INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
OF
CONSERVATION SCIENCE
ISSN: 2067-533X
Volume 7, Issue 2, April-June 2016: 553-566
www.ijcs.uaic.ro
DISCOVERY OF A POTENTIAL SITE FOR COMMUNITY-BASED
SUSTAINABLE ECOTOURISM IN THE SUNDARBANS RESERVE
FORESTS, BANGLADESH
Mohammad Zahirul HAQUE1,4,*, Mohammad Imam Hasan REZA2,*,
Md. Mahmudul ALAM2,3, Zahir Uddin AHMED4, Md. Wasiul ISLAM5
1
School of Environmental and Natural Resources Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
2
Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor,
Malaysia.
3
School of Economics, Finance and Banking, College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 06010 UUM Sintok,
Kedah, Malaysia.
4
Bangladesh Forest Department, Bono Bhaban, Agargaon, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh.
5
Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh.
Abstract
Conservation of biological diversity is a pressing need and protected areas are the
cornerstones for conserving remaining flora and fauna. However, forest dependent livelihood
in countries like Bangladesh is making this task very critical. In the case of the poor and forestdependent livelihood in the Sundarbans area of Bangladesh, an eco-friendly ecotourism may
provide an alternative livelihood, which may reduce the overexploitation from the valuable
Sundarbans forest ecosystems. Furthermore, this initiative may also serve to aware people on
the value of these unique ecosystems. Therefore, this study discusses the scope, benefits and
challenges for developing sustainable ecotourism within the protected area. It focuses on the
development of a potential site having ecological and archaeological values for sustainable
ecotourism inside the Sundarbans Reserve Forest. Developing sustainable tourism spots inside
the wildlife hub has a high demand among tourists and it is also necessary for the socioeconomic development of the local community, moreover, the approach of community-based
ecotourism (CBEM) is a suitable strategy for the conservation of protected areas.
Keywords: Community Based Ecotourism (CBEM); Biodiversity conservation; Sustainability;
Site development; Protected area
Introduction
The Sundarbans Reserve Forests (SRF), which is the largest mangrove ecosystem in the
world, is one of the protected areas in Bangladesh [1-3]. Its beauty lies in its unique natural
surroundings. Thousands of meandering streams, creeks, rivers and estuaries have enhanced its
charm [4]. It is the natural habitat of the world famous royal Bengal tiger, spotted deer,
crocodiles, jungle fowl, wild boar, lizards, monkeys and an innumerable variety of beautiful
birds [5]. Flocks of flying migratory Siberian ducks, sail boats loaded with Golpata (Nipa
fruticans), honey, shell and fish further add to the serene natural beauty of the SRF. There is an
*
Correspondent author: zahirfd@yahoo.co.uk, rezamih@gmail.com
M.Z. HAQUE et al.
ample potential for ecotourism spots in the SRF and each one may have special significant
characteristics.
The scenario of the mangrove plants, the basking of crocodiles along the margin of the
creeks and inlets and transforming of the water body into a bird sanctuary by the thousands of
migratory birds and colourful ducks in the winter, the sharp movements of the spotted deer at
the waterholes and seashore, the soft bird calls, and the sudden meeting of flagship species- the
Royal Bengal Tiger, will certainly touch the heart of both the native and overseas tourists [6, 7].
Tourism is a popular global leisure activity, which has large economic value for many
countries, especially in the developing world. Tourism offers opportunities for substantial
growth, although success depends on the effective marketplace value, quality of the developed
products and the establishment of meaningful community–private–public partnerships [8].
Nowadays, environment friendly as well as knowledge-orientated tourism such as ecotourism,
adventure tourism, and cultural tourism has excellent prospects worldwide with improving
educational levels where the tourists are known for their modest expectations in terms of
facilities, amenities, service and comfort [9]. Ecotourism is typically defined as travel to
destinations where flora, fauna, and cultural heritage are the primary attractions [10, 11].
Protected areas are commonly utilized for the purpose of ecotourism where the natural capital
(e.g., landscapes, flora, fauna, etc.) and associated traditional cultures of the protected areas are
the major attractions for the tourists [12, 13].
