Participation in Forestry: Social Forestry Policy in Bangladesh

Abstract

Participation enhances democracy and at the same time allows people to decide their own fate. A renewed concern with rights, power and difference in debates about participation in development has focused greater attention on the institutions at the interface between publics, providers and policy makers. This book deals with the extent of people’s participation in the social forestry (SF) policy of Bangladesh. The roles of the main stakeholders: bureaucrats, Union Parishad and NGOs in ensuring the expected level of people’s participation are the main focus of the discussion. Theoretical framework of the book is guided by the concept of political and classical bureaucrats, patron-client relationship and social capital. In this book the author has drawn in depth analysis to illustrate the dissonance between myths and reality of the SF policy. A number of common institutional and social problems are discussed to shape the performance of the policy. Patron-client relationship among the stakeholders is identified as the most dominate factor because this vicious network impede the extent of people’s participation from the very beginning of the SF project to the last and demolish the main objective of the policy dreadfully.

Keywords: Participation, Social Forestry, Public policy, Social Capital, Patron-Client relationship, Bureaucrat