of the BNRS will require The implementation of the BNRS will require consultations to understand the different interests of participation by both men and women, either directly or stakeholders in order to reach a broad consensus of what through legitimate representatives. Participation needs is in the best interest of the entire stakeholder group and to be informed and organized, including freedom of how this can be achieved in a sustainable manner. expression for the best interests of the organization and society in general. Equity and Inclusiveness The implementation of the BNRS will require full and Sustainability effective inclusion of relevant stakeholders at relevant The implementation of the BNRS shall contribute to levels and in all major stages and topics of decision sustainable land and resource use which satisfies the making. Special emphasis shall be given to the inclusion needs of present generations without compromising of the interests of forest-dependent communities, the fulfilment of the needs of future generations. PAMs including equitably men, women and youths. The BNRS shall be planned and implemented with the boundaries provides the opportunity for stakeholders to maintain, of resilience of ecosystems in mind including relevant enhance, or generally improve their well-being. safeguards for reducing risks and enhancing benefits from REDD+. Effectiveness and Efficiency The implementation of the BNRS will require that the 5 . 2 . C A PAC I TY B UI LD I NG needs of stakeholders are met, while making the best use of resources – human, technological, financial, natural Capacity building for the BNRS coordinating and and environmental. implementing institutions is critical to ensure a successful implementation. While technical capacity building activities are already embedded into the PAMs, Accountability continued skill development training programme on The implementation of the BNRS will require that REDD+ issues are needed for both government and non- management institutions and PAMs implementation government stakeholders. institutions are accountable for its implementation. The management and steering of REDD+ implementation Under the leadership of the REDD+ Steering Committee shall be oriented in achieving results as envisioned in and close coordination of the REDD+ CELL, continuous the PAMs. Results should be, to the extent possible, efforts are necessary to maintain and update the current measurable and quantifiable. Measuring and reporting capacity on REDD+ and ensure that all institutions capacities shall be developed where needed and appropriate. Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 67 engaged in REDD+ implementation have the capacity to Ensuring women’s engagement at the decision-making fulfill their mandates. level is equally important. The TWG on Strategy and Safeguards already has representatives from the Ministry Key capacity building recommendations have been of Women and Children Affairs and from the Social identified: Welfare Ministry. The RSF has set aside two positions for - Training on REDD+ for stakeholders (Member of women – i.e., representatives from the Girls Guide and Parliaments, Upazila Chairman, Government officials, the Bangladesh Women Federation. It is acknowledged NGO, CSO, representatives of indigenous communities, that better representation of women in the decision- etc.); making body will be promoted during REDD+ - Carry out REDD+ project development trainings to implementation. officials; - Continue technical training on REDD+ (GHG-I, GIS/RS, NFI, R-Software, etc.); 5 . 4 . CO M M UNI C AT I O N - Repetitive/periodic land use change assessment, ST RAT EGY drivers of deforestation and forest degradation Strengthening the political advocacy, and increasing assessment, updating of biophysical and socio- communication and interaction capabilities on REDD+ economic data, and information in the BFIS; related issues are strategic to ensure that REDD+ is widely - Assessment of implementation progress of REDD+ accessible, legible and understandable. Awareness strategy, lessons learned and revision / formulation of raising among stakeholders from political leadership to next programmes. grass root level is necessary to mobilize support towards forest conservation. Communication activities are already embedded into 5 . 3 . M A I N STREAMING the PAMs. For PAMs like rapid adoption of ICS (PAM G E N DER I N REDD + 1&2), promotion of fuelwood plantations (PAM 5, 6 & 7), I MPLEM ENTATION improvement of homestead forestry (PAM 8), sustainable During the BNRS implementation, gender balanced livelihood (PAM 9) and collaborative management of representation and participation will be strengthened NTFPs (PAM 10), awareness raising activities targeting building on the Social Forestry Rules (2004) which women will be carried out to clearly depict their benefits. made it mandatory to maintain at least 50% women as Specifically, energy fairs for women will be organized and beneficiaries. In Bangladesh, women play a significant the BFD together with SREDA will take advantage of the role in the AFOLU sectors, harvesting resources for month-long tree fair at national and sub-national level to livelihood (such as fuelwood) or managing resources promote ICS and other devices. Awareness materials will (such as homestead forests). They are also often be developed and used to raise awareness at the regional negatively affected by indoor air pollution. and local level on multiple benefits of forests and key drivers / negative impacts of deforestation and forest One of the key targets of the BNRS is to involve women degradation. in PAMs implementation. Acknowledging that there are socioeconomic, cultural and political barriers faced by At the higher policy level, the BNRS will be branded as a women, deliberate action will be taken to ensure women means to achieve multiple sectoral/institutional goals. are equitably, actively and meaningfully involved in The key message will be to promote the importance of REDD+ implementation. the BNRS in meeting key national goals and objectives, i.e., in meeting the forest cover target, poverty alleviation, Specifically, some PAMs are designed for women. emission reduction, etc. Awareness materials in Bangla, PAM 1 on clean cooking (or other devices), PAM 7 on such as posters, brochures, leaflets, articles and reports, establishment of fuelwood plantations on marginal short videos will be developed and workshops, meetings, land, PAM 8 on integrated homestead forestry and PAM international day observation, rally, community radio will 9 on alternative income generating activity will prioritize be used as communication channels. women. Gender sensitive indicators have been identified for the monitoring and evaluation of these PAMs. 68 The RSF will have a key role in developing and 5 . 5 . R ES EA R C H communicating key messages to their respective organization. The RSF includes two representatives Forestry research has a long history in Bangladesh but from the journalist associations and members from there is a need to update research topics and approaches environmental activist organizations like the Bangladesh to link closely with current information demand for Poribesh Andolon and the Bangladesh Environmental successful REDD+ implementation. Lawyers Association. Such platform plays a key For example, improved/alternative sources of fuelwood role in creating mass awareness and mobilizing key need to be identified and the efficiency of existing constituencies in favor of REDD+. devices needs to be improved. New technologies Key communication activities have been identified as should be economically accessible to reach markets in follows: rural areas. The BNRS has identified research in areas of improved fuelwood, alternative fuel, clean cooking - Identification of key issues and previous lessons likely stoves, bio gas plants, efficiency of existing fuelwood to be of relevance; species and briquettes as a priority. This will include: - Development of key REDD+ messages; - Preparation of appropriate learning materials; - Research on (i) calorific value of available fuelwood species, (ii) identification of species for multipurpose - Preparation of awareness-raising materials such as uses (fuelwood, fuelwood and fodder, fuelwood and posters, pamphlets, radio programmes, video, etc.; timber), (iii) identification of shade bearing fuelwood - Engaging media communities (TV, Radio, Community species for homestead (iv) consumers preferences; Radio, & Newspaper); - Organization of awareness raising events; - Research on benefits of clean cook stoves on reducing - Development of policy paper; fuelwood demand, health, livelihood and women empowerment; - Organization of policy dialogue; - Maintain and update website; - Research on enhancement of energy efficiency of clean - Use social media in disseminating messages. cooking stoves / bio gas plants; - Research on economic production costs of various types of briquettes and other fuel devices manufacturing; - Research on market penetration of LPG cookers and other new technologies. - Research on efficient brick making technologies and green bricks Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 69 REFERENCES Alam, M.K. 2008. Forests and forestry in Bangladesh. In: Ahmed, Z.U., Begum, Z.N.T., Hassan, M.A., Khondker, M., Kabir, S.M.H., Ahmad, M., Ahmed, A.T.A., Rahman, A.K.A. and Haque, E.U. