Stakeholders' Perception on Conservation Outcomes of Forest Protected Area Co-management in Bangladesh

Co-management of forest protected areas (PA) in Bangladesh was initiated in 2004 with the aim of involving forest-dependent people in the PA governance for the conservation of forest resources. This study was conducted in two deliberately selected PA (Lawachara national park and Teknaf wildlife sanctuary) to understand stakeholders' (co-management participants, forest officials, and non-participants of co-management) perception toward conservation outcomes. We interviewed 105 respondents using a pre-tested structured questionnaire, applied generalized logistic regression to model their perception of forest conservation outcomes, and did a content analysis of related literature. Forest officials and non-participants were less likely to perceive that co-management had brought something better for PA in terms of the existence of native tree species (odds ratio (OR) = 0.87), wildlife population (OR = 0.67), and agricultural activities (OR = 0.85) inside the PA, which are in conformity with related published literature. However, co-management participants were found positive (ORs are 1.59, 1.24, and 0.97, respectively) for the above conservation outcomes. The findings of this study would be useful for the Bangladesh forest department to identify the divergent perception of stakeholders and find ways toward better conservation outcomes.