Developing the ecotourism sites in the SRF will be a great opportunity for earning
among the local community, especially for the pro-poor group who are dependent on the natural
resources. That will also help to reduce the over exploitation of the natural resources by local
community [14]. The resources of the SRF have great potential to encourage and develop
community based ecotourism in the villages located at the vicinity of the forest that have direct
interests on the forest [15]. In turn, the natural and environmental importance of this venue will
attract many local and international tourists [16]. The local poor people can be engaged in
different activities, which enable them to earn money and to build environmental awareness to
promote the conservation of natural resources.
Community-based tourism (CBT) is a visitor-host interaction in a win-win situation that
has meaningful participation by both the visitor and the host [17], and generates economic and
conservation benefits for local communities and the environment [18]. CBT is an emerging
activity that is generating a lot of interest among the local people, tour operators, government
agencies, and the business sector [19]. Advocates of participatory conservation approaches
insist that by denying local people access to protected areas [20] and by excluding them from
decision-making processes, conservationists create tension between park managers and local
residents, increase monitoring costs, and fail to benefit from the valuable local knowledge and
resource management systems [7, 21-25]. Moreover, communities are now the locus of the
conservationist thinking promoting tourism to existing protected areas [26] and sharing a part of
the profit with communities is a popular community-based conservation strategy. This can be
done by encouraging or facilitating local investment into tourism activities [27].
Further, promoting ecotourism has also been emphasized by the World Bank [28] for
Strengthening Regional Cooperation for Wildlife Protection in Asia (SRCWP) Project [28].
Therefore, this study is an attempt to assess the feasibility of developing a community-based
sustainable ecotourism in a potential site, locally known as the Shekher Khal, which is inside
the protected area and has both ecological and archaeological values.
Methodology
Study Area
The site of the Shekher Khal (canal of Shekh) is situated near the Adachai Patrol Post
under the Khulna Range of Sundarbans West Forest Division of Bangladesh. A few ancient
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ruined buildings still exist which inspires the modern adventure-loving tourists to know more
about the significance and mysterious past of the area. The Shekher Bari (house of Shekh),
Kalir Khal Mandir (temple of Kali canal), Beder Bari (house of gipsy community), Khutir Khal
Iter Paza (Khutir canal brick fields) are some of these ancient structures.
The geographical location of the temple is 22013.253’ N, 89029.922’ E and the Shekher
Bari is located at 22013.662’ N, 89028.790’ E. The approximate distance from the Nalian
Forest Range Headquarters and the Adachai Forest Office (Patrol Post) to the Shekher Bari is
about 26km and 5km respectively, and the distance from the Shekher Bari to the Kalir Khal
Mandir is about 2km within the site.
The total ecotourism centre has 2 units – one unit is the Shekher Bari with an area of
0.54km2 and the other one is the Kalir Khal Mandir with an area of 0.67km2. The natural
features of the area consist of rivers and forests. The forests are of low storied forest (~54%)
and high storied forests (~46%). The Shekher Bari is on the bank of the Shekher Khal which is
close to the river Shibsa, and the Kalir Khal Mandir is on the bank of the Kalir Khal. The
location of the full site is prepared by the authors using GIS tools (Fig. 1).
The source of the map is obtained from Google earth. It is then geo-referenced and
digitized by ArcGIS 9.3 software. The map shows various features within the area of the site
such as high and low storied forests, river, ancient building and local forest office stated in
Table1. Each of the features is identified with different colours.
Fig. 1. Location of the Site - Shekher Khal
The environmental position of the site is low (below 20m) relief (difference in elevation)
and upper and medium (30-40%) slope of the land. The soil type is clay, and the depth of top
soil is shallow (< 20cm). Soil erosion is low. The land is dry on average for only five months
per year. The climate is wet. There is no source of fresh surface water. The ground water is
available by digging wells, but the quality of water is poor. The area is affected by natural
disasters such as cyclones, tidal waves, storms, etc. and geological hazards such as landslides.