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh, 1. Bangladesh Profile, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, pp. 73-86. Bangladesh Bank 2019. The Annual Report of the Bangladesh Bank for the Financial Year 2017-2018. Bangladesh Bank, the Central Bank of Bangladesh. Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Available at: https://www.bb.org.bd/pub/ annual/anreport/ar1718/full_2017_2018.pdf Bangladesh Bank 2018. Quarterly Review Report on Green Banking Activities of Banks & Financial Institutions and Green Refinance Activities of Bangladesh Bank, April – June 2018. Bangladesh Bank, the Central Bank of Bangladesh. Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Available at: https://www.bb.org.bd/pub/quaterly/greenbanking/greenbanking_ aprjun2018.pdf BBS 2018. National Accounts Statistics: Provisional Estimates of GDP, 2017-18 and Final Estimates of GDP, 2016-17. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), Statistics and Informatics Division Ministry of Planning. Available at: http://bbs.portal.gov. bd/sites/default/files/files/bbs.portal.gov.bd/page/057b0f3b_a9e8_4fde_b3a6_6daec3853586/National%20Accounts_ Book_2017-18.pdf BBS 2017. Report on Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistic Survey 2016. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Statistics and Informatics Division (SID), Ministry Of Planning, Government Of The People’s Republic Of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh. BBS 2014. Report on Household Based Forestry Survey 2011-12. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) Statistics and Informatics Division (SID) Ministry of Planning. Available at: http://203.112.218.65:8008/WebTestApplication/userfiles/Image/ Keyfinding/Key%20Forest2011-12.pdf BBS, 2011. Statistical Year Book of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Ministry of Planning. Dhaka. BBS 2010. Household Income and Expenditure Survey. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) Statistics and Informatics Division (SID), Ministry of Planning. CREL-BFD. 2014a. Study Report on Selection and Analysis of Value Chains (Final) For South-East Region-Chittagong. Climate- Resilient Ecosystems and Livelihoods (CREL) Project of Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), implemented by WINROCK International, funded by USAID. CREL-BFD. 2014b. Study Report on Selection and Analysis of Value Chains (Final) For South-West Region. Climate-Resilient Ecosystems and Livelihoods (CREL) Project of Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), implemented by WINROCK International, funded by USAID. CREL-BFD. 2014c. Study Report on Selection and Analysis of Value Chains (Final) For North-East Region. Climate-Resilient Ecosystems and Livelihoods (CREL) Project of Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), implemented by WINROCK International, funded by USAID. Costello, L., Sola, G., Akhter, M., Aziz, T., Akhter, H. & Henry, M. 2016. Forest Biomass in Bangladesh: An Historical Review of Forest Inventories to Assist National Estimates. Bangladesh Forest Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Dhaka. FAO. 2018. The state of the world’s Forest. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Rome, 2018. Available at: http://www.fao.org/3/I9535EN/i9535en.pdf FAO 2015. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015: Desk Reference. Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations Rome, 2015. Available at: http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4808e.pdf FAO. 2010. Global Forest Resources Assessment. Main Report. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Rome, 2010. Available at: www.fao.org/3/a-i1757e.pdf FAO. 2008. National forest and tree resources assessment 2005-2007, Bangladesh. Rome. Available at: http://www.fao.org/ forestry/17847/en/bgd Franceschini, G., Jalal, R., Islam, M. S., Iqbal, Z., Aziz, T., Begum, A., Shewli, S. B., Shaunak, M. F., Jahan, M. N., Haque, S., Rahman, M. A., Hadi, A., Pramanik, T., Akhter, M., Costello, L., Udita, T. S. & Henry, M. 2016. Production Chain for Land Cover Mapping in Bangladesh. Dhaka, Bangladesh. Bangladesh Forest Department, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Dhaka, Bangladesh. GoB. 2017. National Land Representation System of Bangladesh. Dhaka, Forest Department, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. GoB. 2015. Seventh Five Year Plan FY2016 – FY2020: Accelerating Growth, Empowering Citizens. General Economics Division, Planning Commission, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. IPCC. 2007. Fourth assessment report: chapter 9 Forestry. Available at: https://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg3/en/ ch9.html 72 IPCC. 2013. Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 1535 pp. Available at: https://www.ipcc.ch/ report/ar5/wg1/ Islam, S.A. and Rahman, M.M. 2015. Coastal afforestation in Bangladesh to combat climate change induced hazards. Journal of Science, Technology & Environment Informatics 02(1): 13–25. Jashimuddin, M. and Suratuzzaman, Md. 2017 Assessment of Tenure Issues Relevant to PAMs for a REDD+ Strategy in Bangladesh: Final Report. UN-REDD Bangladesh National Program, Bangladesh Forest Department, 30 November 2017. Dhaka Mazumder, A. H., Choudhury, J.K., Chowdhury, K. 2018. Policies and Measures to Address Drivers of Deforestation and Degradation in Bangladesh. UN-REDD Bangladesh National Program, Bangladesh Forest Department. Technical Report, 27 April 2018, Dhaka. MOEFCC. 2018. The submission of Bangladesh’s Forest Reference Level for REDD+ under the UNFCCC. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC), Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Available at: https://unfccc. int/files/adaptation/groups.../loss_and.../ds_bangladesh_report.pdf MOEFCC. 2017. Bangladesh Country Investment Plan for Forestry, Environment and Climate Change 2016–2021. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC), Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Available at: http://nda.erd.gov.bd/en/c/publication/bangladesh-country-investment-plan-for-environment-forestry-and-climate- change-2016-2021 MOEF. 2009. Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2009. Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF), Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. MOEF. 2015. Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC). Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Available at: https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/ndcstaging/PublishedDocuments/ Bangladesh%20First/INDC_2015_of_Bangladesh.pdf National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT), Mitra and Associates, and ICF International. 2016. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2014. Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Rockville, Maryland, USA:NIPORT, Mitra and Associates, and ICF International. Poultouchidou, A., Islam, K., Akhter, M. 2016. The Emission Factor Database for the Land Use, Land- Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh Forest Department, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Potapov, P., Siddiqui, B.N., Iqbal, Z., Aziz, T., Zzaman, B., Islam, A., Pickens, A., Talero, Y., Tyukavina, A., Turubanova, S., and Hansen, M. C. 2017 Comprehensive monitoring of Bangladesh tree cover inside and outside of forests, 2000–2014. Environ. Res. Lett. Vol 12, Number 10 (2017) 104015. Khan, N.A. 2018. Forest Governance Study. UN-REDD Bangladesh National Program, Bangladesh Forest Department. 2018, Dhaka. Quamruzzaman, M. 2014. An overview of Bangladesh furniture industry. The Daily Star, Dhaka. http://www.thedailystar.net/an- overview-of-bangladesh-furniture-industry-6612 Rahman, M.M., Rahman, M.M., and Islam, K.S. 2010. The causes of deterioration of Sundarbans mangrove forest ecosystem of Bangladesh: conservation and sustainable management issues. AACL Bioflux 3(2): 77-90. Sarker, S.K., Deb, J.C., & Halim, M.A. 2011. A Diagnosis of Existing Logging Bans in Bangladesh. International Forestry Review. 13. 461-475. 10.1505/146554811798811344. Siddiqi, N.A. 2001. Mangrove forestry in Bangladesh. Univ. of Chittagong, Nibedan Press. Spalding, M., Kainuma, M., and Collins, L. 2010. World atlas of mangroves. Earthscan, London, UK. Thompson, I., Jashimuddin, M., Rahman, M. M., and Khan, S. I. 2017. Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Bangladesh. UN-REDD Bangladesh National Program, Bangladesh Forest Department, Technical Report. January 2017, Dhaka. Available at: http://www.bforest.gov.bd/site/page/5d40ef21-5f56-4933-af1d-5972252852f2/- Uddin, M.S., van Steveninck, E.R., Stuip, M., and Shah, M.A.R. 2013. Economic evaluation of provisioning and cultural services of a protected mangrove ecosystem: a case study on Sundarbans Reserve Forest, Bangladesh. Ecosystem Services 5: 88-93. UN-REDD Programme 2013. Guidelines on Free, Prior and Informed Consent. The UN-REDD Programme is the United Nations collaborative initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) in developing countries. Available at https://www.uncclearn.org/sites/default/files/inventory/un-redd05.pdf Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 73 ANNEX

ANNEX 1: POLICIES AND MEASURES — POLICIES AND MEASURES

