Scientific forestry and forest land use in Bangladesh: a discourse analysis of people's attitudes

This study on the changes in the major attitudes of forest users towards forest and land use issues, such as illegal harvesting, encroachment and shifting cultivation, indicates that scientific forestry introduced during the British regime had a strong influence on the people of Bangladesh. Restrictions to rights and tenure of forest use and the alienation of people from forest lands, forced forest users to change their attitudes. Subsequent changes in the socio-economic environment and subsistence needs of users created a desperate situation leading to the exhaustive use of forests. The continuation of the forest policy after independence ensured those changes became socially embedded. However, encroachment has been a comparatively recent phenomenon that has been exacerbated by population increase and changes in socio-political circumstances in Bangladesh.