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Table 1. Spatial and ecological features with the range of total area of the Study Area
Feature
Area (km2)
River
13.35
High storied forest type
17.98
Low storied forest type
20.90
Shekher Bari
0.54
Kalir Mandir
0.67
Adachai Patrol Post
1.27
Total
54.71
Historical and archaeological values of the area
The Sheikher Khal’s ancient ruined structures are historically and culturally interesting
and appealing to the modern tourists. Thus, this is the only location inside the SRF of
Bangladesh where man-made ancient structures have been discovered. The site consists of
relics of temples, houses, ponds, etc.
According to the information derived from the local people, Muslim and Hindu
communities populated the spot: the Sheikh community was Muslim in religion, so they lived
separately beside the Shibsa river bank and the Hindu community lived near the temple and its
surroundings beside the Kalir Khal. The destroyed residue of houses of the Shekh community
are found on the east bank of the river Shibsa and visible from the river bank. Thoughout the
area people generally call the site Shekher Mandir, while in fact, the temple is Kalir Mandir.
There are evidences which explain that a ruined building beside the Kalir Mandir has been
identified and proclaimed as the Hindu Zamindar Bari (house of landlord), and the temple was
constructed by that Zamindar.
The Sheikh community lived separately a little far away from the Hindu community. The
Shekher Bari site lies on the forest floor adjacent to the river bank of Shibsa and the temple is
approximately 1.0km away from the bank of the Shekher Khal canal. Both the sites are
disconnected with trawler/boat stoppage points, fact that may make tourist access to the spot
troublesome. There is neither a footpath or trail nor any other sign or indication to follow in
order to reach the temple or the Shekher Bari at the moment.
It is assumed that some Bede (gipsy community) people lived near the Beder Khal. In
this clutch of land on the other side (west bank) of the river Shibsa and near the Khutir Khal, a
ruined relic of a brick field (locally known as the Iter Paja) had been discovered by the
fishermen. It is believed that the building materials used for the construction of these ancient
buildings were mainly supplied from this brick field and were used as the masonries of small
thin bricks, lime and brick powder.
There is no specific record on the age of these structures, but it is assumed that these
ancient structures were built about 400 years ago (Fig. 2) when Saint Hazrat Khan Jahan Ali
came to Jessore and started clearing up the forest land and converted it into paddy fields and
later proceeded up to the Khulna and Bagerhat district. It is also believed that these
establishments might have existed before his arrival into this region.
However, there is no accurate evidence of settlement and construction period for these
buildings and for the origins of the people who came to settle down there. Information received
from the local people suggests that, based on an assumption, due to severe natural calamities
near Java or Sumatra Island, the inhabitants of those areas were compelled to migrate to
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Sundarbans. Some aboriginal people called the ‘Kapali’, living in Jorsing under the area of the
Koyra police station of Khulna district are said to be their descendant. Another opinion of the
local people is that the miscreants or pyrites inside these forests had been ransomed nearly 600
years ago.
Fig. 2. The entrance point of the ancient Kalir Mandir and the design of the ancient bricks
Ecological value of the area
The archaeological structures of the site are situated inside the dense virgin forests of
mixed mangrove species dominated by Sundri (Heritiera fomes). The site is rich with a unique
biodiversity. The major species of plants that keep these relics hidden inside the forests are
Pasur (Xylocarpus mekongensis), Bain (Avicennia officinalis), Gewa (Excoecaria agallocha),
Goran (Ceriops decandra), Golpatta (Nypa fruticans), etc. with some rarely found orchids and
climbers. Both sides of the Shekher khal canal bank from the river Shibsa up to the temple side
are fenced densely by natural Hental plants (Phoenix paludosa) that provide extra scenic beauty
to this area (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3. Shekher Bari (Shekhs' home) on the bank of the river Shibsa and the Shekher Khal (Shekhs' canal).
Furthermore, the Royal Bengal Tiger is very frequently visible at this site. We found
recent pugmarks of a number of tigers around the temple site (Fig. 4) combined with other
animals such as the deer, wild boars, monkeys, monitor lizards, snakes and otters. Many
arboreal species and birds such as the jungle fowl, brown-winged kingfishers, lesser
adjutants (Leptoptilos javanicus), grey-headed fish eagles (Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus), open
billed storks, coots, pheasant-tailed jacanas, Brahminy kites, gray herons, great
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egrets, cormorants, common kingfishers, masked fin-foot and owls can be encountered.