ANNEX 1: POLICIES AND MEASURES STRATEGI C AREA 1 Reduce deforestation and forest degradation T HEM AT IC AREA 1 Promote supply of alternatives energy, energy efficient technologies and timber substitutes Promotion of clean cooking stoves & other devices to households, small businesses and PAM 1 institutions Objective To reduce pressure of fuelwood collection on natural forests Justification Fuelwood demand for cooking at households, small businesses, tea stall, restaurants, educational and law enforcing institutions with dormitories, etc. is the main driver of deforestation and forest degradation. Priority areas Hill areas of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar, Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachari Districts. Coastal areas of Noakhali, Patuakhali, Barguna, Bhola Districts Central Sal areas of Gazipur, Tangail, Mymensingh, Moulvi Bazar, Habiganj Districts Targets About 6,500,000 poor households and 10,000 hotels, restaurants, residential hostels/halls, orphanages, and barracks/mess Estimated Cost USD $102 million (unit cost of LPG = BDT 1,100 + 20% for operation, M&E and Communication) Benefits Reduced deforestation and forest degradation, increased carbon stock of natural forests, increased availability of NTFPs, improved health condition (smokes). Recommended Market-based approach that does not rely on subsidizing the cost of the stove, but rather approach for in building the capacity of promising entrepreneurs especially women and expanding their implementation production and distribution networks. Activities - Comprehensive programs and actions identified in Country Action Plan for Clean Cookstoves 2013 (SREDA), including: - Develop a series of financial instruments to increase affordability for consumers (by type i.e., individual, institutional (hostels, orphanage, barracks) and commercial (restaurants)) - Launch awareness campaign at different level especially targeting women at the grass root level (e.g. organisation of Energy Fair, trainings on using dry wood, using a weighted lid, controlling the air supply to the fire, etc.) - Build capacity of entrepreneurs especially women on how to improve quality of products, better understand consumer preferences and act on their feedback, attract investment, market their products; Strengthen after-sales services to consumers for various types of devices - Increased supply of clean cooking devices for households, small businesses and institutions with an emphasis on women households Indicator for - Percentage of households, institutions and commerce using clean cooking stoves and other reporting devices - Quantity of fuelwood saved annually per household/institution/commerce - Annual deforestation and forest degradation in targeted areas - Number of employment / incomes generated across the cookstove value chain Coordination The Household Energy Platform of SREDA and the REDD CELL of the Forest Department. Implementation Sustainable & Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA, clean cook program), IDCOL & partners, BCSIR, Bangladesh Energy Research Council, SME Foundation, PKSF, LPG supplier, Grameen Shakti, Briquet manufacturers, Bangladesh Bank’s SME Division and NGOs and Private Sectors. Timeline By 2030 76 PAM 2 Emergency supply of LPG cookers for forcibly displaced Myanmar citizen camp Objective To meet emergency needs for clean cooking stoves/devices to reduce pressure of fuelwood collection on natural forest Justification Sudden surge of fuelwood demand for camp people has led to an increase of deforestation and forest degradation, threatening the natural forests of Cox’s Bazar District Priority areas Forcibly displaced Myanmar citizens camp of Ukhia and Teknaf Upazila of Cox’s Bazar District. Targets All forcibly displaced Myanmar citizens households (209,225; as per UNHCR20 January data).Up to mid-2019, around 40% of camp households are using clean cooking stoves/ devices. Estimated Cost US$ 163 million up to year 4 (cost of 12 kg cylinder BDT 1100 + double burner BDT 3000 + Price of 12 kg LPG BDT 1050 + refill 12 nos per year for 4 year + 20% for operation, M&E and Communication). Benefits Reduction of fuelwood consumption by 0.41 million tons per year leading to reduced deforestation and forest degradation in Cox’s Bazar District. Recommended approach Proper training on use and safety to be carried out to ensure adoption of the LPG cooker for implementation devices; Activities - Emergency supply of LPG with cooking stoves for camp households - Training of camp households on the use/maintenance of LPG devices Indicator for reporting - Percentage of camp households using clean cooking devices - Quantity of fuelwood saved annually per household in the camps - Annual deforestation and forest degradation in Cox’s Bazar District Coordination Energy and Environment Technical Working Group of Cox’s Bazar District Implementation Energy and Environment Department of UNHCR, IUCN and humanitarian NGOs working in Cox’s Bazar District. Timeline By 2019 20 https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/myanmar_refugees Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 77 Sustainable supply of alternative fuel and environment friendly brick kiln PAM 3 technology including non-fired brick manufacturing for replacing traditional bricks kilns Objective To reduce pressure of fuelwood collection on natural forest Justification Almost all brickfields in rural areas use fuelwood. These are mostly situated near forested areas. The country produces over 8.66 billion bricks a year and the sector has grown at 5.3 per cent over the last decade. Priority areas Hill areas of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar, Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachari and Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Habiganj Districts Targets Total number of brickfields is 7,933 of which 4,520 are in forested Districts. Out of these, 1,252 needs to be replaced by 830 environment friendly technology (778 VSBK and 52 non-fired brick making technology). Estimated Cost Using VSBK (778 nos) & non-fired technology (52 nos) - US$ 226.71 million. Based on an assessment by ADB21 initial capital investment for one VSBK at present value is estimated to be BDT 240 Lakh and for non-fired brick kiln unit cost is 70 Lakh (medium sized units to produce 40,000 bricks per day and cost of land) leading to a cost of 226.71 million + 20% of operation, M&E and Communication cost comes to US$ 272.05 million. Benefits Reduction of fuelwood consumption leading to reduced deforestation and forest degradation Recommended approach Using VSBK technology - US$ 429 million. Based on an assessment by ADB initial capital for implementation investment for one VSBK at present value is estimated to be BDT 240 Lakh and for 1252 units to be US$357 million + 20% of operation, M&E and Communication cost comes to US$ 429 million. Activities - Promotion of coal in rural brickfields - Recognition of brick kilns as a formal industry (SMEs) to ease access to financial resources; - Promotion of new technologies (e.g., BSVK, Hybrid Hoffman Kilns, Zigzag, Hoffmann- gas, Tunnel Kiln) - Promotion of alternative non-fired brick (green brick, hollo concrete blocks) - Enforcement of Brick Manufacturing and Kiln Establishment (Control) Act, 2013 - Financial rebate for companies using green bricks Indicator for reporting - Number of brickfields using coal as primary fuel - Number of brickfields using improved kiln technology Coordination Department of Environment Implementation Bangladesh Brick Manufacturers Owners Association, DOE, Power Division, Bangladesh Bank’s SME Division, BUET, BCSIR, Housing and Building Research Institute, IDCOL, Industrial and Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IIDFC), Ministry of Industry Timeline By 2030 all 830 brickfields in forested districts have improved practices (improved technologies, green bricks). 21 https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/linked-documents/45273-001-ban-efa.pdf 78 PAM 4 Sustainable supply of alternative fuel for tobacco curing Objective To reduce pressure of fuelwood collection on natural forest Justification Wood is the main fuel for tobacco leaves curing. Tobacco plantation are spreading in the hill areas of Chattagram and in the Hill Districts and will impact on natural forests and homestead vegetation if alternative are not promoted. There are about 5,000 tobacco barns in the Chattagram Division. The total fuelwood consumed per year is around 35,000 tones. Efficiency of briquettes is 6 times more than traditional fuel22. It is therefore estimated that about 200 briquette production units will be necessary to supply required fuel. Priority areas In Hill areas of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar, Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachari Targets 200 briquette units to supply required fuel to 5,000 barns Estimated Cost US$ 1.5 million Benefits Reduction of fuelwood consumption by 7,000 tons per year for tobacco barn leading to reduced deforestation and forest degradation Recommended approach Market based approach for briquette production and capacity building of promising for implementation entrepreneurs especially women to expand their production and distribution networks. Activities - Promotion of alternativee to fuelwood such asdhaincha stick, sugarcane bagasse, tobacoo stalk, tobacoo by-product briquettee, maize stalk, etc. - Support entrepreneurship especially women development for production of briquette through financial incentives (easy loan, incentives) and training - Promotion of alternative cash crop to tobacco growers Indicator for reporting Number of tobacco barns using alternative fuelwood source Coordination The REDD CELL of the Forest Department in coordination with Tobacco manufacturers. Implementation Tobacco