BANGLADESH COUNTRY PROFILES

FAO Forestry Report

Resources Forest cover Vegetation

	Natural Woody Vegetation Description

	Closed Forests

Broadleaved

Nearly all remaining forests belong to this category. The following types are distinguished:

Evergreen and semi-evergreen forests

These forests are located in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Chittagong and Sylhet districts of the Chittagong division). They are also referred to as "hill forests". They are closed multistoreyed high forests with trees of diameters up 1.5 m and heights varying from 30 to 60 m. The species considered to be merchantable are garjan (Dipterocarpus spp.), civit (Swintonia floribunda), chundul (Tetrameles nudiflora), narikeli (Sterculia alata), boilam (Anisoptera glabra), tilsul (Hopea odorata), etc. Garjan is an excellent construction timber and civit is good for pulpwood, packaging and plywood. Garjan oil is in demand for lighting, paint and protection of boat bottoms. Several other species are favoured for boat building, house posts and other special uses. Bamboos, mainly muli (Melocanna bambusoides) occur as undergrowth. Other bamboos of commercial importance are mitenga (Bambusa tulda), dallo (Teinostachyium dulloa) and orah (Dendrocalamus longispathus).

Moist deciduous forests

Also known as "inland sal forests", these cover relatively small areas distributed over the inland plain area. They are predominantly composed of sal (Shorea robusta) occurring in pure patches, sometimes associated with korai (Albitia spp.) in the canopy and kumbhi (Careya arborea) in the lower storey. These forests have their main distribution in the Mymensingh forestry division and the Dacca division, the rest being scattered throughout the northern area of the country. They have been subjected to considerable cutting and encroachment due to their location in densely populated areas.

Tidal forests

These forests consist mainly of mangroves occurring in the delta zone. Most of them are flooded during the monsoon. The bulk of these forests are located in Sunderbans (south-eastern part of the delta region) around Khulna, the rest being found in the district of Chittagong in the south-east part of the country. The predominant tree species are sundri (Heritiera minor) and gewa (Excoecaria agallocha). Less frequent species are passur (Carapa moluccensis var.gangetica), goran (Ceriops roxburghii), kankra (Bruguiera gymnorhiza), keora (Sonneratia apetala), baen (Avicennia officinalis), etc. They are closed forests with a dense canopy. The trees can reach a maximum height of 25 to 30 m but are usually 8 to 15 m high. Tree diameters range between 10 to 20 cm although 45 cm can be reached under favourable conditions. The wood is used for fuel, and is also in demand by the wood industries. The main means of transportation in these forests are rivers and channels (locally called "khals").

	Open forests

Broadleaved

Open deciduous forests

	References

Douglas, J. J. (1980). Government forest resources and management in Bangladesh. UNDP/FAO Forestry consumption and sector planning project (BDGH/78/010), Planning Commission, Forestry Section, Dacca.

Khattak, G. M. (1979). History of forest management in Bangladesh. The Pakistan Journal of Forestry, July 1979.

Ray, R. G. (1971). Six forest inventories in the Tropics: Nos. 3 and 4, Pakistan. In collaboration with the Canadian International Development Agency, Ottawa.