Approximately 13.35km2 of water body in this location that include canals and creeks are
abundant with many species of fishes and other aquatic species.
Fig. 4. Pugmarks of a couple of tigers at the Temple site and pug marks while chasing preys
Moreover, there are some non-mangrove species such as Gaab (Diospyros sp.), Bot
(Ficus sp.) and Bhui kumari (local name of a climber), found at the site which evidences the
descendant of the pioneer ones planted by the inhabitants. The answer to the questions of how
these species are found at these sites is that the inhabitants’ livelihood was totally boat-based
and there were no easy facilities to repair their boats from any nearby location. Perhaps they
used this Gab fruits to repair the boats. Moreover, its fruit is also delicious to eat. Likewise, the
Bhui kumari was also edible and they planted the ficus religiosa species probably for their
worship rituals.
Tourism potential
According to the average of last 7 years records of the Bangladesh Forest Department,
about 22,000 local and 294 foreign tourists have visited the Sundarbans west forest division
every year. Within these 7 years this number was highest in the year 2011-2012 with the 42,805
local and 747 foreign tourists (Table 2 and Fig. 5).
Table 2. Number of visitors to the Sundarbans West Forest Division
Year
Total visitors
Revenue earned (BDT)
2007-2008
2008-2009
11653
17103
561,520
1,175,180
2009-2010
2010-2011
2011-2012
19477
31389
43452
1,781,780
1,810,450
3,379,710
2012-2013
2013-2014
29623
24797
6,726,040
2,176,650
(Source: Forest Department, Bangladesh)
The number of tourists increased from October to April/May due to the calm river
conditions. The existing beautiful spots to visit in this division are Kalatali, Munshiganj, the
Nilkamal world heritage site, and the Dublar Char. A majority of tourists use the route through
the Sundarbans West Forest Division to visit that place mainly in November when the Rash
Purnimar Mela– a worship festival of the Hindu community, occurs. The site of Shekher Khal
is situated in the Sundarbans West Forest Division and halfway through the Nilkamal or Dublar
char. Therefore, it is predicted that these tourists will visit this site. Besides, the intangible
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environmental benefit, which the tourists enjoy, must be several times more valuable than this
earning.
Fig. 5. Chart showing number of local and foreign visitors between 2007 and 2014
Ensuring Sustainable Ecotourism
Sustainable activities of tourists
The site is situated approximately 15km away from the nearest forest periphery and the
participants need to pass through the forests for a long distance. Moreover, massive
participation and sharing of local people and NGOs may disturb the serene habitat of the
wildlife and frequent increase the pollution of the water body and land. It may also increase
poaching activity on wildlife and other valuable natural resources [7, 29]. Therefore, hiring a
minimum number of people to oversee this journey must be considered. Based on the
interviews with the local people and conservation practitioners, some suggestions and
recommendations are proposed, in order to develop a sustainable eco-tourism site in this spot.
It is proposed that tourists arrive at the Nalian Forest Range Headquarter and collect
their permits before going for the site visiting. The journey starts by engine boat from Nalian
Forest Range Headquarter to Shekher Bari with an eco-tourist-guide and forest guards for
security purposes. After visiting the Shekher Bari, they will visit the temple site by dingi (small)
boat through canals. A watch tower will support them to observe the total area of the site. The
duration of visit will follow the high and low tide of the rivers and tourists will not be allowed
to stay overnight there unless a well-managed safari camp is established.
Nalian and some nearby places such as Kashiabad, Hodda and Kalabogi will be
developed with various permanent and temporary infrastructures such as eco-cottage, shopping
markets consisting of local and traditional goods, museum, cultural centre, display centers and
restaurants for local and traditional foods in participation with the local people and various
government and non-governmental organizations. These attractive facilities will be available to
the tourists while they wait for their destination. Management components such as eco-cottage
proprietors, eco-guides, tour operators and trawler owners will perform their best to serve the
tourists at this stage.