Industries (BATB, United Dhaka Tobacco, Nasir, Abul Khair, Aziz Uddin, Akiz Biri company), DAE, MOCHTA, FD Timeline 2025 22 http://www.fao.org/3/a-bp845e.pdf Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 79 Increase the use of processed timber, laminated wood, cane, bamboo and rattan PAM 5 products Objective Increase the use of processed timber and laminated wood to decrease the demand for solid wood. Justification The reduced market demand for solid timber will reduce illegal tree felling and will have a positive impact on conservation of timber trees and therefore reducing forest degradation. Priority areas Furniture and wood products sector in Bangladesh Targets Policy makers and wood and furniture sector Estimated Cost US$1.5 million Benefits Reduced used of solid wood and reduction of forest degradation Recommended approach Creating policy environment that promotes sectoral growth. Import duties on processed for implementation wood is quite high (92.30%) as opposed to the duty on solid wood (10.72%). Less import duties would support the sector, contributing to increased exports, more jobs and reducing pressure on solid wood demand. Activities - Identification of wood species to be used to produce laminated products - Promotion of laminated wood products, cane, bamboo and rattan furniture - Update/adopt Policy for small and medium enterprises for (i) better access to formal financing in the sector and (ii) for promoting the use of processed and laminated wood - Skill development training for furniture manufacturer Indicator for reporting - Number of processed wood manufacturer - Number of training provided to laborer engaged in the sector Coordination REDD CELL, BFIDC, Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Furniture Manufacturing Association Implementation BFIDC, MOEFCC, BFRI, Khulna University, Furniture Manufacturing Association, Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Ministry of Finance Timeline 2025 80 T HEM AT IC AREA 2 Increase fuelwood supply in forested Districts Establish structures (nurseries & tissue culture facilities) for increasing fuelwood PAM 6 seedlings stock Objective To ensure sustainable supply of high-quality seedlings of fuelwood species in forested Districts Justification To increase availability and quality (i.e., fast growing, high calorific value) of fuelwood seedlings and therefore reducing deforestation and forest degradation and dependency on seed sources. Priority areas Hill areas of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar, Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachari and Moulvi Bazar, Sylhet, Habiganj Districts Coastal areas of Noakhali, Patuakhali, Barguna, Bhola Districts Central Sal areas of Gazipur, Tangail, Mymensingh Districts Targets Forest Nurseries & Training Centers (under the Forest Department) of 144 Upazilas - Mymensingh (13), Gazipur (5), Tangail (12), Noakhali (9), Patuakhali (8), Barguna (6), Bhola (7), Chittagong (22), Cox’s Bazaar (8), Bandarban (7), Rangamati (10), Khagrachari (8); Moulvi Bazar (7), Sylhet (13), Habiganj (9). About 7 laboratories of universities and research institutions Estimated Cost US$2 million (BDT 700,000 per nursey and BDT 5,000,000 per laboratory) Benefits - Increased availability of fuelwood seedlings in forested Districts - Increased quality of planting materials and higher production of fuelwood species. - Reduced dependency on fuelwood from natural forests Recommended approach Careful selection of species and capacity building support to produce planting stock of for implementation high-quality standards, of a wide variety of local fuelwood and multipurpose species favored by the population. Activities - Assessment of the demand and quantity (capacities of Forest Nursery & Training Center to meet the demand) fuelwood in the forested Districts - Improvement of infrastructure and (i.e., internal passage, water facilities, boundary wall, nursery bed) and capacity (trainings) of existing Forest Nursery & Training Center - Free distribution fuelwood seedlings from FENTCs to individuals and institutions - Identification of mother /elite tree for tissue culture and establishment of nurseries - Field trials and production of quality planting materials - Development of protocol for mass propagation of identified fuelwood species Indicator - Number of Forest Nursery & Training Center with improved infrastructure and capacity - Number of species identified and propagated successfully - Number of newly grown fuelwood seedling per District - Number of fuelwood seedlings distributed Coordination Forest Department, Social Forestry Circle (FENTCs), REDD Cell, BFRI and all research organizations Implementation FD, Forest Nursery & Training Center, BFRI, Botanical Garden, University Botany Depts of Dhaka, CTG and Rajshahi, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, BCSIR Timeline 2025 Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 81 Establish fuelwood plantation on marginal land under the social forestry PAM 7 programme Objective To increase availability of fuelwood near forested areas Justification The development of alternative fuelwood sources outside natural forest (marginal lands) will reduce deforestation and forest degradation. Priority areas In Hill areas of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar, Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachari and Moulvi Bazar, Sylhet, Habiganj Districts Coastal areas of Noakhali, Patuakhali, Barguna, Bhola Districts Central Sal areas of Gazipur, Tangail, Mymensingh Districts Targets Fuelwood species plantation on 10,000 km of stirp plantation Estimated Cost US$ 10 million for strip/embankment (BDT 134,803 per km + 20% for operation, M&E and communication) Benefits - Increased availability of fuelwood near natural forests - Reduced pressure on forests for fuelwood collection - Enhanced livelihoods of beneficiary households from sale proceeds. Recommended approach Through awareness raising and following social forestry approach that provides benefits for implementation to poor households. Fifty percent of the beneficiaries must be women. Activities - Identification of marginal lands (strip, road, embankment, railway line, etc.) available for fuelwood species plantation - Identification of beneficiaries (poor women headed households) and establishment of fuelwood plantations following the social forestry rules (with funds from the Tree Farming Fund) - Management / harvesting of fuelwood plantations, and benefits sharing from sales proceeds Indicator for reporting - Number of fuelwood trees planted on marginal lands - Quantity of fuelwood produced on marginal lands - Number of beneficiaries (gender segregated) - Total revenue and revenue per household Coordination REDD CELL, FD, CMOs Implementation FD, NGOs, and various projects, BAT, LGED, Roads and Highways, Water Development Board, Educational Institutions, Factory, Industries, BEZA, PKSF Timeline 2030 82 PAM 8 Promotion of integrated homestead forestry models Objective To increase fuelwood supply at the household level Justification The development of integrated forestry models (incl. alternative fuelwood sources) at the homestead level will reduce deforestation and forest degradation. Priority areas In Hill areas of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar, Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachari Districts Coastal areas of Noakhali, Patuakhali, Barguna, Bhola Districts Central Sal areas of Gazipur, Tangail, Mymensingh, Moulvi Bazar, Sylhet, Habiganj Districts Targets At least 700,000 extreme poor households (focus on women) are supported to increase fuelwood supply at the homestead level. Estimated Cost USD 50 million (BDT 6,000 per households) Benefits - Increased fuelwood supply near natural forests - Reduced pressure on forests for fuelwood collection - Improved livelihood of poor households Recommended approach Promotion of economically viable homestead forestry in and around small sized for implementation homesteads including fuelwood, timber and fruit trees, with an emphasis on species favored by the population. Fifty percent of the beneficiaries must be women. Activities - Identification of households living adjacent to natural forests - Design of integrated homestead forestry models, agro-forestry and other suitable models with various economic benefits (fruit, fuelwood, fodder, medicinal plants, etc.) - Promotion of selected models and training of households in collaboration with DAE and Forest Department - Implementation of selected models through incentive mechanisms (i.e. free supply of seedlings) Indicators - Number of households practicing improved homestead forestry - Number of fuelwood trees planted on homestead - Quantity of fuelwood produced on marginal lands - Revenue per household Coordination REDD Cell Implementation Projects of various government institutions, FD, DAE, PKSF, MOCHTA Timeline 2025 Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 83 THEMAT IC AREA 3 Improve livelihoods of forest dependent communities PAM 9 Scale-up alternative income generating activity for forest dependent communities Objective To improve livelihood of forest dependent communities and reduce pressure on natural forests. Justification Communities living around forested areas are generally poor. A recent study (CREL project of the Forest Department, 201423) indicates an average yearly income per household in Sylhet, Khulna, Chattagram and CHT of BDT 76,941, BDT 44,730, BDT 81,000, BDT 65,852 