Community engagement is at the heart of Arannayk Foundation’s approach to conservation. By fostering collaboration and local ownership, Arannayk Foundation ensures that environmental initiatives are both effective and culturally relevant.
Since 2003, Arannayk has advocated participatory conservation by empowering communities to actively manage and protect natural resources. One of its landmark contributions has been the promotion of co-management models in Protected Areas (PAs) and Ecologically Critical Areas (ECAs). The Foundation has helped establish over 500 Co-Management Organizations (CMOs) and Co-Management Committees (CMCs), enabling local stakeholders to take part in decision-making and stewardship of forest landscapes.
Community-led patrol groups and Elephant Response Teams (ERT) have strengthened forest governance, especially in regions facing human-wildlife conflict. Arannayk Foundation has mobilized communities in areas such as the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Cox’s Bazar, Sylhet, Sunamganj, and the world’s largest mangrove forest Sundarbans, by providing technical training and promoting sustainable land-use practices.
In the CHT alone, 14 degraded Village Common Forests (VCF) have been restored with active community participation, leading to improved forest cover and increased stream flow during dry seasons.
Arannayk Foundation also invests in youth leadership through initiatives like the popular theater movement as an SBCC tool, where local youths lead the behavioral changes towards conservation through their plays.
Arannayk Foundation’s grassroots-driven engagement approach helps shape a more inclusive, resilient, and community driven environmental management.
© AF/Md. Emranul IslamThe project aims to restore tree cover along the embankments of 10 Acre, 11 Acre, and 48 Acre shrimp estates in Chakaria, Cox’s Bazar—an area once part of the Chakaria Sundarban. Once deforested for aquaculture, this landscape is now the focus of a plantation and conservation initiative led by Arannayk Foundation.The work includes site selection, preparation, plantation of both mangrove and non-mangrove spe... Read more
Location: Cox's Bazar
© AF photo libraryThe project (March 2024 – June 2027) aims to scale up forest landscape restoration (FLR) across Bandarban Hill District using proven models developed under the earlier CHT-FLR project (part of USAID’s COMPASS Activity). It also seeks to develop a more productive and climate-resilient alternative to the current practice of short-rotation shifting cultivation. The project promotes inclusive, community-led res... Read more
Location: Bandarban
© AF photo libraryThis project enhanced community-based conservation efforts within the Inani and Ukhiya ranges of Sheikh Jamal Inani National Park (SJINP) by strengthening the capacity of Elephant Response Teams (ERTs) to mitigate human–elephant conflict (HEC). Four ERTs were supported, comprising 40 trained members equipped with logistical resources to assist the Bangladesh Forest Department in safeguarding both communitie... Read more
Location: Cox's Bazar
© AF/Arifur RahmanImplemented in the Cox’s Bazar–Teknaf Peninsula and Inani National Park, critical habitats for globally and nationally threatened species, the EARTH project addressed the combined pressures of climate change and the ongoing humanitarian crisis through community-led conservation, conflict mitigation, and livelihood diversification.The project directly benefited 5,529 people, 57% of whom were women, including... Read more
Location: Cox's Bazar
© Arifur RahmanArannayk Foundation, engaged by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), developed training modules, a policy brief, and other supporting materials to build the capacity of Government of Bangladesh (GoB) officials on integrating gender perspectives into climate action. The initiative aimed to promote gender-transformational change by addressing restrictive norms, fostering shared responsibilities wi... Read more
Location: All Over Bangladesh
© Zawyad Bin MostofaThis initiative focused on conserving big cat species, particularly the clouded leopard within the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot by safeguarding transboundary forest ecosystems in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts and India’s Mizoram. The project combined habitat management, community-based conservation, and cross-border collaboration to strengthen ecological resilience, reduce human–wildlife conflict,... Read more
Location: Rangamati, Bandarban, Mizoram
© AF photo libraryArannayk Foundation strengthened community-based conservation across key biodiversity areas (KBAs) through the facilitation and networking of Co-Management Organizations (CMOs). In the Sundarbans, this included the Sundarbans Region Co-Management Society (formerly the Sundarbans CMO Network), while in the northeast, the Greater Sylhet CMO Network brought together CMOs from Tanguar Haor, Hakaluki Haor, and H... Read more
Location: Sylhet, Sunamganj, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Barguna, Khulna
© AF/Jessie Namnika DaruThe PRISTINE project tackled plastic pollution across both the upstream and downstream areas of the Sundarbans Reserve Forest by creating a recycling value chain for Single-Use Plastics (SUP) that is transparent, traceable, and inclusive. At its core was the development of a mobile application, called Wastex, to track plastic waste from collection to recycling, documenting the contributions of waste collect... Read more
Location: Bagerhat
© AF/Farhan HaqueThis nationwide study examines the growing demand and supply dynamics of wood-based products in Bangladesh, with a focus on wood chips, sawdust, and furniture. Driven by rapid urbanization and a furniture sector growing at 15–20% annually, the country faces increasing pressure on timber resources. While local production and imports contribute to meeting demand, restrictions on harvesting from natural forest... Read more
Location: Khulna, Bagerhat, Jashore, Jhenaidah, Bogura, Dinajpur, Tangail, Mymensingh, Gazipur, Dhaka, Narayanganj, Barisal, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Chattogram, Rangamati
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