Archaeological and ecological sustainability
At present, the archaeological structures in the site are being destroyed. The preservation
of these structures is urgent. The combined archaeological and ecological features create a
strong tourism value in this site [30]. Moreover, preserving the archaeological structures or
developing tourism in this site will also contribute towards the ecological sustainability in that
area by turning the local people from direct dependency on the forest resources [31].
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The introduction of ecotourism will not accelerate land disturbance in terms of site
clearance because no new site will be included for development (Table 3). Therefore, the effects
on rare (vulnerable), threatened or endangered species of flora or fauna or their habitat and on
designated wetlands is negligible. The management operation in the site will ensure the
minimum negative effects of invasive plants or animals spreading in the area, low disturbance
of wildlife habitat, populations, corridors or movement, of locally important or valued
ecosystems or vegetation, low trees and vegetation destruction and impact on fish migration and
navigation.
Table 3. Potential impacts on site environment due to the development of ecotourism
Will the site development cause the following:
- land disturbance or site clearance?
Yes/No
No
Scale of Impacts
Low
- negative effects on rare (vulnerable), threatened or endangered species of flora or
fauna or their habitat?
No
Low
- negative effects on designated wetlands?
- spread of invasive plants or animals?
- negative effects on wildlife habitat, populations, corridors or movement?
- negative effects on locally important or valued ecosystems or vegetation?
- destruction of trees and vegetation?
- impact on fish migration and navigation?
No
No
No
No
No
No
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
- obstruction of natural connection between river and wetlands inside project area or
natural drainage system?
No
Low
- water logging due to inadequate drainage?
- insufficient drainage leading to salinity intrusion?
- negative effects on surface water quality, quantities or flow?
- negative effects on groundwater quality, quantity or movement?
No
No
No
No
Low
Low
Low
Low
- increased demand of water requirements leading to reduction of water supply for
competing uses?
No
Low
- increase probability of spread of diseases and parasites?
No
Low
- significant sedimentation or soil erosion or shoreline or riverbank erosion on or off
site?
No
Low
- loss of existing buildings, property, economic livelihood?
- negative impact on soil stability and compactness?
- impacts on sustainability of associated construction waste disposal?
- changes to the land due to material extraction?
- traffic disturbances due to construction material transport and wastes?
No
No
No
No
No
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
- increased noise due to transportation of equipment and construction materials?
- increased noise due to day-to-day construction activities?
- increased wind-blown dust from material (e.g. fine aggregate) storage areas?
No
No
No
Low
Low
Low
- degradation or disturbance of historical or culturally important sites?
- health and safety issues?
No
No
Low
Low
Yes/No
No
Yes
Yes
Scale of Impacts
Low
High
Medium
Will the site development require the following:
- setting up of ancillary production facilities?
- significant demands on utilities and services?
- accommodation or service amenities to support the workforce during construction?
The project design reflects no impediment on the natural connections between rivers and
wetlands inside the project area or the natural drainage system, water logging due to inadequate
drainage, preventing salinity intrusion, surface water quality and quantities or flow,
groundwater quality and quantity or movement and sedimentation or soil erosion or shoreline
and riverbank erosion on or off site. The tourists’ drinking water source is outside the
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ecotourism area hence increased demand of water requirements leading to the reduction of
water supply for competing uses is not considered an issue.
Observation is the main activity of the tourists; therefore, direct human contact with
biodiversity will be negligible and will not result in spreading diseases and parasites in the
wilderness. The archaeological aspect is the predominant condition to establish this complex
and therefore - loss of existing settlements, economic livelihood, soil stability and compactness,
impacts on sustainability of associated construction waste disposal and changes to the land due
to material extraction will be kept to the minimum range.
Traffic disturbances and increased noise due to transportation of wastes and construction
materials and day-to-day construction activities, increased wind-blown dust from material (e.g.
fine aggregate) storage areas, degradation or disturbance of historical or culturally important
sites and the risks of health and safety problems are temporary issues that will end after the site
development activities have been completed. The impact of setting up the ancillary production
facilities is low while the impact of significant demands: utilities and services, the
accommodation to support the workforce during construction, is high and medium, respectively.