respectively. These figures are even lower than the rural averages of these respective areas (HIES, 2010). Many government programmes and projects are targeting poverty reduction and improvement of livelihood of poor rural communities. Through enhanced coordination among government agencies, additional resources can be streamlined towards forested Districts and therefore enhance socio-economic impacts on forest dependent communities and achievement of sectoral targets. Priority areas In Hill areas of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar, Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachari Districts; Coastal areas of Noakhali, Patuakhali, Barguna, Bhola Districts Central Sal areas of Gazipur, Tangail, Mymensingh, Moulvi Bazar, Sylhet, Habiganj Districts Targets At least 500,000 poor households (with emphasis on CHT) are supported by AIGA, and 500,000 hhs through improved accessibility to government programmes such as the ‘Amar Bari Amar Khamar project’, the ‘One house one farm’ project, ‘Food for Work’, ‘Employment Generation Programme’, ‘Micro-credit for women’, ’Micro-credit through PKSF’, etc. Estimated Cost Financial support of about USD 322 million (BDT54,000 per household) Benefits - Improved livelihood conditions of poor communities - Reduced pressure on natural forest Recommended Selection of households dependent on forest resources for livelihood. Assess skills and/or approach for im- traditional knowledge for proper utilization of financial support. Facilitate access to social plementation safety net and livelihood programmes and where applicable, support women entrepreneurship development. Activities - Identification of priority households living adjacent to natural forests - Enhancement of inter-agency coordination at the central and local level. - Development of joint project / programmes among institutions. - Development of annual AIGA plan for selected Districts - Support to households in implementation of AIGAs - Develop value chain and market linkage of AIGA products Indicator for re- - Number of forest dependent households (gender segregated) supported through various socio- porting economic programmes (e.g. Amar Bari Amar Khamar). - Incomes generated through AIGA per household - Amount of fund leveraged through other institutions Coordination REDD CELL Implementation Projects of various government institutions, FD, DAE, PKSF, MOCHTA, LGRD, Amar Bari Amar Khamar project (Ektee Bari Ektee Khamar) Timeline 2030 23 CREL-BFD. 2014a. Study Report on Selection and Analysis of Value Chains (Final) For South East Region-Chittagong. Climate-Resilient Ecosystems and Livelihoods (CREL) Project of Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), implemented by WINROCK International, funded by USAID; CREL-BFD. 2014b. Study Report on Selection and Analysis of Value Chains (Final) For South West Region. Climate-Resilient Ecosystems and Livelihoods (CREL) Project of Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), implemented by WINROCK International, funded by USAID; CREL-BFD. 2014c. Study Report on Selection and Analysis of Value Chains (Final) For North East Region. Climate-Resilient Ecosystems and Livelihoods (CREL) Project of Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), implemented by WINROCK International, funded by USAID. 84 PAM 10 Collaborative and sustainable management of NTFPs Objective To increase sustainability of the supply and meet the demand of NTFPs in collaboration with communities. Justification Various NTFPs are harvested from forest areas resulting in forest degradation. The demand can be met by setting aside buffer areas for various products and through sustainable collaborative management of the resources. Better community engagement needs to be promoted to manage buffer areas. Such activity will also contribute to improve livelihoods of forest dependent communities. The 7th Five Year Plan explicitly mentioned engagement of communities in buffer areas for NTPFs production and management. Priority areas Hill areas of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar, Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachari and Moulvi Bazar, Sylhet, Habiganj Districts; Coastal areas of Noakhali, Patuakhali, Barguna, Bhola Districts; Central Sal areas of Gazipur, Tangail, Mymensingh Districts Targets Establishment of buffer NTFP plantation of 41,000 ha comprising of bamboo 5,000 ha, murta 3,000 ha; fuelwood 25,000 ha, medicinal plant 3,000 ha and cane 5,000 ha; Estimated Cost Total estimated cost USD 46.05 million. Buffer Unit cost Target ha Total cost Cost in + Operational, M&E & Plantation Types in Lakh Tk in Lakh Tk million USD Communication cost (20% of total cost) Bamboo 0.642 5,000 3209 3.82 4.58 Murta 0.750 3,000 2250 2.68 3.21 Fuelwood 0.750 25,000 18750 22.32 26.79 plantation Medicinal plants 1.084 3,000 3251.4 3.87 4.64 Cane 0.674 5,000 3371.5 4.01 4.82 Cost of training, LS 2.00 planning meetings etc 41,000 46.05 Benefits - Sustainable management of buffer areas (41,000 ha) - Sustainable NTFPs generation and harvesting Recommended approach The shared management of NTFP resources is business oriented. Economic benefits are for implementation generated, and employments are created. Activities - Consultation with communities on objectives, targets, benefits and risks, management, coordination and support needs; Identification of buffer areas/marginal lands suitable for NTFP production - Assessment of existing stock of NTFPs in the targeted areas and determination of sustainable harvest yields for each NTFP; Assessment of local demand; Consultation with Community Management Organizations (CMOs) to agree on NTFP management modalities and benefit sharing - Training of communities / beneficiaries on NTPF nursery raising, plantation management, harvesting, and marketing; Development and establishment of NTPF sites in collaboration with CMOs Indicators - Area of buffer zone under NTFPs co-management per District - Number of communities involved in co-management of NTFPs - Quantity of NTFPs produced - Sales revenue from NTFPs Coordination REDD CELL Implementation FD and CMCs, NGOs, various resource user groups Timeline 2025 Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 85 T HEM AT IC AREA 4 Resolve forest land tenure issues PAM 11 Modernization of forest land management system Objective To clarify forest land ownership and secure tenure rights of forest villagers to reduce illegal encroachment Justification Absence of document and conspicuous demarcation of forest lands and lengthy procedure of disposing up land related cases in the courts encourage unauthorized and illegal encroachment into forest lands. In addition, earlier when forest labor was in serious shortage in remote forest areas, BFD established “Forest Villages” in reserved forest areas, whereby each family was given land for homesteads and agriculture. Over the years, population increased and so is the area of villages. Inheritance of land ownership needs to be resolved and villages area need to be demarcated to reduce risks of encroachments; The 7th Five Year Master Plan recognizes that absence of forest land record documents is one of the challenges of the forestry sector. Priority areas 144 Upazilas in: Hill areas of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar (8), Bandarban (7), Rangamati (10), Khagrachari (8),Moulvi Bazar (7), Sylhet (13), Habiganj (9) Districts; Coastal areas of Noakhali (9), Patuakhali (8), Barguna (6), Bhola (7) Districts; Central Sal areas of Gazipur (5), Tangail (12), Mymensingh (13) Targets - 1,000,000 ha of forest land surveyed and demarcated - Encroached settlements in all priority areas; - forest villages in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Chattagram, Cox’s Bazaar, Sylhet Estimated Cost USD 20 million (costs includes map scanning, digitalization and rectification and cost of land survey. Benefits - Increased forest protection and reduced encroachment on public forest through land survey, boundaries demarcation and digital mapping - Secured rights of forest villagers Recommended approach Joint land survey (DRLS and BFD) in consultations with communities. Deputy for implementation Commissioners to resolve issues in an amicable way. At the minimum, tree cover should be maintained. Activities - Forest land survey and settlement in association with the Department of Land Record and Survey (DLRS), Boundary demarcation (incl. mapping); Digitization of boundary using GIS/RS technology - Prepare publicly accessible land tenure records & GIS/RS maps - Capacity Building of the FD - Survey and mapping of settlements within reserve forests - Identify people/families living inside forests; Involve forest villagers in collaborative forest management - Consultation with DC for availability of khas lands for resettlement and support voluntary resettlement Indicators - Area of forest land surveyed and mapped- Reduction in the number of land disputes - Reduction in forest land encroachment - Number of maps prepared - Number of people trained - Mapping of forest villages completed; Number of forest villager resettled in khas land - Area of forests regained from illegal occupancy Coordination National REDD+ Steering Committee, REDD CELL, Ministry of Land (DLRS), Forest Department, DC Implementation MOEFCC, Ministry of Land, DLRS, FD, DCs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Law Timeline 2030 86 PAM 12 Resolution of forest land related cases Objective To reduce the number of conflicts related to forest land and improve forest land management Justification There are about 2,900 forest land related cases and 232 land related writ petitions (up to March 2019). Unless, coordinated actions are taken to resolve these cases, forest management activities cannot be implemented on these areas. Priority areas 144 Upazilas in: Hill areas of Chittagong (22), Cox’s Bazaar (8), Bandarban (7), Rangamati (10), Khagrachari (8),Moulvi Bazar (7), Sylhet (13), Habiganj (9) Districts Coastal areas of Noakhali (9), Patuakhali (8), Barguna (6), Bhola (7) Districts Central Sal areas of Gazipur (5), Tangail (12), Mymensingh (13) Districts Targets - 2,900 forest land (rights) related cases are resolved - 232 forest land (rights) related writ petitions are resolved Estimated Cost USD 9 million (BDT 240,000 per case) Benefits - Reduced number of conflicts on forest lands - Clarified forest land tenure allowing for forest management activities Recommended approach Advocacy at the higher level to solve forest land related cases. Formation of special for implementation committees, coordination with the Ministry of land and the Ministry of law. Activities - Advocacy at the higher level to speed up settlement of forest cases and/or form special legal committee on forest land (Ministry of Land, Ministry of Law, Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change, retired Judge) - Assess forest land related cases and regroup by categories (i.e., encroachment; error in boundary or parcel of land; error in Modified Record of Rights (MRR) and Revisional Survey (RS); - Take legal action to solve the cases (and start resettlement with support from DCs and law enforcing agencies. - Carry out joint survey of boundary or contested parcel of land area involving DLRS - Take legal actions for cases originated due to error in MRR and RS - Capacity building on land law and case management and create a pool of experts Indicators - Number of cases resolved per year - Area of forest land reclaimed - Number of officials with increased capacity to handle land related cases Coordination National REDD+ Steering Committee Implementation MOEFCC, Ministry of Land, DLRS, FD, DCs, Ministry of Law Timeline 2025 Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 87 PAM 13 Improved forest land management system Objective To improve forest land management through accelerating reservation of forest lands and improving the coastal forests land development and transfer mechanism Justification To date, reservation of about 486,750 ha of forest is incomplete i.e., have not been declared under section 4 and 6 of the Forest Act 1927. Unless, coordinated actions are taken to accelerate the reservation process, forest management activities cannot be implemented on these areas. Existing mechanism for coastal forests land development and transfer of newly accreted lands favors deforestation and forest degradation. Improved coordination and joint assessment are necessary before transferring the land ownership from the FD to the Ministry of Land (MOL - Deputy Commissionaire). The Chittagong Hill Tracks Forest Transit Rules 1973 also needs to be reviewed and approved to reduce forest degradation. Priority areas Across all Districts of the Hill, Sal and Coastal zones Targets - 486,750 ha of reservation are completed - The costal forest land development and transfer mechanism is improved Estimated Cost USD 7 million Benefits - Improved forest land tenure security - Increased forest protection and reduced encroachment on forest lands Recommended approach Advocacy at the higher level to support forest reservation processes. Formation of for implementation special committees, coordination with the Ministry of land and the Ministry of law. Activities - Establish a coordination mechanism with Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and appoint Deputy Secretaries (DSs) as Forest Settlement Officer (FSO) under DCs for the land reservation process - Create a Land Cell in the Forest Department for regular monitoring - Carry out land reservation steps as per the regulations - Issue gazette notifications for newly reserved land - For coastal land, develop a land transfer suitability assessment mechanism and protocol in association with MOL, FD and DOE (piloting and sharing among key stakeholders for review and adoption) - Replace existing Government Order by the new coastal land transfer protocol - PLR review and revision of the Transit Rules for CHT Indicators - Area of forest land reserved per year - Area of land reclaimed per year - Updated coastal land transfer protocol - Revised Transit Rules for CHT Coordination National REDD+ Steering Committee, REDD Cell Implementation MOEFCC, Ministry of Land, DLRS, FD, DCs, Ministry of Law, DOE Timeline 2025 88 T HEM AT IC AREA 5 Improve institutional capacity PAM 14 Increase capacity of the BFD through recruitment and targeted trainings Objective To strengthened institutional, operational and technical capacity of the FD and improve forest management Justification Over 50% of the senior positions in the BFD are vacant. With large-scale retirements taking place in the next 2/3 years there won’t be enough trained professionals to carry out the job. Priority areas Nation-wide Targets 2,386 officials recruited immediately under the existing organogram; 7,676 officials recruited periodically under the proposed organogram (17,800) Skills development training program are organized for 5,275 officials; 50 officials for long term training (MS) and 225 for short term training Estimated Cost US$ 5 million (training costs) Benefits Increased capacity to manage forest resources and thereby reducing deforestation, forest degradation and enhancing forest carbon stock. Recommended approach Advocacy and sensitizing key policy makers. Development and implementation of skills for implementation development training programmes. Adequate budgetary allocation. Activities - Assessment of workload and foreseen needs to formulate a 10-year recruitment plan - Facilitate recruitment of staff and officers - Carry out a Capacity Needs Assessment and formulate a skills development training program - Implement the skills development training program; - Assessment of equipment and logistics (vehicle, boat, trawler, arms, GPS, computer, internet, etc.) needs at the field level. Indicators - Proposed organogram approved by the government - Percentage of position vacant by grade of officials - Number of officials trained by subject Coordination REDD Cell, Public Service Commission, Ministry of Establishment Implementation Forest Department Timeline 2025 Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 89 STRATEGI C AREA 2 Enhance Forest Carbon Stock T HEM AT IC AREA 6 Reforest/afforest, restore and conserve PAM 15 Reforestation of deforested lands and afforestation of newly accreted coastal lands Objective To increase forest cover of deforested and newly accreted lands Justification Bringing up the forest cover to 16% corresponds to the afforestation/reforestation of 637,259 ha of forest lands. Afforestation/reforestation often lack quality seedlings, decreasing impacts of such activities. The priority given to the Hill and Coastal zones for afforestation/reforestation activities. The Hill zone alone represents 81.94% of reforestation potential in the country (needed to reach 16% of forest cover) Priority areas Hill areas of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar, Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachari and Moulvi Bazar, Sylhet, Habiganj Districts Coastal areas of Noakhali, Patuakhali, Barguna, Bhola Districts Central Sal areas of Gazipur, Tangail, Mymensingh Districts Village zone Targets Hill - 522,158 ha; Coastal - 111,715 ha; Sal - 2,080 ha; Village zone - 1,306 ha; Total - 637,259 ha Estimated Cost USD 1,179 million; BFI Zones Area in ha Plantation Total Costs Total Costs + Operational, M&E & cost per ha in million in million Communication cost in BDT BDT USD (20% of total cost) Hill 522,158 147,483 770,09.36 916.78 1100.13 Coastal 111,715 45,535 50,86.93 60.56 72.67 Sal 2,080 103,204 2,14.71 2.56 3.07 Sundarban 0 0 0 0 0 Village 1,306 147,483 1,92.58 2.29 2.75 Total 637,259 825,03.59 982.19 1178.62 Benefits Increased forest carbon stock Recommended Support community ownership and shared responsibility through community participation and approach for engagement in every steps of afforestation / reforestation programmes and benefit sharing. implementation Activities - Consultation with communities on project objectives, targets, benefits and risk, management, coordination and support needs. - Land identification for reforestation and afforestation (for coastal area) in collaboration with communities. - Literature review of past management plans for identification of area specific species at different stratum of forest; - Literature review of silviculture characteristics of listed species (such as fruit/seed bearing within 7-10 years, fruits favored by wildlife, light weight seeds for wind dispersal, rapid growth characteristics, ability to grow in light or in shade etc.) and shortlisting of a group of desired trees - Identification, selection and marking of mother trees of identified trees and seed collection, sorting and storage with support from communities; - Development of nursery for identified species and germination of seedlings; - Afforestation/reforestation in collaboration with communities. Indicators Area afforested/reforested by BFI zone Coordination REDD CELL Implementation FD and