Socioeconomic Sustainability of Local Community
The prime challenge of the SRF is the conservation of its natural resources. SRF can be
conserved based on various schools of thoughts [28]. Community based ecotourism (CBET) is
such an option from a tourism point of view [32] which has an immense potential to facilitate
the conservation initiatives of the Sundarbans [33]. This type of tourism is particularly
important for the SRF and its surrounding landscape villages (within 5km from the boundary of
the SRF), in order to reduce the anthropogenic pressure through the community engagement
[34]. Key issues for the development of CBET are participation, markets and customers,
capacity growth, impacts and monitoring, partnerships, collaborations and policies [19]. CBET
matches the development of the Shekher Khal historic site ecotourism project through its
different activities and operations.
The objectives of the CBT and ecotourism cover great potentialities that can be
developed in order to emancipate the local people and improve their socio-economic status [35]
through the enhancement of the building capacity of the forest department, concerned NGOs
and local communities. This initiative will create the opportunities through the alternative
income generating (AIG) schemes for the local inhabitants of the adjacent local communities to
make them environmentally aware and educated, which enables them to assist in improving the
conservation of natural (biodiversity) and cultural resources in and around the SRF.
Local people surrounding the villages of the SRF may play a strong and vital role in the
conservation of the natural resources of SRF. They are the most vulnerable population due to
different natural calamities like cyclones, tidal waves, storms, and landslides [36]. Due to lack
of income generating opportunities, education and environmental consciousness, most of them
are fully or partially dependent on the natural resources of the SRF which threatens the forest as
a whole [37]. This scenario can provide a colossal alternative income generation (AIG)
opportunities for the locals which can then alter the pattern of their dependency on the natural
resources of the Sundarbans [38]. This modified dependency on the Sundarbans will contribute
to reduce the extraction of natural resources of the forest and restrict their non-cooperation
attitude to conserve the forest from destructions [34, 39].
Monitoring the issue of sustainability
Currently, due to the lack of manpower, financial, logistic and other supports of the
forest department, forest officials remain under pressure to protect the forest from many
destructing activities [37]. Participatory monitoring by the stakeholders on the implementation
of the planned activities in relation to the allocated funds and time line and security situation
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will be checked on from time to time [40], with the help of different indicators related to
tourism and recreation in the proposed area. Participatory evaluation in different stages (preante, ongoing and post-ante) of the project will also facilitate the monitoring and evaluation of
the project activities. The overall status of the natural resources of the site will be assessed by
participatory monitoring and evaluation (PME) by the government through the forest
department [38].
Site Development Activities
Infrastructural development
In order to facilitate the tourism, local community and stakeholders suggested an initial
infrastructural development which will consist of the construction of two jetties and the
construction of two elevated wooden walkway from the riverbank to the Shekher Bari and Kalir
Mandir. In addition, the construction of 4 resting places at the elevated wooden walk-way, an
elevated wooden platform near the temple to take shelter during the high tide, construction of a
canopy walk around the site, reconstruction and maintenance of the Mandir and Shekher Bari,
different signage and directions at the site and other areas where necessary and the construction
of 2 toilets and 2 wash rooms near the temple area would be carried out.
Expected costs for building up this eco-tourism site were made through a collective
review from the suggestions and responses of the related stakeholders. Expected construction
period for the above works might be 8 months, and total cost might be approximately BDT 15
million (USD $0.187mil.). The initial investment for the site development can be recovered
within 5-10 years and the project can be sustained with profits. For an example, if half of the
current annual visitors visit this site at the rate of BDT 50 for local and BDT 1000 for foreign
tourist, the investment will be recovered in less than 10 years. Further, the number of tourists
will increase year by year.
Capacity building
It is the most important aspect next to the infrastructural development, to offer mobility
to the investment. Capacity building includes activities such as development of a local training
centre [41] (with existing infrastructure) at the adjacent village of the forest boundary with the
aim to train concerned employees of the forest department and NGOs on different aspects of
CBET development and promotion for the local communities.