CMCs (for protected areas); For hill: Regional & District Council, MOCHTA, Universities, BFRI Timeline 2030 90 PAM 16 Enrichment plantation of degraded forest land Objective To increase the forest carbon stock of degraded forests Justification A total of 173,671 ha of degraded forest area need to be restored through enrichment plantation (gap filling). Plantations often lack quality seedlings, decreasing impacts of such activities. The priority given to the Hill for restoration activities. The Hill zone alone represents 84.19% of the overall targets for enrichment plantation of degraded forests. Priority areas Hill areas of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar, Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachari and Moulvi Bazar, Sylhet, Habiganj Districts Coastal areas of Noakhali, Patuakhali, Barguna, Bhola Districts Central Sal areas of Gazipur, Tangail, Mymensingh; Village zone. Targets Hill - 146,210 ha; Coastal - 2,902 ha; Sal - 22,457 ha; Sundarban – 172 ha; Village - 1,929 ha; Total 173,671 ha; Estimated Cost USD 253 million BFI Zones Area in ha Plantation Total costs Total Costs + Operation, M&E & cost per ha in million in million Communication cost in BDT BDT USD (BDT (20% of total cost) in 84 = $1) million USD Hill 146,210 103,204 15089.45 179.64 215.56 Coastal 2,902 33,206 96.38 1.15 1.38 Sal 22,457 103,204 2317.64 27.59 33.11 Sundarban 172 45,535 7.85 0.09 0.11* Village 1,929 103,204 199.07 2.37 2.84 Total 173,671 253.01 * - enrichment plantation cost is not necessary in Sudnarbans; mere protection will rejuvenate the area. Benefits Increased forest carbon stock Recommended approach Support community ownership and shared responsibility through community for implementation consultation, collaboration and engagement in restoration / enrichment programmes and benefit sharing. Activities - Consultation with communities on project objectives, targets, benefits and risk, management, coordination and support needs; - GIS assessment of degradation (tree) cover classes (10-20%; 20-30%; 30-40%; 40-50%; 50-60%; 60%+) by zone by area (ha); - Assessment of seedling requirement by cover classes; - Land demarcation for enrichment plantation in collaboration with communities; - Identification of local species for enrichment by cover classes; - Development of nursery for identified species and germination of seedlings; - Plantation at targeted sites in collaboration with communities. Indicators Area restored by zone Coordination REDD CELL Implementation FD and CMCs (for protected areas); For hill: Regional & District Council, MOCHTA, Universities, BFRI Timeline 2030 Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 91 PAM 17 Conservation of existing forests Objective To protect existing natural forest and plantations Justification Out of 1,269,070 ha of natural forests, 323,047 ha require conservation and protection measures through community engagement to avoid deforestation and forest degradation and increase the forest carbon stock through natural regeneration. The Hill zone represents 52.14% of the overall target for protection and conservation. Priority areas Hill areas of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar, Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachari and Moulvi Bazar, Sylhet, Habiganj Districts Coastal areas of Noakhali, Patuakhali, Barguna, Bhola Districts Central Sal areas of Gazipur, Tangail, Mymensingh Districts Village zone Targets Zone Deforestation Degradation Total Hill 134,447 146,210 280,657 Coastal 11,715 2,902 14,617 Sal 2,080 22,457 24,537 Villa 1,306 1,929 3,235 Sum 149,548 173,498 323,047 Estimated Cost USD 202 million; cost includes community patrolling by 6461 patrollers covering 323,047 ha for 15 years with BDT 500/day with 5% increment per year ($ 198 m) + cost of cyber tracker & GPS for patrollers $3.85 + cost of computers for 65 nos units (5000 ha = 1 unit) $ 0.04 million = $ 202 million. Benefits Increased forest carbon stock Recommended approach Support community ownership and shared responsibility through protection, for implementation management and benefit sharing with communities. Activities - Consultation with communities on project objectives, targets, benefits and risk, management, coordination and support needs; - Formation of co-management bodies, community patrol groups, etc.; - Training of the BFD and communities in SMART patrolling; - Protection of targeted sites in joint collaboration with communities. Indicators - Area under co-management by zone Coordination REDD CELL Implementation FD and CMCs (for protected areas); For hill: Regional & District Council, MOCHTA, Universities, BFRI Timeline 2030 92 T ECHN I CAL ASSISTANCE P R OJ ECT- 1 Project -1 Integrated REDD+ sub-national implementation plan for the Hill Region Objective To develop a sub-national REDD+ implementation plan to increase the transparency, local ownership, and social and environmental sustainability of REDD+ in the Hill Region. Justification Hill zone covers 60% of the National REDD+ Strategy targets. Formulation of a sub- national implementation plan involving local stakeholders (the three Hill districts are different in terms of stakeholders, political situation and socio-economy) is necessary for a successful implementation. Priority areas Hill areas of Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachari, Chittagong & Cox’s Bazaar Districts Targets - Detailed plan for 1,330,070 ha of land, incl. reforestation (522,158 ha), enrichment plantation (146,210 ha), conservation and protection (661,703 ha); - Detailed tree resource development plan for 2,000 km of strip plantation for fuelwood supply; - Detailed plan and identification of beneficiaries of ‘household ICS’ (2,000,000); ‘commercial ICS’ (5,000); AIGA and other livelihood support (300,000); improved homestead forestry (300,000); - Detailed plan for 3,000 ha of bamboo, 1,800 ha of murta, 10,000 ha of fuelwood, 1,800 ha of medicinal plants and 3,000 ha of cane Estimated Cost USD 1 million Benefits REDD+ is mainstreamed into sub-regional planning Activities - Consultation with stakeholders on project objectives, targets, benefits and risks, management, coordination and support needs. - Formation of teams (local and national stakeholders) for different Districts of the Hill zone - Identify data needs / availability for detailed district level planning - Collect data by districts, carry out spatial and participatory planning sessions by districts, carry out field visits for field verification, carry out district level validation - Develop activity plans and implementation arrangements and modalities (role of stakeholders from regional, districts to Union level) for each intervention - Aggregate into regional level plan (sub-national REDD+ implementation plan) and organize validation for adjustment of targets across districts Indicators - Sub-national REDD+ implementation plan for the Hill Region approved by stakeholders Coordination REDD CELL and National REDD+ Steering Committee Implementation FD, MOCHTA, Regional & District Councils. Timeline 2020 Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 93 T ECHN I CAL ASSISTANCE P R OJ ECT- 2 Development of the national Safeguards approach and the Safeguard Information TA Project -2 System (SIS) Objective To clarify how the REDD+ safeguards are understood in the national context, and how they will be addressed and respected during implementation of the National REDD+ Strategy Justification REDD+ Readiness support received by Bangladesh did not include technical assistance on safeguards. An initial study on Environmental Safeguard and Information System has been completed and social safeguards have been partially analysed under the studies on (i) land tenure and (ii) gender. Similarly, preliminary evaluation of environmental and social risks of the REDD+ PAMs have been evaluated. Further actions are needed to (i) assess benefits & risks of REDD+ PAMs, (ii) identify, assess & strengthen safeguards-related policies, laws & regulations (PLRs) and institutional capacity to implement PLRs and (iii) identify, assess & strengthen systems and sources of information to develop Bangladesh Safeguards Information System (SIS) and prepare the first Summary of Information (SOI). Priority areas Nation-wide Targets REDD+ coordinating institutions Estimated Cost USD 1 million Benefits UNFCCC safeguards requirements are met Activities - Determine the goals and scope of Bangladesh’s safeguards approach - Assess potential social, environmental and other benefits and risks of proposed REDD+ PAMs comprising the National REDD+ Strategy - Review PLRs, together with their implementation in practice, and clarify safeguards in Bangladesh context - Develop a SIS (scoping of institutional capacities, assessment of existing information systems & sources, SIS design and operationalisation) - Finalize a country safeguards approach document - Prepare the first SOI - Approval by the National REDD+ Steering Committee Indicators - National safeguards approach endorsed - Safeguard Information system developed and operational - Summary of information prepared Coordination REDD Cell Implementation Forest Department Timeline 2022 94

ANNEX 2: SUMMARY OF CONSULTATIONS FOR DEVELOPING — SUMMARY OF CONSULTATIONS FOR DEVELOPING