The training will emphasize on the issues of tourism, ecotourism, community-based
ecotourism, cultural and heritage tourism, environmental education, including formal and
informal rules and regulations, and awareness with particular reference to the Sundarbans. It
would also include host-guest relationship in community based ecotourism, planning and
development of community-based ecotourism in the Sundarbans, volunteer services in
community-based ecotourism, promoting local enterprises, establishing local tour operators in
the project area. Participatory monitoring and evaluation and involvement of multistakeholders/actors, partnership and collaboration in community based ecotourism may also be
included among the programs.
Several other aspects of building capacity are the preparation of training materials and
educational and experience sharing tours (excursions) for the trainees and trainers at home and
abroad. Development of educational and motivational materials (printed, documentary,
electronic, etc.) for campaigns, regular discussions and meetings with different stakeholders to
develop and promote CBET, development of a website focusing on the activities of this
proposed CBET project as well as building awareness and motivation for potential tourists and
support to establish a local tour operator would also be included.
Community involvement
One of the modern concepts that will help the smooth implementation of the project
regarding job opportunity, interactions among all levels of population, social bindings, and cost
benefit sharing and so on, is community involvement [42]. This parameter of site development
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function is formed with awareness and motivation activities, involvement of local community
members in different AIG activities [43], participatory monitoring and evaluation, redesigning
or modification of this project based on lessons and learning from the participatory monitoring
and evaluation, partnerships and collaborations between the local communities and different
relevant stakeholders/actors. It would involve the arrangement of two annual cultural and
heritage fairs at the adjacent villages and observations of Global Tiger Day (29 July),
International Tourism Day (27 Sept), World Environmental Day (5 June), World Wetland Day
(2 February), International Mangrove Day (26 July), and Sundarbans Day (14 Feb), to create
awareness and motivation among the local community and other concerned people of different
relevant organizations and the promotion and marketing of CBET and its various services and
products.
Conclusions
This study attempted to assess the development of community-based sustainable
ecotourism at the Shekher Khal area in the Sundarbans Reserve Forests. The ecological integrity
of the Sundarbans Reserve Forests has been under tremendous pressure due to the increasing
anthropogenic activities over the past few decades. Generally, a major proportion of the
pressure on this reserve forest is due to the livelihood of the surrounding community as well as
for income generating purposes. Therefore, an alternative income generating approach which
will be eco-friendly would support the sustainability of this globally important mangrove
reserve forests. Hence, an ecotourism place may be a good approach to reduce over exploitation
of mangrove forest resources. Ecologically, this site is very important because of its location
inside the reserve forest and its high natural beauty. Archeologically, these are the only manmade ancient structures found inside the SRF of Bangladesh, an area established by both the
Hindus and Muslims. These amazing and attractive temples and other structures with ecological
and archeological values will raise interests and curiosities among the tourists. Besides, the area
would also be fascinating and intriguing for religious people. Therefore, the archaeological
preservation of this site is very important. At the same time, the site has strong potential for
development of ecotourism activities.
After considering the overall assessment and potentiality of this site, this study proposes
to develop and promote the Shekher Khal area as an important tourist destination in the SRF
through an innovative and alternative eco-friendly tourism approach. In one hand, these
opportunities will generate money for the local people and on the other, these people or even
the entire community will be aware and motivated to conserve the natural resources of the SRF.
Using this way, is also expected to discourage illegal logging, poaching and encroaching of the
SRF. By serving these diversified benefits through the CBET, particularly based on the
concerned issues, this development will preserve the archaeological ancient structures and
facilitate wildlife habitat restoration and protection of the Sundarbans mangrove forest as well.
This study will help the respective agencies to take initiatives in the development of this site.
Acknowledgments
Two university research projects - DLP-2014-015 and GUP-2014-042 of University
Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) are gratefully acknowledged for supporting this research. Forest
Department, Bangladesh and Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University,
Khulna, Bangladesh are also acknowledged for providing valuable information for this study.
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