ANNEX 2: SUMMARY OF CONSULTATIONS FOR DEVELOPING THE BNRS DRIVERS OF DEFORESTATION AND FOREST DEGRADATION The study on the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in Bangladesh (Thompson et al 2017) was conducted through a literature review of thirty five papers on deforestation and/or forest degradation, and a series of nine District level workshops covering the four main forested areas of the country and three national workshops – one for validating the methodology, one to share primary data and one to present and validate final result. At the District level workshops, data were collected based on a questionnaire for participants (396 in total), open discussions (150), a series of interviews with key resource persons (28), and through focus group discussions (16) with local forest user groups (430) in each area. The questionnaire and open discussions allowed people to express individual and group opinions on the main drivers of forest change. A total of 169 participants attended the three national levelworkshops. In summary, a total of 1,145 people were consulted (953 male and 192 female) to identify and prioritize drivers of deforestation and forest degrdation in Bangladesh. Subsequent to the drivers study, a study on land tenure and governance was carried out, where a total of 6 meetings/focus group discussions were carried with 389 participants (322 male and 67 female). Study on the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in Bangladesh: Consultation Process Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 95 REDD+ POLICIES AND MEASURES REDD+ PAMs were developed through eight consultations at the District level, one validation workshop at the national level and two focus group discussions dedicated for women. Stakeholders consulted included officials of the BFD and relevant GoB technical agencies and administrative units at the local level, senior representatives of the established conservation NGOs, civil society and activists, representatives of indigenous communities, representatives from the academia, representatives from the grassroots level conservation stewards and development partners. In total 646 individuals were consulted (514 male and 132 female). Indentification of REDD+ PAMs: Consultation Process BANGLADESH NATIONAL REDD+ STRATEGY Following the identification and selection of the REDD+ PAMs, the identification of REDD+ management structure and PAMs implementation and coordination institutions, and after aligning targets to the FRL, a draft BNRS was developed building on the different technical studies implemented during the readiness phase. A draft was shared with stakeholders for inputs/ comments and national workshop was eventually held for its finalization and final endorsement. Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy: Consultation Process 96 NATIONAL FOREST MONITORING SYSTEM Eleven national entities were involved in different steps of the NFMS development process (figure 1). Bi-monthly MRV Working Group meeting was conducted for guidance and knowledge sharing in the development process. SLMS Development: Consultation Process FOREST REFERENCE LEVEL The Bangladesh Forest Department constituted a FRL working group for supporting the FRL development and GHG inventory for the forestry sector. Technical experts of the FRL working group and other national forestry sector stakeholders worked together for the development of FRL. MRV working group members provided suggestions and guidance throughout the FRL development process. The process of constructing the FRL was a valuable “learning-by-doing” opportunity for the technical experts of BFD and other stakeholder organizations. Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 97

ANNEX 3: EMISSION REDUCTION POTENTIAL CALCULATION — EMISSION REDUCTION POTENTIAL CALCULATION

ANNEX 3: EMISSION REDUCTION POTENTIAL CALCULATION AND ASSUMPTIONS Policies and Measures Targets Calculations Emission Assumptions Reduction in million ton CO2 eq Strategic Area 1 - Reduce deforestation and forest degradation Thematic area 1 - Promote supply of alternatives energy, energy efficient technologies and timber substitutes PAM 1 - Promotion of clean 6,500,000 BAU = 0mtCO2 61.67 Per household (of 5 members) savings of 1186 cooking stoves & other devices hhs & 10,000 Emission from kg of CO2 for LPG use per year. This figure has to households, small businesses businesses LPG = 61.67 been used to calculate emission reduction for and institutions mtCO2 targeted HHs; BAU emission from LPG is = 0 as no information is available; LPG installation under strategy 433,333 per year. Targeted HHs to be brought under CCS by 15 years. PAM 2 - Emergency supply of 209,000 hhs BAU = 0 mtCO2 2.11 As above; Targeted HHs to be brought under clean cooking & other devices Emission ER CCS by 4 years. UNHCR supplying LPG; per to Forcibly displaced Myanmar from LPG = household savings of 1186 kg of CO2 for LPG citizens camp 2.11 mtCO2 use per year24. Although target be achieved by 4 year. PAM 3 - Environment friendly 830 brickfields BAU emission 31.79 830 Brick Kiln will be required to supply bricks technology for replacing – 0 mtCO2 produced by existing 1,252 brick kilns. Out of traditional bricks kilns Reduced 830, 778 is VSBK and 52 are non-fired brick kiln. emission = As per data, 5000 brick fields emits 8.75 mt CO2 30.89 mtCO2 therefore 1 brickfield emits 0.00175 mt CO2. VSBK reduces roughly 70% less than traditional (FCK) ones25. PAM 4 – Sustainable supply 200 briquette BAU emission 0.08 One barn utilizes 7 tons of fuelwood per year26; of alternative fuel for tobacco making units – 0 mtCO2 1kg wood = 1.8 kg CO2; The conversion factor to curing Reduced calculate the briquette consumption equivalent emission = is 6.11 kg of fuelwood = compared to the energy 0.08 mtCO2 of 1 kg of briquette27. Sub-total 15.36 Thematic area 2 - Increase fuelwood supply in forested Districts PAM 7 - Establish fuelwood 10,000 km (4,000 BAU 0.38 Assuming strip plantation in BAU and under plantation on marginal land ha) sequestration REDD+ is 200 km per year and 400 km per year under the social forestry – 0.127 mtCO2 respectively; per hectare growth rate used programme Increased 7 X 0.47 tC/ha/yr based on IPCC table 4.9 for sequestration Tropical rain forest continental Asia <20y; = 0.507 mtCO2 PAM 8 - Promotion of integrated 700,000 hhs BAU 4.25 Per ha carbon is 431.68 ton; HH size is 0.05 homestead forestry models sequestration ha; assumes targeted HHs have minimal / – 0.44 mtCO2 negligible carbon stock. Increased sequestration = 4.69 mtCO2 Sub-total 4.64 24 https://www.wlpga.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/substituting-lp-gas-for-wood-carbon-and-deforestation-impacts1.pdf 25 http://centers.iub.edu.bd/chpd/Pres_Sem_Ijaz%20Hossain_Aprl%2017-08.pdf 26 Based on information from British American Tobacco Bangladesh 27 http://www.fao.org/3/a-bp845e.pdf 98 Policies and Measures Targets Calculations Emission Assumptions Reduction in million ton CO2 eq Thematic area 3 - Improve livelihoods of forest dependent communities PAM 10 - Collaborative and 41,000 ha BAU 4.82 Targeted lands are deforested therefore carbon sustainable management of (bamboo 5000; sequestration stock is nil; per ha carbon in Bamboo plantation is NTFPs fuelwood 25000; – 0.67 mtCO2 122.72t; fuelwood – 121.81t; for medicinal, murta medicinal 3000; Increased and cane plantation, per ha carbon of orchard murta 3000 and sequestration and other plantation (shrub) – 60.53 t has been cane 5000) = 5.50 mtCO2 used. Values are from NFI inventory. Sub-total 4.82 Thematic area 4 - Resolve forest land tenure issues PAM 11 - To clarify forest land 14,038 ha BAU emission – 4.44 2.05 14,038 ha deforested to various other land uses ownership and secure tenure mtCO2 between 2000-2015; Assuming this amount of rights of forest villagers to Avoided emission = 6.48 land will be stopped from encroached upon in reduce illegal encroachment mtCO2 next 15 years. Per ha carbon value of all forest zone are used for calculation, multiplied by 3.67 for conversion into equivalent CO2. Sub-total 2.05* *To avoid double counting (under PAM-17), this figure is only shown but not used in total ER calculation. Strategic Area 2 – Enhance forest carbon stock Thematic area 6 – Reforest/Afforest, restore and conserve PAM 15 – Reforestation 637,259 ha (hill BAU 62.65 All per ha Carbon value for each BFI zone of deforested lands and 522,158; coastal sequestration – obtained from NFI survey. Factor for equivalent afforestation of newly accreted 111,715; sal 2080; 10.48 mtCO2 CO2 – 3.67; all figures transformed into million coastal lands village 1306) Increased tons. sequestration = 73.13 mtCO2 PAM 16 – Enrichment plantation 173,498 ha (hill: BAU 15.42 Assuming 50% of per ha carbon for degraded of degraded forest land 146,210; coastal sequestration – sites already existing; therefore only remaining 2902; Sal: 22,457; 5.51 mtCO2 can be enriched; All per ha Carbon value for each village 1,929) Increased BFI zone obtained from NFI survey. sequestration = 20.94 mtCO2 PAM 17 – Conservation of 1,269,070 BAU C 57.71 Only areas avoided deforestation and forest existing forests (avoided ha (Avoided Stock loss – degradation under BAU scenario has been deforestation, forest deforestation 146.31mtCO2 taken into calculation (i.e., 309,602 ha). degradation and forest and forest REDD+ Assuming 50% of per ha carbon for degraded remaining as forest) degradation emission = sites already existing; therefore only remaining 309,602; forests 88.60 mtCO2 can be avoided; remaining forests 959,468) Sub-total 135.79 Grand total 240.90 Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy | 99

Bangladesh National REDD+ Strategy (2016-2030)

عن هذا القانون

أين تقرؤه

النص